By: Bruce Smith
At Pentecost we celebrated the advent of the Holy Spirit and its immediate extension to believers of many nations. We even heard many languages in our own sanctuary; although I doubt it was quite the cacophony of that world-changing day. The further expansion of the blessing of the Holy Spirit to non-Jewish nations as described in the book of Acts was equally stunning to traditional believers within the Jewish faith. For them, the Jews were the chosen people and the faith had become restricted to the “right” people. Even the Samaritans, long-time neighbors, were excluded. But the Spirit was not to be so constrained. The Gospel message and the blessing of the Spirit was soon extended to peoples of all nations to become the greatest expansion in history. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Syrians and Ethiopians and others became equal to what previously had been a special small, limited group.
Today we enjoy being the benefactors of that great expansion. Yet we easily fall into viewing ourselves within the boundaries of denomination, nation and/or theological tradition. My thought today is to take a moment to embrace to overarching wonder of millions of people touched by the Holy Spirit. Across nations, styles, schisms and acrimony, we are still all united in seeking to be guided by that Spirit to a life infused with Christ. It is so easy to focus on our differences but those, in my mind, are secondary at best. The important part is that while being as different as those Parthians, Medes and Elamites at that first Pentecost, we share in a common blessing.
As I write this, I remember worship experiences as diverse as raucous, horn-tooting, joyful celebration in Uganda, a Pentecostal service under a tent in Congo, the powerful music and cadences of a Catholic mass, the incense-filled beauty of the Greek Orthodox tradition and a friend delivering a fire and brimstone Christmas Eve message in a stark upstate New York start-up church. And I’m sure these barely scratch the surface of experiences around the world. Yet, in each, the Spirit was and still is active.
In a time when divisiveness, narrow nationalism and distrust seem so prevalent, we can benefit from accepting the differences, embracing our similarities and focusing on the commonalities. I’m not saying it’s easy or that I do it very well but I’m reasonably sure it’s a good path.
At the same time, I urge us to look beyond our borders to the wider world and our brotherhood with believers around the world. Our church is not limited to a fine building on 3rd, the Bozeman community or our country. The power that brings us together in a common cause urges us to view and support each other as brothers. There is concern for those who struggle with challenges we can only imagine. But there is also a reassurance in knowing that we are part of a vast, diverse congregation that we can barely imagine. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richey touched on this concept in “We Are the World”:
We're all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need
We are the world
We are the children
Let’s revel in that thought and act with it in mind.