Text: Genesis 11:1 - 9; Acts 2: 1 - 21
Pentecost - A Tale of Three Miracles
A Tale of Communication lost
A Tale of Communication Re-gained
A Tale Communication Shared
Greetings in Christ,
It’s way too early for the dog days of summer. Nevertheless I would invite you consider this tale with me.
There once was a mechanic who owned a dog named, “Mace.” Mace had a bad habit of eating all the grass in the mechanic’s lawn, so the mechanic had to keep Mace penned up inside most of the time.
Because the mechanic did that, the grass eventually became very tall and overgrown. One day the mechanic was working on a car in his backyard, as mechanics are sometimes wont to do. Things weren’t going well! Finally he got a little angry and in frustration he let out a bellow and tossed his wrench up in air, only to lose it in the tall grass. He looked and looked but for the life of him, he couldn’t find that wrench. Now - even more frustrated, he decided to call it a day.
That night Mace somehow escaped from the house and he ate all the grass in that area of the backyard. The next morning the mechanic went outside and saw his wrench lying where he had tossed it, glinting in the sunlight.
Realizing what had happened, (Rusty, you might want to cover your ears for what comes next) the mechanic looked up to the heavens and proclaimed...
“A’grazing Mace, how sweet the hound,
that saved a wrench for me!”
It once was lost, but now is found
Amazing – for all to see.”
Levity aside, at least for now, my wife will testify to the fact that I hate round-a-bouts. Still in a round-a-bout way, the tale of Ole Mace helps us get into the message for today: A message that I have titled:
Pentecost: A Tale of Three Miracles
A Tale of Communication lost
A Tale of Communication re-gained
A Tale of Communication shared
A Tale of Communication Lost
We begin our study in Babel with a tale of how communication was lost. Babel was a city on the plain of Shinar, which is in present day Iraq. The people who built this city were close descendants of Noah and probably settled in Shinar just 100 years after Noah parked the ark on Mr. Ararat and disembarked. Although God had told Noah and his family to spread out and fill the world, when his descendants poured into the plain of Shinar they decided to settle down right there. They not only challenged God’s command to spread out, but in an effort to show how great they were, they decided to build a city with a soaring tower reaching the heavens. The people said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (v.4).
Now certainly there was nothing wrong with building a tower; it was their motivation for building it that was not pleasing to God. That tower was not for defense, not for forest fire detection, not for offices, or condos. The sole purpose was to show off their brain and brawn and to make the statement that they really didn’t need God. “Glory to man in the highest!” That’s really what they were saying by their efforts. *
*When there were no hindrances to communication and collaboration, and when new technology opened up new opportunities, the people became proud. Their ambitions went sky-high. They felt so confident about what they could achieve together, that they decided to try and eliminate God from their lives and from their world altogether.
The Tower of Babel was a kind of temple. But its main feature was not the interior, like in most temples. The main feature was the stairs that led around the tower like a spiral staircase to the top. Mankind wanted to reach the heavens, on their own. They wanted to conquer the universe and penetrate the spiritual world by their own effort. They wanted to make themselves believe that a united humanity was even more powerful than God Himself. In fact, they wanted to forget God altogether and get on with life. Their motto seems to have been this: “As long as we unite our physical, spiritual, intellectual and scientific efforts, nothing will be impossible for us.”
What happened next is clear and decisive! God intervened. God CAUSED their language, their communication to be confused. As a judgment, God wanted there to be chaos in communication. The people had come together and coordinated a plan to build a great tower to the heavens. God wanted no part of that. They were going to make a great and mighty city. They wanted to make a name FOR THEMSELVES, and this after God had clearly told them to go out and FILL the earth. Looking down from heaven, God carefully examined the situation and 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.” V. 6 God wanted to save the people from themselves. He didn’t want them to succeed. So – He caused them to fail! That’s a clear example of what is still true today. “Man proposes, but God disposes.”
But why – Why would God WANT them to fail? If the people were so self sufficient and so successful in building a home for themselves HERE on earth, then they wouldn’t see the need to have a home THERE in heaven. They would be filled with pride and self-fulfillment. If the people could make their lives so comfortable here on earth, then they wouldn’t ever want to leave it. They would see no reason for God; no reason for prayer. They wouldn’t seek a heavenly peace because they would have peace of their own making, peace in the here and now. Ultimately – They wouldn’t see their desperate need for a Savior because of their sinfulness, and – they would comfortably slide into hell.
Oh – It could have been worse. God could have caused their tower to fall on them and killed them all – like He did at Siloam. But instead of causing their tower to fall or tearing it down, God simply changed their language and caused the tower to fail & fall all on its own, through their own division. Commenting on this confusion of tongues and the babble it caused, Martin Luther said that in some ways it was worse than the flood for all the fear, mistrust and war that it brought with it.
Showing Himself to be a God of justice was one thing. But God also showed Himself to be a God of faithfulness. He stayed true to His word of promise, the promise of a Savior. In the years that followed, the promise of a Savior was renewed through the prophets, until finally Jesus was born. That brings us to our second tale:
A Tale of Communication Regained
The story of the Tower of Babel shows how God disrupted the communication and the unity of the people by “confusing their language.” He created confusion and misunderstanding between them. And as a result, the people broke up. They dispersed! And their common effort to reach the heavens on their own, was abandoned. It was a complete failure. On Pentecost, when God poured out His Holy Spirit on that first little bunch of Jesus’ disciples, He, in effect, reversed the process that He had initiated in Babel.
The record shows that some 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection on Easter, a sound like the sound of a violent wind was heard and the Holy Spirit visibly descended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire. At the same time, He gave them the ability to speak in foreign languages, languages they had never studied before. The disciples used their newfound ability to share God’s Word with the pilgrims from many nations that had gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. People from all over the world heard the wonderful works of God in their own language.
Peter himself preached a powerful sermon to the Jews, convicting them of their sin of crucifying Jesus. He also went on to assure them that God had raised Jesus from the dead and that their sins had been forgiven. The result: The people who heard the message were cut to the heart. They asked: “What should we do?” v. 37 The answer: “Repent & be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.” v. 38 The final result: In a single day 3000 people came to faith, including people who had once been enemies of Jesus and the Church.
On that day of Pentecost, God bridged the same communication gap He had caused at Babel through a special gift of the Holy Spirit—the gift of tongues, as it’s often called. By His power, the Holy Spirit bound the people together and gave them a common language, the common language of the Gospel; the common language of salvation in Jesus. In turn, that common language created unity. God did this in order to bless us as much as anyone else. He did it so that we would realize that we can’t have peace and salvation in this world either, and so that we would realize that we needed Jesus to come down to us and for us. You see - We can’t climb up to heaven by our own strength or merits anymore than those people of old could. God, in the person of Jesus, had to descend down to us and die for us to pay for our sins. This is the miracle of Pentecost. This is the Word of salvation. This is how unity still can be restored. We, you and I, are beneficiaries of that language, that message and that unity. It is ours to share. The third tale:
A Tale of Communication Shared
A famous motivational speaker was once asked about his most difficult speech. He answered, "Well, it was when I was asked to speak at a national convention of undertakers. My topic was to explain to them how to look sad, during a $20,000 funeral." You see, when there is joy inside, it’s awfully hard to keep it from showing.
Although God did force the people to move apart, it was their own sin that caused the united to become divided at Babel. Sin continues to drive us apart today too, doesn’t it? It causes us to say hurtful things, to refuse to admit that we are wrong, and to take advantage of others. When you think about it, because of all the violence, discord and sin, this world is really a horrible place in which to live! But God has provided a remedy for sin. While the people of Babel tried to unite heaven and earth with brick and mortar, God has united the two through His Son, Jesus. More than that, God has sent the Holy Spirit to bring us to faith in Jesus, and faith in His work of salvation.
Only the Holy Spirit can repair the sad confusion that sin has caused. He does that through the common language of the Gospel. As a result – (N.T. 1550 languages)
Today people from different languages, cultures, and various walks of life are still being drawn together by the Gospel. Only the Holy Sprit can bring something like that about. What else would move Japanese people to listen to American missionaries, considering the history between our two nations? OR - What brings us together to worship every Sunday? Our common likes and dislikes? Our political views? Hardly! No, the thing that brings us together is the common knowledge of our sin, the common faith we have in our Savior, and the common goal we have of sharing the Good News.
"There is an old legend which says when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the angel Gabriel asked Him, "Lord, what plans have you made for carrying on your ministry in the world? How will people learn of what you have done for them?" Jesus responded, "I left that to Peter, James and John, to Martha and Mary. They are to tell their friends and their friends will tell other friends, until the whole world has heard the good news."
Gabriel then asked,” What if Peter is so busy with his nets and Martha so full of her housework and the friends so preoccupied that they all forget to tell their friends? Don’t you think you should make some other plans; a back-up plan, perhaps?" Jesus answered, "I have made no other plan. I am counting on My Children to spread My Name and My love."
When we speak the language of the Gospel, the miracle of Pentecost continues. One by one, precious souls are added to God’s kingdom. Therefore – speak as God has called you to speak; Speak as God speaks to you with words and deeds of patience and love. As the opportunities present themselves, share the Good News of the Gospel. Do that and You’ll soon find out that the more you speak that language the less you and those you speak to, will get caught up in worthless babbling. And Pentecost, a Tale of Three Miracles, will continue to be written.