Church of the Holy City

Tongues of Fire

Tongues of Fire
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
May 23, 2010

Genesis 11:1-9 Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 51

In our stories from Genesis and Acts, we find a circle of alienation from God and reconciliation back to God. In our Genesis story, God separates humanity, and gives different people different languages. In our reading from Acts, humanity is reconciled in God’s Holy Spirit and people from all different nationalities hear in their own language what the Apostles are saying.
The Genesis story we heard this morning is not a statement of historical fact. Anthropology has a different picture about how different cultures formed along with their languages. Furthermore, Genesis says that it is God who confounds humanity’s languages and separates people from people. This is said because it was important to the Biblical writers to understand everything as in God’s power and providence.
But there are elements in the Genesis story that contribute to a deeper meaning. There is more to this story than an explanation of why there are different countries and different languages. This story, in a deeper level, is about how people separated themselves from God. The confounding cause in this story is human pride and ego. And when human ego runs wild, we are separated from God.
There are several story elements in Genesis that illustrate human self run riot. First, the people in our story migrate east to Babylon. This is where the plain of Shinar is, which is mentioned in Genesis. Babylon has a generally negative connotation throughout the Old Testament. It is seen as a city of idolatry and superstition. It was a powerful city and thought itself invincible. So it is fitting that this story of human ego would be set in Babylon.
The first move away from God by humanity is in the formation of bricks. The people say, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar” (Genesis 11:3). The bitumen that Genesis mentions is a kind of slimy mud that floats down the Euphrates River. I see the line “bricks for stone” as one of the key story elements here. What is happening is that people are relying on man-made technology. They aren’t using natural stone. They are relying on man-made bricks to build with. This is a symbol for relying on self instead of relying on God. They are depending on their own materials and not relying on what God provides for them.
We see this happening more and more in society today. People are becoming increasingly consumed with materialism. High priced cars with all kinds of gadgets in them. The internet and computers, which includes gaming and texting. Television is programming longer and longer commercials to lay before viewers all the material things they can spend their money on and fill their minds with a craving for. Ipads, ipods, Blackberries, twitter, facebook, DVD’s, podcasts, broadcast streaming. People are working longer and longer hours in order to acquire the material things they crave. The bonds between parent and child are becoming thinner and thinner. The natural bonds of love and community are being severed by the technology that is proliferating in culture. Some of us are losing touch with the world of nature and our inner harmony with God.
Other story elements in Genesis is the line about building a city, a tower to heaven, and making a name for themselves. “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’” (11:4). Building a city reinforces the trend toward materialism. The contrast here is between the nomadic and agricultural life the Israelites knew versus the apparent sophistication of the great city of Babylon. Building a city is another way of moving away from nature into man-made structures. It also symbolizes moving away from God into self. Making a name for themselves is clearly an ego-driven inclination. They want to make their name known among the nations around them. When we think of a person today wanting to make a name for him or herself, we see this as self-importance. It is a desire to feel important. To be famous or powerful. It is a striving for self-aggrandizement. The height of self-aggrandizement is seen in the tower. The tower was to reach to heaven. Here we see an attempt to climb to heaven by human power. The people in the story wanted to climb up to heaven by the force of their own efforts. This symbolizes the proprium, or selfhood. It symbolizes the drive to rule over holy things from selfhood. Selfhood wants to exalt itself above everyone, be the one in charge, and have one’s own will followed. Selfishness, or ego, if left unrestrained would seek to rule over God Himself.
Self will run wild ends up separating the self from others. When a person desires their own way above all, community is broken up. Community is formed when people come together on an equal basis and will what is good for each other. Selfhood wills only what is good for the self, and seeks to elevate oneself above others. So the natural consequences of self will run riot are the dispersal and confusion of language that the Bible speaks of. It is not God who disperses such people from community, but the individual him or herself by breaking the bonds of mutual love.
But in Christ all of humanity is reconciled. When we are filled with Christ’s Holy Spirit we are in union with God, each other, and with the natural order of things. While in Genesis we heard about a confusion of languages and the dispersion of peoples, in Acts we hear of a common language and spiritual community. The Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles and tongues of fire appear above their heads. The they all begin to prophesy telling “the mighty acts of God.” When the Apostles are prophesying, everyone hears their words in each one’s native language. All kinds of different people hear the words of the prophets. We are told that there are Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and even Asia, Phrygia, Egypt, and Rome, Cretans and Arabs (Acts 2:8-10). What this must have sounded like I can’t imagine. But some observers think that they’re drunk and babbling. Peter explains that they are not drunk–after all, he says, it’s only 9AM! It is the fulfillment of what the prophet Joel said about the last days. Then, the Spirit of God shall be poured on all flesh.
When we are filled with God’s love, we are given to perceive truth more and more clearly. It was Christ’s Holy Spirit that gave the various nationalities the capacity to understand what the Apostles were saying. And as we progress spiritually, as we are filled ever more deeply and fully with the Holy Spirit, our notions of truth get refined and purified into more accurate truth.
While selfhood separates a person from God, the Holy Spirit brings us into communion with God. The people of Babble tried to build a tower to heaven by their own might. But the only way to heaven is by letting go of self and allowing God’s Spirit into us. Swedenborg writes,
Generally speaking, the divine action and powerful effects meant by the Holy Spirit are the acts of reforming and regenerating us. Depending on the outcome of this reformation and regeneration, the divine actions and powerful effects also include the acts of renewing us, bringing us to life, sanctifying us, and making us just; and depending on the outcome of these in turn, the divine actions and powerful effects also include purifying us from evils, forgiving our sins, and ultimately saving us. These are the powerful effects, one after the other, that the Lord has on people who believe in Him and adapt and modify themselves in order to welcome Him and invite Him to stay (TCR 142).
It is through God’s actions in us that these things are accomplished and we are brought into heavenly bliss. And as everyone heard the Apostles’ prophesies, so God is calling each and every one of us into communion with Himself and into heavenly joy.
It is important to know that the Lord is carrying out these salvation processes in every single one of us all the time. They are the steps to heaven. The Lord wants to save everyone; His purpose is to save all people (TCR 142).
While selfhood alienates and separates, the Holy Spirit unifies and forms loving community. All of heaven is being in God’s Holy Spirit. All the delight in heaven and on earth flows from mutual love and God’s Spirit in our hearts and minds. All frustration and rage flow from selfhood, as no one can ever get their own way all the time. We are taught in the lesson about Babble what are the alienating consequences of selfhood, egotism, and materialism. And in the Pentecost story we are taught about God’s reconciling love in His Holy Spirit. The choice is ours.