Sermon Response to Scripture proclaimed for Year C, Day of Pentecost: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-27 At Zion Episcopal Church By The Reverend Sarah E. Saxe on May 15, 2016 Babbling & Evil Wow! That was some babbling during the readings! My hope is that we all experienced something of what the disciples and visitors in Jerusalem experienced on that Day of Pentecost when many languages many voices by the power of the Holy Spirit spoke as one the opposite of today s Genesis story about the Tower in Babel. And that got me thinking. It got me thinking about systematic theology. Systematic theology tries to explain, in an orderly manner, the who, what, when, where, why and how of God and what God is doing. That in itself may sound like babble, especially when we consider that we as systematic theologians approach the subject of God from an already-established philosophy that each of us has a philosophy of traditions and assumptions that determine how we will interpret what is going on in the world, in the church, in our lives. These traditions and assumptions shape our theology. They shape how we approach the Bible. They shape how we approach daily life. They shape how we approach relationships with each other and with God. Now I said we are systematic theologians because I m making an assumption. If you have ever had any questions about God or God s activity in the world raise your hand. If you have tried to create a logical argument or method to answer that question, raise your hand. So those of you who have had questions and tried to answer them in an orderly way are systematic theologians. 1
You among how many people in the world who have such questions? You among how many people in the world who approach those questions with their own assumptions and traditions? So it is understandable that we often disagree on matters of theology, because of our underlying philosophies that shape our questions and that shape our attempts to answer those questions. Furthermore, creating a systematic theology can cause a domino effect if you think you ve come up with an answer in one area it raises more questions in another area. And that made me think of the Tower of Babel. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another s speech. So I think that the Babel story and the Day of Pentecost story relate to our unity as systematic theologians. (Pause) Last Sunday I used mission work and the wording of the Nicene Creed as examples of Christians moving toward unity toward being one again as Jesus prays. But it is not only Christianity in general that is divided. The branches themselves and the denominations themselves and even individual churches experience internal division on various issues. It seems that as we move toward unity on one issue, further divisions crop up on a new one: for example, the main issue of the Episcopal Church in the 19 th century was slavery, in the 20 th it was who can be ordained and now it is marriage. So you have the old issues that over time move toward unity. Over time, the assumptions and traditions associated with the older issues change. But then you have new issues that cause new divisions. And when we are going through an issue, it might sound like those who disagree with our position are babbling or drunk or perhaps under the influence of evil. 2
Before going to seminary I thought of the devil, Satan, evil in abstract terms. But one of my professors shocked me. She was pretty laid back and open-minded to our various and divergent positions and questions. Yet there was one lecture in which her demeanor changed, her voice became authoritative, her five foot two stature became imposing. Don t discount evil, she said. Don t underestimate it; don t think of it in the abstract. Evil is real; it is a powerful force; and it walks and stalks the face of the earth. Her words sent chills up my spine. And it was then that I started thinking about evil in a systematic way. Trying to explain in an orderly manner, the who, what, when, where, why and how of Satan and his minions. Evil perverts creation. It obscures truth. It mutates good into bad good cells into bad ones. It divides unity, destroys relationships, distorts reality. At Babel, evil shifted our attention away from glorifying God to glorifying ourselves. God intervened to shift our attention back. It may seem as though God did an unkind thing but consider this: Which is better? Being all of one voice perhaps under the influence of evil or babbling? Consider this: that if we are all of one voice, there would be no voice of prophecy; no voice of making things new; no voice for challenging us to grow in virtue and relationship with God. 3
If we all are of one voice, the living Word loses its voice because it is no longer necessary to challenge our assumptions and traditions. The Holy Spirit loses its voice because it is no longer necessary to make us think, to teach us, to move us forward in the kingdom and toward the kingdom. And so I think that God gave us a gift at Babel a gift of many voices, many interpretations, many nuances of theology as we try to understand God and what God is doing. And God gave us a gift on the Day of Pentecost being many voices, many nuances, many interpretations, but speaking the same message as disciples of Christ. God gave us the potential for unity on the Day of Pentecost so that we can figure out what we should do as Jesus hands and heart and voice on earth. But alas, the voice of evil is also in the mix has always been in the mix. So which one do we listen to? Which one is of God? Sometimes it s easy to discern what is good from God and what is bad from Satan. But at other times it s difficult, especially when we feel that our most basic assumptions are being challenged when our traditions are being re-shaped against our will. Then there are times when we may act in a way that appears good that we think is good - like building a city with a skyscraper to heaven -but has the potential to be bad because the subtle influence of evil escapes us, as it did in Babel. Satan was at work in Babel - is still at work trying to divide us; trying to defeat God s plan for us. Because when we re divided it s hard to get Jesus work done. 4
You may be wondering about what to do with regard to the state of our Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. You may be wondering what to do about the presidential election. You may be wondering about recent legislation here in North Carolina. Social decisions, political decisions, ethical decisions, church decisions they often involve a lot of grey area, a lot of dominos, a lot of babble. So how do we know when something is of God or of the devil? How do we know which voice is good and which is evil? We can use the Bible as our guide, but as I already pointed out, our philosophy often shapes how we interpret it. Furthermore, the Bible seems to contradict itself when we get into particulars. There are contradictions within the New Testament and the Old Testament as well as between them. But I think that the Bible does have one message that is consistent and clear: God loves us. And we are to love God and love our neighbor. The benchmark of discerning good from evil is love. The benchmark of examining our own assumptions and traditions is love. Does my position promote love? Does my theology reflect love? Does my voice sound like love? If we continue in conversation in babbling with love, over time we will be united on the latest issue and the divisive efforts of evil will be defeated once again. 5