11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 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. 4 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.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 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. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore 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.
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Here's a question
for you: What would you say that humans yearn for more than anything
else?
I'd propose that
security would be the answer to that question. There are others that
could be suggested, but in our heart of hearts we all long for
security. Want proof? Think of your biggest worries. Many of them
revolve around losing security, be it financial security, physical
security or relational security. We dread the thought of being
insecure.
We're no different
than the people of our story today. They, too, loved security.
Having left the Ark far behind, they are trying to establish
themselves in the land. They recognize that they are far stronger
together. They see that the threats that loom for each of them are
diminished when they come together. They admit their deepest fear in
this passage—otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the
face of the whole earth. They
dread this thought and do everything in their power to avoid it.
We,
too, dread the thought of being scattered, of being isolated, of
being on our own. We know that isolation brings insecurity, and so
we band together to provide security. Want proof? Look at the
national budget. What are the biggest items on there? Our defense
budget is massively larger than the budget of many other nations
combined. Our naval, air and land power dwarf those of our rivals.
We have built a strong army to serve as a deterrent to any who might
threaten our security. What are the other biggest items on there?
Social Security and Medicare, which are intended to provide for us
when we can no longer provide for ourselves. They provide security
for us when we cannot provide it for ourselves. Our national
priorities are to provide security.
Security
can be a wonderful thing. I don't want to denigrate it. I just want
to show how strong the human desire for it is. When a child has food
security, he has energy to focus on his schoolwork. When someone has
job security, she can focus her energy on working well rather than
waiting for the other shoe to drop. When our homes are secure, we
can rest easily. Security is good.
The
problem is when we forget that we are only truly secure in God. For
the danger of security is that when we are secure we can easily
forget that we are not in control. When we are secure, the danger is
that we forget that only God can provide lasting security from every
threat, including death. When we are secure, the temptation is to
look around and think about how wonderful we are for providing our
own security. When we are secure, it is easy to forget that
everything depends on God.
That's
what the people of Babel did. They settled down in this plain
together and built a city. Since they were the only people around,
the walls of that city would have provided a visible sense of
security against any outside threat. Soon enough, their thinking
turned inward and their next desire showed clearly that they believed
themselves to be the center of the universe.
Let
us make a name for ourselves.
It's
not the building of the city that is sinful. It's not the building
of a tower that is sinful. There is nothing wrong with human
achievement.
What
is sinful is the desire to make a name for ourselves, to believe that
we are the only things worth living for. What is sinful is the
belief that we have provided security for ourselves and that our
laudable achievements should bring praise, honor and glory to us.
This is the belief that might is worthy to be praised and should be
sought after highly.
What
Scripture teaches us is that God doesn't reward self-seeking glory.
It may look like it for a time, but eventually this tower collapses
in upon itself. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 127, Unless
the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless
the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in
vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of
anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.
As
we hear, our anxious work and worried toil do not bring glory to God.
Directing our efforts to God is what brings glory to God.
What
happens around the tower of Babel?
God
allows their deepest fears to be realized, because only in this will
the people learn their greatest truth.
The
people are deeply afraid of being scattered, of being isolated, of
facing the elements and the unknown with only a small band. God
brings this to bear, not out of capriciousness or malice but rather
because it is the only way to bring them into the most abundant life
possible. If they establish worldly security and spend their lives
building their own reputations, their lives will be hollow shells
that will collapse inward. If, however, they are scattered and learn
what it is like to depend on God alone for true security, they will
find the abundant life that God makes possible for all of his beloved
children. Through the pain and suffering of leaving worldly security
behind, they traverse a bridge into a different type of life, one
that depends on God to provide and recognizes that human achievements
fade away over time, but life with God never does.
Friends,
no one wanted to leave behind the apparent safety and security of
Babel. It was comfortable there, and it appeared as though no threat
could ever damage the people within. But life there was empty,
meaningless, self-directed and self-glorifying. Life may have been
sensually pleasing, but in aiming for earth, the people missed
heaven.
What
does God want for your life? I don't believe that God wants to throw
you out of your house and make it impossible to speak to your
neighbors. I don't believe that God necessarily wants to take away
any comfort that you enjoy and send you to go live in the woods.
What
I do believe is that God wants you to live a full and abundant life,
one with purpose and passion, and I believe that God knows that
living to make a name for yourself can never provide that. I believe
God wants you to recognize that you cannot provide full security for
yourself, and that everything you have is a gift from God. As
always, Jesus says it best—Live so that others may see
your good works and give glory to God.
It's
not about you. It's not about establishing your name and reputation.
It's about living with a greater purpose. God wants to renew the
entire earth and bring every single person into the eternal joy of
life abundant with God. God wants to bring us to a place where our
every need is met and our only desires are for joy and peace. God
wants to grow us up into a people who recognize that our greatest
potential is reached when we are glorifying God, not ourselves. God
wants us to become leaders who lead best by serving. God wants us to
be filled with worship of God, for only in this are we most fully
human and most fully alive.
This
is the life that Christ led, and this is the life Christ wants each
and every one of us to have. It is only made possible through the
death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, but we need to turn
from trying to provide our own security and accept the security we
have in Christ.
It's
a free gift from God. Just as God scatters the people from the tower
of Babel, we're told he will gather us together on his holy mountain.
People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the
south, and sit at the banquet table of the feast of God. We were
once scattered, but in Christ we shall be gathered back together as
one people, one body, one church, with Christ at our head for all
eternity.
Let
us pray
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