When people came to worship this past Pentecost Sunday, many expected the rightful honoring of our high school seniors and even a witness from Sydney Anderson and William Messer. But few outside of the planning team knew what to do or think when they heard a babble of voices processing in as red banners soared above. You couldn’t make out what anyone was saying; it sounded like loud gibberish coming from a collection of people with smiles on their faces. They were, in fact, praying as they came in. I bet our congregants asked the same question as arose with the believers in the upper room on that first Pentecost when they asked, “What does this mean? (Acts 2:12)”
It became only a little clearer when the people approached the altar and stood in a line. Each spoke a portion of Psalm 23 in her/his native tongue with the closed caption in English on the screen. A total of ten members of our church spoke in their native language across no less than six cultures. It was a perplexing and powerful moment in worship.
This beautiful variety of people and cultures – all members of our church – represented the kingdom of God and our future well as we become gradually more diverse. And as different as we are, we are all linked by our relationship to God through Jesus Christ and Christ’s love for all persons everywhere. It can be a little perplexing at times, to be sure. But it also can be reassuring as we come to realize that our witness of love and inclusion can move observers to say, as the church Father Tertullian said of the early Christian church, “See how they love one another.” Blow Spirit, blow!
Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,
