A Spirit of Inclusion 6-8-25
Spirit of Inclusion
Gen 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21
Gen 11:1-9
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
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. 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.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Prayer – God of grace, as we celebrate the birth of the church, as we rejoice with the coming of your spirit, may we realize that the diversity of languages and beliefs are part of your purpose. A purpose that allows for differences while at the same time draws us deeper into your loving grace that includes all of your beloved children – amen.
Christians have often hoped for a time when our racial and economic differences would cease, when in Christ we would all be indistinguishable. Such impulses are earnest but fundamentally misguided. Despite the Spirit being sent to us to assist us in faithfulness, we continue to be divided in countless ways.
Many such interpretations emerge from a fervent hope that the specters of racism, sexism and myriad other destructive "isms" would no longer bind us to cycles of violence and hate. Many such interpretations emerge from a misreading a number of Pauline texts. Such readings imagine that becoming Christians means becoming all the same in all ways. There are no ethnic differences between us ("no longer Jew or Greek"), no differences of class and status between us ("no longer slave or free"), no gendered differences between us ("no longer male and female"). Nothing could be further from the truth.
Paul teaches and you have heard me say time and time again that "in Christ Jesus we are all children of God". Our adoption as children of God, however, does not erase our differences. We are not the same, but we are reminded that our differences are not ways to measure our value in the eyes of God and one another. With God, there is always a spirit of inclusion.
The story of Pentecost in our Christian scripture today helps us understand how God sees human diversity: one of God's greatest gifts to the world. At Pentecost, God through the Spirit does not erase our differences but embraces the fact that God has made us all so wonderfully different.
First, a quick recap. The final chapters of the Gospel of Luke and the first chapters of Acts finds the disciples and other followers of Jesus regrouping and discerning what a life of faith together looks like after his death, resurrection and ascension. Both at the end of the Gospel of Luke and again at the beginning of Acts, Jesus promises that he would bestow this gathered community with the gift of the Spirit. The gift arrives in grand style – like the rush of the wind, which interestingly is the same word used in ancient Hebrew to reflect God’s breath entering Adam at the creation.
These early followers of Jesus gather in Jerusalem along with fellows Jews from around the Mediterranean world. They are gathered together in one place when suddenly tongues of fire descend from the heavens on the day of Pentecost. The gift of the Spirit precipitates an extraordinary event. As the disciples proclaim the good news, everyone hears the good news proclaimed in their own language.
Many interpreters have viewed this Pentecost moment as a direct response to the Tower of Babel, a fantastic story that seeks to explain how a people once united by common ancestors eventually became peoples with many different languages. Some have asserted that Pentecost reverses the punishment God meted out at Babel. Finally, we can understand one another because the Spirit enables all to understand one language. God’s language of love and grace.
To me, this is a significant misreading of Babel. Is it really a punishment from God that we are all different, that we speak different languages and live in different cultures? That is, is difference a problem in need of a solution? I certainly don't think so, and the vibrancy of the world's cultures is evidence against this misreading of Babel.
Most importantly, if Pentecost were a reversal of Babel, if Pentecost undid the diversity of human languages precipitated by Babel, why would the Spirit enable everyone to hear the Gospel preached in their own languages? Why not cause everyone to understand one, universal, heavenly language?
Notice what happens at Pentecost. God, through the Spirit, chooses to meet us where we are: in the midst of a multitude of languages and experiences. The Spirit translates the Gospel instantly into myriad languages. If you think this is easy, then you have never tried learning a new language! You don't just substitute one word in one language for a corresponding word in another language. Language is messy and intricate. Language is rooted in a wider and complex culture and way of thinking and living. Even when we speak the same language, don't we still have a hard time understanding one another? Imagine then the miracle of Pentecost and what it means for us today.
God meets us in the messiness of different languages and does not ask us to speak God's language. Instead, God chooses to speak our many languages. God does not speak in a divine language beyond our comprehension. At Pentecost, God speaks in Aramaic and Greek and other ancient languages. Today, God continues to speak in Spanish, Greek, Hindi and Chinese alike.
At Pentecost, God makes God's choice clear. God joins us in the midst of the messiness and the difficulties of speaking different languages, eating different foods and living in different cultures. God’s desire is that we can and will find a spirit of inclusion that truly reflects God’s desire for us to be one body – a body that includes all the differences in love. That is good news indeed.
When Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, political pundits and frankly, many of us hoped and believed that we had finally brought about the dawn of a "post-racial" society. If we were paying attention for the last few years, we know this was naive, maybe even foolish. Our differences linger, for better in some cases and unfortunately, for worse in far too many cases.
It has become increasingly apparent, particularly after the Census released an important statistic, which reflects a fundamental reshaping of American culture. The majority of children now born in the United States are from minority, non-white populations. Some among us will see these massive demographic shifts and fear that the character of a nation will be irretrievably lost. Perhaps that is the reason for the white nationalism we see growing across our country.
However, the problems we face across cultures are not our differences. Instead, when we imbue those differences with prejudice and rank, when our differences become a way to determine who is in and who is out -- who is better and who is inferior -- then we corrupt God's gift of difference.
As people of faith, we are called to set aside the prejudices that infect our relationships with one another. They are poisons that only lead to hatred and destruction. Jesus sent the spirit, a spirit who can help us to see our brokenness around differences, a spirit who can bring hope for inclusion, a spirit who can kindle in us a desire to see our differences as gifts rather than as reason for exclusion. May this Pentecost spirit bring about a transformation that indeed will bring God’s kingdom into a present reality. Thanks be to God for sending us a spirit of inclusion – amen.