Pentecost Meditation for 5/19/2013

Acts 2:1-13

  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.

  Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

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  Before we pray, I'd like to say a few words about Pentecost.

  I read a great article in Christianity Today about Bible translations, and the author was making a point about the act of translation.  In translation, you're converting something that was once unintelligible into a format that the listener or reader can understand.  You're translating an idea into their acceptable format.

  Think about world travel.  When we travel to foreign countries, it is often the case that we cannot speak the language.  It becomes very, very difficult to navigate basic directions and restaurant menus.  We look for familiar words, but it is very easy to get confused and frustrated at your lack of understanding.  If you know the language, however, it is easier, and the foreign world in which you are immersed is instantly more comfortable.  The same is true if people speak English--you cease to be intimidated and can relax, letting your defenses drop.  Foreign concepts are understandable.

  When we think of God, we have to recognize that God had to translate himself for us to understand him.  We do not have minds capable of grasping the reality of the God who exists outside of time and space.  We cannot fathom how God works or how great God is.  Since there is no common language, God must translate himself.

  We find that God has done this for us--in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, God translates himself into our humanity so that we can understand him.  So that we can understand and grasp the reality of God's love, Jesus Christ ascends the cross and dies for us.  This is an act of translation, of making God's love something we can grasp.

  Scripture, too, is an act of translation.  Scripture is a translation of the work and majesty of God into words that we can read and understand.  The notions and concepts of the faithful life are on the pages of Scripture.  God's amazing acts are cataloged so that we can grasp a notion of who and how God is.

  When we approach Pentecost, we recognize this as another moment of translation.  We recognize that Pentecost is a time when the truth of salvation is translated into every language available.  Somehow the Holy Spirit uses the witness of the apostles to carry the message into the hearts and minds of the thousands who are gathered in Jerusalem.  God takes the truth of Christ and translates it into every language so that all people can come to know Christ as Savior.

  So we're going to pray in a moment, and I want you to think about what we do when we pray.  One way to understand it is this:

  If you've ever used Google Translate, you've noticed a little flaw.  When you translate something from English into whatever language, you get the closest translation possible.  It's not always possible to translate something perfectly, just as our words always fall short of perfectly describing God.  Often, what happens next is you try and translate that sentence back into English to check it for errors, and this is often where you get a result far different than what you are trying to say.  The translation doesn't always work as it should.

  Our lives work in a similar fashion.  When we read Scripture, we get a picture of what a faithful life looks like.  Often, though, sin works in and distorts our efforts, turning us from God and into ourselves.  We end up focused more on ourselves than on God and others.

  Prayer, then, is part of our effort to re-translate our lives.  We recognize the errors we have made in translating God's truth into our lives, and we hold up our efforts to God and ask for guidance and wisdom, for strength and mercy, so that our translation errors might be fixed, so that our lives might be better translated back into the original.  We worship and praise God for his mighty works and his mighty love, and we ask him to help guide us in re-translating our lives, that they might faithfully point to God as they are supposed to do, rather than pointing at ourselves in sin and self-worship.

  Our prayers are our attempts to re-translate our lives, and we pray for the Spirit's help in doing so.

  Let us pray