Separated by language, united in Christ

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build 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."

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD 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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:1-9).

It can be scary going on a trip to another country. There are all sorts of things to worry about, like hoping that your passport is in order, your luggage is with you, and that you don’t get lost. But the scariest part of the trip is in talking to strangers, especially when they don’t speak English. When no one around you speaks a language that you can understand, it is easy to panic. You wonder how you can get help, how you can order food, how you can get transportation.

Language is a barrier here in America too. Maybe you have placed a phone order with someone who didn’t speak English very well. After you hung up the phone, did you worry that maybe the person didn’t get your order right? Maybe you have been out shopping, and heard two strangers talking and laughing in another language. Did you wonder if they were laughing at you?

When we don’t understand what another person is saying, it makes us feel scared and alone. We worry that if an emergency comes up, we won’t be able to ask for help. We worry that other people will take advantage of us, and we have no way of protecting ourselves. When we can’t communicate with the people around us, we feel helpless.

On the other hand, when we are with people who we can understand, it is easier to feel like we belong. When we have good communication with others, we can join forces and do things that would be impossible for one person to do alone. When we are part of a group that understands each other, we can talk about our dreams and work together to make them a reality. Communication makes it possible for us to feel that we belong together.

In Genesis chapter 11, we are taken back to a time after the Great Flood when everybody still spoke the same language. Because they were united in one group, the people felt sure that they could dream big and build big. They decided to build the world’s first skyscraper. Genesis tells us that the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, came down and took a careful look at what was going on. But God did not like what He saw. He heard the people give this reason for building the skyscraper: so that we may make a name for ourselves.

Did you hear the pride in their voices? These people wanted to do something that they could brag about. They weren’t planning to build a YMCA. They weren’t planning to build a homeless shelter. They weren’t planning to build a hospital. They wanted to build a monument to themselves, to show how great they were.

We know that God hates prideful behavior. The Bible says "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). The reason that God hates the proud is because they do not think that they need God. People who are full of pride do not ask God for help or advice, because they think that they already have all the answers.

There's a popular hymn that begins with these words: "with the Lord begin thy task." Sinful people are humble; we know that sin spoils everything we think, everything we say, everything we do. Because of this, we always ask Jesus to help us make good decisions, and help us to put our time and money into things that serve God. But the people of Babel never asked God if they should build a skyscraper. They never asked God to bless the work of their hands. Because of their pride, they just went ahead without thinking about God.

This concerned God very much. He 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. God was concerned that the people would become so confident in their own abilities that they would never feel the need to ask God to be involved in their lives. Their pride would lead them to abandon having a relationship with God, and people who die without such a relationship go to hell.

God did not want the people to end their relationship with Him and end up damned, so He took action to end their pride. The Triune God caused the people to begin speaking in a number of different languages. Suddenly, everything was complete confusion. People couldn’t understand what the person next to them was saying. People couldn’t read the building plans designed by the architects and engineers. Pride had been replaced by the fear of feeling all alone.

Of course, the people were not all alone. Slowly, they gathered into groups that spoke the same language, and they set out to build small towns where all the residents could understand each other. But more importantly, they could still talk to God. In fact, now that they were broken up into little groups, worry and fear would cause them to start praying to God again. When pride is defeated, we start remembering that we need God’s help and love every day.

God introduced different languages into the world because He loves us, and did not want the human race lost forever in arrogant pride. But having many languages causes many problems. Often, people who speak different languages go to war with each other because they cannot understand each other. Being split up into many small groups often results in conflicts. God does not want us fighting with each other. God does not want us to ignore the needs of others, even though we cannot talk to them. God does not want fear and loneliness to make us miserable, any more than He wants pride to keep us away from Him.

So God sent Jesus into the world to bring us Good News. The Good News is that God loves everyone. The Good News is that God sent His Son Jesus to rescue us from the power of sin that leads to conflict and death. The Good News is that Jesus paid the price for all our sins by dying on the cross, and that everyone who believes this will live forever with Him.

But in a world of many languages, how can the Good News be shared? The followers of Jesus could speak the languages of the Jews and the Romans, but how could they tell the Good News to people from Africa, the East, or Europe? The miracle of Pentecost is God’s answer to that problem. The Holy Spirit came into each of Jesus’ followers, and gave them the ability to speak in other languages. So equipped, these people went out into the city and talked about how Jesus is the Son of God, how Jesus suffered in our place for our sins, and how He rose from the dead to be our living Savior forever. As a result of this miracle, 3,000 people became Christians that day! (Acts 2:1-11)

When building started on the Tower of Babel, the people were united—they were united in the sin of pride. Out of loving concern, God broke up their unity by confusing their language. On Pentecost, God gave unity back to us. But our unity is not unity in the sin of pride. Our unity is in our relationship with Jesus. Paul speaks of this unity in chapter 2 of Ephesians: you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. In Jesus, we are all built together into a holy city, the New Jerusalem. This is a community that does not raise up skyscrapers of pride, but looks up to a blood-stained cross in humility.

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. All across our nation, people are remembering the sacrifice of loved ones who died to preserve our peace. There is no better way to honor their memories than by bringing the Good News of Jesus to those who do not speak our language. There is no better way to build and preserve peace than with an invitation to be united with us in the kingdom of Christ. Pray for our enemies, that God might disrupt their prideful unity. Support mission workers who risk their lives to bring Christ to the nations. And the next time that you hear someone speaking in a foreign language, go up to them and say "hi." We cannot share the Good News if we don’t try to communicate.