Acts 2:1-21 Genesis 11:1-9
In
the beginning, I wasn’t so sure how it would work out. But, who can argue with Her? She is the End-all-and-be-all, after all, and
when she gets an idea in her head, it’s impossible to change her mind. So eventually I went along with it all. What can you do? … And I have to say that it
has turned out fairly well in the end.
But
I’m getting ahead of myself. I should
probably start by introducing myself. My
name is Ruach … but you can just call me Ru.
I kind of like it without that “ch” at the end – short and soft and
sweet. Much more personable than what
you usually call me. Yep, you’ve met me
before, and you know who I am; though you usually call me “Holy Spirit” which
is too formal … (but at least it’s better than “Holy Ghost” – as if I’m dead or
something). I prefer Ru … (or Ruach if
you must) ….
The
“She” I’m referring to is, of course, Elohim – the creator. You usually just call her “God,” and that’s
okay. She’s fine with just about any
name you can come up with though she does get a bit tired of all those boy’s
names. At least “God” is gender
neutral. Anyway, …
As I
was saying, I wasn’t too sure it was a great idea to do it all the way that she
wanted to. It wasn’t that I was against
creating the world or that I questioned who and what she chose to populate it
with. Actually, I thought it was
wonderful – all that diversity … color and shape … two legs, four legs, dozens
of legs, … no legs … teeny tiny all the way up to pretty darn big. She definitely has the creative flair, I’ll
give her that!
No, it wasn't creation that I questioned. What I questioned was
the whole “giving free will to people” thing.
And it wasn’t that I was against it at all. I was just a little nervous – I mean, it was
already a lot of responsibility to care for the whole of creation. I thought it might be better to let them –
well … let you all get that under your belt before sticking you the challenge
of making your own decisions and all the ambiguity that goes along with that.
At
first, I was afraid that I was right to worry because it didn’t take long for
the problems to start. There was the
whole forbidden fruit incident – which we handled fairly well (if I do say so
myself); although I was a little uncomfortable with the pain of childbirth. Consequences, after all, should fit the
behavior, and I thought closing the way to the tree of life would be enough. But, she said she knew what she was doing, so
… (shrug).
Things
calmed down a bit after that. There were
a lot of little things as you might expect (and a couple of big ones too). The people were like little children - our children - playing with
fire, and we tried to be patient as the people learned how to live together and
control themselves. Eventually, though,
it just got to be too much. They lost
their way somehow, and our patience ran out.
In the end, we felt that we had to give the world a good cleaning
up. It was hard to do that…. Neither of us came out of it feeling
good. And we decided that no matter what
happened we would never do that again.
Besides, after a consequence like that we were pretty sure that Noah and
his family would do better…, and they did … sort of.
It wasn’t that they went back to what they were doing before, thankfully. They did learn that lesson. But, they didn’t become perfect children either, and looking back, I shouldn’t have expected that. They didn’t have the experience or perspective they needed to get it right on the first or the second … or the hundredth try. … I’m getting ahead of myself again.
What
happened was that those wonderful, creative, challenging people decided that
they would build a tower. Now, I have no
problem with towers. Neither does
Elohim. Towers are good. They can remind people to look up … well to
think “up” toward us. That keeps them on
their best behavior and might even open them up to thinking about their actions
in a new light. BUT, this tower was for
a different purpose. It was supposed to close
them off.
They
were worried – scared of the future, I guess – and instead of turning to us to
reassure them, they decided to build this monstrosity so that they would not be
“scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” They wanted to stick together which isn’t
surprising, I suppose … after the flood.
Normally
we would be all for unity, but not like this.
This kind of unity seeks safety at all costs, and while that might sound
like a good thing at first, it always backfires. It would have separated the people from the rest of the world. They would have been turning their backs on
the one thing that we asked them to do – care for creation, and that would have
killed them slowly... in spirit if not in body.
We couldn’t let that happen. It would have
been horrible for everyone. So, I
suggested that I go down among them. I
would remind them of their great charge of stewardship. I would set them on the right path. And everything would be fine.
But
that wasn’t what She had in mind. She
recognized that they were still young-ish children as a whole, and they weren’t
doing anything wrong, per se. They were
just scared. So, She came up with an
idea that fit the situation perfectly.
Instead of punishing them, She scattered them, and she confused their languages so that they would stay spread out
– stay right where they needed to be to take care of the world. Amazing ….
It’s no wonder we sometimes call her Wisdom.
After
that we had high hopes. The people went
back to tending the land. They had
already discovered the value of unity (even if it was the wrong kind), and as
they turned their creativity to improving life we imagined that maybe it
wouldn’t be too long before they began to find their way toward a deeper
harmony – a harmony that would put aside self-interest in favor of
community. So we waited … and waited …
and waited.[1]
Hundreds
of years passed, and they were still not there.
The promising start stalled out.
People began to turn their ingenuity toward amassing wealth. They tried to make their own lives … their
own communities … their own nations better at the expense of others’. And, worst of all, our children began hurting
each other – hurting and even killing. We
thought they were beyond that and it broke my heart to watch them fighting back
and forth over the land that could have yielded an abundance sufficient for all
of them if they would only take care of it … together.
Well,
we couldn’t just let it go on and on. We
thought they might grow out of it on their own, but they seemed to be
stuck. It was too much to bear, and it
was clear that they needed someone or something to get them straightened out.
The
Teacher had an idea. He wanted to try
something new. He wanted to go down to
the people in person … as a person. He
was convinced that our children were ready, even eager to change, but they
couldn’t understand what we wanted for them.
They didn’t know where to start.
They needed someone to show them, and they would learn better, He said,
if that someone was a human – someone they could see and touch and relate to.
It
sounded good, and everything else we had tried hadn’t worked as well as we had
hoped. So, we did it…. And it worked! At least it worked better than anything else
had. Lots of the people got it. They followed Him. They listened to his teachings.
Not
everybody was happily inspired though.
The Teacher made a lot of people upset with the way he was challenging
generations of tradition and power, and after all of our struggles over the
years, we expected that. We were ready
when the authorities decided to “solve” their little problem … ready to show
them the one thing they never would have expected. So, the Teacher died … and then came
back. And in between – in just three
days – in the blink of an eye, most of his followers went back to their old
lives.
I
have to admit … that was hard to take. I
had hoped that they were more committed than that – that the changes would
stick, but I guess they didn’t really understand as deeply as I thought… or
maybe they were just too scared that they might go the way of the Teacher….
Thankfully,
some of them held on. They didn’t
understand all that well either, but they knew they had experienced something
special - something that had changed them forever. And so it was that they were gathered
together trying to figure out what to do next when the Teacher went back.
He
stayed with them for about a month then.
He reassured them. He answered
their questions. He kept right on
teaching them and preparing them to teach others, and eventually we felt that
it was time to see if the teaching would really take – if they really
understood about love and caring for others as much or more than for
themselves. So, the Teacher came back to
us, and we watched ... and waited. They
didn’t hide away. They didn’t put
together a revolutionary army. They didn’t
go back to their old lives. They lived
together as a community, and they went out, day after day, proclaiming the good
news that they had received despite the laugher and the threats, trying to
convince the others that they could share in the joy if they wanted to. We were all so proud of them. Our children were starting to grow up!
After
ten days, we were convinced that they were on the right track, but it seemed
like they still needed a little help. It
wasn’t that they were doing anything wrong, but there were so few of them, and
the rest of the people mostly ignored them.
They needed something to make them stand out of the crowd and to reassure them so they didn’t get
discouraged and give up. So, I went down
to stay with them, encouraging them, helping them to share their story with
others, guiding them down better paths, and reminding them from time to time
that the good news was for everyone,
not just their family.
They
did a wonderful job – everything that I hoped they would do, and when their
time to walk the earth was over, others took up the mantel and kept right on
sharing about love and compassion and self-less caring. I came to them too (children can always do
with some looking after, after all), and I was just as proud of them as I was
of those first few.
You
know, there have been many times over the past two thousand odd years that I
have watched people wander. There have
been times when they have listened to me and come back toward the path we wish
they would take and other times when they ignored me no matter how big a splash
I made.
But
you… gathered in your own little room and wondering what to do next … you found
your way back to the path. I was
there. I saw it all happen … helped it
happen, but in the end I didn’t have to do much. No strange languages, no visions, not even
any tongues of flame … none of that was part of your Pentecost. You didn’t need it. Just the tiniest nudges and you came back to
the right kind of unity and caring
for creation.
I am filled with pride. I am filled with hope. And I am so excited to see what you come up
with as you grow into the future … so honored that I get to share in what comes
next.
[1]
Fretheim, Terence E. “The Book of Genesis: Introduction, Commentary, and
Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes,
Volume I (Abingdon Press, Nashville) 1994.
413-14.
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