The Gift Of Tongues

I have to begin this sermon with a confession. I have a weakness for puns. One or two of you may have noticed it, and as faults go it’s not as bad as some. But this week, I have to admit, I gave into temptation. The title of this sermon is a pun. Because I’m not going to talk about what most people think about when someone mentions the gift of tongues. Well, maybe just a little. Most people think of Pentecost when the gift of tongues is mentioned. And of course since today is Pentecost it would have been entirely appropriate to talk about what happened to the disciples that day so long ago, when tongues of fire appeared above their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them and they began to speak in the languages of all the many people who had come to worship in Jerusalem that Pentecost festival.

And I’m not going to talk about the kind of tongues called ‘glossolalia’, or ‘ecstatic utterance,’ a kind of private prayer and praise language which Pentecostals and many other charismatics believe is the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

No, I’m going to talk about the gift of multiple languages that God gave the people at Babel at least a couple of thousand years before that.

But of course they didn’t think of it as a gift.

How many of you have gotten something from God that you really didn’t think was a gift at the time, but turned out later to be so? I used to joke that God had given me the gift of celibacy, and that although I’d much rather have a new toaster, unfortunately the manufacturer has a no-exchange policy. But you know what? I’m really grateful for that gift. Because, as Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, a married person has to be concerned about pleasing his or her spouse, but the single person can be wholly concerned with the things of the Lord. Not that I’m even now as focused as I would like to be, but think how much worse it would be if I had to juggle a husband and children as well! I do not envy my married colleagues. So the celibacy God chose for me really has been a gift.

But what has that got to do with today’s tale of the tower of Babel? It’s not a story about gifts, it’s a story of Pride and Punishment, isn’t it?

Let’s look at it more closely.

One of the unfortunate side effects of that long ago gift of tongues is that when you translate a story from one language to another you miss a lot of the nuances. Especially from Hebrew to English, because they’re completely unrelated linguistically. And this story is just packed full of word plays and internal rhyme and other nifty literary devices that just don't make it across the gap. Fortunately the basic, tidy structure is still visible in English.

First, the people have one language. Next, they come together. Then they make plans to become great. Then God gets involved. And God plans something else. And he scatters the people. And thereafter they speak many languages.

This story works on at least three levels.

It serves, first of all, as a theologically consistent explanation of why people speak different languages. It contrasts with myths from the surrounding cultures which explain language barriers as a side effect of a sort of intramural rivalry between two of their gods. There’s no moral dimension to their explanation at all. But Israel knows that everything that God does has a purpose, and that there are no accidents.

Secondly, it’s full of sly digs at the Babylonians. They were so proud of their cities, especially the fancy brickwork of the ziggurats - which is what they called their temples. So this story reinterprets their technological achievements as foolishness. They weren’t a people to be emulated or envied, but rather to be pitied. Because, you see, they were competing with the gods, trying to get to heaven under their own steam, and trying to make a name for themselves - that is an identity - which would be independent of the gods. It’s an early variation on the theme of cocky or complacent people forgetting that they owe everything they have - from the weather to their technological expertise - to God. And we all know what happens to people who try to get the better of God.

And thirdly, it’s a commentary on the importance of language, and on how difficult it is for people to get along when they can’t understand one another. Half the time we don’t understand each other even when we’re using the same words. If any of you have read “He Said, She Said” you know what I mean. So it’s hard to imagine any more effective way God could have chosen to keep people from cooperating for long enough to pose any kind of threat to his sovereignty, isn’t it.