Outlive Your Life_ You Were Made to Make a Difference - Max Lucado [11]
Envision such a phenomenon. Imagine a cosmopolitan center such as New York City. Fifth Avenue is packed with businesspeople, laborers, and travelers from all over the world. Early one morning as the mobs throb their way to work, the sound of a wind shakes the boulevard. The roar is so stout and robust that people stop dead in their tracks as if expecting to see a train blaze down the avenue. Taxi and bus drivers brake. Silence falls on the city only to be interrupted by the voices of a group gathered in Central Park. One hundred and twenty people speak, each one standing beneath a different flame, each one proclaiming God’s goodness in a different language. Witnesses hear their native tongues. José, from Spain, hears about God’s mercy in Spanish. Mako, from Japan, hears a message in Japanese. The group from the Philippines discerns Tagalog. They hear different languages but one message: the wonders of God.
Oh to have heard this moment in Jerusalem. Andrew describing God’s grace in Egyptian. Thomas explaining God’s love to the Romans. Bartholomew quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to Cretans. John relating the resurrection story to the Cappadocians.
Some in the crowd were cynical, accusing the disciples of early-morning inebriation. But others were amazed and asked, “Whatever could this mean?” (v. 12).
Good question. Crowded city. Prayerful followers. Rushing wind and falling fire. Fifteen nations represented in one assembly. Disciples speaking like trained translators of the United Nations. Whatever could this mean?
At least this much: God loves the nations. He loves Iraqis. Somalians. Israelis. New Zealanders. Hondurans. He has a white-hot passion to harvest his children from every jungle, neighborhood, village, and slum. “All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD” (Num. 14:21 ESV). During the days of Joshua, God brought his people into Canaan “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty” (Josh. 4:24 ESV). David commanded us to “sing to the LORD, all the earth! . . . Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Ps. 96:1–3 ESV). God spoke to us through Isaiah: “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6 ESV). His vision for the end of history includes “people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9 NCV).
God longs to proclaim his greatness in all 6,909 languages that exist in the world today.3 He loves subcultures: the gypsies of Turkey, the hippies of California, the cowboys and rednecks of West Texas. He has a heart for bikers and hikers, tree huggers and academics. Single moms. Gray-flanneled executives. He loves all people groups and equips us to be his voice. He commissions common Galileans, Nebraskans, Brazilians, and Koreans to speak the languages of the peoples of the world. He teaches us the vocabulary of distant lands, the dialect of the discouraged neighbor, the vernacular of the lonely heart, and the idiom of the young student. God outfits his followers to cross cultures and touch hearts.
Pentecost makes this promise: if you are in Christ, God’s Spirit will speak through you.
Let God unshell you. And when he does, “make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” (Gal. 6:4 MSG). Don’t miss the opportunity to discover your language.
With whom do you feel most fluent? Teenagers? Drug addicts? The elderly? You may be tongue-tied around children but eloquent with executives. This is how God designed you. “God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Rom. 12:6 NLT).
For whom do you feel most compassion? God doesn’t burden us equally.4 “The LORD looks from