| ” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine (Acts 2:12-13).” |
| Dear Friends, Just a few days ago was the Day of Pentecost, one of the seven feast days of the Church (check them out in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), p. 15). It is also deemed in the BCP as one of the four feast days as “especially appropriate” for baptism. You can check that out on page 312 of the BCP. So, that is what I was doing this past Sunday, baptizing my friends’ son. I fulfilled a commitment I had made before leaving St. John’s. The Rev. Dorota Wright-Pruski who is the rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Arlington wanted to fully enjoy the role of mom with her husband Colin who would be fully enjoying the role of dad at their son’s baptism. And from what I heard, Rev. Beth Bingham and you all had a fantastic celebration here at Epiphany. I missed being with you and there was something so special to know that joy and laughter and delight is not so fragile. It is resilient. It can be so broadly shared. It is empowering. It is connecting. As Rev. Beth offered herself and love to you; you offered it to her. It felt the same between me and the people of St. Andrew’s. In the story from Acts on Sunday the Holy Spirit descends on followers of Jesus (maybe 120 of them if we draw from who is together in the first chapter of Acts) as Jesus had promised. And they suddenly speak in the natal languages of the others who gather came and gathered around them. They heard the message of God’s love unfiltered through the barriers of a learned second language, Greek. And at this point the text says, “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” What a wonderful question. And one that can be difficult to rest and marvel in. Some could not. Out of the group of “all” some sneered. Unable to enjoy the place of wonder and unknowing, they pointed to inebriation. They pointed to the group of disciples, and in their closed-system thinking, missed totally pointing to God. The thing is, what was happening was not about the disciples at all really. The speaking of many languages was not about their talents and gifts. It was about the power of God to connect us, and break down the walls we build between us, even to the intimate level of language. The disciples not only spoke new words. They spoke the love song and story of God. As the theologian Willie James Jennings observes, “learning what words mean are bound to events, songs, sayings, jokes, everyday practices, habits of the mind and body, all within a land and the journey of a people.” It is turning and expressing the desire to know the other and show them God’s love. Something in the “priest swap” that was part of our collective experience Sunday – you with Rev. Beth and me with St. Andrews, felt to a very small degree a way of sharing language, of sharing familiar and yet unfamiliar space. And the Holy Spirit moved and empowered. The love of God was made known to each other in the way we needed to know it, to hear it. I wonder what that moment was for you on Sunday. “What does this mean?” Let’s not jump to looking anywhere else, but rest in awe and wonder of the power of God to guide and strengthen us in love and connection. When we move from there, God will help us draw ever closer into God’s dream for us in becoming Beloved Community. Thanks be to God. In Peace, Rev. Dina |