As portrayed in the book of Acts, Pentecost was a strange, exciting, and even bewildering occasion. With its tongues of fire, speaking in strange languages, and hints of drunkenness (debunked by Peter), it all seems so exotic -- at least to the button-down sensibilities of many mainline Christians. The manner in which the participants experienced the Holy Spirit seems much more attuned to the evangelical and Pentecostal branches of the modern Church. Yet perhaps the most amazing thing about that first Pentecost is that despite a plethora of languages being spoken, everyone understood one another: “in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Dean Feldmeyer looks at the different ways we speak about and understand God. He draws on the work of anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann, who has studied some of the varieties of spiritual experience (especially in the American evangelical church), and suggests that we have much to learn from Pentecost about ensuring that the language of faith is understood in the wider world. In today’s culture that’s a real challenge -- we’re so busy trying to outshout and talk over one another (in a desperate attempt to “be understood,” i.e. persuade others of our righteousness) that we barely listen to each other, especially when the words are unfamiliar to us. That’s not just a hallmark of our dysfunctional political conversation; it’s also a paradigm that infects almost every area of our lives -- including, as Dean points out, our religious dialogue. Before we can understand one another, we have to stop shouting and make the effort to hear and understand those who don’t share the same specialized language -- and the assumptions and short-cuts to communication that are embedded in it. Only then does our message have an opportunity to be received and understood -- in the lingo of radio communications, “Roger Wilco.” As Dean reminds us, the Pentecost story offers an instructive model for how to go about that process -- and underlines God’s power to bring us together and transcend all that divides us.
Team member Chris Keating shares some additional thoughts on the Pentecost story and a moving example from the headlines of trying to bring together and create understanding among those who speak vastly different languages -- namely, Pope Francis’ foray into the thicket of Israeli-Palestinian relations. On his recent trip to the Holy Land this past week, Francis made the bold move of inviting Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the Vatican for a peace summit -- to be held (in an additional layer of symbolism) this Sunday. What is particularly notable is that the pontiff had in mind something more than just shuttle diplomacy. Instead, he framed his invitation by asking each side “to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace.” That, along with appeals for harmony, unity, and understanding, was a theme that Francis returned to again and again throughout his visit. He even underlined the role of prayer in his visit to the Wailing Wall as well as his meeting with Orthodox patriarch Bartholomew, in which the leaders prayed together. As Chris notes, the pope is attempting to do his part to foster the understanding and unity that were the hallmarks of Pentecost -- and to embody the eloquent description in our alternate gospel passage that “out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water."
Roger Wilco
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 2:1-21
Almost every discipline has a language of its own.
If you are a medical professional, you know the difference between alopecia (baldness) and syncope (fainting).
If you are an attorney, you probably know that de jure (by law) is not necessarily de facto (in reality).
Chefs will rue the day they don’t know what a roux is, carpenters know that a chicken ladder has nothing to do with chickens, musicians speak of keys that don’t unlock doors, and Bible scholars speak of pericopes, something that even our spellcheckers have never heard of.
We all speak languages specific to the groups we belong to. Knowing the language is often an unofficial badge of membership; it determines who’s in the group and who isn’t.
This is often and sadly true of the Christian church. We speak to the world in a foreign language that we expect people to understand, accept, and adopt before they can become members of the Kingdom. “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?” Or “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?”
The Pentecost story in Acts 2 offers an alternative understanding, a portrait of the church where people speak, are heard, and are understood.
In the Culture
Speaking in tongues is one of those phenomena that seem as likely to drive people from a church as attract them to it. Most of us who grew up in the old mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions after the Enlightenment found the practice to be unexplainable, unnecessary, unseemly, and more than a little embarrassing.
The Enlightenment liberalized Christian theological thinking and invited logical reasoning and the scientific method into our churches. Speaking in tongues did not fit neatly into that new enlightened worldview, so we just sort of brushed it over into the corner and tried to forget about it.
Then along came the religious backlash to the Enlightenment -- Fundamentalism, and its cousin Pentecostalism -- around the turn of the 20th century. They found glossolalia lying in the corner, picked it up, and claimed it as their own.
Since then we Christians have argued about its proper place in Christian theology and praxis.
Some claim that it is absolutely unnecessary, useless, and a diversion from the true mission of the church.
Others claim that it is a sign of true Christianity, without which you aren’t really Christian.
And still others claim that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, given to some and withheld from others (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:1ff).
Contemporary anthropologist and author T.M. Luhrmann has studied and written on the subject, in her book When God Talks Back and in an August 2013 op-ed essay for the New York Times. She defines speaking in tongues as “a flow of speech-like utterances that sound more or less as if someone is speaking in a language you do not understand.”
She also notes that it is “a skill -- people talk about learning to speak in tongues and teaching others to speak in tongues.” But she also allows that it is “uncontrolled” (When God Talks Back, pp. 24-25). Once a person starts speaking in tongues they are unable to not do it or stop doing it.
According to Luhrmann, linguistic anthropologist William Samarin described the phenomenon as “human utterance that is phonologically structured -- that is, the sounds are not random noises but are drawing from the speaker’s language -- but without systematic resemblance to any language, living or dead. They have neither grammar nor syntax.” She tells of a pastor who told her that “you could pass as speaking in tongues if you say quickly and repeatedly, ‘She bought a Honda.’ ” And she concludes that “language or not, the person who speaks in tongues often feels great: refreshed, buoyant, and alive” (When God Talks Back, pp. 24-25).
In her New York Times essay (“Why We Talk in Tongues”), Luhrmann allows that “speaking in tongues might actually be a more effective way to pray than speaking in ordinary language -- if by prayer one means the mental technique of detaching from the everyday world, and from everyday thought, to experience God.”
She associates it with “apophatic” prayer, “which looks a lot like meditation and mindfulness” and “asks one to still the mind and disengage from thought.” It is a “technique” after which its practitioners “feel lighter, freer, and better.”
Luhrmann is an anthropologist who studies phenomena associated with religion such as prayer and speaking in tongues. She tends to be more interested in how people pray and worship than in the content of the prayers and worship experience. Most of her study has been of prayer and worship practices as they occur in evangelical and Pentecostal Christian churches around the world.
Predictably, she tends to come to five basic and general conclusions about evangelical prayer and Pentecostal glossolalia:
1) It’s all about “me” -- my life, my purpose, my relationship to God.
2) It’s about how I feel. If it makes me feel good, it must be of God.
3) Evidence of closeness to God is found in emotions, how a person feels. The happier someone is, the closer they are to God (and vice versa).
4) Prayer and glossolalia are skills that can be learned, practiced, and mastered.
5) Sin, as separation from God, can be overcome by mastering these skills.
All this leaves us with an important question: “Is this understanding true to what we find in the story of the first Pentecost as it is presented to us in the second chapter of Acts?”
In the Scriptures
...they were all together in one place.
That’s how Luke opens his account of that wondrous day. They were all together in one place. We tend to skip quickly over this introductory phrase. We tend to dismiss it as an attempt by the author to simply locate everyone, to tell us where everyone was.
But I think there is as much theology as there is geography at work in this sentence.
It sets a very important context for what will happen next.
The coming together, the being together of Jesus’ followers, unleashes power that they did not know was available. In coming together they experience a synergy that they had not experienced previously.
In this one phrase alone, there is the stuff of much homiletical exploration.
But for Luke it has just set the stage.
What happens next defies words, so Luke uses simile.
A great sound like the rush of a violent wind fills the house. Tongues, as of fire, appear and rest on or above each of them.
Then they are filled with God’s Holy Spirit which enables them to speak in different languages, not to show how special or gifted or praiseworthy they are but for one purpose only: so they can be understood.
The languages they were speaking were not unknown tongues. They were the very well-known tongues of those who were standing around watching all this unfold. They were the languages of the Parthians, the Medes, the Elamites, Asians, Egyptians, Judeans, Cyrenians, and all of the other people in the crowd.
The gift which was given to those disciples that day was given with a very specific purpose in mind -- and that purpose was so the gospel of God in and through Jesus Christ could be proclaimed, heard, and understood.
Proclaimed. Heard. Understood.
Without those three, the Good News is a tree falling in the woods. Does it make a sound or a difference if no one can hear it?
Without those three things, it’s just another kind of noise added to all the other noises that assault us every day.
Without those three things being in place, it’s a secret that never gets shared.
This phenomenon so beautifully portrayed in Acts is hardly the same one that we find so often in our contemporary church settings. In that context, glossolalia is spoken and heard, but it is not understood. In fact, it is often valued for the very reason that it can’t be understood. It is seen as a special, secret language that only God and the angels can understand -- Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Asians, Egyptians, etc. need not apply.
In the Sermon
Why do pilots say “Roger” when they talk on the radio?
It’s because in 1929, when pilots began using radios in their airplanes, “Roger” was the phonetic alphabet word for the letter “R,” which in Morse Code stood for the word “received.”
When a pilot received a radio communication, he would reply “Roger” to indicate that the message had been received and understood. The word “Wilco” is an abbreviation for “will comply.” So when pilots said “Roger Wilco,” they meant that they had received the message and would follow the instructions that had been included in it.
The abbreviation was used as a universal radio phrase through World War II because many people did not speak English. In 1957 the word for the letter “R” was changed from “Roger” to “Romeo,” but the radio language retained the use of “Roger.”
So the phrase “Roger Wilco” means “heard, understood, will comply.”
In this week’s lesson from the book of Acts, Luke makes it very clear that when the Holy Spirit comes into play the result is not lack of understanding. That was already present before the Holy Spirit showed up. No, what is new is understanding.
When the Holy Spirit appears, suddenly people are speaking so they can be heard and understood. And what are they speaking about? Their jobs? Their kids? The box scores? Something they saw on Youtube?
No, they’re talking about “God’s deeds of power.”
They are talking about Jesus Christ and him crucified. They are talking about Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead.
As must we all who bear his name.
And they are speaking so they can be understood. And they are understood.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Thirsting for Peace
by Chris Keating
Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39
Pentecost Sunday calls for a bit of drama. Like a summer motion picture blockbuster, Luke’s account is filled with plentiful special effects: the rushing wind, the divided tongues, the multilingual explosion. It’s not hard to imagine sanctuary lights dimming and pews rocking as the Dolby-enhanced sounds of a rushing locomotive or ascending rocket fill the sanctuary. Over the din comes an announcer’s booming baritone: “Up in the sky, look! It’s a bird... it’s a plane... it’s the... Pope?”
Of course, Pope Francis isn’t the man of steel; he’s the servant of the servants. But this pontiff continues to amaze and astound the world by his spontaneous gestures and humble pastoral acts. He may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he has still managed to do some amazing things -- including reinvigorating hopes for peace in the Middle East.
Late last month, Pope Francis invited the leaders of Palestine and Israel to visit his home at the Vatican, and to join him in praying for peace.
The Middle East is a region soaking in bloodshed and thirsting for peace. Just this week, as a new Palestinian government prepared to take office, violence continued. Skirmishes between Hamas forces and Israel’s military occur nearly daily. Instability in Syria and Iran’s incessant nuclear saber-rattling contribute to the seemingly intractable situation.
With diplomatic and political wells running dry and the world still thirsting for answers, it seems the pope is willing to try divine intervention in order to produce a miracle. Perhaps trusting that running water will indeed gush from believer’s bellies, Pope Francis has invited the principal parties to come to his house for prayer.
Peace in the Middle East does not seem to have a prayer of a chance -- but perhaps prayer is exactly what will prompt reconciliation. That seems exactly what the pope intended when he extended his historic invitation. Throughout his visit to the Holy Land, the pope met with Muslim and Jewish leaders and reiterated calls to end violence, pleading for the communities to deepen interfaith spiritual connections.
It’s not a superhuman feat, but it could be a start.
In the News
The pope made his historic invitation at the end of a mass in Bethlehem’s manger square.
“In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with Israeli President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace,” Francis said.
Abbas and Peres have both accepted the invitation, which will take place at the pope’s Vatican apartment this Sunday (June 8).
The pope also encouraged the acknowledgement of a two-state solution, and called the current stalemate unacceptable. He insisted that both states must safely coexist within internationally recognized borders.
“Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a constant torment. The men and women of these lands, and of the entire world, all of them, ask us to bring before God their fervent hopes for peace,” he said.
The pope’s trip was filled with frequent symbolism, including stops at the Western Wall and a visit to the Holocaust memorial, as well as visits with Palestinian leaders and people. He prayed at the Israeli-constructed barrier along the West Bank, and listened to the stories of Holocaust survivors. While touring the West Bank, Francis met with refugee children and urged them not to let violence define their lives. “Violence is overcome by peace,” he told the children.
While the upcoming Vatican prayer summit may only be symbolic -- Abbas’ term is over, and Peres’ duties are largely ceremonial -- Francis’ intervention has been seen as an attempt to allow faith to bring a solution to the region’s many struggles. It could bring new life to the floundering peace process. While officially only a time for prayer, the meeting will have profound implications.
According to one account, there’s an old joke in the region that goes like this: there’s a realistic answer to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and a miraculous one. The realistic solution involves divine intervention. On the other hand, the miraculous solution would be an agreement between the two sides. The pope’s spontaneous invitation may be an example of how divine intervention might just prompt a miraculous solution.
The pope’s trip was filled with a great deal of symbolism, as well as painful reminders of the scars dividing Palestine and Israel. His words and actions are now part of the historical record that includes countless diplomats and politicians. From Kissinger to Carter, Begin to Sadat, Arafat, and Albright, the conversations at times sound like listing of nations in Acts 2 -- with everyone speaking at once, straining to understand.
Perhaps this Pentecost the gift of understanding may once more emerge, gushing forth like water from the heart of faith.
In the Scriptures
It’s hard to avoid Luke’s account of Pentecost in Acts 2, as perplexing and discomforting as it may seem to contemporary readers. The coming of the Spirit brings drama to the early church --shaking it loose from its moorings in a cloistered room, and sending it (quite literally) into the streets. Luke draws from the deep well of Jewish tradition, relating the experiences of Israel to the experience of the fledgling church.
As the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost was a celebration of God’s gift of law to Israel. What had initially been an agricultural festival had become a celebration of the covenant -- a time of rejoicing in God’s revelation at Sinai. The richness of those celebrations carries over into what by any accounts is pure spectacle: multitudes from varying nations, including extinct civilizations, understanding the apostles’ message; a violent wind; and divided fiery tongues. No wonder some wondered if the apostles were a wee bit tipsy.
Yet, as Peter says, it’s too early for wine. The emotions of the moment had prompted new signs of unity between the believers. The outward sign of the Spirit’s arrival shakes the earth just as Sinai shook with God’s glory. It is a fulfillment, says Peter, of what has been promised: young people will speak prophetically, and old men shall dream dreams.
The crowds are astonished.
A similar motif is echoed in John 7:37, where Jesus stands in the midst of the crowd and issues his own heartfelt invitation. In the Common English Bible, translators put Jesus’ words this way: “All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, ‘Rivers of live water will flow out from within him.’ ” Jesus’ words to the crowd address the deepest of human yearning: new life to all who are thirsting for greater meaning and purpose.
Water, so important to an arid land, brings refreshment and renewal. But just like the crowds at Pentecost, not everyone understands. Jesus’ words astonish the crowd. They are startled, even troubled: “Never has anyone spoken like this!” (7:47).
In the Sermon
It may be too early to drink wine on Sunday morning, but this Pentecost Sunday won’t be too early to speak of the astonishing presence of the Spirit. Both readings reflect the power and enlivening presence of the Spirit, and both offer the opportunity to startle us by their surprising impact.
Unfortunately, it seems as though we’re not impressed by Pentecost any more. Its special effects seem a bit less like Steven Spielberg and a lot like the old 1950s Superman television show. Its message is removed from our experience. We’ve never met a Parthian, and there won’t be any residents of Mesopotamia visiting church this Sunday. The challenge to the preacher will be to allow these words to gush forth from the pulpit like streams of living water.
Perhaps Pope Francis’ bold gestures are an opportunity to revisit the surprising fervor of the early church. Pushed out of the home where the apostles were staying, Peter is moved to proclaim the mighty acts of God. Moved by the Spirit, he takes a chance -- speaking in a way others could understand.
Likewise, this pope from the New World has taken a chance. He’s made a bold move, unwilling to sit on the sidelines. He is speaking in ways that bridge the gaps between people. And he upholds prayer as the mighty language uniting all God’s people. If all else has failed, why not give prayer a chance?
Pentecost brings the assurance of the Comforter’s presence to the church. The Spirit leads us toward tough conversations, restores peace between nations, and quenches the deepest thirsts of God’s people.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
Acts 2:1-21
It turns out that learning to speak a second language has benefits beyond increased communication. New research published in the Annals of Neurology reveals that people who speak two or more languages may have an advantage when it comes to slowing cognitive decline from aging. Researchers drew on data from a study of native English speakers that measured their intelligence at age 11 and then again in their 70s. Findings indicate that the bilingual participants in the study had significantly better cognitive abilities, with the strongest effects being seen in general intelligence and reading. Another study done in 2013 found that bilingual patients suffer dementia onset on average 4.5 years later than those who only speak one language. Youth seem to benefit from an additional language as well -- a 2012 study found certain brain functions to be enhanced in teens who were fluent in more than one language. Researchers found that bilingual teens were better at multitasking and focusing on something even when distracted by high levels of noise.
What are the benefits of learning to speak in a way that “foreigners” can understand? Who are those foreigners? How can we learn to understand and be understood? What grows from that understanding? What would Pentecost look like today?
*****
Acts 2:1-21
Sometimes a hero’s story isn’t uncomplicated.
Since the U.S. negotiated prison of war Bowe Bergdahl’s release this weekend, different layers and versions of his story have been emerging from different sources.
A Pentagon investigation from 2010 has come to light that concluded Bergdahl walked away from his unit, causing the Army to drop its initial flurry of activity to try to find and rescue the sergeant.
Bergdahl’s release also means the release of five terrorist suspects from U.S. custody, stirring up a debate around whether the exchange would heighten the risk of other U.S. service members being snatched as bargaining chips for the future release of other terrorist suspects.
U.S. officials are speaking out of both sides of their mouths about the reasons behind the exchange. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said, “Had we waited and lost him, I don’t think anybody would have forgiven the United States government,” but within five hours time also declared that Bergdahl appeared to be “in good physical condition.”
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Bergdahl’s release to a group of silent soldiers by saying, “This is a happy day. We got one of our own back.”
Meanwhile, one of the soldiers from Bergdahl’s unit said:
There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s platoon -- including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened.
Everybody involved seems to be speaking a different language, but unlike at Pentecost, there is no common understanding. This is not an uncommon story. What keeps us from understanding each other? What keeps us from being “amazed and perplexed” and just leaves us sneering at each other and accusing each other of being “filled with new wine” (vv. 12-13)?
*****
John 7:37-39
Richard Martinez lost his son Christopher in the recent shooting rampage at UC-Santa Barbara. So did Peter Rodger. His son’s name was Elliot. Elliot was the shooter.
Both men have shown a surprising outpouring of compassion and graciousness despite the pain and depth of their losses.
Rodger’s lawyer released these two statements sharing his client’s newfound purpose and a quick outward turn in light of the complicated difficulties involved with being the family of the shooter:
My client’s mission in life will be to try to prevent any such tragedies from ever happening again. This country, this world, needs to address mental illness and the ramifications from not recognizing these illnesses.
The Rodger family offers their deepest compassion and sympathy to the families involved in this terrible tragedy. We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain, and our hearts go out to everybody involved.
Less than a week after Richard Martinez lost Christopher, he met with Peter Rodger, because Rodger also lost his son when Elliot committed suicide after the shooting spree. Martinez told a reporter afterward that he feels for Elliot’s parents, whose son was unable to survive his mental illness. Martinez also shared that whatever pain he and his family are feeling is matched by that of the Rodgers.
“As badly as my family feels and the other families that have suffered from this tragedy, I go down the street and everybody feels sorry for me, everybody offers condolences. Nobody is going to offer condolences to them,” Martinez said. “They’ve lost a son, and not only that, they’re devastated by the other people that have died.”
These are surely “rivers of living water” flowing from the hearts of two men who have lost so much. How does our belief allow our hearts to flow in similarly generous or compassionate ways? From what well do we draw so we might then overflow ourselves? What happens when we draw from a source that continually leaves us thirsty? What happens to our hearts? What do those wells look like in our lives? How do we avoid them?
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From team member Ron Love:
David Gibson wrote a piece for Religion News Service about the popular HBO series Game of Thrones, asking if a Christian could watch such a show. Despite its 5.5 million viewers, Gibson questioned if a show depicting graphic violence, overt sexuality, and an unrelenting quest for power had any redeeming value. He also questioned if the show could ever have any basis in reality. Gibson then wrote that the show’s “possible virtue is depicting how the world would look if Christ had never been born -- or what it could look like if Christianity disappeared tomorrow.”
Application: Pentecost is an affirmation of the importance of the church.
*****
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a passion other than racing -- collecting NASCAR memorabilia. Several times each day he checks the eBay Motors website in search of something he would like to add to his collection. Earnhardt approaches bidding on eBay as he does racing, saying “Yeah, it’s like racing, you just have to move on if you lose” something you wanted, “but you feel good when you pick up something that’s cool.”
Application: Pentecost is the season in which we need to realize that it is time to have the passion of being involved in the life of the church.
*****
Sean Gobin has served three combat tours in the last dozen years. But upon returning to the States he could not readjust or lessen his war memories -- so he embarked on a six-month, 2,000-mile walk on the Appalachian Trail. As he found it to be therapeutic, he began an organization for other troubled vets to walk the trail. The program has come to be known as “walk off the war.”
Application: Pentecost is the season in which we become aware of the need to invite others to walk with the Lord.
*****
Last year under the direction of Pope Francis, the Roman Catholic Church embarked on a campaign called “the new evangelization.” Catholics are not accustomed to sharing their faith beyond the church. But in explaining this program, Pope Francis said that Catholicism “does not grow by means of proselytizing” but “by attraction, by witnessing, by preaching.”
Application: Pentecost began the age of a new evangelization.
*****
The Department of Veterans Affairs is under investigation for providing inadequate care and for failing to see patients in a timely manner. The investigation began when a whistleblower alleged that the Phoenix VA hospital maintained two lists of patients -- an official list presented to the government, and an alternate list of all patients needing treatment. There were about 1,700 patients who were not reported on the official list who could easily have been lost or forgotten.
Application: Pentecost is the season in which we make sure that no one is lost or forgotten.
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From team member Mary Austin:
The Power of Language to Hurt or Heal
What if you started school not knowing any of the language around you?
Maria Konnikova writes for Scientific American about her experience of starting kindergarten knowing just one word -- how to spell her name. Armed with the spelling -- M-A-R-I-A -- she boarded the school bus, arrived at the school, and attempted to find her classroom. She was soon in tears, and her older sister was summoned by the principal to help. The sister came down from her classroom upstairs with the gift of familiar language to ease the struggles of the day. Many other days left Maria in tears too, until she mastered the language.
As she says: “We tend to take language for granted. Our memories of not understanding it, of not being in control of it, of not being able to use it to communicate our needs, our wants, our desires, our emotions are, on the whole, blissfully nonexistent. As soon as we’re born, we’re able to pick out key features of the language that surrounds us -- infants even a few hours old can already distinguish between different rhythmic families, reacting differently to, say, English, in contrast to French or Japanese -- and long before we can say our first word, we have a fairly good idea of what’s going on around us. We’re well-oiled language-acquiring machines. It’s like that old joke that somehow never gets old, of how wonderfully little children in France (or Russia or insert your foreign country of choice) speak French. So young, and so fluent! And no accent in sight.”
But when you don’t know the language, learning it is a gift. Konnikova adds, “Perhaps that’s where my love of language was first born, the knowledge that I should never take a single word for granted, that the understanding that seems so natural and matter-of-fact can be taken away just as easily as it was first given. Perhaps I should be thankful for those endless tears after all.”
*****
Twice as Good
Babies in bilingual homes pick up both languages at the same rate as children who are only learning one language. According to National Geographic, both groups of babies say their first words at about 12 months, and know about 50 words by the age of 18 months. Researchers “have found that part of their skill lies in being more flexible learners than their monolingual peers. Their exposure to two languages at an early point in their lives trains them to extract patterns from multiple sources of information.” Knowing two languages isn’t just handy for travel -- it shapes the way the brain gleans and uses information.
Bilingual babies also have better capacity for executive function. Researchers have found that babies in bilingual homes do better with tasks that involve managing other impulses, like using “attention and motor skills, in order to achieve a goal. [Executive function helps] us to plan for the future, focus our attention, and block out instinctive behaviors that would get in the way. Think of them as a form of mental control. The role of these abilities in learning multiple languages is obvious -- they allow us to focus on one language, while preventing the other from interfering. Indeed, children and adults who learn to use two languages tend to develop better executive functions.”
Now researchers know that “even from a very young age, before they can actually speak, children develop stronger executive functions if they grow up to the sound of two mother tongues. They show a degree of mental control that most people their age would struggle to match.”
*****
When Language Vanishes
Linguist David Harrison has a passion for vanishing languages. He’s traveled to numerous remote places in search of languages that are in danger of being lost, and has compiled talking dictionaries of eight different languages. As NPR reports from an interview with Harrison, “It’s estimated that one language is lost from the world every two weeks. Many of these languages are spoken in remote corners of the world. Some have only a handful of native speakers left. So now, a team of linguists equipped with modern, sort of, technology are making talking dictionaries. They’re making audio recordings of words and sentences from these dying languages.”
Harrison says that the world has 7,000 “oral languages, which means they’re not written down or their speakers don’t regularly use writing to represent them. And so although the traditional project has been for linguists to write grammars and dictionaries, we like to think of living languages, what people are actually speaking. So if you go to a dictionary, you should be able to hear it. And with that in mind, we’ve created the talking dictionaries working with support from National Geographic for eight of the world’s most endangered languages.”
Harrison tells this story about the power of hearing your own language: “I’ve been in many communities like the Matugar community in Papua New Guinea. It’s a small language, just 500 speakers in a little coastal village. They knew about the internet long before they had ever encountered it, before they had electricity. And they had an agenda that they wanted their language to be represented on the internet. And so, working with a speaker of Matugar, we were able to record thousands of words in the language -- terms for canoes and coconuts and all kinds of things that they talk about -- and put this online. And then in 2011, the village did get electricity, and they eventually got an internet connection. And the very first time they went on the internet, they were able to see and hear their very small language represented there. So that sends a very powerful message. Technology is not to be seen as a threat, but rather as an opportunity for a small language to extend its voice and to reach a global audience.”
*****
What You Can’t Say in English
Jason Wire writes for the travel site Matador Network that there are some words impossible to translate into English. One of them is mamihlapinatapei from Yagan, an indigineous language from Tierra del Fuego (the southern tip of South America), which requires a number of words to convey in English. It is “the wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start.” Or perhaps in the summer entertaining season you need iktsuarpok from the Inuit, meaning “to go outside to check if anyone is coming.” Or for the forgetful tartle could be handy (from Scottish), meaning “the act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.”
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: O God, how manifold are your works!
People: In wisdom you have made them all.
Leader: When you send forth your spirit, we are created.
People: May the glory of our God endure forever.
Leader: May our meditation be pleasing to you, O God.
People: We bless you and praise your name.
OR
Leader: God invites us to be filled with the Spirit of God.
People: We open ourselves and our lives to God’s Spirit.
Leader: The Spirit of God cannot be kept just for ourselves.
People: We will allow God’s Spirit to open us to others.
Leader: God’s Spirit is offered to all people and all creation.
People: We will honor God’s Spirit in all that God has created.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart”
found in:
UMH: 500
PH: 326
AAHH: 312
NCH: 290
CH: 265
LBW: 486
ELA: 800
W&P: 132
AMEC: 198
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God”
found in:
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
“Spirit of the Living God”
found in:
UMH: 393
PH: 322
AAHH: 320
NNBH: 133
NCH: 283
CH: 259
W&P: 492
CCB: 57
Renew: 90
“O Come and Dwell in Me”
found in:
UMH: 388
“Holy Spirit, Truth Divine”
found in:
UMH: 465
PH: 321
NCH: 65
CH: 241
LBW: 257
ELA: 398
“Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song”
found in:
UMH: 544
H82: 513
PH: 314
NCH: 270
CH: 245
ELA: 403
W&P: 327
Renew: 280
“In Christ There Is No East or West”
found in:
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439, 440
AAHH: 398, 399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394, 395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELA: 650
W&P: 600, 603
AMEC: 557
“Where Charity and Love Prevail”
found in:
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELA: 359
“We Are One in Christ Jesus” (“Somos uno en Cristo”)
found in:
CCB: 43
“Refiner’s Fire”
found in:
CCB: 79
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who knows us and then speaks to us: Grant us the wisdom to follow your way and learn to know our neighbors and their needs before we weigh in with answers for them; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to worship you, O God, and to listen for your instructions for us. We know that you look within us and know us intimately, and so we trust that your words are caring ones. Help us this day to learn to offer our neighbors the same respect you show for us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our sin of speaking to make us feel better rather than to make the world a better place.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are often short-sighted and self-centered, which causes us to talk more than to listen. We forget that others have their own outlook and their own understanding. We expect others to think and act like us. When others don’t agree with us, we feel attacked rather than seeing an opportunity to learn. So fill us with your Spirit that we may open our hearts and our ears to others. Help us to be as accepting of others as you are. Amen.
Leader: God knows us and loves us, accepting us as we are. God’s Spirit is poured out upon us if we are willing to accept the gift.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, Creator God, for making us in your image and filling us with your Spirit.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are often short-sighted and self-centered, which causes us to talk more than to listen. We forget that others have their own outlook and their own understanding. We expect others to think and act like us. When others don’t agree with us, we feel attacked rather than seeing an opportunity to learn. So fill us with your Spirit that we may open our hearts and our ears to others. Help us to be as accepting of others as you are.
We give you thanks for all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. We thank you for the wonder of life and the joy of knowing your love. You have gifted us with your own presence as you have poured out your Spirit upon us to give us life that is abundant, joyful, and eternal.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We know that many struggle and find it difficult to acknowledge your presence in their lives. Some feel abandoned because of the hardships of life and wonder if anyone cares. As your Spirit moves among them, use us to be the physical presence of that Spirit.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Ask the children three or four questions (What is your favorite color? What is your favorite food? etc.). Tell them you are going to ask them a question and that you will give them a moment to come up with their answer -- and that you want them to all shout out the answer together. Do this for each question. Then ask one of the children to tell what another child answered on a specific question. (What is Tommy’s favorite color?) Of course, the children won’t be able to answer very well because they were busy giving their answer instead of listening to others. When the Spirit of Jesus lives within us, we are able to speak and be heard by others because we also listen.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Pentecost
by Elaine M. Ward
Acts 2:1-21
One day Jesus’ friends came together. They were sad because Jesus was no longer with them. They missed Jesus, but suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded like the flapping of many wings and everyone covered their ears. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire rest on the heads of each of them, and they were filled with God’s Spirit. They spoke, but in different languages. They knelt on the floor and thanked God for God’s love and presence. They told the story of Jesus around the world, for that was the day the church was born.
There was once a man who loved God. Because he loved God, he loved other people. One day he met a sick man who needed medicine and a doctor and a place where he could get well. The man said, “I will build a hospital. But I cannot build a hospital alone. I need others who will help me.” The man found other people who loved God. Because they loved God, they loved others too. Together they built a hospital. Together they bought medicine. Together they paid the doctors and the nurses who cared for the sick. There were many things the man could do alone to show his love. There were many things he needed others to help him do. The church is like that, people who love God and serve and help others alone and together.
Talk together: At Pentecost we gather together in the church. What do you like best about our church?
Prayer: When we are afraid, God, remind us of your church, the gathering place where we love and worship you, and where we are loved too. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 8, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
