Lingua franca [Pentecost; St, John 14:23-31]

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Who speaks to us today, saying,

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

You did not understand all that you heard today, and hopefully that’s not usual. Regardless, you did not understand because for many of you English is your first and only language. And this is understandable. In order to survive and thrive in the USA, you did not need to know anything else.

Language is one of the keys to defining a people and maintaining society and culture. The importance of language is brought to the fore by our reading from Genesis in the Tower of Babel. The important point of this story is not how mean God was and how afraid He was of the great potential of men working together, but rather what they did in exercising that great potential: that is creating eternal condemnation for themselves.

And this is the great gift that language is. It allows a people to unite and accomplish that which they purpose. This was the impetus behind the rise of the United States of America. Though people with many tongues came together and were confused in their inability to communicate, one newer language bridged that gap: English.

Now you may say, see if everyone just learned English we wouldn’t have illegals, gangs, and other plagues on decent society. However, it was the unification of the US citizens that caused the problems we have in the first place. We reap today what had been sown in the past. The same language that had united, today tears apart.

Holy Scripture testifies to the truth of this. The Lord will cut off “…those who say, ‘With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?’” (Ps. 12:4)

St. Paul is even more direct in saying, “In the Law it is written, ‘By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’” (1 Cor. 14:21)

Language is important and it is a gift from God. You can not learn, you can not understand, you can not hear if you do not have an understanding of language and you will not survive. Similarly, if you remain satisfied with one language, you miss out on a vast chunk of the world’s beauty in other languages.

The Lord created language. There is a heavenly language and some say that was Hebrew, because that’s the tongue that God used to give the Law to Moses, however, St. Paul told us that it would be a strange and foreign tongue that would bring salvation to His people. So while the Jews were waiting for more Hebrew, Jesus was speaking in Greek. Likewise, while we are all waiting for God to reveal some special command or vision to us in some secret heart-language meant only for us, He is passing us over by speaking in regular old languages, not just English.

Repent! We use language against our neighbor. We curse and swear, tell lies and betray our neighbor, and slander him. Instead of immersing ourselves in the wonder that is developed language, we lock ourselves in our single rooms and declare supremacy saying that I have built this city and have made a name for myself and none is master over me.

Jesus says that all who see Him mock Him. They shoot out their language and shake their heads saying, “He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him, if He delight in Him.” Jesus uses this inflammatory language spoken against Himself as the vehicle for the saving Gospel. In fact, He uses language in general, to spread His Word.

It was language that created Babel, it was language that divided, and now it is language that recreates all as it should be. Though we live in a world of divided tongues, Christ unites all of us. For even though mean’s word prevailed against Jesus and succeeded in condemning Him, it was the Word made flesh; language incarnate that paid for you to hear the Gospel and believe.

You hear in tongues every Divine Service and unconsciously translate the language and words of God. That is a true gift of the Holy Spirit. So, you didn’t understand the Collect and the Epistle today? You have the ability and the option to learn to hear Christ on the cross for you, if you so choose. There is no unlearnable language on earth and in each one Christ the Crucified is risen and living.

Therefore the reason Babel occurred and the reason Pentecost cleaned up what Babel incurred, is so that God could manifest His glory, because now not only does God speak to His people, but He speaks to them in any and all languages, not just one.

In our Introit, we heard from Wisdom 1:7, but in verse 6 the Lord says this, “Wisdom is a loving Spirit and will not acquit the blasphemer of his language…for God is a true beholder of his heart and a hearer of his tongue.” From verse 7 we know that the Spirit fills the whole earth and He has knowledge of the Voice. It is through language that God communicates His grace to us and through language the Holy Spirit fills the world.

The evil we bring against ourselves and God is the same evil the people of Babel brought against God. Thus, the Lord caused three things to happen at Babel: 1) He confused their tongues, 2) He scattered them over the whole earth, and 3) He created many new lips or languages. Thus it becomes central to the plan of salvation that Jesus un-confuse tongues, gather from the ends of the earth, and create a new language.

This language we beg for in the Divine Service saying things like, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Ps. 51:15). And in His great mercy, known only in Christ Jesus, God has known our unclean lips and the unclean lips of the people we dwell with and has cleansed us from them. He takes a burning coal of the Body and Blood of His Son, touches our lips, and makes them holy (Is. 6:5,7).

Baptized into Jesus, our lips speak no more evil or wickedness. They harbor no more ill will for God or our neighbor. Instead they speak as God speaks. They burst forth into songs of praise, thanksgiving, and forgiveness. They speak the richness of God for all eternity, because they speak only of Christ Crucified for dumb sinners.

Now you understand what language is for and, more importantly, what the language you hear in the Bible is for. The Lord has “…put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”(Psalm 40:3) And in heaven “…they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” (Rev. 5:9)

The new song and the new language consists entirely of Christ and what He has done for His people in redeeming them from sin, death, and the power of the devil. And even if we only speak one language, the best way to use it is this way.