We read two very interesting text this morning; the Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost.  In many ways they are opposite experiences and I will look at that in a moment.  But first there are some similarities.  On one level they are stories of the human experience.  They tell us a lot about ourselves.

We as human beings are created in the image of God.  For all that that means it means that we are creative and resourceful.  Humans are builders of great things.  We also have eternity in our hearts and seek to build things that last; things that will carry on into the future.  We are also social beings.  We do things in groups.

What is the story at Babel?  Up until this time the race has been spreading out from Eden.  We aren’t told how far they have spread over the earth’s surface.  It seems that they stayed close together.  There was at this point only one language.  As they moved east they came across a fruited plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

When groups of people settle in a place they begin to build.  When Cain fled after killing his brother we are told that he took a wife and went out and built a city.  Cain’s descendants, Jabal who was the father of those who dwelt in tents and have livestock, herders, and Jubal, the father of those who play the lyre and pipe, musicians, developed and created culture.  We build things and create culture, that’s what people do.  That’s what we are doing even now.  We don’t think about it we just do it.  Our work, our relationships are all building and developing culture and changing the life in this place we live.

The people on the fruited plain of Shinar got together and said let’s build something.  Let’s make it big and let’s make it so that it will last.  What they decided to do was build a city.  Everywhere people go they build cities.  Remember we are social beings.  So they got together and started to build and in the middle of the city they decided to build a tower that would reach into the heavens.

Some things never change.  I have traveled a bit through out this country and around the world as many of you have.  What strikes me wherever I go is the similarities of the kinds of things people build.   Everywhere people build cities of some sort.  Size is not the issue.  People gather together to order their lives.  Homes cluster together around a central market of some kind.  People also build restaurants.  We like to eat out no mater where we live.  The other thing I have noticed is that we like to build high.  All over the world people are trying to outdo one another to see how high they can build.  And as we see from our story this is not a new idea.  From early recorded history we have tried to reach the sky with our building efforts.

I see the hand of God in all of this.  In our countrified perspective on life we always see God in nature.  We under stand God as the Good Shepherd, and things like Psalm 23 point us to nature in order to find God.  But I must tell you I see God in the city.  If we are created in the image of God and therefore are created to create than what we make reflects the God who made us.  God is the master builder.  Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker is God.  Psalm 48 tells us to “walk around Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the nest generation that this is God, our God forever and ever.”  The city of Zion reflected the glory of God from generation to generation.  So walking around the streets of this city I see the glory of God in all that has been done here.

But Babel had a problem and the problem was not unique to her.  Because of sin the people of Babel thought that what they did reflected their own glory and not the glory of God.  They declared, “let us make a name for ourselves.”  Too often what is built is built for the sake of the builder and not for the glory of God.

Every time sin is in the picture the endeavor is tainted.  God shares his glory with no man.  He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  At Babel God said enough.  He confused the languages so that the people could not unite in their building project.  Ever notice how hard it is to get things done?  There always seems to be opposition.  People on one hand work together to do great things but then on the other hand they oppose one another and things slow down and at times grind to a halt.  We come together yet we remain apart.  The story of Babel continues.

We come to Pentecost.  Like at Babel the people are of one mind.  Together they are ready to go to work.  Unlike Babel the focus is not on them selves but on God.  If you recall Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit and as they did they devoted themselves to prayer.  In Babel they came together to lift up a name for themselves.  In Jerusalem they gathered to lift up the name of Jesus.  As they prayed the Holy Spirit came upon them and pushed them into the streets to declare the kingdom of God.

One of the things the humans build is culture.  Jabal and Jubal are the first recorded doing just that.  The early church was to go out and construct the kingdom of God.  They were to build a counter cultural institution that lived out the values of the new kingdom.  To do this effectively they would have to come together.  A kingdom by its very nature is the coming together of a diverse group of people.

In Babel the self absorption caused God to disrupt the work, confuse the languages and send the people off in different directions.  The desire to build as evidenced in history remained.  At Pentecost something else took place.  Instead of sending people off in different directions God brought them together from every tribe and tongue and nation.  Instead of confusing their languages so they could not communicate God united the languages so that everyone heard the word of God in their own native tongue.  Instead of disrupting the building process, God encouraged it, and in fact he empowered them to build and to do it together.

We gather today to celebrate Pentecost.  I hope you have not come for a memorial service.  This is not a time to fondly look back on a great moment in church history.  Pentecost is not Reformation Sunday.  Pentecost is much more.  Instead of remembering a great event in our past thinking back with longing saying in our hearts, “Oh I wish I could have been in that upper room when the Holy Spirit first fell.”  This day is not about that.  We look back on Pentecost to look ahead in our ministry.  What happened on Pentecost is God raised the bar and asked us to get on board with what he was doing and in order to do that he gave us power, the Holy Spirit is upon us.

Pentecost reminds us that we are a powerful people.  I know church people don’t like that language but I am not sure why.  We like the emotional language.  We like the family of God images.  We  like being called brothers and sisters in Christ.  We like the warm and fuzzy stuff which has its place.  What we don’t like is the army of God images, the fact that we are to put on the armor of God because we are the warriors of God.  We prefer the meek and mild Jesus because we are not quite sure what to do with the Jesus who threw over the tables of the money changes and drove them from the temple.  Power frightens us and it does so I believe because if we admit to being powerful we are accepting the responsibility to use that power for the kingdom of God.  Meek and mild is passive.  Power is aggressive.  Pentecost reminds us that we are powerful.

Pentecost reminds us that we are active builders of the kingdom of God.  There is no place for complacent church attendance if one understands Pentecost.  I we have the power of God within us than carrying out the Great Commission is no longer an option.  We must be about our Father’s business.  Fear is no longer an option either.  We have the power to overcome our fears and doubts, its Pentecost.

Pentecost reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  We are not a lone church on 57^th Street, We are part of a circuit that covers Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.  We are not a lone circuit we are part of the Atlantic District.  We are not a lone district we are part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  I think we get that.  But Pentecost tells us we are not just Lutherans but we are part of the greater body of Christ.

There are a lot of things that would separate us.  We have doctrinal differences with other churches and denominations.  The reason we are so divided is that we have a hard time coming together with others but this is Pentecost.  We are by the power of God to build the kingdom of God with all of the people of God.

In the midst of this city we see Babel and the Church building side by side.  I am encouraged that the churches work together to build culture, seek the lost, and expand the kingdom of God.  We are in the midst of a move of God and I believe that Pentecost is the time to remember that.

We work with Manhattan Together to curb and correct Babel.  Not every institution is Christian but there are enough of us and besides Jesus would have us in the mix befriending and working with the lost on things for the common good.

We are part of the Atlantic District.  Churches in the district are working together to spread the kingdom of God.  I am in a Learning Community with other pastors seeking to figure out ministry in this place and encouraging each other in the task before us.  The Circuit functions in as similar way.  I have a coach to help me in the ministry here.

We have opened our home to the greater body in New York City.  The Church Multiplication Alliance meets here twice a year.  Concerts of Prayer hold workshops here.  I have been invited to participate in formulating a National Scripture Initiative to encourage people to read the word.  The Stoop concerts have allowed us to make contacts with Christian artist in other churches and to share the love of Christ.

I know we can get discouraged because we fall back on the belief that this work is our work and is for our glory.  The Babel mindset  likes to creep in.  Pentecost reminds us this is God’s work and we have been given the power to carry out the task.

Pentecost should get us energized.  God has given us the tools for the job.  We will win this battle, we will win this war.  When the Spirit fell the believers took to the streets and began to live their faith out loud and the world was turned right side up.  The work continues in us.