Sunday, June 4, 2006 Sermon:

“Language We Have a Problem”

Scripture: Acts 2: 1-21

Reverend Larry Gerber 

 

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit translated the proclamation, but Peter interpreted.

Question: What has 25 moving parts and speaks with 20 tongues?

Answer: The European Union.

In May of last year, the European Union expanded its membership to include 25 countries, up from the 15 that already belonged. That means that there are now some 455 million people living under the collective government of the EU, and that puts the EU on the field to rival the United States in political and economic clout.

This is a good thing, to be sure, but those 20 tongues get in the way of even more being accomplished. Unlike the United States, which despite whatever fracture lines it may have, is still one country, the European Union is not a single country but a federation of nations. It seeks to speak with one voice without surrendering any of the uniqueness of the individual nations. And to avoid offending any one of them, the EU operates in all 20 — count them — all 20 of the official languages of those countries.
 
It’s a significant complication. For openers, it means that every session of the EU Parliament now needs to have 57 trilingual interpreters on hand. For another thing, it means that each member nation has the right to require any EU document to be translated into its native tongue. In 2005, those translation services cost the EU nearly $1.6 billion.

But money is not the half of it. Greater still is the problem of getting all this translating done in a timely fashion. A lot of the decisions agreed upon by the EU members are slow to be put into place because of translation delays. Recent delayed roll-outs have included laws intended to help developing countries import pharmaceuticals, rules regarding patenting inventions, safeguards for the world financial system and stipulations about required quarterly reporting from European companies.

Those delays are not only because of the volume of material to be translated, but also because of the lack of skilled translators. And because communication must go in both directions for all 20 languages, that means there are 380 possible two-language combinations. There just are not enough translators to accommodate all of those combinations all of the time. Like, where do you find a Finnish-to-Maltese translator?

As additional countries are accepted into the EU, which is likely, the problem will only increase. But even if no new ones come in, some of the existing member nations are clamoring to have their internal regional languages, such as Spain’s Catalan and Basque and Ireland’s Gaelic, included in the official EU language list.

When you consider all these language groups and the communication hurdles they represent, it is remarkable that the EU has accomplished what it has.

Likewise, when you consider all of the language groups and the communication hurdles that were present in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago, it is remarkable that enough about Jesus got through to the crowd that 3,000 people accepted Christianity on the spot.

The reading from Acts sounds like it could be the roll call at a plenary session of the EU: “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs ….” And there were no trilingual translators at the ready ... none except the Holy Spirit. The wonder of it all rumbled through the crowd: “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?”

So the first public miracle that Pentecost day was instant translation. Translation alone, however, was not sufficient, for the text tells us, “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” Thus the miracle of translating the words from the Galilean tongue into the polyglot spoken by the hearers enabled the crowd to comprehend the words of the disciples, but not to discern what those words meant.

Obviously, the best specialists, are those who are expert at translating and interpreting at the same time. Often, the process and movement from translation to interpretation is seamless and barely noticeable.

On that first Christian Pentecost, Peter was the interpreter who answered the crowd’s question about the meaning of the translation. He addressed the people and told them about Jesus and about salvation.

In other words, the communication miracle of Pentecost happened because the Holy Spirit translated and Peter interpreted.

Has it ever occurred to you that both translation and interpretation are still necessary to the spread of Christianity? Translation is the work of putting the faith into plain language for people to understand, i.e., “What does the text say?” Not, “What does the text mean?” but “What does it say?” Lots of books, Web sites, Christian education classes and sermons do that. They explain what the Christian story is, what we believe, how to read the Bible, what is expected in the way of behavior and so forth. And often, the Holy Spirit is involved in that work.

But there is still the need for interpreters. That’s because there are always people who say, “Look, I understand what Christianity teaches, but so what? Why should I buy into it?” Interpreters are people like you who are convinced about the great value of Christ in your life, and can therefore answer the “What does the text mean?” question from personal experience.

This doesn’t demand that you are especially eloquent or have a convincing speech ready. It doesn’t mean you have a degree in Christian apologetics or narrative evangelism. But it does mean you are willing, when asked, to speak about our own experience of Christ. One of the most powerful interpretation methods is simply stating your own experience and telling why your contact with Christ has made a difference. For example:

• “I can no longer be comfortable with my prejudices.”

• “I have real peace that stays with me, even when everything is going wrong.”

• “I am less judgmental and more able to forgive.”

• “I never knew a time when I was not a Christian, but I’m convinced it enlarges my spirit.”

• “I know a joy and contentment in my life I never knew before.”

• “My natural inclination is to think only of myself. But because of Christ, I can no longer ignore the needs of others.”

• “The guilt I lived with has been taken away.”

• “It has put a song in my heart.”

• “I cannot sin in peace.”

• “Christ has given my life a purpose.”

None of this interpreting guarantees the conversion of those who hear it, but statements about what commitment to Christ means to you personally has a greater impact than the best-written Sunday school lesson or the most articulate sermon that explains the faith. That’s because nobody can deny your personal experience. Realistically, all they can do is say that they have never had a similar one, and when they do, you can encourage them to give Christ a try and see for themselves.When you receive the bread this morning, when you receive the cup, what does it say to you? Does it allow you to feel loved, forgiven, accepted? Will you be a better person for taking the elements? Will participation in the service of communion allow you to have compassion for others? What language do you hear? What language do you use when you pass the bread and the cup to the person next to you?

If you use the wrong language and give the wrong meaning, we have a problem. The way we look at some one, the way we act or react  to someone speaks all languages. On the day of Pentecost, everyone heard in their own language. Are you listening to the language of the bread and the cup? Do you get the message?

Let us read The Prayer of Humble Access together………