The Language of Praise
“The Language of Praise” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! I want to thank Joe Kohler for being the worship leader today, and I hope he doesn’t feel like he was short-changed on the scripture reading. As you know, this is Pentecost Sunday, and at least the first 40 verses or so of Acts chapter 2 chronicles the events of that day. Typically we go to one of the strongest worship leaders in the bullpen, because they often have to read the list in verses 8-10 of the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, and Egypt. If you have not practiced those ahead of time, it can get ugly. Not to mention the words of the prophet Joel and the words of the apostle Peter, and the writer of Acts. There’s a lot going on the day of Pentecost, mostly because the Holy Spirit is present and active.
I want to focus more narrowly today on Acts 2 verse 4: all of them, [the gathered followers of Jesus] were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. I have shared previously that if I could be granted a superpower, it would be the ability to speak other languages in addition to the one I know. I have not been granted this wish, which probably serves me right, because if I just took the time and made the effort to apply myself to learning other languages, I might be able to do it. But so far I have just hoped it would happen without any work on my part.
Language acquisition is a matter of both skill and circumstance. Babies are born without knowing any spoken language, but with the ability to acquire any language they are exposed to — which is pretty remarkable. Toddlers can learn multiple languages at the same time and keep them straight. In some places in the world it is commonplace for people to speak multiple languages: the language you speak at home with your family, your mother’s tribal language, the trade language of the country in which you live, and the “official” language of the country in which you live — which may be the language of the folks who colonized your country centuries ago. There are also languages you might learn for religious or devotional purposes: like Jews learning to read Hebrew or Muslims learning Arabic. Jesus and his disciples spoke to one another in Aramaic and could understand the Hebrew of the Torah, even if that was not conversational. A dialect of Greek was the business and trade language of the Roman Empire, and they must have had some functional knowledge of that, too.
One of the appeals of the Pentecost story is that the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to speak in other languages. While I imagine this as if I were suddenly fluent in Spanish or Ukrainian or Hausa which would be very cool the book of Acts doesn’t really go into detail about this gift — including if and when the disciples lost this miraculous ability with language and went back to their normal language capability. Like that would be kind of a let-down.
This has led me to some wondering about some of the languages which we use which aren’t necessarily spoken languages. These are things which people may understand from us, even if we are not communicating with words. Languages of compassion and service and hospitality, or perhaps the language of suspicion or hostility. Although many of these languages have words attached to them, that is not the primary way they communicated. Non-English speakers and people from other communities can be very adept at reading non-verbal communication; sometimes their lives depend on it. Our friends from Ministerio Elim speak the language of welcome: they always, always greet me and others here with a handshake and a hug, which gives me the opportunity to hug them back. It may be partly cultural, but it is also an intentional gesture of warmth and friendship, and a sign of trust from a community who has cause to be cautious about people in this country.
We have been doing a lot of singing this morning, and this is intentional. Not only so we can increase our capacity to learn new music, but because music is a complex language which is part of every tribe and culture. Music is not the only way to praise God, but is one way which is accessible to many people. Whether you are performing music, participating in singing or clapping or moving, or simply listening, it is a way to participate in praise as a community of Christ’s people. Competent musicianship and leadership are helpful — and we are so blessed to have so many leaders participating today — but if you have ever heard a group of kids singing as part of a game or in the car or around a campfire, you know that enthusiasm and joy are as much a part of that language as skill or technique.
If we are to become fluent in the language of praise we will need the help of the Holy Spirit. Not to magically make us play guitar or have a beautiful singing voice, but to give us the enthusiasm, joy, and commitment to share the language of praise in a world which can be discouraging and overwhelming. We can become focused on how discouraging, overwhelming, unjust, unfair, and depressing things are, and on how badly we are treated and how little we are appreciated . . . and that perception is a downward spiral. The more we focus on those discouraging things, the more we will see evidence that they are true. But the language of praise orients us toward a different truth: God is greater than the powers of this world, that Jesus has defeated death and despair, and that the peace and power of the Holy Spirit are with us to guide and strengthen us. The reason to speak the language of praise is because these things are true; they have always been true, and by sharing and reminding others of those truths they are manifested as reality in our own lives.
The opportunity to pray and sing and offer praise in a community of believers who are united in the conviction that Jesus Christ is alive and came to reconcile us to him is a gift we should never take for granted. This is what it means to be the church. This is what the disciples had gathered to do that Pentecost day. This is what we gather to do in Jesus’ name here at Creekside. May every instrument be tuned for praise and all rejoice who have a voice to raise as the Spirit moves in our midst. Amen.