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SERMONS

The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday
June 3, 2001

By David Christian

There is a dangerous fear which pervades our country today. In fact this fear is widespread throughout the world. It is the fear of the other; the fear of people different from ourselves; the fear of diversity. This fear lies at the heart of the horrors of the ongoing conflicts in Africa and in the Middle East.

In our own country this fear of people different from ourselves is fueling the rising popularity and acceptability of racism and racial intolerance. This fear is in the eyes of people from the suburbs every time they drive into the city. It is found in the growing polarization in discussions of political and social issues; in the tendency to label people as liberal or conservative, as pro-choice or pro-life. And to make villains of anyone whose label is different from our own.

We avoid and fear people who are different from ourselves because they shatter our peace. They confront us with views and ways of living that are different from those we have grown accustomed to and are comfortable with. They threaten our understanding of who we are and how we relate to the world. They challenge us with the possibility that the way things have always been is not necessarily the only way, and possibly not even the best way. They sometimes force us to face truths about ourselves that we would prefer not to face.

This fear of those who are different from us is nothing new of course. Much of the Old Testament shows the concern that the people of Israel had with preserving their identity as a people and with resisting being absorbed by surrounding cultures. During the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus, one of the chief concerns of the Pharisees was in retaining the purity of the faith in the face of the challenge of foreign cultures. The first followers of Jesus were all Palestinian Jews.

But then something happened. One day, after the ascension of Jesus, as those first followers were gathered together, there came a sound, a sound like the rush of a mighty wind. Divided tongues, as of fire appeared and rested on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. And they began to speak. They spoke in other languages. With them were people from every nation under heaven. These people heard them speaking in the native language of each. Each heard, in his own language, the story of God's deeds.

In the power of the Spirit, the followers of Jesus were pushed beyond their provincialism. They were pushed beyond their fear of those who were different. They were led to see that the message of Jesus is not just for one group of people. It is a message that overcomes the boundaries that divide group from group. It is a message that unites all who hear it. It gives an identity that is larger than that of a single nationality or race or class or political group. As Paul says: "In the one Spirit we are all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, [black or white, conservative or liberal]--and we are all made to drink of one Spirit.."

And Paul says more than that. He reminds us that there are varieties of gifts. None of us alone has everything we need. None of us alone has the whole truth. This is the case for us as individuals and also for us as groups.

We need the others. We need those whose experiences and ways of thinking and understanding are different from ours. We need them because they bring necessary gifts; gifts that are different from ours and complementary to ours. We need them because without them our views and our understandings are impoverished. We need them because without them we are incomplete. We need them because God speaks to them and through them. We need them because they may bring us God's word for us. We need them because only through looking for and recognizing Jesus in the other are we able to overcome those things that divide us.

In a few minutes we will baptize Elizabeth Sanders Green. Through the waters of baptism she will be born into a new identity, that of a child of God. She will become our sister in Christ. In Christ all we who are baptized are brothers and sisters. Our unity does not rest in the fact that we look alike or act alike or think alike or enjoy the same things. Our unity rests in our common siblinghood with Christ and with one another in Christ. We do not need to fear our differences. Rather, we can see them a source of strength as we seek to recognize Christ in one another and, together, to love and serve our Lord.

David Christian
The Chapel of the Cross
Madison, Mississippi

Acts 2.1-11
1 Corinthians 12.4-13
John 20.19-23