Don't be afraid of our differences

Image credit: He Qi (Chinese, 1950–), Holy Spirit Coming, 1998. Oil on canvas.

We turn to Acts 2 for wisdom about unity in diversity: the Pentecost story. You will remember it, no doubt. Fifty days after Easter, the disciples are all together when the Holy Spirit blows the roof off and licks them all with fire and fills each one of them. The noise gathers a crowd, " devout Jews from every people under heaven." Then:

Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?"

The Holy Spirit bridged their language differences. I receive this as a promise that the Spirit is always bridging differences, all kinds of differences. So we don't have to be afraid of our differences or of diversity.

The Spirit has taught me this in my own life. Here's two examples. First, after college, I served with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks. I got assigned to a team of other college-aged Christians in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park to lead worship every Sunday that summer for park visitors and staff. But first I had to get there. I thought it was all arranged. I sent them my flight information: Philadelphia to LAX. They said they'd pick me up. But almost an hour after landing in L.A., I was still waiting. I found a payphone and called. "We're so glad you called!" They said. "We've been looking all over for you. Where are you?" I described it. "That's the Fresno airport, right?" they said. No, I told them. "Oh. Well," they said, "Get to Fresno and we'll pick you up in the morning." I panicked. Then I made a plan. I took the airport shuttle to the city bus, changed buses, then took the Greyhound to Fresno. And in between, I was the only white guy on the crowded L.A. city bus, taking up like three seats with a summer's worth of stuff. All around me, people were speaking Spanish. Differences! I learned, we're all just trying to get through the day. There was nothing to be afraid of. The Holy Spirit bridged our differences.

Second, years later, I participated in a bilingual listening training. When it came time for us to pair up and practice our new listening skills, the trainer told us pair up English speakers with Spanish speakers. Participants protested: how is this possible!? But the trainer insisted. I was paired with a man recently immigrated from Mexico. He knew very little English. And I knew what little Spanish I hadn't forgotten since high school. Differences! And you know what? It worked! We got to know each other. Slowly but surely. And not just him and I but all of us at the training. Somehow knowing the effort the other was making to overcome the barrier endeared us to each other all the more, built more trust than otherwise would've been built in the same amount to time. There was nothing to be afraid of. The Holy Spirit bridged our differences.

A lot of credit go to Dona and Carey Noble. They took on the challenge to train Abdulkader, Zion's new, Arabic-speaking custodian. Were they skeptical about how it would go, not just in training but in the day-to-day? Yes, naturally. Were they willing to try? Also yes. Abdulkader's been on the job for almost a month now. And the tools we use to communicate are the same tools we use to communicate with our brothers and sisters in Kirangare. Whatsapp. Google Translate. Patience. Courage. The Holy Spirit bridges our differences. We're learning there is nothing to be afraid of.

That's something special about Zion. This is a congregation of people open to outsiders and strangers. The companionship is but one example. We've learned - and are open to learn anew - that the Holy Spirit bridges our differences. There is nothing to be afraid of.

Boy, does the world need this great gift Zion has to offer! You can see that need every day. Within ourselves. People are different. Then people make assumptions and believe lies. Which justifies name-calling and jokes that aren't funny. Which becomes dehumanization. Then violence. 

The hardest difference to bridge is the difference between love and hate, or love and apathy. Later in Acts, the Spirit bridges that gap too, turning the murderous Saul in to Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ. This is the gap Jesus bridged with the cross, which is to say, with love. So naturally, Jesus's Spirit would keep doing the same. Bridging our differences. Showing us, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Thanks be to God.

Pastor Clark Olson-Smith