Genesis 11:1-9 & Acts 2:1-21

            {Prayer}

            I don’t know how much kids do it today, but back in the day when I was growing up, which wasn’t all that long ago, we had this fun little game called “The Telephone Game.” It’s a pretty simple game. You start out with a word or short phrase and speak it into someone’s ear. They in turn pass it on to the next person. The goal is to get all the way around the group with the same message. As we got older, the phrases got longer. And rarely did the phrase ever make it around the circle and come out right at the end. And then the fun was to see where it got off at.

            While this is just a fun little game and nothing to get upset about … misunderstandings and lack of clarity can be rather frustrating. How often do people get annoyed at a drive-thru because the person taking the order is not getting it the way you want the first time? Being on the other end of the headset, it’s really frustrating when you can’t understand what the customer wants when the system is not the greatest or there is too much background noise.

            Communication, clear communication is extremely important. Breakdowns in communication causes separation between people. Clarity and understanding bring people together.

            This morning, this Pentecost Sunday, between our Old Testament lesson and our reading from Acts 2, we witness the ultimate reversal of the worst communication breakdown in all of history … the Tower of Babel.

            Genesis 11 opens with a striking statement … “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech” (11:1). One language, one speech. What a blessing that is. Just think … how easy would it be to live in a world where everyone understood everything you said. We wouldn’t need closed captioning or translators.

            The people had one language and they had one mission from God … “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). They were to spread out! Fill the earth! Pretty simple instructions. Pretty clear instructions!

            But instead, the people took their one language and they chose to use it for their own kind of unity, for staying together, and for their own self-glorification. They chose a unity that ignored God’s call. And the thing is, they weren’t shy about it either! It was like they grabbed the megaphone, cranked up the volume as loud as it would go and said, “Everyone! Come gather around! We have an announcement to make!”“Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world” (11:4 NLT).

            They weren’t just united, they were loudly united in the wrong direction. They used their one voice, not for God’s glory, but for their own. The megaphone amplified their rebellion toward God.

            God’s response to this? “Look! The people are united, and they all speak the same language. … Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other” (11:6-7 NLT). The people were given this great gift of one language, of clear communication … and they misused it. God confuses their language and sends them scattering, finally fulfilling the very mission they resisted.

            But here’s something to think about … the Tower of Babel … it isn’t just about the confusion of language. Babel is about rebellion. Babel is an anti-missional movement. Instead of filling the earth … the Babel community is saying to God … “We don’t need you! We’ll build our own kingdom! We’re staying put!”

            Babel is humanity’s attempt to speak louder than God. But God is not done speaking. He never is. What was confused at Babel will one day be clarified. What was divided will one day be united again. But this time, not by pride, but by the Spirit.

            And this brings us to Acts 2, to Pentecost, to the day of reversal. The day the Church finds her voice.

            “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Where Babel scattered the nations throughout the world, Pentecost gathers them again. God-fearing Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem for the celebration of Shavuot. Shavuot is the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

            As they are there, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where {the disciples} were sitting. … When {the people} heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard {the disciples} speaking in his own language” (Acts 2:2, 6).

            The people in the city are all confused. There’s this crazy violent wind that came up out of nowhere and now these backwater Galileans, these thought to be uneducated, rural fisherman, are now speaking foreign languages they never learned. It didn’t make sense. The people even ask that good Lutheran question, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12).

            And it’s a good question to ask. Not just for them, but for us, too. What does this mean that ordinary people are suddenly proclaiming powerful truths? What does it mean that God would speak directly to each person and not through impressive titles or religious insiders, but in a voice they could understand? What does it mean that God is still communicating clearly, still cutting through confusion, still speaking peace?

            It means that instead of one man-made language … God now speaks in many languages. Each person is able to understand God’s Word in their own native tongue. Instead of confusion, there is clarity. Instead of prideful building focused on self, there’s humble proclamation of the good news of Jesus by common everyday backwater people. Instead of division, there is now unity through the Holy Spirit.

            At Babel, the people tried to go up to God. Here at Pentecost, God comes down to the people. Instead of using a megaphone, God is using a hearing aid to speak. Instead of the people boldly proclaiming their self-centered pridefulness … God is speaking directly to each person in a way that they can understand.

            And this is exactly what Jesus promises. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come, that the disciples would receive power from on high. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit would come, not to confuse the disciples but to teach them, to remind them of what Jesus taught them, and to go out and spread the good news of salvation, peace, and mercy to all people.

            So what does this mean for us today? What does it mean that God still speaks clearly? A few things.

            It means that God clearly speaks through His Word. Holy Scripture, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation is not a garbled-up mess of words that don’t connect or relate to each other. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals the narrative of the life of God’s people, the narrative of your and my life. It clearly states how we need a Savior, how the Savior has come in Jesus who lives the perfect life, goes to the cross to suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sins, and rise from the dead to defeat death and give us the promise of eternal life. Jesus then bodily ascended into Heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to live and dwell within our hearts, to equip and lead us to share this good news with others until we are either called home or Christ comes again.

            It means that God clearly speaks through the preaching of His word. Through the preaching of His Word, the voice of Christ comes through. Jesus says, “You are forgiven, you are redeemed. Now go and do all that I have commanded you.”

            It means that God clearly speaks through the Sacraments. In Baptism you are washed of your sins, claimed by God and brought into His eternal family. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives you Himself, His body and blood, for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.

            It means that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is still at work in the heart of every believer. That the Holy Spirit is at work in your heart.

            God still speaks clearly. He speaks to a world still full of noise, confusion, and pride. He speaks, not through the megaphone of human arrogance … but through the hearing aid of the Holy Spirit. God speaks personally, intimately, and unmistakably in His Word and Sacraments. He still speaks peace. He still speaks grace. And by His Holy Spirit … He speaks through you, too. That’s the miracle of Pentecost. That’s the gift of our mission. Amen.

            The peace of God, that surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.