Pentecost - From the Other Side
It is Pentecost Sunday, the day the Church of Jesus Christ celebrates being birthed in the wind and fires of Ruah, the Holy Spirit. On that day the disciples were gathered together and the sound of a rushing wind surrounded them and fires as of flames danced on their heads. Their hearts were opened and their lips were inspired to proclaim the Goodness of God through Jesus Christ in the languages of all those who were present around them.
In an instant, these Galileans who were mostly undereducated and unworldly became the purveyors of Wisdom beyond their knowing and Faith beyond their understanding. God was doing a new thing in that moment and, for those who hearts remain open today, God is still at work birthing the Good News in wonderful ways.
Nancy and I recently returned from a vacation given to us by our children as a gift to honor our wedding anniversary and my retirement from fulltime ministry. This trip took us on an eight day, seven night cruise to Alaska, beginning and ending with two days in Seattle, Washington on either end of our trip. It was a trip of a lifetime to say the least - and an eye-opening adventure for both of us. In giving us this gift, the kids gave us each a journal entitled, "Alaska Is Calling and I Must Go", which Nancy and I both agreed to provide entries for along the way. Needless to say, we each wrote about some of the same things we experienced, yet we also included details of the trip which peaked our individual interests. One of them, for me, were the Uber drivers in Seattle.
Not being very traveled in our lives, for a variety of reasons, transportation around major cities was something of a mystery to us - and a bit daunting, at first. Thanks to our boys who are very well traveled, we learned how to negotiate this first hurdle through the use of Uber. We downloaded the app (Yes, there is an app for everything - and for those of our age who are now wondering what an 'app' is, it is an 'application' which can be loaded onto your phone or computer and used as necessary.) and upon arriving in Seattle made an Uber request. After retrieving our luggage and wheeling it out of Sea-Tac Airport, we met our driver who took us downtown to our hotel, conveniently located right next to the Space Needle. As we were commuting the half an hour or so distance we had a delightful conversation with our Uber driver, whose country of origin was Kenya. And, how do I know that? I asked. It was clear by his carefully chosen words and dialect that he wasn't 'from here', as so many are wont to say - and such things truly intrigue me. As the conversation continued I asked him how long he had been in the United States and what brought him here, to which he answered, "About seven years - and I came here because the U.S. is a land of opportunity."
'A land of opportunity' was the phrase I heard over and over again throughout our Uber travels in Seattle. Yes, we took full advantage of our children's careful planning to utilize our two days before and two days after our cruise to tour around Seattle - and Uber became our preferred and affordable way to reach the many places we wanted to visit. In all, we were the recipients of wonderful care from eight different Uber drivers, none of which were born in America and all of whom, in one manner or another, repeated the notion, 'The U.S. is a land of opportunity'. Drivers from Kenya, Afghanistan, Senegal, Uganda, Khartoum, Ethiopia, Jordan and the Congo, had unique stories to tell and Good News to share from their experiences in coming to this country - and for nearly all, becoming citizens here. God's chosen among us in the Uber world were opening our hearts to see God at work and feel connected in Whole and Holy new ways . . . and, just to be clear, their narrative was told in terms of the U.S being a land of opportunity, but to a person, their meaning was about God providing a new way of deliverance out of all manner of oppression.
The Pentecost Story was being recast and, instead of being the one who told it from a lectern or pulpit, now I/we were blessed recipients of the Story as it was told to us in the many languages of the world. Humbling and life changing, to be sure. Transformative and inspiring, without a doubt. I am still resonating on their wisdom, their life experiences and their compelling need to tell others of the Good News they had found along the way - and I am not certain that I can ever go back to sharing or living that News the same way ever again.
Sitting in worship this morning and listening to our Pastor lift up the Good News, as recorded in Acts and as discerned from his understanding, my mind wandered to our Uber drivers as they stood before the world, like Peter, and declared the Good so many others in this country have long forgotten or overlooked. Sometimes, it takes the Galileans among us to speak an uncomfortable Truth in a manner we can hear and receive it. Sometimes it takes all the languages becoming One in the Spirit.
Say what you want from whatever place of certainty, faith, entitlement or landed feeling you may have, none of us fully understand this New Thing God is doing in Jesus Christ - and through whom God is doing it. Equally, none of us have any measure of control over how God chooses to cause the Wind to rush or the Fire to burn. God will do as God chooses to do, through whom and with whom God chooses to do it.
These last weeks, Nancy and I were front row recipients of God's Pentecost Spirit at work - and now we have work to do in extending that message. Tyrants of every ilk may surround us, but God will always lead us - with a pillar of Wind and a pillar of Fire out of the land of slavery, out of the house of bondage, if only we have the ears to hear and the soul to believe. Listen, God is speaking today, this Pentecost Day, and as some friends of mine often sing it, 'Ain'ta That Good News?!'
Something to ponder on the journey . . . Pentecost, From the Other Side.
