Pastors’ Columns

Pentecost: The Gift of Diversity

By Rev. Karen Yokota Love, Senior Pastor

“When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” Acts 2:1-4

In Acts 2, the disciples are huddled in the upper room. First, there is wind and fire. Then the disciples speak about Jesus, and the author Luke writes, “When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?’”

Pentecost becomes an affirmation of God’s gift of diversity. Luke makes a point of listing all the places that the people had come from to be in Jerusalem. There were many different people from many different places speaking many different languages. Pentecost is a celebration of unity in diversity. Diversity can be difficult. The people of Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church began conversations around LGBTQIA+ inclusion in July 2022. This is an ongoing process of prayer, learning, discernment, and conversation. The process will culminate with a congregational decision. Disaffiliation, or leaving the United Methodist Church as a denomination, has not been a part of these discussions. There is no intention of leaving the UMC. We continue to discuss what this outcome looks like for Blaine Memorial UMC and how this helps us be a more loving community. We might not always understand one another and there might be miscommunication. Social queues could be misinterpreted. Sometimes, understanding one another more effectively or efficiently can be frustrating.

However, the “birth” of the church is more than simply understanding one another more effectively or efficiently. The reign of God depends on diversity. The more we can widen and deepen our awareness of where the holy is at work among us, the more possibilities become reality for the peaceable kin-dom to come near.

Sometimes this work of deepening understanding and stretching our perceptions is the opposite of efficient. But it is worth the effort because we are talking about the dream of our hearts, initiated and fulfilled by our God. Sometimes we are tempted to confuse our own experience of “normal” with being faithful.

The Pentecost experience reminds us that God always is willing to break up and expand our perception of the norm to welcome every blessed variety of God’s beloved creation. The more we can hear, see, and experience the Spirit at work in the incredible diversity of our world, the more we receive the deep invitation to full life in Christ.

We are re-centered in God’s love as the ultimate “norm” for all life, and we begin to see the world anew. When we truly are baptized into Christ, we become a part of a new creation.

Every Pentecost is the re-birth of the church anew into a particular time and place and context, each with its own joys and sorrows. The visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost today may be very similar to the first Pentecost: reaching across boundaries to understand those who live differently, speak differently, experience reality differently. Our Spirit-given diversity challenges singular and dominating forms of power that dehumanize, and that ignore the breath of divine life, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in all creation, in every human being. This gift offers us countless and bold ways to build communion and inclusive community where diversity breathes life. Pentecost then is not so much the birth of the church, but a snapshot of the church in action through the power of the Holy Spirit: where diversity is chosen over division, where dialogue is chosen over conflict, and where all are cared for, not just the people of our tribe or clan. Pentecost screams the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ: all are invited and all are welcome here. May it be so.

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