© R. Gino Santa Maria

Day of Pentecost
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Lectionary C

Genesis 11:1-9
Acts 2:1-21

In our reading for this Sunday, Pentecost, we see the juxtaposition of two stories: the story of Babel and the story of Pentecost.

In the first story, humans try to ascend to Heaven to become like gods; they aspire to greatness for their own glory and survival. In the second, God – who has already descended from Heaven to Earth, become human, and renounced his glory to save humanity – comes down again in the person of the Spirit.

In the first story, God gives humans the variety of languages to cause confusion and division. In the second, God makes the variety of languages comprehensible to bring understanding and unity – the unity of the Body of Christ.

Miller

Just as the first few chapters of Genesis are the story of the division between God and humans, the introduction of sin, and the inevitability of death, the first few books of the New Testament are the story of the reconciliation of God and humans, the conquest of sin, and God’s self-sacrificial victory over death. The story of Babel is the outpouring of Genesis: the dissolution of humanity as a consequence of sin. The story of Pentecost is the outpouring of the Gospel: the resolution, the reconciliation of humanity through the work of the Spirit as a consequence of the Gospel.

We live in the Age of the Holy Spirit as we await the final return of Christ. In this Era of Pentecost, may we see the differences between us that have divided us for so long – language, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status – as opportunities for unity in praising the God of every tongue, tribe, creature, and land. May our unity stand in such stark contrast to the divisions of people still living in the Age of Babel that they are drawn to Jesus if only to understand how such unity is possible. Amen.

– The Reverend Caroline Miller is associate rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Ocala.