What's the Plan?

This is the message given at the Worship on Wednesday (WOW) service in Gettysburg on July 10, 2013.  The Bible verses used are Genesis 11:1-9.

The story of the Tower of Babel appears in the Bible shortly after the story of Noah, which we talked about last week.  After the flood is done, we get a little bit about Noah's life after the flood, and then we get a list of the genealogy of Noah's descendants.

At this point, Noah's descendants are still all living in one area.  They all speak the same language and they all have a common culture.  So, they decide to build a city.  And in that city, they decide to make a huge tower.  The reason they want to do that, we're told, is “So that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

We're then told that God was not pleased with that.  In fact, God was so displeased that God confused their language so nobody could understand each other.  And because they could not understand each other, they all wandered off, going their separate ways.  In fact, what happened was exactly what the people had not wanted to happen.  They were scattered over the face of the earth.

I read that, and I wonder, what were these people doing that was so terrible?  I mean, really, think about it.  They wanted to make a name for themselves.  Is that so bad?  I mean, don't most of us want to do that in some way?

I do.  I think a lot of us do.  We don't want our lives on earth to be meaningless.  We don't want our time here to just be forgotten.  We want to make a contribution.  We want to make a difference.  We want to create something that will last.  Most of us would like to be remembered for something or other after we're gone.  What's so wrong about that?

And as for not wanting to be scattered all over, that does not seem so bad, either.  I don't know about you, but I wish I had more family that was close.  My parents live in Armour, four hours away.  That's not so bad, but it would nice if they were closer.  The brother that lives closest to me lives in Ashland, Nebraska, eight hours away.  My other brother lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.  I have cousins scattered from Georgia to California.  I wish we were not so scattered.  Why is that a bad thing?  Why was God so upset with people for wanting things that seem like pretty natural things to want?

Now, sometimes, when we hear this story explained, we hear it said that the plan to build the Tower of Babel is an example of human arrogance.  That's why God was mad at humanity, for what they were doing.  God was punishing humans for their pride and arrogance.

When you read the story, though, that's really not what it seems to say.  In the first place, God does not really seem to be mad at humanity at all.  God does not say that what the people planned to do was evil.  God does not say people needed to be punished for their sins.  God does not even say the people sinned.

Listen to what God actually says:  “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”  That's why God stopped the building of the tower.  It was not because people had sinned.  It was because God was afraid humans would become too powerful.

But what's the problem with that?  What's so wrong with humans working together to accomplish stuff?  Was God just jealous?  Was God thinking that if humans were allowed to get too powerful, we would not need God any more?

Well, I suppose it's possible.  We're told in the Old Testament that God is a jealous God.  That's really not what that means, though.  If God could be jealous of mere human beings, then that would indicate that God is not really the all-powerful God we think God is.  There is no power we humans have, and nothing we can do, that does not come from God.  If God could be jealous of mere human power, God would not be worthy of our worship.

I think the reason God was afraid humans would become too powerful is that we would not know what to do with that power.  Our power would be greater than our wisdom.  That's the problem God was worried about.  Power with wisdom can do great and wonderful things.  But power without wisdom can do terrible and tragic things.

And those things are not necessarily done with evil intent.  They can be, but not necessarily.  I'll bet we can all think of situations where someone tried to help us, and they had the best of intentions, but they did not really know how to help, and so just made matters worse.  Maybe we've even done that ourselves.  When our power is greater than our wisdom, it can lead to terrible problems, even when we're only trying to help.

The people in this story had a plan.  It was not an evil plan.  It was not a sinful plan.  But it was not God's plan.  And so, even though it was not an evil, sinful plan, it was not the right plan, either.  

The people wanted to stay where they were.  They wanted to build a city with a big tower and just stay there, admiring what they'd done.  That was not what God wanted for them.  God had told Noah and his family to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.  God did not want humanity to just stay in one spot.  God wanted people to go out into the entire creation God had made.  That was God's plan for the people.  And God did what was necessary to make that plan come about.  After God confused the language, we're told, “From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”
 
God was not afraid that we would not need God any more.  But I think God may have realized that, when humans have too much power, we think we don't need God any more.  We think we can do things our own way.  We think that our wisdom is as great as our power.  And every time we think that, we get ourselves into trouble.

I think that's something for us to remember in our lives.  All of us, as we go through our lives, make plans.  They're not bad plans, most likely.  They're not evil, sinful plans.  But sometimes, they're not God's plans.  They're not made with God's wisdom.  And so, even though they're not bad plans, they're not the right plans, either.

But the thing is that, sometimes, we decide to rely on our own power, rather than God's wisdom.  When we do, we try to force things to go our way.  We try to force our plans to work.  We have the power to do things our way, but we don't have the wisdom to make our plans the right plans.  And so, with the best of intentions, we make things worse.  And in fact, sometimes trying to force things to go our way can lead to terrible and tragic things.  Those terrible and tragic things can not just affect us, but can affect others as well.

It's okay to make plans.  In fact, we pretty much have to.  It would be almost impossible for us to go through life with no plan whatsoever, and it probably would not be a good idea if we did.

But when we make our plans, we need to keep God in mind.  We need to pray.  We need to ask for God's help and for God's guidance.  We need to do everything we can to make sure our plans are the same as God's plans.  And if it turns out that they're not, we need to be willing to change our plans so that they are the same as God's plans.

God had a plan for Noah's descendants, and it did not involve staying in one place and building a tower.  It involved going out and spreading all over the wonderful, incredible earth that God had created.  That was God's plan, made with God's wisdom.  And God did what God needed to do to make sure that it was God's plan that got carried out.

God has a plan for you, too.  And God has a plan for me.  It's God's plan, made with God's wisdom.  Sometimes, we think we know what that plan is.  Sometimes we don't.  Sometimes we think we know what the plan is, only to find out that we were wrong.

We can try to force our plans through, but it usually does not work.  We can try to rely on our own power, but we're a lot better off when we rely on God's wisdom.  When we go along with God's plans, made with God's wisdom, it pretty much always works.


So let's make sure, as we go through our lives, that we spend some time in prayer.  Let's spend some time asking God what God's plans are.  Then, let's pay attention, so we can get the answer.  That way, we'll rely on God's wisdom and follow God's plans.  And then, we'll be doing what God wants us to do.