Thought for the day – Thursday 2nd April 2020
Bible reading: Acts 2: 8 – 11
Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!
How varied and diverse the Church of Christ is! In this reading we’re taken back to the very beginnings of the mission field with the calling to tell everyone of the forgiving love of our Father and our chance of a new start with him through Jesus.
Diversity is challenging and can be quite shocking. It can, however, be enriching and exciting. Roger and I moved to Crawley when were first married, a town with a whole new world of colours and styles of dress which I had never seen before. When we moved to Slough the range of different languages spoken on the streets reminded me clearly of today’s passage from Acts. Here and now I often find myself missing the vibrancy of our African and Afro-Caribbean brothers and sisters as they approached worship in ways which were new to me at first but which I came to love.
The Early Church was a great gathering of diverse people with different backgrounds and different languages – the great challenge for them all was forming relationships as one body – the Body of Christ. When we speak of the Communion of Saints in the Creed, this is surely what we mean. So a challenge for today – how good are you at accepting diversity in your everyday life, in the Church family and in your worship? Are you happy to open the Church to the stranger and explore their ideas for worship and approach? Or do you secretly hope they will be one of “us” (whoever “us ” may be) and keep things going in the “proper” way? What can we learn about inclusivity from today’s reading?
Prayer – Loving Lord, the day the Spirit came in power so many people heard the Gospel of Jesus, from all sorts of backgrounds and places. They heard your Word and took it back with them to their homes. We pray today for all who work in the mission field, that you would keep them safe. We give thanks for those who translate your Word into different languages, and we pray that your Gospel will spread and be available in all places.We ask to feel excited by new ideas, and by new visions. We ask that we may truly open our hearts to people who are new to us, possibly with different ideas of how things should be done, and be open to form good relationships with them so that we may praise you, our loving Father, together. In Jesus’ name. Amen.