Pentecost and the Tower of Babel

Sermon preached on Sunday 23rd April 2010 at 11am at St Mary’s Lapworth. Other versions of this sermon were preached at 8.30am at St Mary’s, 3pm at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton and at 6.30pm at Solihull School Chapel.
Pentecost – Year C

Readings: Ps 104: 24-end Genesis 11: 1-9 Acts 2: 1-21


Our two scripture readings today are a kind of mirror image of each other. The story of the Tower of Babel is a story about sin, which leads to the scattering of peoples, their disempowerment and confusion in their language. The story of Pentecost is a story about co-operation with the plan of God, which leads to the gathering and unifying of peoples, the breakdown of language barriers and great power at work amongst the disciples.
So let’s think about the Tower of Babel. The people, who were all of one people with one language said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and lets us make a name for ourselves, otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
And so what it about this that was so sinful? What was it that God found so objectionable? Well above, the sin was pride. Rather than acknowledge their dependence on God, the people wanted to see themselves as self sufficient and to set their own agenda independent of God. They wanted to build a great tower to rise to the heavens and so to place themselves above God. They wanted to make a name for themselves, to be famous, to place themselves above other people who would look up to them and praise them. But pride is in fact a terrible trap. No one can be self sufficient but God alone. If God hides his face people are troubled. If God takes away their breath, then they die. No one can take forward plans and agendas independent of God. The plans and agendas that succeed, that deliver benefits in the longer term, are plans and agendas that are blessed by God, that come about through co-operation with God and by obedience to God’s will. And its seems to me that these people of Babel knew that their plans were ill-founded, were not based on God’s will. Deep down they knew this, and because of it they suffered from fear. They feared that they might be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth. Fear is not a good thing. We are called not to fear, but rather to trust in the God who is love. “True love casts out fear” as St John teaches (1 John 4: 18). And it is interesting how God responded to the pride and self sufficiency of the people of Babel. The Lord did the very thing that they feared. He scattered them abroad over the whole earth. And he did this by confusing their language so that they could not understand one another. He split them into different peoples and nations and he took away all their power. They never finish building their city.
And it is very interesting to read the story of the Tower of Babel alongside the story of Pentecost, because Pentecost is the mirror image of the story; the very opposite thing happens. The disciples gather in the upper room, as Jesus commanded them, so they are acting in obedience to God. They have just passed through the experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus. They have learnt that they can trust Jesus, even when he seems utterly helpless, dying on a cross. The disciples have been witnesses to the resurrection, and know that it is God who is the giver of life. They know that with God not even death is to be feared. And so God pours out his Holy Spirit among them, and they have this extraordinary experience with a violent rush of wind and divided tongues of fire resting on each one of them. And whereas at Babel people’s languages were confused and they were scattered abroad into different peoples and nations, so with the gift of the Holy Spirit, disperse peoples were gathered into one. There was a remarkable gift of language such that everyone understood the disciples in their native tongue, whatever their background. If we had read to the end of chapter 2 we would have heard that all the disciples in Jerusalem were gathered together and had all things in common, like one family. We would also have read of the great power received by the disciples and of the great wonders and signs were worked by the apostles (Act 2: 43-45). Later St. Paul would declare that in Christianity, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3: 28). Just as sin dispersed people and divided them at Babel, so at Pentecost the Holy Spirit united people and brought them together.
And so what about us? What does this mean for us now? Well clearly we need to free ourselves from the behaviours and attitudes of Babel, and model ourselves on the disciples at Pentecost. So first of all we need to guard against pride. We should not seek to put ourselves above God or above other people. Instead we must see ourselves and other people as different parts of God’s one creation, called to live in harmony with one another, as many sons and daughters of one heavenly Father.
Then we must not try to be self-sufficient, in a way that seeks independence from God. Rather we must know our need of God, and of his Holy Spirit. We should put our hope in God, and in Jesus who conquered death. Nowadays, as at Babel, it is all too easy to place our hopes in human achievements. There has been much human progress; scientific, technological or economic. These things can certainly be good; medical progress for example has brought us great benefits. But these things cannot save us. They cannot prevent death, or unify us, or heal the problems of the world. These bigger goals depend on the action of God. And if scientific or technological progress is pursued outside of God’s plan then God might once again choose to scatter and divide and to deprive these things of all their power.
But rather we are called to maintain the attitudes and behaviours of Pentecost, so that God will pour out his Spirit upon us. Perhaps we might even experience the rushing wind or tongues of fire, but if even if we don’t we can certainly experience the great power of God’s Spirit, his healing, reconciling and unifying force, his gifts of understanding, and being understood. And as our Psalm suggested, where God sends forth his spirit we can witness his creative powers because new things are brought into being and as the face of the earth is renewed. I hope that this is what things will be like here in this place! Amen.