God Is Building God’s Kingdom
Have you ever wanted to be part of a really unified community of people? Part of a community that planned and worked together to make something really significant? Part of a community that other people would look at and say, “Hey, I like what you’re doing – I want to join you!”?
Is that what you would like for your church here? What about you home and your workplace?
Genesis tells us that Noah’s descendants had exactly that ambition. For:
they said [to each other], "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
In 246BC, when 14year old Ying Zheng ascended the throne of the Chin provence of China and took for himself the title first emperor, he made his plans clear. And he proceeded to war against his neighbouring states until he had united China and made himself it’s emperor. But his plans did not stop there, for he wanted to be similarly prepared for life after death. So he began the construction of his tomb, and around the site where his body would be buried he built a series of halls to house a large standing army, complete with soldiers weapons, horses, and chariots. There are no written records left of how big the whole complex is, but so far excavations have revealed over 7,000 life sized terracotta clay figures that were part of this army. Each figure has a unique face, appropriate clothing for their rank, and real weapons. Clearly Ying had eternal ambitions for the fame of his name.
Similarly, Genesis tells us that the descendants of Noah were going to build a city with a high tower in order to make a name for themselves; to bring them fame and glory. And just as Ying believed he could take a clay army with him as a real army when he died, Noah’s descendants believed that this towered city and it’s fame would bind them together in unity as a community.
But the author of Genesis gives us an insight into the true heart, the true desires of Noah’s descendants. When we read these people saying “let us make” we can hear in it an echo of God’s creative commands. Commands like: “And God said, ’Let us make mankind in our own image”. They were speaking as though they were God.
No only that but in the Bible it is God and God alone who makes a name for himself and people. Yet Noah’s descendants planned to make their own name for themselves. And they planned their city to tower over Gods creation. Even their desire to congregate in one place could be interpreted as a rejection of God’s command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Though outwardly the community they planned might look good and successful, the heart of their grand plan was actually to sit on God’s throne; to take God’s place.
GE 11:5 But [God] came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. [God] said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
Here we switch from seeing through the people’s eyes to seeing through God’s eyes. The Lord God, the one who really is over all and above all, looked upon his peoples creation. And as if to emphasize just how much God is above all, despite these people’s building efforts, the writer describes God as coming down to see what the people had built. And God saw that as a unified community there was nothing that was impossible for them.
During his reign as Emperor of China, Ying unified the country, the currency and the written language. But he also gained a significant reputation as a tyrant, removing any opposition and forcing people to work as virtual slaves on his grand building projects. So much so, that when he died his son’s reign as emperor was soon overthrown by revolt. In the process Ying’s tomb was smashed and burnt, so that many of the terracotta figures found today are not intact. The judgement of the Chinese people themselves was that they wanted no more of this emperor in any life.
And this Bible reading tells us that God made a similar judgement about Noah’s descendants. You see, to plan without limit is the activity of God, not man. And God knew their pride in their own achievements would only lead them into further self-promotion and sin; a greater rejection of God as God. So in an act of judgement, to prevent even greater sin, God decided to take away the one thing that enabled their unity, their common language; they would no longer be able communicate well enough to continue to work together as a unified group.As their language became confused the community splintered and scattered and the building project was abandoned.
Now instead of becoming famous for their success and unity, the name Babel has made them famous for their failure and disunity. When what we seek to build is glory to ourselves and our own pride, putting ourselves in competition with God, God cannot allow it to continue. However good things might look for a time, when we seek to take over even some of God’s role, failure will be the end result.
But the Bible makes it clear that God did plan to build a great kingdom, and fill it with a unified loving community. The first version of that kingdom was Israel. And at it’s height, it was famous over all the earth. But it too fell into rebellion against God and was destroyed. Yet God promised He would send Israel His own Son to rebuild His kingdom and the faithful Jews waited on that hope.
“At that time” wrote the Prophet Zephaniah (3:9), about this new kingdom “I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.”
So if it was God’s Son people were waiting for, Why is it Jesus, God’s Son, established no earthly kingdom like Israel under God’s rule? What exactly is God doing to re-establish his kingdom here on earth? Interestingly Luke tells us in Acts that the disciples had exactly this question on their minds.
So when [Jesus and the disciples] met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
and Jesus answered:
"It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
After he said this, [Jesus] was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
When we planned our recent trip to China, we planned to visit a town called Pingyao. In the Lonely Planet guide it was described as a jewel of a town dating largely from the 15thC and build in a style that had been traditional since Jesus day. And at 6am, after a hot and not very restful nights travel on a crowded train, we boarded a little open bus to get to the hostel where we were staying. As our bus went down the narrow lanes of the old town it got caught right behind the night-soil cart which was being pulled by a donkey. And we had full view and aroma of the solid waste from the local toilets being collected and transported in open buckets. And I thought to myself: “This was not what I expected and not the experience I was looking for.”
Being Jewish, Jesus disciples also had expectations about the restoration of the kingdom of God. At Jesus time what remained of the kingdom of Israel, God’s people, was scattered abroad or under occupation by the Roman army. But once Israel had been God’s kingdom on earth and that is what the disciples were expecting would be restored, the kingdom of Israel. And they anticipated that the restoration of Israel’s fortunes would be marked by the revived activity of God’s Spirit, which had been withheld since the last of Israel’s prophets. So Jesus promise of them receiving power from the Holy Spirit must have given them hope that the new kingdom was about to begin. But then Jesus himself vanishes and as they stood there staring, clearly taken by surprise, two angels tell them Jesus has been taken to heaven.
Jesus statement of hope and then sudden departure must have left the disciples wondering where they should go and what they should do. It is hard to know what they thought Jesus meant. Maybe they thought they would be empowered as warriors to remove the Roman army. Who knows? But Jesus had told them to wait so wait they did as
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Travelling behind the nightcart in Pingyao, I was sorely tempted to try and get the bus driver to turn around and head back to the train station and out of town. But our guide book had promised great things from this town, and we had already booked our accommodation. And we did not yet have the train tickets to continue our journey. So as we continued to our hostel I was hoping and praying that things were going to improve.
Likewise Jesus disciples had put their faith and trust in Jesus as God’s Son. So in unity, as a community, they obeyed His command and waited. And whatever they were expecting I doubt that it was what actually happened for
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
At this time the day of Pentecost was celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the law of God at Mount Sinai. It was also a time for the annual renewal of God’s agreement with Israel that had made them the people of God’s kingdom. And this was the day God chose to renew His kingdom.
All through the Bible we see wind, fire, and inspired speech being recognized as signs of God’s presence. Indeed, John the Baptist prophesied that God’s Son would baptise "with the Holy Spirit and with fire".
So clearly this is a picture of a work of God’s Spirit at work. And the separation of the Spirit flame to rest on each and all of the disciples present shows that each of these individuals is included in this new community of God. Now it was not just their faith in Jesus but the presence of God’s Holy Spirit filling each of them that they held in common. The community of those who listened to and obeyed Jesus was now also the community in whom God’s Spirit lived.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
I was once talking to a man from South Africa whose father was a Baptist minster during the apartheid years. Their family lived in a mining town and the labourers at the mine were from 3 different African tribes, each with their own independent language. At one time there was a lot of unrest amongst the mine labourers, and the mine manager, concerned that a riot was going to start went and asked this Baptist minister if he would come and speak to the workers to try and calm them down. The minster agreed to try although he did not know any African languages. So he spoke and a riot was averted. Afterwards, much to his surprise, the minister was praised for having the common sense to speak in the African trade language so that all the workers, no matter what tribe they came from, could understand him. The surprise for him was that he had never learnt that language and was totally unaware that that is what he had spoken.
Likewise one of the first effects of this Holy Spirit empowerment is that Jesus disciples were able to speak so that all the people present, no matter what nation they came from, could understand them. It is as if the effect of God’s judgement at Babel was reversed. But whereas in Babel it was the language itself that empowered communication, now it is the Spirit of God who is enabling communication to all. Not only did the Spirit empower communication, but when we read on we find the following description of this community.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Once we got into the heart of the town of Pingyao and had time to explore it a bit we found it to be a really interesting and beautiful place. The buildings and people were lovely and it was one of the real highlights of our trip. Our faith in our guide book was definitely not in vain.
Neither was the disciples faith in Jesus in vain. For now we see a community unified by their acceptance of Jesus as Lord, and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in each of it’s members. More than a common purpose or language, this new kingdom of God has a unity of Spirit and heart.
And now instead of the community being obsessed with what it can make and build with it’s own hands, we see a community which is totally unconcerned with material things. Indeed material possessions were so unimportant these disciples that they found them easy to give away so that other people’s needs might be served.
And instead of being consumed with reaching up to heaven to take God’s place, these people were glad to be God’s servants here on earth.
Now, instead of awe and wonder because of the building of a towered city that the people in Babel wanted, we see awe and wonder and miracles because God himself was operating through his people.
These people did not have to design or plan or work in any specific project designed to build their community. For God added daily to their number those who were being saved. In every person and part of this community it is God who is the one who is doing the building work, not man.
And because God’s Spirit is eternal, filling Jesus disciples with God’s eternal life, this is a community which will last forever.
So the question I have for you this morning is which sort of community do you want to be part of? A temporary people who ignore God and work on their own plans and dreams, or an eternal community filled and empowered with God’s Holy Spirit? And I ask this not just because I want you to answer this question today for your church community, but because it is a decision we have to make every day wherever we are. You see whether we are at church, at home, at work or anywhere else, and whether we are with Christians at the time or not, we can live as part of God’s kingdom now, or ignore God and simply live as part of this human world. And a comparison of the Babel and Acts communities demonstrates how we do that.
We can follow the Babel example and simply leave God out of what we are doing.
Or we can put our faith in Jesus as God’s Son, listen, learn from, follow, trust and obey Him. And He will pour out God’s Holy Spirit into us, empowering us to be God’s people. God can make us a loving, giving, blessing and growing eternal community, just like those first disciples were.
I am not going to tell you it is easy to give up the habit of ignoring God and base all of your plans and actions on His guidance and will. But I can tell you the more you are able to do that, the better you will know and love God. And the better you know God the more you will want to live in His kingdom now. So if that it what you want what do you need to do?
1.Become a disciple of Jesus if you have not already. Accept Jesus as your Lord, your God and your personal saviour and be baptised to confirm that fact.
2.Learn to listen to and learn from Jesus in prayer and in reading the Bible. Learn to listen to him and discuss things with him like his first disciples did. Ask a Christian you know and respect to teach you this if you don’t know how. There are also many books and other resources you can borrow or buy to help.
3.Then do what Jesus says as God Spirit empowers you.
All the rest is up to God. Particularly the results.
Will you get it wrong? Yes, but God can use even our mistakes to everyone’s benefit.
God’s kingdom is not contained in human cities, or even church denominations, but in people, in Jesus disciples. Filled with God’s Holy Spirit, walking in obedience to Jesus, we really can all be part of a really significant, united and loving community. Part of a community that other people would look at and say, “Hey, I like what they’re doing – I want to join them!”
God is building His kingdom now and He wants to build it in us, today, tomorrow and for ever. Will you let Him build it in you?
