Sermon Short for May 13th, 2018 – Making up for Babel
Acts 2:1-21, Genesis 11:1-9
It’s a week early, but I want to treat this Sunday as Pentecost Sunday. We have something unique and special for May 20th which will make it difficult to use the Pentecost readings that day and I think the Acts chapter 2 story has a powerful message for our church in this time.
Acts chapter 2 – the church breaks out of the upper room and starts proclaiming the Good News of Jesus the Christ in all languages – even languages they did not understand. It was a chance to bring together all the peoples of the world – different cultures, different faiths, different lifestyles – and share in a new way of getting along. This closes a separation spoken about in our ancient history; the Tower of Babel. Then, the peoples of the world were separated by their languages and cultures and entered into centuries of misunderstandings, conflicts and division.
I believe this Pentecost story is the spirit’s call to overcome divisions in the world. There is much that unites us. God wants us to get along.