Babel/Babble

Genesis 11:1-10

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 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. 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.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 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. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 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.

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Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,
I stretched my arms into the sky
I cry Babel! Babel! Look at me now
Then the walls of my town, they come crumbling down

"Babel" written and performed by Mumford & Sons from the CD "Babel"

The walls come crumbling down. The walls come crumbling down. It's the ultimate sign of urban chaos, the walls come crumbling down. The earliest example of the walls crumbling down is Babel.

So why did it come crumbling down? According to Genesis it's because the Lord is afraid of the people He created. How's that, the Lord's afraid of creation. One city, one tower, one language, and that's all it takes for the Lord to see what's coming down the road. What's the easiest way to stop people from doing what they're doing, confuse them so badly they can't continue.

Confuse the language and confuse the people. Suddenly we have different languages and even when our native tongues are close they aren't close enough. People who speak the same language can't even agree on what words mean. We even had a president who asked an adversary what the "definition of 'is' is." If we can't agree on being we won't be able to agree on anything.

So stretch my arms to the sky, "Babel! Babel! Look at me now!" We are filled with despair at what we have become, and is it because the Lord fears us? Well, maybe in Genesis but not anymore. Now, seemingly, the Lord no longer fears us.

Our Lord came to Earth, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Our God faced the worst in us. God was killed by us. God, in the words of the Apostles' Creed, descended to hell before ascending to heaven. There is no place we can go that our Lord has not been. This is the wonder and glory of the incarnation.

The walls of my town come tumbling down. And when it came, my hope is that the Lord is ever present. God stands beside us one and all. This is our hope. This is the love of God.