Eastertide

June 3, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. –Acts 2:1-6

I see tornados and floods in everything I read right now as Oklahoma and much of the rest of the Great Plains and the Midwest are dealing daily with devastating weather. I heard almost the same words come from a teenager being interviewed on the news recently as was used to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit. I cannot repeat and exact quote but to the best of my recollection he said, “I heard strong wind and the house shook and it was picked up and turned around until it was plopped on the ground and exploded with stuff falling all over us.” It was a mobile home and everything in it was destroyed but the family came out relatively unscathed. Their lives will never be the same. First, they instantly received the message that life is precious and not something to be taken for granted. Second, material things no longer mean as much to them as they did before the storm. Third, they got a second chance at life and they need to make the most of it.

Reading this scripture and hearing the news report almost simultaneously, made me wonder whether the disciples and others present understand the arrival of the Holy Spirit as a good or bad at that moment. It certainly was a life-changing event.

There were definitely English and Spanish speaking people involved in the tornado. Because it hit a motel it is possible that there were people who spoke other languages involved. It did not matter because all persons involved, and all the First Responders immediately spoke the same “language” required to search for and save survivors. They did a good job. It was an EF-3 tornado, very destructive, and there were only two people killed and 29 people injured. It could have been so much worse.

Speaking the common language of love does not require words. It is the essential element in our becoming one.

Prayer: Lord, empower us to speak the common language of love all the time not just in crisis. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.