Curiouser and Curiouser
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator, from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and from our Sustainer, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 In other words – even though they were all speaking different languages they could understand each other! It was a miracle! There were people there from all over the world and each group of people was speaking their own language whether it be Galileans, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs, and despite all of those differences they could understand one another. It was a miracle! All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
What’s being described in our first lesson for today sounds like a family get-together over Memorial Day week-end – at least in my family! My husband, Gino’s family is gathering for a barbeque this afternoon. There will lots of loud English being spoken with a spattering here and there of Italian but most importantly a spattering here and there of Sicilian, and drowning out all of it is everyone speaking at the same time – laughing, telling the same stories over and over and over again, carrying on – and – lo and behold –everyone hears one another AND understands one another – and it’s a miracle!
It’s like this Pentecost day miracle – everyone understands one another because there is this bond, this glue that holds us together. And now having been a part of this new family for about ten years, I get it. As with every “outsider” – you know, in-law- like myself, there is a very slow, gradual, cautious acceptance and integration into the family with this glue that holds us together – it’s called love. It’s called trust. It’s called family. It’s the Holy Spirit binding us together just as the Holy Spirit binds us together as a church community. It’s the Holy Spirit drawing so many different people together on that first Pentecost Day so long ago – speaking different languages but clearly understanding each other – and presumable accepting one another.
Different people, different languages, different religions, different genders, different skin colors, different sexual identities, different cultures, different foods, different customs – all together understanding and accepting one another. That’s the miracle of Pentecost. That’s the gift of Pentecost – that the Holy Spirit comes to humankind for the first time drawing all people together. Even though that’s God’s intention for us – that’s God’s hope for us – that’s God’s plan for us, it is tragic, isn’t it, to say that is not realistic. It’s just not real.
For instance, did you know that hate crimes are up in Massachusetts. Yes, hate crimes have been on the rise every year in our state since 2018. Specifically, in just the last three years, anti-Jewish hate crimes have risen from 42 incidents to 58. Anti-Asian hate crimes have risen from 22 to 29 incidents, and anti-LGBTQ hate crimes have risen from 61 to 74 in the last three years in Massachusetts.
Here’s what Arline Isaacson said about the rise in hate crimes. Isaacson is the co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. Isaacson said this, “It’s not that hate is new. It’s that there’s a greater comfort culturally to show it, to express it, to not hide it.”
There is a greater comfort in our culture for hate. Did you hear that? Can we go one step further and say that it’s becoming OK to hate? It’s becoming acceptable to hate? It’s becoming normal to hate? Oh, I hope not. Isn’t this the opposite of the Pentecost gospel – the good news of that first Pentecost celebration – exactly 50 days after the resurrection of Christ who draws all people to himself in a bond of love and trust and hope?
Contributing to the normalization of hate is the sobering reality that our perceptions of other kinds of people are way off the mark. Our assumptions about people who seem different to us are simply misguided. In the book discussion group happening right now here at Holy Trinity, we are studying Monica Guzman’s book, “I Never Thought of it That Way – How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.” In it she shares a study that underscores the misperceptions we have of each other – in this particular study – the misperceptions Democrats have of Republicans and the misperceptions Republicans have of Democrats. And the cause of being way off the mark about the other is that we don’t talk to one another anymore. We’ve lost the art of conversation – knowing how to talk to each other about our differences.
For example, this Perception Gap study found that Democrats are off by an average of 19 percentage points when guessing Republicans positions on issues, while Republicans misjudge Democrats by an even larger 27 percentage points. The study shows that on contentious and difficult issues such as immigration and open borders, most Americans assume we’re more in disagreement than we actually are.
Some additional fascinating data. Guzman writes, “We’re also really bad at correcting stereotypes about who’s in which party. In a 2018 study that made my jaw hit the floor, Americans thought that a third of Democrats were gay, lesbian or bisexual when just 6 percent are, and that Americans thought that four out of ten Republicans earn more than $250,000 in a year when only 2 percent actually do.”
Misperception, misunderstanding mistrust – all lead to division – no possibility of real relationships – all because we don’t talk to one another. We hang out with those who are like us because it’s easier, safer, nicer. We’ve lost the art of conversation. Monica Guzman says this, “If I’m being honest (and I always try to be) it’s still a huge mystery to me, how powerful it is when people come together just to talk…Conversation is by far the most powerful tool for understanding people across divides.”
One of the things I notice from scripture about all those people gathered on that first Pentecost so long ago was how genuinely curious they seem to be about what was going on. When it dawned on them that they could actually understand one another even while speaking different languages, we read they were “bewildered.” They were amazed and astonished and they asked good questions like, “How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” From a Pentecost Day perspective here’s how I ask the same question, “What is the Holy Spirit up to? Where is the Holy Spirit leading us?” “How is the Holy Spirit at work to bring us together?”
Monica Guzman says this about curiosity, “It’s the most powerful tool we have to navigate our world especially when our world is dangerously divided…If you can’t be curious across divides…you can’t see the world at all.”
So on this Pentecost Day I’ll be on my way to our family barbeque this afternoon – for our own Pentecost Day-like dynamics – you know everyone laughing and shouting over one another, multiple conversation going on simultaneously, a little bit of Italian here, a bit more Sicilian there, and we’ll hear the same beloved stories every time we get together – all of which is one way we love one another. However, if the matriarch of the family hears certain subjects being brought up – like politics, like the southern border, like the 2nd amendment, like those receiving government assistance– she will stand up, wag her finger in the face of the guilty one and say, “No. Stop. None of that. Change the subject.”
So, there it is. Division within our own family. Walls between us. Things we don’t talk about. Subjects that are taboo. But, I must admit. I’m more and more curious about how to build bridges, how to engage in conversation about what’s taboo – how about you? I’m more and more curious to ask new, safe, probing questions like, “What am I missing here?” –as Guzman suggests. I’m more and more curious to listen actively and intently. You see, the Holy Spirit is up to something. Is there a tongue of fire dancing on my head? Oh, – you must be curious, too! Is that a tongue of fire dancing on your head – and on your head – and on your head?!!!
The Holy Spirit is up to something good among all of God’s people everywhere. The Holy Spirit is up to something good like tearing down walls. The Holy Spirit is up to something good like building bridges. The Holy Spirit is up to something good like creating the beloved community. Amen.
Sources:
WCVB5
“I Never Thought of it That Way” by Monica Guzeman