First Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Psalm 143
1Lord, hear my prayer, and in your faithfulness heed my supplications; answer me in your righteousness. 2Enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no one living be justified. 3For my enemy has sought my life; he has crushed me to the ground; he has made me live in dark places like those who are long dead. 4My spirit faints within me; my heart within me is desolate. 5I remember the time past; I muse upon all your deeds; I consider the works of your hands. 6I spread out my hands to you; my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land. 7O Lord, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me; do not hide your face from me or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 8Let me hear of your loving kindness in the morning, for I put my trust in you; show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to you. 9Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, for I flee to you for refuge. 10Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God; let your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11Revive me, O Lord, for your name’s sake; for your righteousness’ sake, bring me out of trouble. 12Of your goodness, destroy my enemies and bring all my foes to naught for truly I am your servant.
Second Reading: Acts 2:1-21
1When the day of Pentecost arrived, {the apostles} were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians — we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”
Gospel: John 14:23-31
23Jesus answered {Judas, not Iscariot}, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
Unity for the Sake of God’s Kingdom
In last Sunday’s gospel text, we heard part of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. In this amazing prayer, Jesus, knowing how important unity is among His followers, is asking God the Father for accord among God’s people. And not just any accord; it’s a unity like the one that Jesus and God the Father share. Starting in verse 20 we read, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:20-23). And why was Jesus praying for unity, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The main reason the church needs to be unified in Christ, is for the sake of the gospel. This is why Jesus prayed for unity.
Jesus was praying not only for His disciples who were following Him in the first century, but for all those who would choose to follow Him in the future. Jesus understands “that a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:25). For us to complete our call as members of the body of Christ, we need to be in one accord as the disciples were on the Day of Pentecost. Now I recognize that being in unity doesn’t mean we agree on every little detail on every subject. What it does mean however, is that we do agree on what matters most, sharing the gospel. It means that our doctrine and what we teach agree with God’s word, and the example that Jesus set for us. It means that our witness and our lives, our words and deeds, are aligned with God’s commands and statutes for His people. But sadly, unity for the sake of the gospel hasn’t always been a motivating factor for humankind.
We all know the story of the tower of Babel. Humankind, united by a common language and goal, banded together. Pride and arrogance drove them to work together for a common goal: “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:3-4). Notice the use of the words “us” and “ourselves.”
This morning I’d like for us to consider two important parts of this passage. First, the motivation, “Come, let US build for Ourselves a city and a tower…and let US make a name for Ourselves.’ Second, the result, [God said] “let us go down and confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” In the story of Bable, the people were clearly focused on what they wanted and why, let us build so we can make a name for ourselves. So God scattered them.
This of course immediately points us back to the Garden of Eden and original sin (“and the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” Gen. 3:5). The result of the people’s action of building a city and tower was that God came down to “see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” And the result? “The Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.”
It’s important for us to note here the testimony of God, “And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” Clearly, the result of a united effort can have a larger impact than many self-focused efforts. Or, said another way, many hands make the load light. However, we must ask ourselves why are we doing what we’re doing? Is it for personal gain or for the good of the kingdom? Far too often in our churches, in our community, and in our nation, we see division because of self-focused interests, and we’ve also seen the results of that division. When a house is divided against itself, fewer and fewer things get accomplished.
When people are motivated by their own agendas, rather than the common good, we spend more time fighting amongst ourselves and we get little accomplished. And depending on the situation, feelings can get hurt, divisions and splits can occur, and we can become alienated from one another. Apathy can set in. We quit listening to one another and soon the community fragments. Unity is a must for any group to accomplish anything. Now don’t get me wrong, disagreements are a part of life and most often these disagreements stem from a lack of communication. This is why communication is so important.
We must examine our motives and then take the time to explain our thoughts and desires to each other, trusting that others have valuable insight as well. This also means we must be willing to listen to each other. Active listening means we respect the other person, and value their opinion. Again, it doesn’t mean we’ll agree on everything, it means we’re willing, for the sake of the kingdom, to work together to achieve our call as disciples of Jesus. Another part of communication is making sure we’re speaking the same language.
In the military we used a lot of acronyms. The reason for this is simple, it made communication quick and simple, but you had to know the language. Let me give you a quick example. Before I retired, I supervised the Avionics Flight for the Component Maintenance Squadron. The Avionics Flight consisted of the Low Altitude Navigation Targeting Infrared for Night section and the Avionics Instruments section. Now when someone who knew the language asked where I worked, I could simply say I work in the CMS Avionics LANTIRN section. Can you imagine me always having to say I work in the Component Maintenance Squadron’s Avionics Flight’s Low Altitude Navigation Targeting Infrared for Night section? This was the same for almost all communication in the Air Force.
When I was working on the Targeting pod Forward Looking Infrared Receiver, I could simply say I’m repairing the FLIR. If I needed a Line Replaceable Unit for the Navigation pod, I could simply say I need a Nav Pod LRU. The point I’m making is that we all need to speak the same language to swiftly and smoothly communicate. The same is true in the church. We need to learn the theological language of how we express our faith in order to communicate Theological truths.
I try to attend Theological lectures as often as I can, but there are times when I have difficulty keeping up with the speaker. Sometimes they use Theological language I don’t use every day, so I have to remind myself of their meanings. Not only is this distracting, it can lead to misunderstandings. For example, on Tuesday, one of the pastor’s asked the study group, when was ecclesiology taught in seminary. Ecclesiology, in this case, means, “theology as applied to the nature and structure of the Christian Church.” This isn’t a word I use every day so while I was distracted by my need to recall the meaning of the word, I missed the reason the pastor asked the question. As Christians, it’s important that we use words that others can easily understand when we’re sharing our faith.
As workers in God’s kingdom, we need to be unified in our purpose, and in our proclamation, in order to accomplish the work God has set before us. For me, this is illustrated best in our passage from Genesis, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” When we band together, we speak the same language, and we pool our efforts to achieve a common goal, as God affirms, “this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” But this still doesn’t get to the real issue, to be absolutely effective as a congregation and as members of the body of Christ, we must be united not only in our resolve to work together, but we must also be united in Christ.
This is where our Second Reading for today comes in. In the first verse of our Acts text we read, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, {the apostles} were all together in one place.” And down in verse 14 we read, “But Peter, standing with the eleven…” The Apostles had obeyed Jesus’ command to go into the city and wait, and as they waited, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14). And the results were they received the promised Holy Spirit, and they witnessed to those who had gathered, and 3000 were added to the church that day.
How often do we, as the people of God, allow our own self-interests divide us? How often do we allow minor language differences to cause rifts among our people? I know that we, as evangelists to the world, must be careful to “rightly divide God’s word of truth” and fulfill our Baptismal vows “to faithfully teach the Lord’s Prayer, the Creeds, and the Ten Commandments, to place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for our people instruction in the Christian faith, that they may lead Godly lives.” But do we allow things like the word catholic instead of Christian in the Apostles’ Creed cause a rift among God’s people? Or the phrase “He descended into hell over He descended to the dead to divide us?
Are we so concerned about tradition, that we refuse to accept any change whatsoever, even though the common understanding of certain words and phrases have changed? Now please don’t misunderstand. I completely agree that we must have Bible centered doctrines, confessions, and teaching statements, so that we have a common starting point that is faithful to God’s word. If we don’t, then we’re at risk of losing our Lutheran identity and before long, we sound like every other non-denominational church. In the North American Lutheran Church, we are traditionally grounded, as a church body, for a reason. Tradition informs us, it shows us the mistakes and successes of the past, and it always points us back to the Bible. But we must always guard against allowing this traditional grounding to become a ball and chain. We must always remind ourselves of the why.
Even Luther was seen as a radical in his day for wanting to give the German people the Bible in their own language and allow the people to receive both the Bread and the Wine of God’s holy Supper. Tradition said that the Mass was to be spoken in Latin and the people could only receive the host. The Roman church had allowed a practice to become a tradition, and people didn’t question the why until Luther. Again, I know we must be careful to not go off the rails either to the right or the left. God’s word must always be central, the Source and Norm, that which is the only true standard by which all teachers and doctrines are to be judged. The point I’m making is that as we go about the business of the kingdom, are we doing things that are self-serving, or are we entering into our discussions and decision making for the sake of the gospel and for good of God’s people? Are we simply following tradition, or are we following God’s commands and statutes?
When we come together in prayer, when we join together in the work of God’s kingdom for His glory, when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us instead of pride and self-serving arrogance, we can accomplish great things. In the story of the Tower of Babel, God confused the language of the people and scattered them because of their pride. But on the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples came together in prayer, God sent His Holy Spirit to guide them and empower them, and the gospel was preached, and the church grew.
God created us with a sense of community. We long for community, we long to gather with people who share the same beliefs, customs, and heritage. This is another reason the church is so important. One of the reasons we gather as a congregation is that we want to learn, uplift each other, and be with others that share a common confession. The tower of Babel and the city were attempts at self-serving unity which resists God’s will for our lives.
As Christians we generally view unity as God’s purpose. But the story of Babel suggests that there are at least two kinds of unity. The unity we want based on our self-centered desires and the unity willed by God that all humanity should be in relationship with Him and with Him alone, responding to God’s purposes, relying upon God’s power for its significance. The story of Pentecost is the story of God bringing all peoples of every language and culture back into a relationship with Him.
Every Sunday, we relive that story of what happened at Pentecost. Jesus says, “Come unto me,”’ and we do, so that we might “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” Pentecost is a big day for the church because the scattered curse of Babel has become the gathering promise of Pentecost, the promise that His love, and His call brings us together.
Amen