Dear Friends,

Since the beginning of the year, our Wednesday evening online faith formation participants have explored various perspectives on the historicity of the stories of Jesus and his followers found in the Christian Scriptures. We’ve asked ourselves and one another: which of these stories actually happened? How do we know? And then, why is it important? What is important?

We have accepted that some of the stories in scripture were never intended to be thought of as “history.” They were parables and songs, prophecies of old, and other literary forms that offered profound metaphors and images to convey the deepest kind of truth. Some stories were probably based on a historical fact, but over the decades, details were added that reflected the experiences and interpretations of the early Christian community. 

One way or another, we came to realize that these stories in scripture, along with much of the Bible, contain a plurality of voices. In the words of scholar Marcus Borg, the voices sometimes conflict with one another, “but in, with, and under those voices, we are to listen for and respond to the divine voice. What matters…is that we hear the voice.” *

This Sunday, we will hear the story of Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in their upper room like a rush of wind, with divided tongues of fire resting on each of them. Suddenly, they began to speak in the languages of those who were visiting Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, “as the Spirit gave them ability.” “How is it,” the observers asked, “that in our own languages we hear them speaking God’s deeds of power?”

What do you think? Did this story really happen, exactly as written? And if not, how much is true? The truest kind of true?

As you ponder these questions for yourself, I offer you a reflection by Pastor/Poet Steve Garnaas Holmes: 

At Pentecost we're pretty sure

we did the miraculous talking,

“speaking in tongues.”

But what if in fact the miracle was that

those people from every nation

heard in tongues?

What if they had the God-given gift

to listen deeply enough to know

the work of God when they heard it,

even in a foreign language?

We think we have so much to say.

Maybe we have something to hear.

Maybe the true Pentecostal gift

isn't speaking at all, but listening:

listening in tongues,

letting the Spirit listen through us,

listening in new ways

for what we haven't heard,

listening deeply enough to hear God,

even in the life of someone not like us.

What miracles emerge, when we listen deeply!

In Christ,

Amelie

 

*Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (San Francisco: Harper Collins: 1989), 240.

**https://unfoldinglight.net/