“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.” (Genesis 11:6-7)
It’s the Feast of Pentecost this Sunday – the church’s third great yearly celebration (after Christmas and Easter). It’s not a public holiday, and it’s not associated with any special meals or rituals that I know of, but that may be because it’s not easily marketable as the other two. The key elements of the Pentecost story are wind and fire and bewilderment, which are things we more readily associate with natural disasters than with religious festivals. Even so, from a Biblical perspective, history changed course at Pentecost, though to understand how, you really need to know something about the Tower of Babel story, recorded in the book of Genesis, chapter eleven.
The first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis are a distinct unit, containing a series of stories, starting with the creation of the world and taking us right up to the call of Abram in Genesis twelve, which is the beginning of the story of the history of Israel. These first eleven chapters of Genesis are a sort of pre-history, outlining the dilemma humanity created for itself – the dilemma to which the rest of the Biblical story responds – and the stories in these eleven chapters follow a common cycle of sin, punishment, and hope:
- Adam and Eve sin by eating of the forbidden tree. They are punished by being expelled from the garden, but God makes clothes for them, which is a sign of hope (Genesis 3).
- Cain sins by killing his brother, Abel, and God sentences him to a life of hard labour, yet he is given the ‘mark of Cain’ that protects him from being murdered himself – a sign of hope (Genesis 4).
- By the time of Noah, things have degenerated to the point where “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). A worldwide flood is the punishment, but Noah and his family are saved.
These stories trace the degeneration of humankind. The sins become increasingly serious, as do the punishments, and The Tower of Babel story of Genesis 11 acts as a climax to the series. With Babel, the people band together to ‘make a name for themselves’ (Genesis 11:14) by building a great city and a tower as monuments to their own greatness (Genesis 11:5). As punishment, God confused their language and so “scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9)
It’s easy to write off the Tower of Babel narrative as a charming myth, designed to explain why there are so many different tribes and language groups in the world. I think the story is profound, and it highlights that fact that while cultural diversity can be wonderful, tribalism itself is really a curse. Indeed, if Babel is the climactic story of the Genesis one to eleven series, tribalism is understood as being the greatest curse to ever fall upon humanity. Tribalism is the origin of ‘US’ and ‘THEM’. Tribalism is at the heart of every lynching and every war. Tribalism divides and alienates us from one another and limits the possibility of true human community.
“And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” (Acts 2:6-8)
In the midst of the wind and fire and bewilderment of Pentecost, an ancient curse is being lifted. People who could not understand each other are suddenly able to communicate! Those who had once been cursed with alienation on account of their pride are now being drawn back together by God to form a new spiritual community!
Tribal reconciliation is at the heart of the Biblical concept of salvation. We labour under the curse of tribalism – of us and them – but through the Spirit of God, people are being brought back together. We see this happen explosively at Pentecost, where Jews from different language groups are miraculously able to communicate. Next we see non-Jews being incorporated (Acts 10), and by the close of the New Testament, Paul is saying, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
I believe that this process of evolving inclusivity is ongoing. God is still at work reconciling people to each other – people of different languages and races and sexual orientations and religious backgrounds – people of all shapes and sizes – to make us one unified spiritual community. This may still seem to be a long way off, but Jesus is praying for us:
“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21)
Our Sunday Eucharist
We enjoyed another special Sunday Eucharist last weekend, and I was thankful that the broadcast held together even though I was broadcasting from the bush via satellite. Jacob Pyeatt and Andrew Madry did a great job on the panel with me, and we had lots of friends sharing their wisdom online.
Catch the two most popular shorts below or see all the shorts from last Sunday on our Sunday Eucharist Instagram page or watch the entire broadcast on our YouTube channel.
Do join me this Sunday when we’ll be welcoming a very special guest to the panel – Susan Wahhab, the President of Palestinian Christians in Australia.
We were privileged to have Susan’s colleague, Costandi Bastoli, with us last month, and I’m very much looking forward to now having Susan, whom I’ve known for many years. We’ll also have our dear Muslim brother and legendary Palestinian activist, Tom Toby, with us, so if you’re wanting to avoid discussion on Palestine, this is probably not the ideal week for you to tune in. 😉
I will hope to see you at the usual time (midday, Sydney time) this Sunday via TheSundayEucharist.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia or Streamyard. I do look forward to sharing this Eucharist with you. 😊
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What’s On?
- Friday to Monday, June 6 to 9 @Binacrombi. Please join me.
- Sunday, June 8th – Our Eucharist from noon @ thesundayeucharist.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia or Streamyard)
- Tuesday, June 10th– Boxing at the Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm.
- Thursday, June 12th – Boxing at the Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
- Saturday, June 14th – Boxing (time and location TBA)
I’ve been encouraged this week to see the World Council of Churches making a statement about Gaza (read it here). Indeed, it went beyond the statement made by the Uniting Church of Australia a few weeks ago by acknowledging that Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people goes back to 1948, not October 7, 2023.
We are yet to see any such statement from the new Pope or from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Moreover, in my opinion, none of these statements from church leaders really goes far enough, as none of them encourage church members to protest the genocide by joining the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The BDS proposal goes back more than twenty years and was endorsed by every section of Palestinian society. In 2011, my local Council (Marrickville), adopted BDS on the basis of our sister city relationship with Bethlehem. I was one of the speakers who proposed its adoption. The kickback was so fierce though, with the government threatening to sack the entire council, the decision was reversed four months later.
The BDS seems to target the weak spot in the Israeli death-star. If any of our major church bodies had the courage to propose that all members adopt the BDS – boycotting Israeli goods and services until the Gaza genocide ends – the kickback would be enormous, but the carnage may well end! Until something concrete like this is proposed, I fear that even the best statements will prove toothless.
Well … we continue to pray, and we do what we can. Kudos to Father Mark who continues to pour time and energy into www.israelandpalestine.org to keep us updated, and kudos to my brave friend, Mother Agnes Mariam of Homs, who did a courageous interview on The Grayzone recently, detailing the slaughter of Alewite civilians in Syria (see it here). Mother Agnes was the woman who led my first two trips to Syria in 2013 and 2014.
Father, make us one, for together we are strong.
Your brother in the Good Fight,
P.S. STOP PRESS. According to the Syria Justice Archive, my dear friend, brother and mentor, Dr Sheikh Ahmed Badr al-Din Hassoun, former Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic, has been hospitalised due to injuries suffered during two months of imprisonment. Read more here, and please join me in praying for him. 🙏❤️
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About Father Dave Smith
Preacher, Pugilist, Activist, Father of four
