Today is MAY 30.
The second day after PENTECOST Sunday.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you.
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”
This week, our reflections are centering on Pentecost, and considering how God’s love for the all the nations is demonstrated through scripture.
Today’s reading is from Genesis 11 – the story of Babel. As we mentioned yesterday, Pentecost is often read as a reversal of what happens here, in the story of Babel.
"1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth."
This text is often read simply, and without much knowledge or context. We might simply thing: God didn’t want people to work together to build crazy stuff, so he confused their ability to communicate. But something much deeper is happening.
I’m going to read you some sections of a long twitter thread from scholar and public theologian Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm, He says, “Babel seems wonderful on the surface—a society in which everyone comes together to build something. But beneath the surface, it's a dystopia. It's Egypt... It's Canaan. Why is it so bad? Well, because what Genesis is narrating for us is...the birth of empire. Babel's not a free society in which people come together to build a tower. It's an empire—the first of its kind. Babel's reluctance to disperse was a sin in itself.... God saw dispersal throughout the earth—diversity, particularity—as a blessing. Babel feared it.”
Dr Lamm helps us understand that Babel tells the familiar story of the temptation to empire, to power... to building walls and separating into us & them. Hold this in mind as you listen to the scripture read again.
"1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth."
Now listen to Acts 2, in light of what you’ve learned. Do you notice now the reversal? From inward, to outward? From hording power and empire building to the dispersal of power and mission?
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
As we reflect on Pentecost this week, consider the nature of God’s power and presence: it is expansive, it goes outward, it is on mission. It is not defined by walls and boundaries, but rather by a miracle that brings together all the nations. Take time as we end to consider places in your life, or your life of faith, where you have built walls or become inward. Can you say a new yes, this week, to the mission of God through the power of His spirit?
Music Credit:
Familia - Vineyard Worship (YouTube)
