St Edburg's Church - Bicester

United by the Spirit

During his recent visit to the United States, at the state dinner, King Charles gently teased President Trump. He said:

“You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French.”

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The remark refers to the long history of British–French rivalry in North America before American independence — a reminder that the continent might have ended up French‑speaking had Britain not prevailed in the 18th century.

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There are all sorts of accidents of history, and often deliberate intentions – such as invasion - explaining why human beings around the world don’t all speak the same language.  The compilers of the Old Testament offer an explanation in Genesis 11.1-11, the story of the Tower of Babel.  According to this story, all people originally spoke the same language, and then God deliberately intervened to stop them, perhaps fearing that they would become too powerful and unite against him!  This seems more like an inadequate attempt to explain why people speak different languages and have difficulty communicating.  It probably reflects the period of Israel’s history after the Exile (6th – 5th  centuries BC) when they were scattered away from their homeland.

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The Christian Pentecost is a complete reversal of that.  Recognising that people do speak different languages, it offers the world a way to unite in spite of differences.  Acts 2 is about how Jewish believers had come to Jerusalem for the festival from scattered communities, each with a different native language.  On this day, they were all at one as they heard the apostles speak, inspired by the Spirit.  For Christians, Pentecost is the day God’s Spirit is poured on believers to bring unity, not division.

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The Gospel is an international language, that can be understood and taken  to heart by anyone, no matter what earthly language they speak.  For it is the language of love, of hope, of peace.  The apostles, both by their inspired words and deeds that day,  commended the Good News to all people of faith gathered in Jerusalem, and foreshadowed the universal spread of the Gospel in the coming years.  May the Gospel unite us all today.

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Michael Kingston