Eastertide

May 31, 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

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.

I recall being taught as a child that the people involved in the above story did something wrong in the eyes of God by trying to build a tower all the way to heaven and God did not like that, so he split them up and gave them different languages. That meant to me, in my vernacular of the day, that they had gotten too big for their britches and God was putting them in their place. Later, I learned that chapter 10 indicates that the people from Babal were already encountering people from other places speaking different languages. I later learned that the Hebrew Bible includes stories about similar events told from differing perspectives. Specifically priestly authors, whose work scholars designate as “P” and “D”—for Deuteronomist. Thus, the difference between the interpretation of history between Genesis 10 and 11.

We face the same challenges today. We view all of life through the filters we inherited at our birth through our culture and the ones we add through life experiences and what we are taught. I have long valued the quote cited as Pilate’s question to Jesus in John 18:38, Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’ I interpret that comment to be made sarcastically meaning truth is what people make it. I hear viewpoints quoted by professed Christians that are foreign to me and I am sure those people think I am way off base in my understanding of following Christ. I am just as sure that Jesus meant it when he called us to be one. How do we do that? I think we start by finding the practices, beliefs, and ways of being on which we can agree and build the Kingdom Jesus called us to champion from that point forward.

Prayer: Lord, help us put the things that divide your followers away for a time and guide us in working together on the things we can find agreement in your example of love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.