Comprende?

We

Do You Understand?

I heard a report on the news a few days ago decrying the fact that less young people are studying languages at school. I don’t know about you, but I remember these reports from when I was at school! We were denounced as a lazy nation, content that English is such a widely-spoken language that we proudly thought we didn’t need to learn any other language.

The problem with this view, is when we come up against people that speak a language other than our own. How do we communicate? It has long been felt that an English person’s answer to this dilemma is to behave a little like this:

Video: Fawlty Towers - The Germans | 1:00

Is that how you communicate when you go abroad? Hopefully not. I must admit that whilst I took French and German GCSEs, I don’t practice them very much, and I’m usually quite proud of myself if I can say Good Morning, Please and Thank You in the native language wherever I am, as if that’s enough!

But I may have the answer to this problem!

According to an article in the Daily Mail, a new in-ear gadget claims to be able to translate speech like the Babel Fish in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or the Universal Translator gadget in Star Trek.

The system, dubbed the Pilot, will cost £235. It uses two earpieces, one worn by each person in the conversation. It uses specially designed noise-cancelling microphones to filter out ambient noise from the speech of someone talking. The speech is then passed through the Pilot app, where layers of speech translation technologies occur. The translated language is sent to the other user wearing the second earpiece . It all occurs simultaneously without interruption, as each person speaks to one another.

It is claimed to be the first 'smart earpiece' capable of translating between two languages, and was shown off at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The company behind the technology, Waverly Labs, said: 'This little wearable uses translation technology to allow two people to speak different languages but still clearly understand each other.'

It will support five languages: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, with other being added as upgrades at a later date.

Problem solved! Or is it? This report dates back to 2017 and so far, Waverly Labs haven’t sold any of these Pilot devices. Maybe God has a better idea?

God

Acts 2:1-21, p.1093

Acts 2:1–21 NLT

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Ordinary People

Acts 2:7 NLT

They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee,

What was remarkable about Jesus’ followers is that they were unremarkable. Ordinary. Run-of-the-mill. They were not the brightest and best. They were not high-powered leaders or intellectuals. They were ordinary folk. Good people.

That’s not to say they were unintelligent or ignorant or gullible in any way, although that might have been the inference behind the crowd’s question.

But they were, well, normal!

Ordinary People with the Power to do Extraordinary Things

Acts 2:4 NLT

And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

Normal, at least, until they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. When God pours out his Holy Spirit on them they become far from ordinary, they become extraordinary. Suddenly they had the power to take God’s mission to the ends of the earth. Suddenly they were enabled to preach God’s Word with power and to communicate in languages they didn’t even know themselves. Suddenly they were able to carry out signs and wonders - miracles of healing, of sharing finances amongst themselves and of community. Suddenly they had the courage to stand up to threats from the state and the beginnings of persecution. Suddenly, from a group that fell asleep when it was time to pray, and who thought that Jesus was going to launch a political coup against the Roman Empire, they could see that his Good News was for the Gentile world as well as the Jews.

Suddenly, these ordinary people were given power that helped them in their weakness, a power that gave them spiritual gifts that equipped the church for its mission, a power that could reshape their character and temperament.

United by their Experience of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:5–6 NLT

At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

And perhaps the most remarkable thing about this Pentecost experience of the power of the Holy Spirit is that it broke the barriers that have separated human beings from each other since Babel in the Old Testament. Pentecost reverses what happened at Babel when God confused humans by forcing them to speak different languages.

Luke describes the crowd as bewildered, amazed, astonished, perplexed and contemptuous as they try to make out what was meant by what was happening around them. But as the Holy Spirit arrives the bewilderment, perplexity and contempt are reversed. Understanding begins, people are reunited. What was divided is mended as people speak languages other than their own. God’s people are drawn together through the unifying power of the Holy Spirit.

They were united in their language. They were united in their message that Jesus is alive and that all who call on him will be eternally alive too. They wer united in their mission to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything Jesus had told them.

You

The Holy Spirit is our Pilot

What about us today? Are we full of the Holy Spirit? Both as a corps and as individuals? The early church seems to have been remarkably open to the dynamic and fluid way the Holy Spirit chooses to operate. It was the Holy Spirit who told them where to go. They allowed the Holy Spirit to tell them what to do. Questions about how to worship, who should lead the community, what kind of leadership that should be and how to relate to the community around them were all left to be answered by the Holy Spirit.

Are we prepared to do the same? Or do we allow the structure and order we’ve built up over the last 139 years to choke the breath out of the Holy Spirit? Do we confine the role of the Holy Spirit? Try to shut him down?

We need the Holy Spirit! We need the experience of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our own hearts and minds and in the heart and mind of this corps. It is the Holy Spirit who will remind us we are ordinary people. But he will remind us we are ordinary people with the power to do extraordinary things. It is the Holy Spirit who will continue to unify us in message and mission.

The Holy Spirit is our Pilot. Not inserted in our ears, but in our hearts, minds and souls. He will continue to transform us. He will help us communicate the Good News. He will help us to be joyful, thankful and obedient. Praise be to God!

Next Steps

SB 274 - Saviour of light, I look just now to thee

Saviour of light, I look just now to thee; Brighten my path, so only shall I see Thy footprints, Lord, which mark the way for me; Light of my life, so surely thou wilt be, O man of Galilee! O man of Galilee, Stay with and strengthen me; Walk thou through life with me, O man of Galilee! 2 Another touch, I ask another still, That daily, hourly, I may do thy will; Healer of wounds and bearer of all pain, Thy touch, thy power are evermore the same, O man of Galilee! 3 Lord of my life, I dare step out to thee Who stilled the waves and stayed the tossing sea; When floods o?erwhelm, my safety thou wilt be; When nightfall comes, O Lord, abide with me; O man of Galilee! 4 Pilot of souls, I trust thy guiding hand; Take thou the helm and, at thy blest command, I sail straight on until, the harbour won, I reach the glory of thy sweet well done; O man of Galilee! Robert Hoggard (1861-1935) Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 30158 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 274