The Language of the Spirit

Sunday, May 23, 2021
Pastor Mark Aune

Acts 2:1-4; Galatians 4:1-7

If I were to ask you what language you speak most of you would say English. And there are others in our midst who might add a second language like Spanish, or German, or French.

But most of us might not say that we speak the language of the Spirit.

The language of the Spirit does not get talked about on Pentecost Sunday.

Because it is easy to get caught up in the drama of the first Pentecost, often called the birthday of the church.

The first followers of Jesus, all of them Jews, are still in Jerusalem waiting to see what God would do following the ascension of Jesus. Jesus had told them to wait for the Holy Spirit.

He told them God would send them power when the Holy Spirit comes, and they would be witnesses to Jesus.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

The rush of a mighty wind and tongues of fire were visible signs that the Holy Spirit was being poured out on these first believers.

It was a dramatic and powerful reality that God’s promise of power had arrived.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were not washed or cleansed or covered but filled. From the inside out, the totally of their being was filled with the Holy Spirit, with power.

And then they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability.

What we miss in today’s reading is the fact that there are people from every nation who are gathered on this first Pentecost.

It was diversity personified and even though they spoke different languages, the language of the Spirit allowed the to understand each other.

The language of the Spirit allowed them to be together, unified in their understanding of God’s gift of Jesus Christ and the salvation he brings.

The language of the Spirit is first and foremost a love language.

It is the love of God who at the right time, sent his son, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶ And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

The language of the Spirit is a love language that bids together a large, inclusive, and diverse group of children. And because God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts, we can use words like Abba, Papa to speak of our relationship to God in the most intimate terms possible.

When we speak and understand the language of the Spirit, we recognize our adoption into God’s family and each day we claim that heritage and all the riches that come to us because we are part of that family. We recognize that we belong.

The language of the Spirit is a language of love and I think about the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 where he writes, if I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

What language do you speak as a child of God?

As someone who has been adopted into God’s big, diverse family of people, does the Holy Spirit,

• direct your language,
• guide your words,
• inform your speech?

Can you think of a time when has God used your language, your words to speak the right words to someone in need, someone who is hurting, struggling or in despair?

Can you think of a time when has God sent someone into your life with exactly the right words at the right time that brought peace to your heart or shed light on a dark path you were walking.

This is the language of the Spirit.

This is the presence of Christ at work in our lives and in our world.

I am, at times, appalled and discouraged with much of our public speech, and I am not naive enough to think that kind of speech does not bleed into the community of the church.

Much of it is a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal.

It does not edify.

It does not build up.

It does not solve problems or respect our neighbor.

But if we have been filled with the Holy Spirit, if the power of a mighty wind and the flame of the tongues of fire have filled us and formed us as children of God, then should not our speech be undergirded by the love of God?

Should not our speech reflect that power which has filled us with the presence of the risen Christ?

Even if there is disagreement and different points of view, the language of the Spirit calls us into respectful conversations and dialogue that builds us up rather than tearing us down.

I can recall specific conversations I have had when someone has come to me and with love and care, spoken words that helped me to see where I had gone wrong.

It was a love language that was spoken to me and even though it was hard to hear, I was able to hear it because it was spoken out of love and the presence of Christ was there, in the words and in the person.

The language of the Spirit allows us to be honest about our vulnerabilities, our fears, and our struggles.

When we can cry out Abba, Father, it is an invitation to go directly to God with anything and everything in our lives.

The language of the Spirit allows us to be honest with God. It is the power to trust, knowing whatever we bring to God from our hearts, will be heard.

Knowing in our hearts that Abba, Father, is there and will carry us thru.

The language of the Spirit is power. You are filled with it. It is the presence of the risen Christ in our life.

Use this power that is in you.

Speak the language of the Spirit in everything you do. Do not be a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.

And know in your heart that the riches of God’s Kingdom, everything God has to offer, is already yours.

Because you have been filled with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.

For that promise, that legacy, that power we say thanks be to God. Amen