Introduction
Four preachers had a series of theological arguments, and three were always in accord against the fourth. One day, the odd man out decided to appeal to a higher authority. "God!" he cried. "I know in my heart that I am right and they are wrong! Please show me a sign, so they too will know that I understand Your laws." It was a beautiful, sunny day. As soon as the preacher finished his plea, a storm cloud moved across the sky above the four. It rumbled once and dissolved. "A sign from God! See, I’m right, I knew it!" But the other three disagreed, pointing out that storm clouds form on hot days. So he asked again: "God, I need a bigger sign to show that I am right and they are wrong. So please, God, a bigger sign." This time four storm clouds appeared, rushed toward each other to form one big cloud, and a bolt of lightning knocked down a tree ten feet away from the preachers. The cloud dispersed at once. "I told you I was right!" insisted the loner, but the others insisted that nothing had happened that could not be explained by natural causes. The insisting preacher started to ask again; just as he said, "God..." the sky turned pitch black, the earth shook, and a deep, booming voice intoned, "HEEEEEEEE’S RIIIIIIIGHT!" The sky returned to normal. The one preacher put his hands on his hips and said, "Well?" "So?" replied another. "Now it’s three to two!"
We can be very arrogant at times, can’t we. OK so we probably would go as far as the preachers in that joke but we do like to be impressed with our own importance. I remember being very arrogant as young person, convinced that I was right and everybody else was wrong and if I’m honest theres still an element of that about me now. But I think there is an element of that in all of us. We want to be right, but sometimes more importantly we want to be seen to be right. We want others to think well of us. In fact I think if most of us are honest we like the idea of being famous, we like the idea of some of our achievements lingering long after we are gone, so that when people mention our name everybody know who we are and what we accomplished. “Ah yes, David Petticrew, he was the great physicist who invented anti-gravity and flying cars, or perhaps the great pastor who started the 21st century Welsh Rival.” Well perhaps not, as I said I have been know for being a wee bit arrogant. But I think there is a wee bit of that in all of us. In the Biblical language of the passages we read we would like to make or have made a name for us.
That is the key to the two stories from Genesis this evening. Although it might not seem it at first glance they are very much linked. It all centres around the idea of making a name. We are told that the builders of the tower of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves, while God told Abram, that Abraham before God changed his name, that God was going to make a name for Abram. There is a great difference between the two. While it is true to say that we remember both of them we do so for different reasons and it is certainly the case that Abram’s name is much much greater than the builders of the tower of Babel. So if we look at the two stories we can see what it was that made Abram great and the builders of Babel not so great and perhaps we can learn how we can be great as well.
Babel
The builders of the tower of Babel set out to make a name for themselves. God had given the command to spread out and fill the earth at the end of the flood. However, the builders of the tower of Babel had decided that they didn’t want to follow God. Rather than spread out and fill the earth, they wanted to remain where they were and then build a city and a tower that reached to the heavens. In there arrogance they thought they could set themselves up against God. Now they looked at what they could now build and thought in there arrogance that could oppose God, that they knew better than God what was good for them. Look we now how to build bricks let us rise up against God, now that we are so powerful. And yet God laughs. If you think the Bible doesn’t have any humour then you need to read this passage. They set themselves as opposed to God and build a tower to reach into the heavens. But God has to come down to look.
OK, so now we don’t think that building a brick city makes us gods. I mean common on, Manchester is almost entirely a brick city and no-one is proposing to deify the designer of Manchester. Nor do we think that designing tall buildings makes us gods. We don’t think that the designers of New York are deserving of worship. But we might replace it with other things. As science progresses and we delve ever deeper into the mysteries of genetic code and we talk about genetic engineering, cloning and other scientific advancements, mankind begins to see itself as gods in other ways. I don’t know how many of you watched the Second Coming which was on ITV last Sunday and Monday. I know a lot of you turned over in disgust after watching a bit of it and it was by no means an accurate portrayal of Christianity. But it did give an insight into how some people think in this day and age. It mentioned these advances in science and how man was becoming god-like in power and about how he had to accept the responsibility for that power. We can split the atom, destroy armies and cities with less effort than building a tower, travel to the moon and engineer our food to produce higher yields. Surely we’ve evolved beyond the needs of having a God. But just like the tower of Babel God has to look down.
No matter how highly we might think of ourselves. No matter how we might delude ourselves into seeing ourselves as something greater than we were, of approaching godhood, of getting to the place where we do not need God anymore, God looks down. It was the first temptation, to be like God. But we are no closer today than we were then. No matter our technical advancement, no matter our political developments, no matter our advancements in medicine, physcology or physciatry, God still looks down. We cannot become gods no matter how much we might learn, know or accomplish. At some point we may create life or artificial intelligence, but we would not replace the creator of the universe. There is but one God, one uncreated creator, one eternal holy one. We will always be created ones. God looks down.
The builders of the tower of Babel tried to make a name for themselves by opposing God and building a tower to the heavens. There is nothing wrong with tower or city building it was the setting themselves up in opposition to God that was the problem. God says this but we’re not going to have that. Lets band together and make a name for ourselves, we don’t need God anymore. And God looked down, and scattered them over the face of the earth.
People often have the the same attitude today. We do not want to accept God’s place in our lives, we oppose his will and try to make a name for ourselves. There is nothing wrong with scientific advancement, although like other things there can be things wrong with the way we use them. What is wrong, is when we seek to use them to displace God. Its not that we play god by tinkering with genes, but that we play God by opposing his will and thinking that we know better. By living our lives as if God does not matter. We might not think we can become gods, in terms of being eternal, performing miracles, reaching for the heavens, but we do think we become as gods when we try to usurp God’s rightful place in our lives. When we rebell against God’s commandments and say, there irrelevant, God is irrelevant and I’m going to live my life the way I want rather than the way God wants. God, who hes why does he deserve to be worshiped, no after what I do people will worship me. OK, so some of us don’t take it quite that far although we wish we could. But we do take God’s place in our lives.
And God looks down. We might think we are important, we might think that we can make it without God, we might think that we are ok running our own lives. But God looks down. He can see how ineffectual we are. We can see how short we fall of his purposes for us. He can see how we damage our own lives. He can see how pitiful we really are, like a man waving a spear at an apache attack helicopter. The builders at the tower of Babel learned how foolish it was to oppose God. He came down and confused their language and scattered them over the face of the planet. What would it take for us to learn the folly of opposing God? God doesn’t often intervene in miraculous ways like this, but he has acted in the past and he expects us to learn from this so that we can avoid the judgement in the life to come. But what is the alternative.
Abraham
Here we come to the story of Abram or Abraham as God changed his name to later. Here we have this man standing in contrast to the builders of Babel in the last chapter. Instead of a man standing in defiance of God and trying to make a name for himself without God, we have a man who God speaks to and who trusted in faith and obeyed God. Here was a man, although far from perfect we read about some of his mistakes and sins later, yet he trusted God. And what was the result? The results was that God made his name great. Those who stood in opposition to God tried to make a name for themselves and were found wanting, scattered and humbled. Yet Abram who humbled himself to obey God, submit to him and obey him, well God made a name for him. Not making a name for himself, but a name made by God.
This was just one of several promises that God made to Abram. While it is not my purpose to look in detail at the promises God made to Abram this evening, I just want to compare those elements of it that contrast with the tower of Babel tonight, we may look at the promises made to Abram in the context of the other promises made by God to Abram in a Bible study or future sermon. I want to notice that it was God that was to make a name for Abram not Abram himself and the idea that Abram was not just going to be blessed himself but that he would in turn be the means by which God was going to bless all the nations of the world. This special call to Abram was not just for Abram’s benefit but for the rest of the world as well.
Firstly, it was God who was going to make Abram’s name great not Abram. Rather than setting himself up as the greatest, he was obedient to God who just told him to go and then God made his name great. It is significant that we note that when Abram moved he always built an altar to God. He worshiped God and recognised God’s authority over him. In contrast to the builders of Babel her was man who didn’t rebell against God’s instructions but rather obeyed them and gave God the glory rather than seeking to get all the glory for himself. We have a term for this, it is called humility. While the builders of Babel were full of pride about themselves and their accomplishments, Abram was humble before God. It is one of those great ironies of the Bible that is quite deliberately highlighted here through the use of the idea of making a name. The builders of Babel who were proud were defeated and scattered, Abram who was humble and obedient to God was the one who was made great. It reminds me of some of the statements made by Jesus. “For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest.” Luke 9:48. “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4 “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12.
It seems a bit silly, as if we have things upside down. We become great by being the least. We become great by being humble. But its not that unsurprising when we look at what else God said to Abraham. Not only was Abram promised a blessing, he was also told that all the nations would be blessed through him. The blessing was not just for Abram but God was blessing Abram so that he could bless the rest of the world as well. We know that this promise ultimately found its fulfilment in Jesus Christ, but staying solely with this idea makes us miss another element of what God told Abram. The NIV reads you will be a blessing, however, this is a bit of an extrapolation. The actual Hebrew reads be a blessing. Thus, while the element of promise of certainly there, particularly in the last phrase where Abram is told that all nations will be blessed through him, here we have something more. It is a command to Abram. God will bless Abram, but that blessing brings with it a responsibility to be a blessing to others.
So what does this have to do with this idea of making a name or being proud or humble. Well to put it simply, the builders of Babel were in it for themselves. They wanted to build a city, a tower and a name for themselves. They wanted the world to see how great they were. It was all about me. Not only did Abram have to show himself humble before God rather than proud of his own achievements, but he also had a responsibility to others. But also notice that this was not an attempt to make himself great by doing good. No God said he would bless Abram and make his name great and then told to be be a blessing. Abram’s great name, was due to God, his response was to bless others. It wasn’t up to Abram to make Abram’s name great, God had already said he was going to take care of that, rather it was up to Abram to do what he could for others. Do you see the contrast here.
When we add this to what Jesus said, then we build a picture of the truly great person. It is not someone who is out to grab all they can for themselves. It is not about selling yourself. It is not about being the best at anything. It is not about my achievements. It is about submitting to God, following what he wants us to do, giving him the honour and glory and seeking to bless others, to be a servant to others. To do what you can not for own benefit, God has said he will take care of that, but to do what you can for the benefit of others.
I wonder how many of the Great Britons who were voted for last year would truly make a great list if it was based on God’s criteria. It is not about what I do for myself. It is not about striving to achieve all I can and then making sure everybody knows about it. It is about putting God first, letting God worry about who is great and who is not and then doing what you can for others benefit not your own.
Conclusions
In conclusions we are faced with two possibilities, we can either trust in our own abilities and achievements. We can live our lives solely for our benefit so that we and everyone else can know how great we are. Or we can live our lives with humility that it is only because of what Jesus Christ has done that we are worthy. That we live our lives to worship and glorify God and not ourselves. That we serve others because we would genuinely like their lives to be as good as we can possibly make them. Of course it is also possible to take this to extremes where we don’t do a good job because we are not to pride in our work, we can never accept a compliment because we are completely worthless and where we don’t seek to improve our lives because we mustn’t be self seeking. We can do the best we can and enjoy it. If we do a good job then we should be pleased. But we should live our lives for God’s glory not our own. We shouldn’t want to show everyone who great we are in comparison to how puny they are. No we should live lives following God and seek to help others as best we are able. Not doing things to get glory, but because we are following God and to help others. We should follow the example of Jesus, who gave up heaven and became human and served others. He is of course the ultimate example of this, we close with a reading from Philippians 2:5-11, you’ve heard it before, but I think its worth hearing again.
