Acts 2:9-11 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, d10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Racial Reconciliation is in the headlines, along with COVID19, riots, and the upcoming election. And difficulties between races has been part of human history since humans began to join together to build civilization. Then the LORD added different languages and spread people across the planet.
Wars have been waged over these differences across history. Even today, wars often take place where two different groups rub together. These border areas become the hot spots of regional and world conflicts.
What a list and what differences our text points out. These groups of people from all over the known world came together to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. It was their shared Jewish faith that brought them together.
But if they met on the street, they might not have been friends. From my overview of the list, these were all part of the Roman Empire, or on the edge of the Empire, so their travel would have been relatively easy and safe through Roman territory.
But on this day in Jerusalem, all racial and political boundaries dropped. The Holy Spirit united them all in an experience. They heard their various native tongues being spoken by people who shouldn’t be able to speak their languages. And all the languages were being spoken at once.
What a mess! All those languages at once. But instead, it was a great blessing. They each heard their individual language among the mix and heard the wonders of God being declared. The message of the Cross unified them all in that moment. All the barriers dropped in an instant.
That is what the Church does when it is working the way it was designed to work. There are no barriers when we stand in Christ. And when we deal with people outside the Church, we deal with them as people created in God’s image with infinite value and worth. We see them as precious and unique, in need of Jesus’ saving power.
So next time you read about some international reconciliation, like the peace deals in the Middle East that have been in the news, imagine that tenfold. That is what the Holy Spirit did and does through the Church. He unites us under the banner of the Cross.
Let’s live that out in our communities today.