Brief synopsis of the readings: Today we return to nearly the beginning of Acts: the second chapter begins with the apostles gathered in one room when a strong wind filled the house. Tongues of fire appeared and settled on their heads and they began to speak in foreign languages. Others, known for their devotion, assembled, and were astonished to find that not only were several languages being spoken, but that everyone heard them in his own tongue. John’s Gospel gives us Jesus meeting with his disciples after his resurrection. He breathes on them and told them that they had the power to forgive sins.

Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. The word “pentecost” comes from the Greek word for “fiftieth” and it’s been 50 days since Easter. But it means a great deal more than that and to fully understand, we need to go back a week.

Our first reading comes to us from the 2nd chapter of Acts of the Apostles and we’ve been reading from Acts since Easter. Though last week I preached on the sixth week of Easter, it was also the commemoration of the Ascension of Jesus (where he left us to ascend into Heaven).

When Jesus left his disciples, two men in white robes told them this: “Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” For many believers this means that Jesus will return to earth and judge who is worthy of salvation.

But what if it’s not? Perhaps this means that Jesus won’t return in human form but instead will return in the power and authority given to all of us. Certainly that appears to be true in Jesus’ last words in John’s Gospel. Previous to this, only God could forgive sins, and Jesus created a scandal when he claimed for himself the power to forgive sins in the 9th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. But here he claims authority to forgive sins is not reserved for himself, but to all those who believe in him (ok, I recognize that many of us were taught that this gave only priests the power to forgive sins in confession, but I’m speaking more broadly here).

I’ve spoken about this before but I think we can’t emphasize this enough: Jesus came not simply to proclaim a new religion or a new god, but to proclaim an epic shift in how we believe.

The epic shift in Judaism, the change given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, centered on the place of God. Previously people worshipped a number of gods who competed for power and our job was to worship the right god. God tells Moses that there are no other gods and worshipping other gods was meaningless and unfaithful. It was a tough pill to swallow but by the time of Jesus they were comfortable with that reality.

The epic shift in Christianity centers on a God that is not only singular but global. The fact is that different languages constitute the heart of our first reading and we need to see it as more than a miracle (though it was).

Many of us, throughout history, have looked at language in political terms, going back to the Tower of Babel in the 11th chapter of Genesis. By the time of Jesus, several languages were spoken and/or written. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, though the books of Ezra and Daniel were written in Aramaic, the spoken language of Jesus and his disciples. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Romans spoke Latin.

But the writer of Acts goes well beyond this: while all who spoke were Galileans (who presumably spoke Aramaic), the listeners heard and understood them in the languages of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cretans, and Arabs. And they were all understood.

I believe that this was intentional: the disciples were being told that their role was not to proclaim salvation only to those nearby who spoke languages they understood. Instead they were told to go everywhere and preach to everyone.

Since that time missionaries have gone to “the ends of the earth” and today there is virtually nowhere in the world where the message of Jesus has not been proclaimed.

And so do we say “Mission Accomplished?” Alas, no.

To this day language has become a political tool, and different languages often divide us in direct contrast to what we’re told in Acts.

I live in San Diego, California, United States. While most of us speak English, we can also hear Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian, and several others. This doesn’t include dialogues of these languages.

And my corner of the world was indigenous until Spanish conquest in the 1500s and became part of Mexico in 1821. We became part of the United States in 1846. At no time in the last 500 years have we spoken one language but there is great political pressure for everyone to “speak American.” Multi lingual signs anger many people and give them the belief that “they” are not part of “us.”

But we become Catholic (universal) when we reach out beyond our comfort zone (or language). In 1887 a Polish ophthalmologist advanced a language he called Esperanto to (in a sense) reverse the Tower of Babel. It didn’t work.

I’ve spoken about this before but it bears repeating: each language enriches our understanding. Every language provides us words that don’t translate well because they encapsulate nuances that other languages miss. For example the Hebrew word “shalom” means welcome but it also speaks to right relationship with God. Shalom is both a greeting and a hope. Saying “shalom” to another means not only “welcome” but “I hope that you are in good standing with God.” Hawai’ians use the word “aloha” as a greeting, a blessing, and an expression of love. The Greek words for love encompass “eros” (the love between intimate partners), philia (also called “loyalty,” the love between best friends), and agape (unconditional love, the love that cannot be broken).

Our languages should celebrate not only our diversity but our celebration of each other. Pentecost demands that as we reach out to each other we are called to build bridges and not walls. It demands that we move from “just us” to “justice.”

The call of Pentecost challenged the first disciples to move into areas beyond their comfort zone. It called them to be “strangers in a strange land” and they did. Because of their courage and because they took this call seriously, we who did not descend from the Middle East now celebrate our discipleship in Jesus.

But the call of Pentecost did not expire. We live with the same call. We are challenged to continue to proclaim the love/shalom/aloha/agape to all that we meet. Even to those who share our belief in Jesus.

And especially to those who we don’t understand.