Genesis 11:1-9 - You’re not the hero of this story.

The way we communicate is critical to building relationships.

You don’t realize that until you are incapable of doing it

Some leaders and I went to Top Golf last week for some planning and some fun.

We got to our two bays where we were going to smash some golf balls, and there was already a group there.

They were signing and not moving their mouths.

Top Golf had double booked our bays.

The lady that was trying to help told me she was going to go ask a manager and get it shorted.

In the meantime, the leader of their crew came over to me

For some reason, I thought it’d be helpful to speak louder in hopes of communicating.

He was so gracious. I felt like a terrible person.

At one point in history, communication was the easiest.

Everyone had one language, used the same slang terms, and the same accents.

Context

After the flood, God was re-establishing creation.

He commanded Noah to Genesis 9:7 “7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.””

We’ve got kiddos in the room.

It just means their doing their math homework: Amen, parents?

He was restoring creation to it’s original command.

Subdue the earth, and fill it with people

Obedience should not have been too complicated. It looked like a simple command, but humanity began to want to be the hero of the story.

Big Idea: You’re not the hero of this story.

Stand to read

Genesis 11:1–4 ESV

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Leader: This is God’s Word

Everyone: Thanks be to God

The people were refusing to “fill the earth.”

People were created in the image of God to represent Him in the whole world.

God’s kingdom was to cover the world.

They didn’t want to spread across the world.

They wanted to stay put in one place and build their own kingdom without God.

Build a city and a tower

They want to build a city like Cain from Genesis 4.

When God sent Cain away from his presence, Cain built a city.

They are seeking to be like Cain and build their own city devoid of the presence of God.

The city would have a tower that can be seen from all around.

The tower would link heaven and earth.

When people see it, they wouldn’t scatter but find their way back to the city.

To make a name for themselves.

They want to defy God.

They want all the glory.

They were unified in their rebellion.

If we stick together, we can play the numbers game with God.

They hunger for power, fame, status, independence.

This is still true of us today.

Our pride will always convince us that we know what’s better for our lives than God does.

Church, what the tower of Babel shows us is,

Our pride deceives us and defies God.

When we believe that we can be God better than God, we have made ourselves clowns.

When we read this passage, we tend to think, “What a doofus statement. ‘We’re going to make a name for ourselves?!’ They said it out loud?!”

Even when we don’t say it out loud, we functionally say this when we live contrary to God’s call on our lives.

God has called us to be in a right relationship with Him, and in our self-righteous independence, we live as if “Eh, I got it.”

We make crummy gods

When we make ourselves the hero of the story, we make our statues out of stupid.

Our culture is all about how awesome you are.

If we’re honest—We know how awesome we’re not.

We spend our lives trying to hide what’s wrong with us so that we can convince ourselves and everyone else of how awesome we are.

When we try to take control of our lives because we think we’re the hero, we miss the greater story God has called us to.

There’s a new trend going around that I think is brilliant: Box Birthday Parties.

Buying gifts for children at their birthday and Christmas is always heartbreaking.

Because all they want to play with is the box.

I just spent $40 on this gift, and all you want is the box?

God’s plan was to establish His kingdom on the earth and give us the blessing of His presence

Transition

The people responded in thinking they could build a better kingdom than God.

The Lord is quick to respond to this rebellion.

Genesis 11:5–7 ESV

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Notice, the Lord has to come down to see the city.

They are so small that the Lord has to come down from His throne in heaven to see what they are doing.

This mocks the human thought of greatness.

We think we are so big and mighty until the Lord has to stoop down to us.

I was on duty at a festival one time, and there was a man who was about 6’ 10”.

He didn’t like police officers, and he and I got into a verbal altercation in the crowd.

It was loud because of music, people, activities.

He had to lean down to hear me.

I had never felt so small than in that moment, which inflamed me even more

These people thought that they would make a name for themselves, but their “greatness” was conditional on what God would allow them to do.

They had one language, and they were unified in their defiance against God.

This was only the beginning of the evil that they would come up with.

They would launch another full-scale rebellion against God just like in Eden.

The “new beginning” after the flood was spoiled by another power-grab.

God in His grace resolved that He would intervene and foil their stupid plan for trying to attain their own salvation.

Genesis 11:8–9 ESV

8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Confusing their languages was God’s judgement for their rebellion, but this judgement shows God’s faithfulness for His plan of salvation.

They wanted a city without God

He was going to establish His Kingdom with His people.

God was going to accomplish His plan of filling the earth, despite their sinfulness.

The Lord is able to take seemingly hopeless and dark situations and use it for His glory in the world.

He confused their languages and made them into many people’s a nations!

This is what heaven looks like!

The entirety of the world singing the praises of God!

Every tribe, tongue, nation, and language will be represented in heaven!

It’s going to be the most beautiful reunification ever.

Moses attempts to warn Israel not to rely on their own security/understanding, but on God.

Church, what this shows us is,

God’s plan (for your life) is better than yours.

Gospel Presentation

Because of our sin, we could not get to heaven.

We cannot reach heaven from earth because we were dead in our sins.

Big idea: You’re not the hero of this story.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus came to bring heaven down.

Jesus is the hero of our story.

Say “Jesus is the hero”

He brought the grace of God to save us from our sin through His death and resurrection.

When Jesus died on the cross, He died for your sins instead of you so that by believing in Him, you can have eternal life.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead as a victorious King, showing that the kingdom of heaven had accomplished salvation for all who would believe.

Jesus did not come to establish the kingdom of man, but to bring the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus did not come to establish your kingdom, He came to let you into the Kingdom of God.

If you’re not a Christian, you can belong to a better kingdom than you can build for yourself.

The life you thought you’d build for yourself apart from the presence of God is so small compared to God’s plan for your life.

You may wonder how God is going to use the season of life or the situation you’re in for His glory.

He can take the darkest stories and use them as trophies of His glory.

God’s plan is to give you abundant life through faith in Christ.

Will you trust in Jesus today?

I want to invite you to talk with me about this.

“I don’t know how, but I want to follow Jesus. I want God’s plan for my life.”

Church, we need to yield to the fact that God’s plan for our lives is better than our plans.

Jesus is the hero of the story.

How do we do this? We take the next step in following Jesus.

We all have a next step to take.

Moses attempts to warn Israel not to rely on their own security/understanding, but on God.

Take the Next Step

Identify what you need to let go of.

How are you not trusting God?

Invite someone into God’s Kingdom.

Communion