"The Tower of Babel"
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
David C. Wright
Genesis 11:1-9
June 27, 2010

          Have you ever tried out one of those computer translation programs, like BabelFish, that translate English into whatever language you want? Type in a phrase and click a button, and it will translate it into French or Spanish or Japanese or whatever.
          One guy decided to have some fun with one of these programs. He took the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," typed it into the computer, and translated it into German. Then he had the program translate it back into English to see what would happen. You remember the song: “Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack. I don't care if I ever get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team.
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ballgame.”
          When he translated it back into English from the German, well, something got lost in translation! It sounds oddly militant, like something Arnold Schwarzenegger might say!
          “Execute me to the ball play. Execute me with the masses.
          Buy me certain groundnuts and crackerstackfusig.
          I'm not interested if I never receive back.
          Let me root, root, root for the main team.
          If they do not prevail, it is dishonor.
          For there are one, two, three impacts on you at the old ball play.”
          Not quite the same, is it?
          Languages present a challenge for us today, for example on our mission projects.  It’s a problem in Honduras, Mexico, and even in South Carolina.  (They speak a dialect of Southern down there, which Pennsylvanians sometimes struggle to understand!)  Our Scripture lesson today attempts to explain why the language problem exists. 
          1  Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
          2  And as they migrated from the east, they came upon 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; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
          5  The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.
          6  And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
          7  Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
          8  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
          9  Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Gen. 11:1-9)
          As I read this story, my first reaction was, “What’s the big deal here?  It seems a natural thing for people to want to build a city to live in.  A city provides security- it’s easier to defend against attack.  It allows the development of trade and commerce.  All kinds of social relationships and groups can be nurtured in cities.  Why not build a city?”
          Part of the answer is found in this passage, but to fully answer the question, we go back to Genesis 1:28, where God gives human beings their original mandate. “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over...it.”  This is reaffirmed in chapter 10 when we’re told that the descendants of Noah were “spreading out” over the known world- thereby fulfilling their mandate.
          It was God’s plan that people be scattered to fill the earth and oversee all of it.  Settling in cities subverted God’s plan at this point.  And God’s purposes for his creation will not be thwarted, as we saw last week in the story of Noah.  So God intervened to assure that his purposes for his creation would be carried out.
          One thing we can learn from this story is something about how  people end up subverting God’s purposes for their lives when they didn’t originally intend to.  In this passage, we find several clues as to why these ancient people decided to defy God’s mandate.
“Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  (Gen. 11:4)
          They were afraid of being scattered over the face of the earth.  We’re not told why, but it was probably related to issues of personal safety and security.  People felt safer in a walled city and so they decided not to obey God’s commandment to spread out.
          Even today, fear keeps people from doing God’s will in their lives.  Some people fear leaving home, so they are unable to further their education and fully develop the gifts God has given them to use.  Some people refuse to consider a career in the church because they fear there isn’t much financial security in it.  Other people refuse to reach out to people in need because they are afraid they might be overwhelmed by the needs of that person.  Ironically, our fears are often unfounded. 
In Eastern England, David Page uncovered what he believed was an unexploded bomb from WWII.  He held tightly to the ordinance for four hours, believing that letting it go might cause it to detonate.  He managed to contact an emergency operator on his cell phone, and dictated his final words to his family to her.  She assured him that he would be all right.  “You’re not the one holding the bomb!” he replied.
          When army demolition experts arrived on the scene, the drama came to an abrupt end.  The “bomb” was actually part of the hydraulic suspension system for an old Citroen, a popular European car!  His fears were baseless.  Our fears are often unfounded, too.  And God can protect us from real danger anyway, can’t he?  God would have protected those ancient people if they had carried out his will and scattered over the earth.  And God will give you the strength to endure any danger as you do what God expects from you.
          Fear was part of what kept these ancient people from following God’s plan, but there was more.  “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.”  Pride motivated the construction of this city and tower.  “Let’s make a name for ourselves.” And pride, of course, keeps us from doing God’s will, too.  Like Adam and Eve, we think we know what is best for us and so we do as we please regardless of what the Lord says to us!  For example, we know the Scriptures forbid drunkenness, but hey, what will it really hurt?  We know God requires us to love others as ourselves, but surely God doesn’t expect us to love that person after the way they treated us, right?  We know we should apologize for the hurt we caused someone else, but pride gets in the way and our relationship with that person continues to be strained.  Pride is still alive and well and keeps us from doing God’s will.
          Like the ancient residents of Babel, fear and pride both contribute to our decisions to live outside the boundaries that God has established for us.  And the story provides us with one more insight into the human predicament.  “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.”  (Gen. 11:3)  In other words, even though they lacked the traditional materials for building (stone and mortar), they developed new construction techniques that enabled them to build anyway.  Although it was primitive, this advance in building technology presented them with a temptation.  These new construction techniques could be used to further God’s purposes for his creation or to thwart them. 
          And the choice to use technology for good or for evil has plagued humanity ever since.  On the positive side, medical advances now routinely save millions of lives each year.  Advances in agricultural technology feed millions more each year from the same amount of land.  Advances in industrial production save many injuries and reduce the physical demands of such labor. 
          On the other hand, we in the U.S. have used new technologies to build nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction, which are now being used to threaten us.  Oil powers our vehicles and factories, but the current disaster in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us there is a great cost to our dependence on oil.  The personal computer and the world-wide web have made it possible for us to learn many wonderful things about our world and to make more informed decisions about anything from buying cars to getting a mortgage to making medical decisions.  But the web has become an enormous purveyor of pornography that is poisoning the minds of many.  And it is creating a whole new class of gambling addicts.
          Sometimes we adopt new technologies without thinking through the consequences of using them.  Cell phone technology, including i-phones and Blackberries, has made it much easier to stay in touch with business associates, clients, and loved ones.  It has also given rise to the troublesome practice of sexting, where young people are sending sexually explicit photos of themselves to one another, a practice that may haunt them for decades.
          More subtly, these devices are adversely affecting our relationships with one another.  How often have you been interrupted when having an important conversation with someone, because they just “had to” take a call from someone else.  What does it say about your importance to that person when they allow such an interruption to your conversation?  These devices, as well as laptop computers, have also blurred the line between work and leisure, eating into family time at home, and even on vacation!  (Here’s a hint:  It’s not really a vacation if you’re still working!)  This ancient story astutely observes the double-edged sword of human technological advances.
          So where does this leave us?  Fear, pride, and new technologies all provide temptations to cross the boundaries God has established for his creation. What should we do about it?  For one thing, when we are tempted to disobey the clear commands of God, we should look carefully for the fear or pride that may be motivating us, and deal directly with those things.  If we’re not sure where our temptation is coming from, we should consult with  Christian friends, elders, or pastors who will be honest with us.  And if we are unwilling to do that, that may be a good indication that the course of action we are considering is not right.  Regarding new technologies, we need to reflect on both the positive and negative consequences to our use of them.  Then we can try to place appropriate boundaries around their use, so they do not harm us or our children.

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