Learning a New Language!

Buenos dias! Bon dia! Kalimera! Guten morgen! That’s “good morning” in Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, and German! Some of you may know that, I really enjoy learning and being able use even a few phrases in another language. In fact, when my children were young, because I could throw out a word or phrase here and there from a few other languages, they thought that their dad was multi-lingual. It wasn’t long until they learned I was not!  Currently, however, I can carry on some conversation in Spanish. This year I’ve been trying to learn a little bit of Brazilian Portuguese.  And, most recently I’ve been learning more phrases in Greek (I only learned a few growing up from my dad and relatives).   

For me, learning a language is not just about learning a new vocabulary but about connecting with people around me, both here at home and as I travel.  For example, when I go into our local bagel place I can greet the workers and even place my order in Spanish, and as I do a natural connection is built between us.  When I walk into the diner, I greet the hostess with kalimera (Greek) In the dry cleaning store I greet the owner in Korean.  And, as I greet my Brazilian friends in the church I do so with my little bit of Portuguese.  In each case, I am letting people know that to the best of my ability I want to connect with them on their terms.  Of course, if I’m not careful I can get myself in trouble. But, overall people appreciate it when you try to connect with them in their own language.

In the end, it’s all about stepping into people’s lives—into their world—rather than always expecting them to step into ours.  In fact, isn’t that just what Jesus did for us?  He didn’t expect us to learn his language or step into his world. He knew we could never do that.  Instead, he learned our language. He stepped into our world.  He came to us on our terms, in our humanity, that he might communicate to us the incredible love of God.  Or, as the Apostle Paul put it, Jesus, “…did not consider equality with God something to be grasped; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”  (Philippians 2:6b-7) You see, the “incarnation,” as we call it, is all about God coming to us and speaking our language that we might somehow come to know him. 

Today, let’s be thankful that God didn’t wait for us to reach him but he came to us, communicating to us his great love in a way that we could understand. And, although we might not always be able to learn to speak another language, let’s find ways to connect with the people around us, sharing with them the love of God in ways that they can understand. 

Have a great day! Nase kala! (Greek) Tenga un buen dia! (Spanish) Tenha um bom dia! (Portuguese)

Pastor Tim Harris