Genesis is one of the most controversial books of the
Bible. Unfortunately it’s controversial
for all the wrong reasons. Some people
insist that it is an accurate depiction of history. Others say that’s nonsense. Many people ask, “Is that really true?” What gets lost in all of this is that Genesis
is the first book of the Torah; the Torah being Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy. It constitutes
the core of Jewish scripture. Harper’s
Bible Dictionary calls the Torah the most complex writing known to exist from
the ancient world. Indeed it is
multilayered and mind-numbingly complex.
It is amazing that a culture as small and insignificant as the ancient
Jews would be the source of something so sophisticated. If you ask yourself only questions about its
historic reliability questions you’re sure to miss the rest.
It is significant to note that the New Testament writers,
especially Paul and the author of 2 Peter do not confine Genesis to be
historical. Rather they interpret it
symbolically and allegorically.
Our first reading is a reading you may know well, the story of
the Tower of Babel. There you have human
beings getting together to use their brains to build a tower tall enough to
reach God. In our understanding of the
universe we know this is impossible. But
if you literally think God is “up there” this sort of thing is understandable.
We don’t build towers to reach God these days, but we humans do
try to use our brains to reach God – or at least think our human intellect is a
god unto itself. Many people think that
with enough time and scientific discovery we can figure out just about
anything. There are plenty of jokes
about scientists turning to God and saying, “We don’t need you anymore. We can figure it out ourselves.” Many a Tower of Babel has been built by
scientific thought, only to collapse or be abandoned.
But it isn’t only scientific thinkers who believe they can reach
a godlike status by their own abilities.
You may remember well that I have little regard for IQ tests. I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a
stupid human. When I do premarital
counseling with young couples who are planning on starting a family I tell them
that no matter how well they think they know each other their children will know
them better. All children are experts on
their parents. From their first moment
of consciousness they study and learn about their parents. They are geniuses at getting what they want
and need. Even a newborn knows that if
he or she cries eventually someone will respond. It is a truly sad thing when you come across
the baby who does not cry anymore because it has learned that it doesn’t work.
I’m sure you all can remember times dealing with your parents or
a teacher or some caregiver and you wanted something, but you weren’t sure you
were going to get it. You pause and
strategize. What approach should you
use? Should you be extra kind and
cooperative for a while before you ask?
Should you ask your father for something or your mother? Which one is most likely to say yes? Perhaps you can get them to fight with each
other and you’ve learned that a fight between them may open the door for what
you want.
The only truly stupid people are people who haven’t learned how
to be manipulative. And that is no one.
A man once shared with me how his two daughters had learned to
manipulate him. One day when he was
working at home in his office his younger daughter came to him and asked if she
could have a bowl of ice cream. He said
yes. Then several minutes later he
stepped out of the office to head to the kitchen and he saw his two daughters
sitting on the sofa watching TV. But
behold, his older daughter was eating a bowl of ice cream, not his younger
daughter! He confronted her, “I never
said you could have ice cream!”
“I know,” she replied.
“She gave it to me. I knew you
would say no if I asked but you would say yes if she asked you. So I had her ask you instead and then give it
to me.”
It was one of those moments when you don’t know whether to blow
up at your children or admire their brilliance.
Apparently he decided to go with the admiring their brilliance direction
because he said, “You’re absolutely right. Go ahead and eat your ice cream.”
No, there’s no such thing as a brainless kid. And there’s no such thing as a brainless
adult either. We have all learned how to
manipulate the people around us and the world around us. Now, we may do it in benevolent and even selfless
ways, but we all know how to survive.
And we know how to go about getting what we want.
Perhaps we don’t build towers to God, but it is only a small
step to thinking we can manipulate God as well.
If the reading from Genesis is about building a tower to God
then the reading from Acts tells us just how pointless that is. Of course there is the connection between
different languages forming at the Tower of Babel and everyone speaking
different languages but still understanding each other on Pentecost. There is something more too.
What does the Acts passage show us? Can you ever control God, even just a little
bit? No.
Can you manipulate God into doing what you want? Nope.
Can you predict or understand God's actions? No. No
amount of intellect or manipulation, no tower and no theory or philosophy will
ever get you in a place where God is in your hand. The disciples did nothing to bring about the
amazing events of that Pentecost day.
When Peter says, “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is
only nine o’clock in the morning,” he is not ignorant of the fact that it is
quite possible to have a terrible hangover from the night before, and it is of
course quite possible to start drinking early in the morning and be drunk by
9. He is referring to pagan rituals of
the day where alcohol and drugs would be used to induce a trance-like stupor or
experience. They had done nothing to
bring this about. It was all God, and
all unpredictable.
God’s unpredictability would be scary if God did not reveal his
nature to be one that is gracious, merciful and loving. And that is a very good thing. Who really wants to be manipulative to get
what you want? And doesn’t all
manipulation and deal making involve risk?
Any kid who’s ever had a sure fire plan for getting an adult to say yes
to something has also discovered that sometimes the answer is still no. And even if it is yes deals can still be
broken. People can be unfaithful. Unforeseen circumstances can arise. I wouldn’t want to live like that for
eternity.
Let’s turn to our gospel reading and let it have the final word. All throughout the Easter season our gospel
readings were from John. Here on
Pentecost we have John again, and even next week we read from John’s gospel
before returning to Luke.
You’ll remember that all of these gospel readings were
convoluted and hard to understand. Indeed,
like Genesis, John is complex. Our
translations make it even more complex that it already is. But John boils down to one simple point. It is the Greek word menw.
It is variously translated, but it means to
remain or to abide. John uses it 34
times by my count – perhaps his most frequent word.
In our gospel reading Jesus says of the Spirit, “You know him,
because he abides with you, and he will be among you.” Elsewhere Jesus says, “Abide in me as I abide
in you.” (15:4) When I think of abiding
I imagine a little child curling up in the lap of a trusted adult. It is so warm and safe and cozy and you can
drift off to sleep in perfect safety and contentment.
That is what abiding in God is to be like. That is what being in relationship with God
is to be like. It is not building towers
or manipulating God or being terrified by what God does. It is resting securely in God’s presence. May you abide in God and have God abide in
you always.
