Babblers and Prophets

In the book of Genesis, directly before the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Twelve Patriarchs, we are presented with the account of the Tower of Babel. The people of the whole earth, united in one language, decided to build a tower whose top was in the heavens. It would be wrong to think about this like the building of the Empire State building. They were not building a skyscraper or a monument of some sort, they were building a temple. This was not a temple in which to worship the Lord, but rather a temple in which they could seek power, control, and the fulfillment of their desires through invoking other gods. “Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” They thought they could harness spiritual power for their benefit.

The Lord, not wanting His creation to sink further into darkness, instead came down and confused their language and scattered them abroad. He thwarted their intentions by the division of tongues and did to them what they had hoped to avoid, their dispersal into all the earth. This one people became many separate nations. This was not because it was in their power to reach Him and make Him do their bidding, but because He didn’t want them united in the pursuit of evil spiritual power. God withdrew from men as a whole, and began to form a special covenant with Abraham.

Saint Philaret of Moscow describes the state of humanity and its eventual redemption in this way: “After he had plunged into the depths of materialism, no longer able to bear the uncreated light, man hid from God, and God hid from man (lest God destroy him by His holy presence). Then, the one God in three Persons, in His inexpressible goodness, once again approached man’s estrangement in gradual revelations, so that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit would once again raise up and exalt fallen man.”

In this lies the key to relationship with God. It is on His terms, not ours. We can not control Him, we can not call Him down to ourselves, and harness His power for our own ends. This is not because He doesn’t want to help us, but because our own desires are not godly, they are not righteous, they are self-serving.

Today, we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Holy Disciples and Apostles on the day of Pentecost. It should be noted that Pentecost is not the name that we have given to this feast, it is rather the name of an Old Testament Feast in which the people of Israel were to remember the giving of the law to Moses by God Himself. And so on this day in the new covenant, those followers of the Lord were gathered together and the Holy Spirit was given to them to write the law on their hearts. This was not a list of rules and regulations, but the way of living in a God-pleasing manner.

These disciples and apostles were gathered together in prayer and oneness of mind and heart, in obedience to the commandments of God. They were patiently awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit in the same upper room in which Christ Himself had given His body and blood to His disciples as true food and true drink, that they might have His life in themselves. On this particular day, the Spirit came as the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and was divided as tongues of fire upon them. And they went out and spoke in the languages of all the people gathered together so that they might be united with God, with the Church, and with each other in the worship of the One True God. It was the reverse of Babel.

Instead of pride in themselves, the apostles exhibited humility. Instead of using magic to force spiritual powers to obey themselves, the apostles obeyed God and received grace from on high. Instead of being united in the pursuit of evil, they were of one accord in one place to which the Lord had directed them. Instead of their language being confused and being scattered in order to thwart their desires, they spoke in strange tongues to proclaim the gospel, and scattered like sparks throughout the whole world bringing the fire of piety to the whole universe.

This is the goal of the calling of Abram and making him the father of nations. This is why Isaac was chosen over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau. This is why God made Israel a new nation for Himself and gave them a way of living, why He came to them by gradual revelations and why He became incarnate, suffered and was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. Why He on this day sent forth His Holy Spirit. He wanted to give to man what man needs, not what he wants in the corruption of his heart.

And this same Holy Spirit is given to us. This Holy Spirit illumines and sanctifies us, and transforms “the earthly into the heavenly, the material into the spiritual, the created into the divine.” We are not given something different or something less, and yet we may wonder why we don’t exhibit the same effects in our lives. In the gospel this morning we heard our Lord say, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” after this it was said, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

We can be like the people at Babel. Saint Philaret describes such a person in this way: “The person who is not reborn by the Spirit of God tries to find something exalted in his own limitations. He asks for respect based on his own humiliation, and he slithers on the ground to smother others. The power of such an unregenerated spirit makes a Christian as powerless as all others, a slave of his own emotions, surrounded on all sides by the attacks of enemies, defeated even before the battle begins; indeed, constantly being defeated by one passion, even if only to calm down another passion.”

Or we can be like Christians who have received the grace of the Most Holy Spirit. This is how Saint Philaret describes such a person. “O how unutteraby glorious it is to be the vessel, the dwelling place, the tool of the Spirit of God! O what heavenly blessedness on Earth! O What a mystery, which contains everything hidden that the spirit of man seeks and everything for which creation groans and labors with birth pangs…. Until now! However, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Flesh and blood have not revealed this mystery. The world thinks that even those in Heaven breathe the air of this world, and no matter how many times it hears those who speak with the tongue of Your Spirit, O God, it continues to mock, as before: They are full of new wine.”

Saint Philaret suggests that if the Holy Spirit is not evident in our lives, it is perhaps because Jesus Christ has not yet been glorified in us. If we are still seeking to invoke His name and His mighty power, to call down God to do our work and our bidding instead of lowering ourselves as He lowered Himself, He is not glorified in us. In fact, because of this His name is blasphemed.

This Church is the same upper room in which the disciples and apostles were gathered together nearly 2000 years ago. It is a place to which Christ our God has called us, in which we obediently pray and keep vigil. It is a place in which we are to gather together in one accord. We are to be one with God in the Holy Mysteries, one with each other in love, and one within ourselves, not being of two minds but singular in purpose. It is in this place that we are to glorify Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit may come and abide in us and cleanse us of all impurity and save our souls.