Pentecost is a miraculous day. From the tongues of fire and speaking in multi-languages to 3000 believing the message of Jesus because of Peter's explanation the hand of God was powerfully active. And yet in the midst of the mind-boggling day there is a line in Luke's retelling that puzzles me. Verse 13: Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
Were these scoffers deaf to what was happening? Did they speak languages that were not being spoken in the tongues so all they heard was babbling? Were their hearts so cold that they couldn't accept a visible display of God? I wonder…
As humans we often make fun of what we do not understand. Instead of trying to understand or making inquiries to gain explanations many of us resort to mockery, making fun of things beyond our comfort zone. It is a cruel human trait. In school jocks make fun of nerds. Even the terms 'jocks' and 'nerds' carry a negative connotations. People of varying heritages and races make fun of others from different heritages and races. We pick on accents, bodily features, and mannerisms. We humans can be cruel.
The 'some' who were making fun must have been prominently located or a significant number because Peter addresses them within his first two sentences. Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! (14-15).
As I sit and imagine the scene –admittedly from the point of view of a Believer rather than scoffer –my heart is cut at the ease with which we humans can make fun of others. To cut people down on a morning, clearly orchestrated to unite people, stuns me. Consider the magnitude of connections God arranged to have all those people hear the wonders of God spoken in their native languages. There is something special about being spoken to in our first language, it creates a bond. Having traveled in a number of parts of the world, when I am in a country with a different language and I hear English, I am immediately drawn. My heart relaxes, I feel included. And when I attempt to speak in the language of a country I am visiting, even poorly articulating my greeting in their native tongue generally brings a smile to faces. There is something to being spoken to in one's first language.
Here on Pentecost, God does an extraordinary miracle to include people. Yet even in the midst of this wonder, some scoffed and ridiculed and made fun….
This shows me how easily it is to fall into this behavior. At this point the voice of God rattles my inner space. Do I do this? Do I make fun of people who are different? Do I allow my personal unease with differences, whatever they may be, drive me to make fun of people rather than become interested in learning, growing and connecting with them?
If I am going to be an ambassador of Jesus then I need to seek connection rather than distance. I need to seek communication rather than ridicule.
Oh, God, forgive me for my times of inhumanity toward others. Send Your Holy Spirit to me again and again so that I might grow to be more and more like Jesus, my Savior and my Lord. In His name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment