In a Battle of Wills, God Always Wins

Genesis 11:1-9

1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4Then 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; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6The 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. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That 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.

In a Battle of Wills, God Always Wins

What would you think if you were hiking in the mountains and you suddenly came upon a sight like this? Or what if you were bushwacking in the jungle and saw ancient buildings overgrown with centuries of vines and roots? Or what if you were trekking through the desert and you stumbled across the remains of what was clearly once a vast and glorious settlement but now is little more than a pile of rocks and sediment?

Maybe you’d ask, like many would, “What happened here?” “Who were these people?” “What was their story?” “What went wrong?” Something must have gone wrong, otherwise they’d still be here, right?

Well, this is the picture of Genesis 11. Moses takes us on a tour of these ruins and tells us the story of what happened at Babel – one of the most ambitious but, in the end, foolhardy construction projects never to be finished.

We don’t know exactly when these events take place. The words we read today follow immediately after the story of the Flood. But we do know from context that this didn’t happen the day after Noah and his family got off the ark. There were only 8 of them. The story that Moses records for us includes hundreds of people – enough people to justify the building of a city and to begin construction on a project of this magnitude. So, this probably took place a couple hundred years after the Flood.

When Noah and his family got off the ark, God put a rainbow in the sky as an eternal promise never to destroy the world by flood again, but God also gave Noah and his family a command: “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.”[1]

So God’s vision for the next several generations after Noah, is constant expansion. But what do these people say? “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”[2]

“A tower that reaches to the heavens.” That sounds more than just ambitious; that seems ostentatious, i.e. boastful. “So that we may make a name for ourselves.” That’s bald-faced pride. “Otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” They know what God wants them to do; they just don’t want to do it. They are taking active steps not to do what God wants them to do. They are in open and direct rebellion against God’s clear command.

It reminds me of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done…”[3] These people got it backwards. They wanted to make a name for themselves, to make a kingdom for themselves, and to do whatever they wanted to do regardless of what God wanted them to do. Their prayer sounded more like this: Hallowed be my name, my kingdom come, my will be done… And, as sad as it is to say, the spirit of the proto-Babylonian is still alive and well in us today.

“Hallowed be my name.” You know that temptation, don’t you – to confuse the success or failure of your schoolwork, your work-work, your family life with your personal worth or reputation, i.e. to want things to go well so that people look up to you, so that your parents can be proud of you, your classmates can envy you, your friends can appreciate you. I want to be the smartest, funniest, sweetest, nicest, best (you fill in the blank).

But that’s not what our goal in life is supposed to be. Paul reminds us what is: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.[4] God’s name is the one we’re supposed to hallow, not ours.

“My kingdom come.” The proto-Babylonians reached Shinar and asked, “Why would we go any further? We have everything we could ever want right here.” They had made it their life’s mission to seek security and stability.

And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want that? It’s not bad to desire security and stability, but at what cost? At the rejection of God’s plans for us that often differ from our plans for ourselves? At the exclusion of seeking his kingdom first? We can be so busy building a life for our families that we don’t have time worship, Bible study, devotion, prayer. Are we so busy building a little kingdom for ourselves that we don’t take time to advance God’s kingdom on earth?

“My will be done.” In the end, this is always what it’s come down to – a battle of wills. Whose desires are most important – God’s or mine? Who wins if those wills don’t line up – God or me? If we’re honest, God usually takes a backseat. If I want something different than he wants, I usually find a way to get what I want.

The bad news is that you don’t have to build a tower that reaches to heaven to be in open rebellion against God. You just have to be human. But here’s the good news: even if we (sinfully) get our own way for a little while, God always wins eternally.

Think about this scene from God’s point of view. If the proto-Babylonians had continued on this path, they would have recreated the conditions that necessitated the Flood – this rampant and willful disobedience and rebellion against God.

And if that happened again so soon after the Flood, what’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again after a worldwide fire or plague or asteroid-strike. God had to break the cycle to preserve his promise – to make it possible for his Son to born so that his Son could save us from our sin. So he confused their languages and scattered them over the face of the earth.

And this is important. The sacrifice of Jesus is very different than these acts of judgment like the Flood or the Tower of Babel. Those things were temporary measures meant to halt the progression of sin for a little while. Jesus’ death would bring the permanent resolution. It wouldn’t put an end to sin – not by a long shot. It would do something better. It would forgive sin and bring about the inevitable reversal of the Tower of Babel the way God had always planned.

Scripture is full of promises to that effect. We read it repeatedly in Revelation: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before they throne and before the Lamb… They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”[5] No more division in heaven. No more hatred, discord, envy or slander. No more rebellion or sin. Just perfect unity among people from every corner of the globe, reunited in praise at the salvation that is ours through Jesus.

We saw a preview of that promise at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit empowered Peter and the rest of the apostles to speak all kinds of different languages to the wonderment of the crowd: “How is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”[6] God overcame the natural boundaries and divisions of this world by proclaiming the good news of Jesus in words that everyone could understand. He brought a piece of heaven to earth for the disciples to enjoy even now.

And while it may not look exactly the same as it did at that Pentecost, that’s the same miracle that continues to take place today. Again from Revelation: Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people.[7] That’s you and me, and all the people we’re privileged to meet – whether they’re members of our congregation or visitors to our Open Air Fair, whether they’re from Canada or the US or the Ukraine, Nigeria, Haiti, or Brazil. God continues to unite us to himself and to each other through the proclamation of the salvation won for us by his Son and worked in us by his Holy Spirit through faith.

Here's the good news of Pentecost: In a battle of wills, God always wins. No amount of human interference can disrupt his plan of salvation. No amount of your sin can hinder his grace. And when God wins, so do you. His victory means forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life for everyone who believes – whether that’s the 3,000 who believed on Pentecost, the 144,000 we read about in Revelation, or you hearing these words today, because God’s promise is true for you just as it was 2,000 years ago or 3,000 years before that: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.[8] Thanks be to God! Amen.

[1] Genesis 9:1

[2] Genesis 11:4

[3] Matthew 6:9,10

[4] 1 Corinthians 10:31

[5] Revelation 7:9,10

[6] Acts 2:8-11

[7] Revelation 14:6

[8] Acts 2:21

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Are There People Like Me Here?

John 17:20-26

20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Are There People Like Me Here?

“Are there people like me here?” It’s a question many of us ask ourselves almost any time we walk into a room. “Are there people like me here?” School’s almost out now, but I’m sure you remember those first day jitters. Who are you going to sit with in class or in the cafeteria? Who are you going to play with at recess or hang out with during your free period? It’s the same when you start a new job or go to a party or a playground or a fair or a church. “Are there people like me here?” We tend to gravitate toward people like us, whether they’re our age or our stage of life. Maybe they’re just wearing Oilers gear and you know that at the very least you can chat about tonight’s game. “Are there people like me here?”

I don’t know how you feel about that. Maybe it resonates with you, i.e. it echoes your experience. Maybe it sounds a little prejudiced to you, as if we should be more enlightened in today’s day and age than to only feel truly comfortable around people like us. However you feel about it, the need for love and belonging has long been identified as a core need for human survival.

Have you ever heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Maslow ranks several core human needs in order of what is most necessary for survival. At the ground floor is our need for food and water. Next comes our need for shelter and safety. You won’t last very long if you don’t have food and water and if you’re surrounded by hungry grizzly bears. But after those very basic necessities, Maslow suggests that the next most basic human need – before you can develop your own sense of identity and self-worth, much less reach your ultimate potential – before any of that, every human has the basic need for love and belonging, i.e. to know that someone cares and that you have a place to feel at home and people to consider family.

How well is your need for love and belonging being met? Some of you have an incredibly tight-knit nuclear family, with dinners around the same table at least once a week. Maybe for you it’s a Scout Troupe, a softball team, a book club, or mates from school. If that’s you, praise the Lord! Consider yourself blessed! Not all of us feel that way.

For some of us, the dream of a traditional, tight-knit nuclear family died (a fiery death) a long time ago. Some of us are still searching for “our people,” still joining groups, still trying things, still putting ourselves out there. Some of us have given up hope. We might put a brave face on, we might grin and bear it, other people might not even know, but we do – the lack, the absence, the something missing.

That’s one of the reasons that John 17 is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible – because of the (not-so-) secret conversation we are privileged to overhear between God and his Son, i.e. between Jesus and his Father in heaven. The words that you heard earlier are a portion of a prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before he died. It’s the last quiet moment that Jesus would have before he was carried off to be crucified. There’s an urgency to it. And because the time is short, Jesus can’t afford to dawdle or lollygag through it. He only has time for the most important things. And when you combine the urgency of the situation with the importance of his prayer, you get an intensity otherwise unknown to mankind. Luke tells us that Jesus was praying so hard that he was sweating, and the sweat that was dripping from his brow was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Which leaves the curious Christian wondering, “What was so urgent and so important to Jesus that it resulted in blood-like sweat?” The short answer is, “You.”

Jesus was praying about you. “My prayer is not for them alone”– the remaining 11 disciples – “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” [1]  That’s you! “Their message” is the New Testament, like the words of John’s Gospel we are considering today. And now we get to the meat of Jesus’ prayer: “…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you…[2] that they may be brought to complete unity.”[3]

Complete unity. That’s a community in which every member belongs. Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? What’s the community you can think of that comes closest to complete unity? It’s not politics, for obvious reasons. It’s not sports fandom. Just ask your fellow Oilers fans who they think should be tending goal tonight.

Is it the church? We know that the Christianity is not united. By my count there are 27 different Christian churches in St. Albert alone. Even individual congregations struggle with internal unity over doctrine and tradition and worship styles and carpet colour. Rarely could you walk into any church and feel like it was completely united.

Why do you suppose that is? What accounts for all those divisions? What prevents love and belonging? I do, when I don’t proactively provide it. You do, when you dig your heels in about an opinion and get defensive about your behaviour. We do, when we get grumpy with each other and judgmental and dismissive. What’s the greatest enemy of love and belonging? We are.

Imagine how that would play out with Maslow’s other needs. If we gave up looking for food and water or fed ourselves poison instead. If we were given shelter and safety, but chose exposure and danger. That’s crazy. But that’s what we do with love and belonging. We chase love away – we banish belonging – because we’re too stubborn or proud or selfish or oblivious.

But God is gracious. He didn’t get grumpy with us or withhold his love from us. It’s the opposite. He tells us that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.[4] God didn’t draw a line in the sand and demand that we stay inside it otherwise he would walk away. It’s the opposite. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son.[5] Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.[6] God didn’t wait for us to love him before he acted in love to save us. It’s the opposite. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[7]

God provides you the love and the belonging you need through Jesus. In the Bible you hear the history of a God who cares about you. In his house (or, on days like this, just outside of it) you find a place that you can call home no matter where you come from. Through his Word you receive the promise that you are his child, adopted into his family, made brothers and sisters of his one and only Son through the sacrifice he made for us on the cross. You are united to Christ because he is your Saviour.

Let that sink in for a second. Are you estranged from someone you used to be close to? Are your friendship not what they once were? Is your relationship with your boss, a co-worker, a classmate, a neighbour strained? Do you feel like you could walk into a room and be surrounded by people but still feel devastatingly alone? Have you contributed to that – the strained relationships, the love ungiven, the harm done? Because God loves you, he sent his Son to become one of you and one with you. The Son of God became the Son of Man – he wore the same flesh and blood; he walked the same earth; he felt the same pain, but then he did something to fix it. He died to forgive your sin and absolve you of your guilt, to wash your conscience clean and give you peace and a new perspective on life. Because of Jesus you will never be alone. For time and eternity you will always be God’s son or daughter – a child forever loved who always has a place in God’s house both in the eternal halls of our heavenly Father, but also here and now.

This is the amazing thing that Jesus not only prayed for but accomplished for us. He made you each his brother or sister, which makes you all brothers and sisters to each other. We are all united in his blood that washed us clean of all our sin. We may not all look alike. We may not all come from the same place. We may not all share the same history or heritage. But because of Jesus, there are people like me here. We are all sinners saved by grace. And that is a unity that transcends earthly differences and binds us together as family gathered together in our Father’s house with people who care about us because our Father cares about us.

That’s the love and belonging we need. That’s a love and belonging that’s even better than a weekly family meal or a monthly book club, because this is a union that will last forever. This is a community that wouldn’t have formed naturally. I don’t think I would have met a single one of you had it not been for the love of Christ that binds us together.

This is what Jesus prayed about on the night before he died. This was the desire of your Saviour’s heart. The bounce house is going to be great. We have lots of fun games and gifts to give away. But it’s this right here – the message of our Saviour that brings us together – that was so urgent and important and intense that Jesus couldn’t help but bring it to his Father’s attention and ask for it to come to fruition.

So be the answer to your Saviour’s prayer. Gather with your brothers and sisters in faith. Hear the Word of your loving God. Believe the good news of your salvation. And not just on beautiful days or special occasions like this, because this is one of your basic human needs, which by God’s grace he has given you – love and belonging, from our Saviour and with each other.

Are there people like me here? Absolutely. All I see are sinners saved by grace. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

[1] John 17:20

[2] John 17:21

[3] John 17:23

[4] Ezekiel 33:11

[5] John 3:16

[6] 1 Timothy 1:15

[7] Romans 5:8

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