5.20.2026

I was on an island off the coast of Turkey, praying with and for anyone who stopped by our missions table. One lady from Bulgaria came to me for prayer. I didn’t speak Bulgarian and she didn’t speak English, but we both spoke just enough German for me to understand that she wanted me to pray for her father’s healing. It was a struggle, but we managed it!

Blame it on Babel. 

Communication problems began in Genesis 11 – at least on a national scale. After the flood, Noah’s descendants clustered together and tried to build a tower and a name (or reputation) for themselves instead of obeying God’s command to “fill the earth.” “Spread out,” God said. But instead of being obedient, they tried to glorify themselves .  

Genesis tells us, “The Lord came down [never a good sign in the Old Testament!]  to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”   

Did you catch that? “This is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” Why? 

They were unified in language. They were unified in purpose. They were unified in disobedience. 

So what did God do? God tangled their tongues and they couldn’t finish building.

This Sunday is Pentecost, the Jewish festival that commemorates God giving the Law on Mt. Sinai, and celebrates the first fruits of the harvest.  Pentecost was one of the three festivals where the Jews were expected to go to Jerusalem — so the city was packed with Jews from all over the world! From as far north as Rome and as far East as Mesopotamia and as far south as Egypt — both native Jews and converts from all over the Roman Empire were there. 

The people of the day spoke more languages than most of us! The language of commerce was Greek; the language of the temple was Hebrew, because Rome was in charge; people might speak a little Latin, and then there was their native language they spoke at home. 

So imagine . . . you are a Jew from Mesopotamia and your native language is Persian . . .   you’re out in the streets, enjoying the festival … seeing family and old friends in the marketplace . . . when suddenly 120 people — men AND women (O! The scandal!) — rush into the streets and start speaking to you — not in Greek, Aramaic, or Latin or even Hebrew, but IN PERSIAN —  about someone named Jesus who is the Messiah, who was crucified and is raised from the dead! No wonder they were asking, “What does it all mean?” Others were more cynical, sneering, “These people are drunk!” 

“No,” he tells them, “these are not drunk — it's only 9:00 in the morning” (which sounds like, “come back at 5:00 and you’ll really see something!”).  And then Peter, who once was so frightened by a little girl that he denied knowing Jesus, now stood up like a herald in a town square and, in the dunamis, the POWER of the Spirit,  boldly proclaimed the good news: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet!” And Peter quoted Joel 2: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh . .” This is that! 

What is God doing in Acts 2? He’s reversing the curse of Genesis 11. In Genesis 11, God tangled the tongues. On the day of Pentecost, God untangled the tongues.

Language was one of the biggest barriers between people in New Testament times. Skin color was not a  barrier, but class certainly was, and language was a badge of class. For the upper classes throughout the empire, the language of commerce and education was Greek.  So to the folks in control, the powers that be, if you didn’t speak Greek you were a Barbarian — anything other than Greek just sounded like “bar-bar-bar.” They were not interested in learning your language.

But Christianity came along and the gift of tongues broke down those barriers. God untangled the tongues, reversing the curse of Babel, and He made it possible for anyone to hear — and understand — the Gospel.

And think about what God said in Genesis 11 when talking about those rebellious folks who spoke the same language: “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

If that was true before Babel, it was certainly true after Pentecost!   In light of the coming of the Spirit, in light of the dunamis, the power Jesus promised at his Ascension, truly “this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” In Genesis 11, when they spoke they were trying to glorify themselves. In Acts 2, they were “glorifying God.” 

By the end of the day, the congregation of 120 grew to over 3,000. Why? It wasn’t because the disciples had come up with the best marketing campaign, or because they had the latest greatest whatever. It was because when they opened their mouths, the great division that stood between people was torn down. 

But that was only the beginning of what they would do. Because they were unified in language, they were unified in purpose — to glorify God — and they were unified in obedience. . . and God blessed them. 

And that is true for us today, here at Christ Church. When we are unified in language, in purpose and in obedience, God will bless . . . and it will be only the beginning of what we can do! 

Blessings,

Pastor Terry