Words matter. This is a simple statement, but it’s powerful and true. Words have meanings, and we all need to know those meanings so that we can communicate. Words accomplish things. Sometimes they bring about good, sometimes bad. Words inform. They influence how we view and think about the world around us. We need words so that we can live together in community, just as God created us to. But often, our words, instead of bringing us together, they divide.
This division is seen most clearly with all the different languages we speak. Language divides and separates. Those who speak English are separated from those who speak French. German from Arabic. Spanish from Mandarin. The divisions of language, they go on and on. Sure, these divisions can be overcome by learning multiple languages; but even then, divisions still exist. The very fact that we learn multiple languages and have professional translators and interpreters proves the division.
But it wasn’t always this way. There was a time when language didn’t divide, when all people were united in one tongue. God’s Word tells us about that time in Genesis, the time before the Tower of Babel.
At that time, the whole earth had one language. Everyone spoke the same words. And in this unity of tongue, the people, our ancestors, instead of following God’s command to fill the earth, they decided instead to build a great city and tower that reached to the heavens. With this great feat of construction, they planned to make a name for themselves. Seeing the city and the tower, the LORD confused the language. Now when they spoke all that came out was babble. They couldn’t communicate, so construction stopped and the people were dispersed. Now there was division and separation, multiple languages
When I was a child in Sunday school, I didn’t fully realize why the Lord didn’t want the people to build that tower, especially since today we have skyscrapers all over the planet. It just didn’t seem to make sense. But when you look at this history you see that God’s action was in response to the peoples’ sin. They’re whole motivation for building the city and tower went against God. They didn’t want to fill the earth. And that whole “making a name” for themselves, that was idolatry of self. No longer did they worship God, the Creator of all things. Now they worshipped themselves and what they could create.
The separation that was brought about by the confusion of language, it was the result of sin. Sin is the divider. Sin is the separator. Sin is why God dispersed the people. And sin is why we still stand divided today.
We’re not just divided by the language we speak. We’re divided by sin, by our sinful words. Our separation from others isn’t as shallow as some of us saying “Thank You,” while others say “Danke,” or “Gracias.” No, our division runs deep with the sinful words that we say, words that we say for the purpose of dividing and breaking down, words that we say redefining what God has said. What He calls good, we call evil. What He calls a blessing, we call a burden. What He calls freedom, we call oppression.
Every day we hear these sinful words and we see the destruction it causes. Just read the headlines or listen to the news. It’s everywhere...even in the words that we speak. Think about all that you’ve said this past week. How much of it was sinful words? How much of what you said, and thought, were divisive and destructive words? I know that I’ve spoken these words every day; words of anger, words of mockery and scoffing, words of derision.
There’s a movement in our society and culture to try to overcome all the divisions that words can cause. This movement seeks out specific words that sound divisive and exclusive and then it gets rid of them from our vocabulary, hoping to bring about unity. But this will never work, because words aren’t the problem. Our sin is the problem. And there’s only One Word that overcomes sin. There’s only One Word that brings true unity: the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Christ and His Gospel, Christ and the Good News of His death and resurrection, Christ and His Absolving Word of forgiveness, that's the only Word that overcomes our sin.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:1, 14). Our Savior came into our world filled with all of its division and separation, filled with all our sin to overcome sin, to save you from your sin. He came to undo the separation our sin causes, to bring us back together in communion, to unite us together, not under one tongue of language, but one tongue of faith. That’s the miracle of Pentecost.
We think the miracle of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles, giving them the ability to speak in different tongues, in different languages. That certainly was a miracle. But the miracle of Pentecost is what happened when the apostles spoke those languages.
In all those different tongues, the languages of the Parthians and Medes and Elamites and people from Mesopotamia and Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, from Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and Libya, Rome, Crete and Arabia, all these people heard the mighty works of God in their own tongue. They heard the Word of Christ, the Good News of His death and resurrection for them. They heard the forgiveness, life, and salvation that He gives. And in that hearing, the Spirit brought sinners to repentance and faith. That day, 3000 souls, 3000 people divided by sin, they all confessed and were united in their faith in Christ. That’s the miracle.
The miracle of Pentecost is God uniting people from different cultures, speaking different tongues, uniting them in the same tongue of faith. On Pentecost, the Lord undid the confusion that happened at the Tower of Babel. He did it not by making all language one, but by enabling all languages to confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. That unity of that faith overcomes all divisions and separation.
You and me, Christians throughout our city, state, nation, and world, all of us are united in our Lord; whatever language we speak. We’re united in His death and resurrection. We’re united in His forgiveness. We’re united in His life and salvation. There’s no greater unity than this. There’s no words of our own that can achieve this unity. It’s all Christ. It’s all the Word Incarnate.
Divided by language, we struggle to communicate. Divided by sinful words, we struggle to live together. But God has overcome all divisions. He’s overcome your sin with the only word that can, His Son and His Gospel. By this Word, with one tongue of faith, together, with all different languages we’re united, praising our Savior. In Jesus’ name...Amen.
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