Vigil of Pentecost
5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Reverend John H. Brock
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Exodus 19:1–9a; Acts 2:1–11
Grace to you and peace, from God who is, who was, and who is to come. Amen.
How many of us here can speak another language? Or maybe I should ask, how
many of us wish we could speak another language? I took German in High school
and college, and I can still recite a couple of the dialogues I learned:
Friedrich: Guten Tag, Louisa, wie geht’s?
Louisa: Danke gut. Und dir?
Friedrich: Prima!
Louisa: Wer ist das da drueben?
Friedrich: Das ist ein Freund von mir.
Louisa: Wie heisst er denn?
Friedrich: Er heisst Paul. Willst du ihn kennen lernen?1
I could tell you what that dialogue said, but I can’t really hold a conversation with a
native German speaker, or even a former German teacher, like our Vicar Schreffler.
We attempted that the other day, and I got about one out of five words.
My maternal grandfather was born in Calbria, Italy. He came to the US as a young
man, and had to learn English once he got here. The same is true for my maternal
grandmother, only SHE came from Finland. She learned English from the American
family she worked for. Then, when she married my grandfather, she had to learn
Italian in order to communicate with Gelsomina, her mother-in-law, who refused to
learn English (or so she claimed. My mother tells me that Grandmother Gelsomina
used to sit on the front stoop of their apartment building and spend the summer
evening hours talking with her Irish neighbor - grandmother speaking Italian, Mrs.
O’Rouke speaking in heavily brogued English).
I’ve had a hankering, in large part due to my heritage, to learn Finnish, and maybe
Italian. I keep thinking I really ought to learn Spanish as well. In seminary I had to
learn to read Greek, because, as I am certain you all remember from your
confirmation classes, Greek is the language the New Testament was written in. That
version of ancient Greek is called Konia, and to be honest, I struggle with reading
it, and rely heavily on my various dictionaries and computer programs to help me
translate passages. Just because I can read it, doesn’t mean I can speak the words
correctly. I was at the Greek Orthodox Church a while ago, attempting to read the
inscription over the entrance, and the priest was very gracious in correcting my
pronunciation of Each and Every word I attempted.
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I think I *might* be able to claim that I am bi-lingual, though: after all, I can speak
fairly fluently in computer-ese. I know RAM refers to memory, not the critter caught
in the bushes on the mountaintop with Abraham and Isaac. I know a motherboard
is a very necessary piece of equipment, necessary to the computing ability, and not
a mom who wants something to do.
But the language we speak, the words we use, are essential to communicating with
those around us.
Let’s look at our reading from Acts. At the time of our reading, Jesus has ascended
to heaven. The eleven have been hiding out in this room. They’re scared, confused,
afraid, not certain what’s coming next. Jesus made them a promise before
ascending:
8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth." (Act 1:8 NRSV)
Yeah, ok, but what does that mean? Let’s start with Jerusalem. That was the capital
of the nation under kings Saul, David, & Solomon. Then it was the capital of the
Southern Kingdom, Judah, after the death of Solomon when the nation split in two.
After the exile, and the all displaced people return, Jerusalem was rebuilt. They
become vassals to various empires: Persia, Greece, and Roman. There in the first
century AD, Jerusalem is the capital for the Roman Province. From our Christian
perspective, the best known governor of that province would be Pontius Pilate. So
Jerusalem is local, it’s home. In some respects it’s safe. But since it is not only the
secular center for the area, but the faith center as well, if one were to start to
preach something different than the accepted, primary, faith system of the day, in
the very heart of the faith that may not necessarily be the best of moves.
Regardless, that’s Jerusalem.
...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria...
Judea is another name for Judah. And Samaria is what the Northern Kingdom of
Israel was called, after they fell to the Assyrians. So Judea is in the south, and
Israel is in the north. Centuries later, after the exile, the names changed, and the
nation became known as Israel in the south, and Samaria in the north. In 21st
century terms, if you think of the modern country of Israel and the West Bank,
Israel is kind of shaped like a “C” around the West Bank, with the large side of the
“C” on the Mediterranean Sea, the area that the West Bank takes up, and the
related land from the western boarder to the Mediterranean, are roughly where
Judea and Samaria would be.
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth.
We know, today, that earth is a bit larger than what a first century person from the
Middle East thought of, or even what an official in the Roman Empire thought the
world was. Their world was the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and probably most
of Africa. They maybe knew some, but not all, of Asia. They would Not have known
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North America, South America, Australia, and most of the Pacific islands. To
attempt to put this in a bit more local perspective, it would be like saying
Go first to Harrisburg, Then to Cumberland, Perry, Dauphin, and York
counties. Go to all the reaches of Pennsylvania, North America, and the ends
of the earth.
Think globally, is what Jesus is saying here. Think globally, but start local.
Have you ever noticed, it’s sometimes a whole lot simpler easier, quicker, when
there’s a disaster, especially one that is far away - New Orleans, or Japan, or even
the New Jersey Shore - we’re willing to reach out make a donation to help out far
away. But within our own community, it’s a little bit more . . . difficult? We
sometimes know too much about those in need, we know their faults and their
failings. I’m not saying we never help our neighbors. But there’s an allure to going
somewhere, to do something, not at home. I think we’re all pretty good at that part
of Jesus’ command. We need to remember, though, the first part of that command
- to start at home.
Maybe I can make the point by paraphrasing that verse:
and you will be my witnesses in your home town, wherever it is that you
work; in the places you shop, on the roads you frequently travel in the
restaurants you eat and the places that you worship. and when you have
born witness to me in those places, then go out farther, cast your net wider,
dare to leave your comfort zone, so that my name may be proclaimed and
people all over come to know me through you.
We don’t need to have a master’s degree in another language. We don’t need to be
bi- or tir- lingual, because I think, like the way my great-grandmother and her Irish
neighbor talked with each other, we do not always need to use the same linguistics
to communicate in the same language. God will guide us. The Spirit will give us the
conversation.
Let us be like the disciples who become apostles, because this is the time that
happens, in this rush of a violent wind. That’s the moment that the disciples
became apostles. Do you know what an apostle is? It’s the Greek word for
“ambassador,” someone who represents another party. “An authorized messenger
or representative,” according to my American Heritage Dictionary.
We are indeed “authorized representatives,” representing the most high, the one
most grace-filled: God. All of us who wear the sign of the cross on our foreheads
from out baptism bear as well the responsibility: to tell the message of Christ’s
death; bring forth the good news of forgiveness, not only to the ends of the earth,
but to those whom we see each and every day as well.
AMEN.
Copyright © 2013, John H. Brock. All rights reserved.
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1.Friedrich: Good day, Louisa, how are you doing?
Louisa: Good, thanks. And you?
Friedrich: Great!
Louisa: Who is that over there?
Friedrich: That’s a friend of mine.
Louisa: What’s his name?
Friedrich: His name is Paul. Would you like to meet him?
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