The first thing God told mankind to do
when He created us was to go, scatter, fill the earth and the first story
recorded after the flood episode, the first thing it is recorded we do in the
very first narrative in Genesis 11 is to dig our heals in and refuse to move.
We are given the commission to go and fill the earth and instead we build a
city with a tower and say, ‘thanks but no thanks God, I think I’ll decline the
orders to move.’[4] In Genesis 11 they want to make a name for themselves by
disobeying God and staying put after He has tells them to scatter, go, and fill
the earth.
Now, of course, God vetoes their request
to stay and just to show that He isn’t eternally angry He gives them a bit of a
going away present – He gives them the gift of tongues, so to speak (Cf. Acts
2).[5] He confuses their language. They stop building this city and they stop
building this tower and they go forth and fill the earth. There is a little bit
of irony here too. They wanted to stay and build the city and the tower so that
they could make a name for themselves by working together and staying put and
now they have been remembered throughout history for just the opposite: becoming
divided and scattering.
God will fulfill His promises whether we
willingly follow along or not (cf. Romans 3:3,4) and in Genesis 11, we have the
story of some people who suffered the results of disobeying God and staying
behind when he told them to move but the story of humankind and God’s blessing
doesn’t end here; at the end of Chapter 11 we see that God prompts someone to
move again so that He can bless his descendants and the world through them.
Terence E. Fretheim tells us that the journey of Abraham’s family from Ur can
be understood as part of the migration from Babel.[6] Genesis 11:31 records,
“Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his
daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out
from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they
settled there.” He stopped. He started to move to Canaan, he stopped but even
though he stopped, God didn’t stop there, Genesis 12:1-4:
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave
your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will
show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you."
Today, we have that opportunity to share
that blessing and that promise. Today, we are starting a new season in ministry
in this community. Today, Rally Day, we kick off a new season. This season we
are in a new building. This season we have new officers and this season, like
all our seasons before, we have new opportunities to be a transforming
influence in our community as we follow the Lord.
My question for us today is simply this: Is God calling you to follow Him into this ministry here? And if you are here he probably is. And if He is… what are you going to do about it? Are you going to stay put and try to make a name for yourself OR are you going to follow God into His blessing and service in our community so that others may even yet be blessed through you?
Let us pray.
[4] Cf. Brueggemann, Interpretation:
Genesis,(John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia), 1982, pp.97-104 and Michael K.
Chung , ‘The Narrative of the Tower of Babel in Dialogue with Postmodern
Christianity’, Presented to Fuller Theological Seminary (Fall 2005), P. 7.
[5]
Cf. R.C.H Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. (Minneapolis,
Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 62.But cf. also Robert W. Wall,
Acts. (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002), 55.
[6]
Terence E. Fretheim, Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), p. 411.
Posts
