Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-35; Romans 8:14-17; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17,
In ancient times, the story was told that was passed down to Moses about the arrogance of people in the far ancient times. It seems that after the Great Flood, some of the descendents of Noah moved south and east from Mt Ararat and began to live in the land of Shinar, the land we call today Iraq. And they decided that it was necessary for them to become known to all the other people, they were trying to “make a name for themselves”, and so they decided to build a great tower which would extend upward to heaven. And so this group of people began to work very hard at building this great tower, a tower that was unnecessary because there was plenty of room in the world for people, yet they wanted to become famous, and so they began to build that tower.
God looked down upon them and saw what they were doing. God said to another member of the Trinity – “Because they are working together at this, there is nothing that they will not be able to accomplish.” And God gave them all different languages and so they could not understand each other and scattered over the land.
The Tower of Babel is a difficult story for us. Was God simply being petty, like a human boy who kicks over an anthill because it has become too tall? Is our God trying to keep us down under control, afraid that we will challenge God in heaven one day?
No, the problem with the Tower of Babel was two-fold. First, the people were working at a vain task, a task with no more real need than this church choosing to put a 150 foot cross in front of the church – it is a waste of resources, simply a padding of the ego, nothing that actually accomplishes anything worthwhile. It is sin, in just the same way that buying a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce or a Rolex watch is simply a way of saying to other people, “I’m important!” The people wanted to be like God and live in heaven, looking over the rest of the earth, looking down at the rest of the earth.
And the second reason God intervened at the Tower of Babel? It was because God knew that after this project there would be another project and another and another and the most important thing in the Universe for people to do – to try to get close to God – would be ignored in the rush to build great monuments.
And so God made it difficult for people to work together. And for centuries, people did not work well together, because now they spoke different languages, and that meant they had different customs, and different interests, and they also had different spirits.
Thousands of years later, when Jesus chose to die on the cross, He had a Passover meal with His disciples in an upper room – a second or third story room just above the street level. In that upper room, He gave a long talk. The disciple Philip interrupted Jesus and asked Him to just show them the Father. "Just let us see God and that will be enough!" But the disciples had seen God. They just didn’t get it, they just didn’t understand, their life in this world kept them from understanding the God-man who was standing right in front of them.
Our reading from the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus reminded His disciples that He and the Father were One and the same. Jesus said:
“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."
Once more, Jesus had to tell them that He was God in the flesh, come to earth, that He was not just a smart and wise teacher, that He really was God talking to them. They had been with Him three years, they had eaten with Him, followed Him, talked with Him and they thought they knew Him, but they still didn’t know Him for who He was, and that was another reason Jesus had to die and come back to life – because it was obvious by their actions when He was arrested that these disciples were not blind religious fanatics following a man they knew to be God because they denied Jesus, they kept their distance, they hid themselves, they made plans to leave town. Down deep, the disciples did not believe that Jesus was God because the Gospels don’t record the fanatical actions of men who knew they were following the God of the Universe, they don’t even record people doing special things, all they record are people who act as though their leader and friend and son has been arrested and executed.
That night, Jesus had told them they potentially had great power to change the world:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Yet, the disciples forgot these words that night and treated Jesus and his arrest as though it was the arrest of any other political criminal. And they hid.
That night, Jesus even told that He was sending them a replacement, the Spirit of truth, who would live in them and be in them. But those words just went over their heads – they were so upset, they were depressed, they knew that Jesus was brilliant and wise, but they also knew that when a man are arrested and executed, He is gone, even if He is the man who called Lazarus back from the dead...
Yet a few days later, Jesus was back from the dead, and things changed. The disciples began to remember what Jesus had said, and why not? He was the God-man who had come back from the dead, and that return from death finally convinced them.
They ate and talked with Him for a month. He taught them scriptures, He showed them where the Old Testament talked about Him, and He breathed upon them, transferring to the Eleven the Holy Breath, the Holy Spirit that would stay behind and guide them. And now, they believed – even Thomas, who missed the first night when Jesus returned, but Thomas believed when He saw Jesus a week later.
And then, Jesus went home to His Father, sitting at His right hand in the place of honor, awaiting the events of the end of time when He will return again.
Peter and James the brother of Jesus took charge. Peter urged the disciples to replace Judas the traitor with another witness, a man who had been with them from the first miracle at Cana when Jesus changed water into wine, a man who had seen the healings, the curing, the raising from the dead of Lazarus and a man who had witness the risen Christ. Nominating two men, the disciples left the final decision up to God by drawing lots and Mathias became the replacement disciple. And they prayed daily and read scripture daily as they waited for the Holy Spirit to come upon them as Jesus had promised on the day He returned to Heaven.
And they waited…
And they waited…
For ten days they waited...
It was the morning of the festival of first fruits, the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Passover, the morning when the early harvest would be celebrated, the spring wheat harvest, the barley harvest, the day that tradition said God had made the rainbow promise and covenant with Noah, the same day that Moses had come down from God’s mountain with the Law, the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. This day was the day when the first fruits harvested were brought to the temple and sacrificed to God. It was the beginning of the harvest season, when all sorts of produce was brought into the Temple, God’s Temple, and God received what was God’s portion, and today, God would receive the first fruits of a different harvest.
The Twelve and another 120 or so disciples were together that Sunday morning in prayer in an upper room. Downstairs, the cooking fires were going, breakfast was being prepared. All was hushed, all was quiet as the disciples quietly read scripture, perhaps discussing it back and forth, looking for signs of Jesus in the Old Testament scrolls, when suddenly it happened:
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
Remember that in the ancient languages of the Bible, the same word means breath, wind, and spirit. That morning a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven – it was the breath of God, the wind from heaven, the Spirit of God coming to each of them in power and force! The noise was loud, the noise woke up any who were falling asleep, the noise was powerful!
And then, settling down upon each one of them came tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. The Fire of God, the Fire of the Spirit of God, and they must have remembered that when the Israelites left Egypt they followed a pillar of fire by night which was God as they were led from slavery to the freedom of life with God.
And the disciples began to speak. “God is Great!” one said. Another said, “Dios es Grande”. Still another said, “Bog velik!” Another said, “Asvate mets e” “O Theós eínai megálos” said another, and another said, “Deus magnus est”. In dozens of languages, each person began to praise God, saying God is Great, Praise God, and a host of other phrases – and what was amazing was that they were speaking languages they did not know, but which other people knew, they were attracting a crowd, the noise and the shouting was pulling people in from the neighborhood, people wanted to see what God had done that was so great and someone shouted: “They’re DRUNK!” and there was some laughter.
And it was at this point that a big, rough, brawny fishing boat captain stood up and with his mighty voice stopped the noise.
Peter had endured terrible things over the last few weeks. He had promised his leader Jesus that he would always stick by him, no matter what, and then later on that night, when his leader and friend was arrested, Peter had slunk into the shadows, denying that he even knew Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times Peter denied knowing Jesus. Peter wept bitterly that night at his failure.
Peter had seen Jesus come back from the dead, realized that Jesus was indeed God, and Peter had realized that he had turned his back on God Himself, and Peter knew that he had done wrong, that he had been a deserter, and that he deserved terrible punishment. For weeks, Peter had lived with the awful gnawing pain in his stomach, the pain that you get when you know you’ve done wrong and it is just a matter of time before your shameful act comes out in public and you are embarrassed, humiliated, and punished terribly. For weeks, Peter had been terrified of God and Jesus and how they would treat his guilty desertion at the time Jesus had most needed a friend. Peter had been a wreck.
But Jesus had met Peter on the shore of Galilee and forgiven Peter, not once, not twice, but three times, and He had put Peter into leadership, just as He forgives everyone who repents and asks for forgiveness and now on this morning, when someone thought the disciples had had too much to drink, a restored and confidant Peter stood up with the other Eleven Apostles at his back and roared back:
“People of Jerusalem! They can’t be drunk, it’s only 9 in the morning. But I’ll tell you what this is!.
This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Peter roared at the crowd for many minutes more and the Eleven men behind him supported his every word. He told the crowd of Jesus of Nazareth and His miracles, He bluntly told them that the crowd had killed him. that Jesus had died and come back to life. He told them that the Twelve Men standing there had witnessed this Resurrection. And He told the people that Jesus was now Lord and Messiah and they had missed Him and God had promised to make footstools out of the Messiah’s enemies. And at that point someone realized Peter was talking to everyone there, including that someone, that the enemies of the Messiah would be made into footstools by God, and that someone asked, “What are we to do?” What do you do when you’ve killed God and He has come back to life and you’ve realized what you’ve done?
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
That was the day when people as a group began to do the will of God. That day, as the Holy Spirit came into each of those three thousand people at their baptism, they experienced peace and joy. That day, the church was born and people were no longer alone in this world without God.
Now, people could listen to the Holy Spirit and hear God’s direction, God’s leading, God’s will about their lives. Now, two or three or dozens of people could be directed by God directly to do great things. Now, the work of changing the world for the better began.
The great and awesome works that God had stopped at the Tower of Babel were able now to be done, because now people were doing great things because they knew God’s direction, they had God’s powerful Spirit flowing through them, and they once again spoke a common language, the language of loving people, which is a language which brings people together because God is involved.
The Holy Spirit enables Christians to do all good things, for Christ flows through the Holy Spirit and gives power and direction to Christians who listen to that Spirit. And we received that Spirit at baptism, as the three thousand did that wonderful day of Pentecost. That Holy Spirit is still here today, guiding the church and each Christian who chooses to listen to the Spirit. The powerful drama of Pentecost can happen again and again, even today, just as the Holy Spirit has swept through Mingo and Logan counties in southern West Virginia in the last few weeks. Indeed, the Holy Spirit can sweep through here also.
But there are questions we need to answer.
How much do we want the Holy Spirit to lead us?
Are you willing to give up your plans for your life and follow God’s plan for your life? Are you willing to do something crazy, strange, and out of the ordinary to receive the extraordinary blessings of God?
Have you received the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit still a mystery to you? Do you want the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts of joy, peace, and the chance to be transformed by God? Is the Holy Spirit speaking to you this morning? Is the Spirit telling you to let go, to trust in God, to stop worrying and cast everything upon your trust in God?
People fall into three categories:
First, there are the unbaptized people who are without the Holy Spirit’s guidance. They may do good and they may do bad, but they are not in God’s will, they are still in rebellion to God. Come forward to arrange for you to be baptized or for your children to be baptized. Just wave me over.
Second, there are those who have been baptized who have chosen to ignore the Holy Spirit, or who cannot hear the Spirit. Tonight, at our Pentecost Gospel Sing celebration we will talk more about the Holy Spirit. Our Wednesday evening class has focused upon hearing and understanding the Holy Spirit. We will have one more session this week. I urge you to attend at 6:15 this Wednesday.
Third, there are those joyous people who listen to the Holy Spirit and have more or less learned to let the Spirit guide their lives. To speak directly with God, to know you are talking with God, to understand how to be in God’s presence is a great gift of God. I urge you – do what the Spirit is asking you to do. If the Spirit says Speak, then SPEAK! If the Spirit says do, then DO!
Let us all stand, join hands, and form a giant loop, everyone connected.
And now I ask you to join me in this prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit. Do Your will.
Come, Holy Spirit, Grow Your church.
Come, Holy Spirit, Transform my life.
Speak to us, speak to me, speak your words.
Tell us what we shall do.
Tell me who I am.
Tell us of the One we serve.
Guide us to all truth.
Guide us to all joy,
Guide me in my life.
This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
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