I was thinking . . . It was a little strange. Everywhere we went we heard languages we did not understand. In the elevator, on the sidewalk, in the subway. Everywhere. Rarely did we hear English, especially English as we speak it. Instead, we heard what we believe was Spanish. And French. And Chinese. And Japanese. And many more. We were in New York City last week, my daughter and I. She moves off to college this week so we took a last minute father-daughter trip. It was nice. Just the two of us seeing the sights and enjoying time together. Statue of Liberty, 911 Memorial, Empire State Building, Chinatown, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s, Broadway plays. And shopping. Lots of shopping. It was fun being with her in that amazing city. I was reminded last week that God is not merely an English speaking God. None of the early God-followers spoke English. Not Adam or Noah. Not Abraham or Isaac or Jacob. Moses and Joshua and David didn’t think, write, or read English. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Nehemiah? Not a word of English. In fact, when this Christianity thing started no one involved spoke English. Not Peter. Not James or John. Not Paul or Timothy or Barnabas. No one. They lived their entire lives and never heard one word of English. And the One we worship and follow and love? The One whose praises we sing? The One who suffered and bled and died for us? Nope. Not a word. Not one word of English. It’s a bit unnerving to consider this lack of English in the biblical record. After all, English is the only language I speak and it’s the language through which I came to know God and His Word and His Son. I’m afraid I have subconsciously assumed God was an English speaking God. Or at least He liked English the best and spoke it the most. But maybe that’s not true. Maybe He doesn’t have a favorite language. At least I hope not. Because if He did, it would likely be Hebrew. Or Greek or Arabic. And I’m not too good with any of those. While walking through Times Square with my daughter last week and hearing every language but English, I thought about that verse. That verse in Revelation that describes the scene in the throne room of heaven in which those surrounding Jesus sang, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, Because you were slain, And with your blood you purchased men for God From every tribe and language and people and nation.” They’ll all be there one day. Every tribe. Every people. Every nation. And yes, every language. Including English. And instead of fighting one another and hating one another and being suspicious of one another, we’ll love one another. And worship together. And finally realize that our God is a lot bigger and a lot greater than any one language. And that will be nice. Really nice. stanbuckley/
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:36:36 +0000
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