Acts 2:1-13

May 11, 2008

Mark S. Bollwinkel




When Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, members of two clans that were sworn enemies, fall in love in Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet", Juliet asks: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 1-2) It's a classical insight into the power and meaning of words. While Romeo is her father's enemy, to Juliet he is her love. One name....one word....representing two entirely different meanings.

How we hear and interpret the meaning of language has everything to do with the listeners' and speakers' intentions.

In the Islamic holy book the Koran, the word "jihad" literally means "the struggle to do what is right" or "the struggle to submit to God's will". There is nothing to suggest that "jihad" means "holy war" or the justification for taking innocent life other than how it has been interpreted and used by those with the intention to do so.* Just consider what chaos has occurred in the world because of the mis-use of that word!

Anthropologists have long argued that the ability to communicate abstract concepts through language is one of the characteristics that distinguishes human community. But that doesn't mean that we always get language right.

You may have seen this email rotating through the internet with a collection of actual church bulletin and newsletter bloopers:



Here on Pentecost Sunday we remember the essential power of language to communicate the Good News about God's love in Jesus.

In the Book of Acts we hear the description of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus on Pentecost, fifty days following the Passover celebration during which Jesus was arrested and killed. They had gathered behind closed doors when a violent wind filled the house and tongues of fire descend upon them, filling each with the Holy Spirit. They flooded out into the streets of Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. They were ridiculed as drunks by many who gathered to watch the spectacle. Immediately following Peter's first sermon 3,000 joined the Jesus movement that day, shared their belongings, prayed together and giving birth to the church.

The tongues of fire gave the disciples the ability to speak in many different languages so that all of the different people visiting Jerusalem from around the Near Eastern world could hear the good news. The speaking of tongues was not the gibberish of those caught up in religious ecstasy rather it was the gift to communicate in actual, discernable languages other than their own.

Some who heard were confused and derisive. Others were amazed at the miracle and listened to the message. To those invested in the past, committed to the profit and power of their status quo, the Pentecost fire destroyed the world as they knew it. Within four centuries the Roman Empire would be over. Two millennia later monarchy and slavery, two defining institutions of the ancient world, would be relics of the past. The proclamation of God's reign of peace, justice and love was good news indeed. Language has helped to transform the world.

Sometimes. Sometimes.

Let me give you an example.


Most of us recognize the powerful words of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" written by Julia Ward Howe** published in February, 1862, by the Atlantic Monthly:


Beautiful, eloquent words.

Julia Ward Howe wrote those lyrics after visiting a Union Army campground outside of Washington DC, in 1862 at the invitation of President Lincoln in recognition of her volunteer work to bring sanitary conditions to the soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. As she walked among the tents of that camp she heard the men singing the song...popular among both Union and Confederate armies.... "John Brown's Body Lies A Moldering in the Grave". John Brown had been a Christian abolitionist killed in 1859 for his raid against slavery at Harper's Ferry. Union soldiers sang it in support of his martyrdom and Confederate soldiers sang it in derision. Same song, two different meanings; language is framed by the intention of the speaker and the listener.

Julia Howe was encouraged to write a new lyric to the melody and she did so reflecting her deep Christian values with rich Old and New Testament images. She hoped that the song would keep the war focused on the principle of the ending of slavery. The Atlantic Monthly paid her $5.00 for publishing her eloquent hymn.

As famous as is "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" it is ironic that few remember that Julia Ward Howe was the first American to propose the recognition of Mother's Day.

She had seen the worst of war first hand, not only for the combatants but for their survivors on both sides. She saw the social and economic devastation following the Civil War and was appalled as the world rose up again in the Franco-Prussian War not long after. In 1870 she called for women to gather for a global meeting to oppose war in all of its forms. She dreamed of a day when women of all languages and cultures would recognize that which they had in common was more important than what divided them and commit to finding peaceful solutions to problems. She called for a congress of international women to come together with this profoundly eloquent Declaration:

Mother's Day Proclamation, Julia Ward Howe, Boston, 1870:


Beautiful, eloquent words.

She would fail in her idealistic attempt to unite the women of the world for peace. But years later, the daughter of her friend Anne Jarvis would succeed in organizing the first Mother's Day in the state of West Virginia (1907). The tradition caught on and President Woodrow Wilson would make it a national holiday in 1914. Of course by then it had been sanitized of any overt agenda for social change.

Today Mother's Day in the United States is the number one day for greeting card, flower and restaurant sales and second only to Christmas in gift giving.** (This is not to suggest that appreciating the positive women in our lives is not a good thing to do...it is...everyday....I love you Mom!)

Julia Ward Howe's marriage to Samuel Gridley Howe was difficult and at times violent. They had six children, four of whom survived to lead very successful lives. She is remembered for the words one of the great American war hymns and her words regarding peace have gone largely forgotten. Same person, same eloquence but interpreted in two entirely different ways.


The Bible holds up Ruth and Naomi, Deborah and Priscilla, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, as examples of holiness. Some had children, some did not, but all gave their lives in devotion and service. Isaiah describes God's passionate concern for humanity as like "a woman in the travail of birth" (42:14) or God's faithfulness as like a mother nursing her baby (49:15, 66:11, 12).

The unconditional love of a mother for her children reminds us of the unconditional love of God for us all. That's the message the disciples were proclaiming at Pentecost; the message that gave birth to the church; a message so essential that God empowered it to be proclaimed in all the languages of the world. Some rejected it. Some were transformed by it. The meaning of language is found in the intention of the speaker and the listener.

Julia Ward Howe was a mother, a social change agent, a brilliant poet and lyricist. She had a vision of the day when women would be equal and war would be no more. Some of her words changed the world. Some were rejected.

Like love in any language it's what the speaker intends and what the listener does with the message that becomes the final definition of its meaning.

With Holy Spirit 'fire and wind' God is still proclaiming the good news of love, peace and justice in the world today. There is no shortage of voices speaking in every language of the world. Are we listening?

Amen.



* Daniel Pipes, "Jihad: How Academics Have Camouflaged Its True Meaning", 12.2.2002, History News Network, George Mason University
** (about.com/women's history)


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