An Employer Worth Living For
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· 2 viewsMankind contructs the Tower of Babel sinfully in a prideful manner, only to have the project shut down by God who judges his people with their best interest in mind.
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As we begin I want to describe an employee to you. This employee is the cream of the crop. Everything you want in an employee, this is it. The employee is always on time, if not extremely early. This employee goes the extra mile to do not only his job, but also to assist others in their job. He works hard and will even stay overtime to get the job finished. He is a team player. There however is a few major character problems with our star employee. There is resistance towards the rules the manager sets out as well as making it known that he is the star. The business will not run without him and he makes people know this. Our text today will be .
This morning I want to discuss and look at how Scripture defines this relationship between employee and employer. Between, God and His creation.
To do this, I want to look at , the account of the Tower of Babel.
We will look at 4 truths about Mankind and then look at the progression of God’s evaluation on Man.
Four Truths about Mankind
Four Truths about Mankind
Genesis 11:1-4
1. Mankind is united in speech.
1. Mankind is united in speech.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
It makes a statement saying that all of mankind is united in speech. Can you imagine a day where you could go anywhere on this earth and communicate with whoever you wish? You do not have to go oversees to realize the truth behind this passage of Scripture we will study this morning.
Verse one clearly articulates that it is not just a part of the earth that is united. This isn’t just a small group of individuals who are united, but it is the whole.
Define whole: you do not need me to define the word whole to you. We know it means all and every, but whole could mean a lot of things. Give me a whole pie is far different than a whole piece of pie.
Whole is used countless times throughout the scripture. It always specifies what it is referring to.
For example.
and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—
The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
Genesis 7:
But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
Genesis 9:19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
Genesis
The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
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.”
The entirety of the earth was dispersed in Chapter 9 through the three sons of Noah. They were scattered across the whole earth. Mankind is clearly struggling, but even through being banned from the garden, Cain killing Abel, Noah’s flood. To this point, though separated, the people were still able to communicate and understand each other. The whole earth spoke the same language.
There speech was the same. There words were the same. They were perfectly united.
We can go in various places throughout the United States and very quickly we see how crazy this truth sounds. The words they used, the dialect they used, the accent they had. It is hard enough for me to understand two people who speak English with various accents sometimes.
I met a guy name Joelis while in Lithuania who provided me transportation to a store and to the airport. Lithuanians learn English early on in school. He shared with me how he felt comfortable speaking English and then he interned in the U.K. and was completly caught off guard. It was a variation and different English than he was accustomed to.
Mankind early on did not have any of these struggles that we so often struggle with.
Having the same speech is not necessarily bad. The impact that sin has on that makes all the difference. When you think of businesses that strive to execute the same plan and use the same terminology, it is set in stone for a reason.
Think about Chick-fil-A. When you go to Chick-fil-A and you think about the great employees and their willingness to go above and beyond for you, you greet them with the words Thank you and they reply with “My Pleasure”.
If we go to Chick-fil-A and the response is anything different, we are thrown off and shocked. We have become so accustomed to hearing “My Pleasure”.
Because of sin, mankind has gone from being worshippers of God, created in His image to sinful humans to the core.
It would be that star employee we talked about at the beginning who goes rogue and decides that instead of my pleasure he devises a plan to one up the company and make himself the victor. This leads us to our second truth about Mankind and that is that we are sinful in all our ways.
2. Mankind is sinful in all their ways.
2. Mankind is sinful in all their ways.
And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
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.
Genesis 11:2-
Okay, Great, nothing to crazy here. People are spreading across the earth just as we are told. They are preparing to build. It is this crossroads that they must decide which direction they are going to go.
Adam and Eve chose the fruit over God’s Words
Cain choose envy and murder over family.
Mankind choose wickedness over loving God (declaring the need for the Ark).
The people choose to make bricks not for homes, but to
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.”
Let us build a city.
Let us build a tower reaching the heavens.
Let us make a name for ourselves.
Why?
So we are not dispersed over the face of the earth.
Mankind’s response is one of sin.
Mankind is sinful across all the earth
3. Mankind is resistant to God’s commands.
3. Mankind is resistant to God’s commands.
God dispersed them…and they migrated and settled (verse 2).
We are beginning to see a reoccuring pattern of disobedience toward’s God’s commands.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
Corruption and sin is occuring. God is sorrowful that he made the earth.
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Noah finds favor with God and is once again told to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Clearly they are bearing children, but we see them settling and attempting their own agenda rather than filling the earth.
This star employee we shared about at the beginning, when he begins to reveal his true colors, taking shortcuts, etc. we realize how he falls short.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This is exactly what is taking place with this united people building this tower to the heavens. Their sinfulness makes them convinced of their need to do it on their own.
Following the 1942 Major League Baseball season, the Brooklyn Dodgers hired Branch Rickey as the President and General Manager. It was Rickey who then signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers for a minor league contract. Upon conversations it was Ricky and Robinson dialoging about the future resistance and hardships that Robinson would have to undergo in order to break Major League baseballs unwritten color barrier. Through these the two became united. A unity was necessary for this to work. It was the rest of creation that showed a uniting against Robinson and wanting a color barrier to remain in baseball. Upon arrival to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson received the criticism that he was expecting. The world was wrong to place Robinson and other individuals opposite of skin color from playing the game. They were also resistant towards what Robinson and Rickey wanted to accomplish. It was through a select few individuals, like Rickey and Pee Wee Reese that Robinson kept fighting. This is mankind, we are united, sinful, and resistant towards God. It was through the disobedience of Adam and Eve that caused mankind to be in a united stated, both sinful and resistant toward God.
This leads us to the 4th truth about mankind and that is that we are prideful for fame.
4. Mankind is prideful for fame.
4. Mankind is prideful for fame.
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.”
The end result is that mankind seeks to make a name for themselves.
mankind wanted to matter and not God.
They desired in autonomy that didn’t include God.
This prideful arrogance is nothing new, but a continual reveal of the sinfulness of mankind.
We have been power hungry from the beginning.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
They realize that they send and eventually cover their sin up. Mankind is resistant to God and prideful for fame.
Mankind thinks that this is the best thing for them.
Have you ever known that you were right about something that you ended up being wrong about? Before you found out you were wrong you did everything you could to prove your point that you were right? You would cut off someone else from talking and pulling all of the facts out. You were right! There was nothing that the other person could tell you that would change your mind. You kept pressing on. Eventually you figure out that you are wrong, but you continue to go with your initial response even when you know you are wrong because you do not want to admit your failure. Well mankind was and is still like this. Mankind is prideful and arrogant towards God’s best interest for them. Mankind wants to do it their way, but is being reminded continuously that it is God that is right. But that does not stop mankind. They keep building and desiring to make a name for themselves and not God. They want to avoid the consequence that we want to avoid of not expressing our failure.
The Progression of God’s Evaluation
The Progression of God’s Evaluation
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
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.
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
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.
Genesis 11:5-9
Genesis 11:5-9
1. God is involved.
1. God is involved.
God at this point came down to inspect the tower that the people were working on. Remember that this tower was built disobediently toward God. The people settled (verse 2) and they began constructing the temple to make a name for themselves and to avoid being dispersed over the face of the earth. The importance of God coming down is of judgment of the physical (the tower), but also of their disobedience toward God. Our God is a God of involvement. God is involved in the lives of His creation (New Interpreter’s Bible). This is a reoccurring theme throughout the beginning of Genesis as well as throughout the Grand Narrative of scripture. During the creation narrative God talked to Adam and Eve. God made Adam a helper. God was directing Adam’s path as he put him in the garden.
· After Adam and Eve sinned against God, it was God who came to them and called out to his creation.
· It was God who drove out man from the garden, ultimately for their protection and so that they would not fall into deeper trouble.
· It was through Noah that God found Favor in and allowed Noah and his family along with two of each animal to be saved from the flood.
· It was God who made a covenant with Noah to never flood the earth again.
· It was God who said to Abram “Go from your country and your kindred and you father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” ().
· It was God that provided the Ten Commandments.
· It was God who came in human flesh (Jesus) and dwelt among us, living a perfect life and dying for our sins so that we can be reconciled to the father.
Our God is a God of involvement. The manager of this star employee has a choice to make. He can let corruption take over the business or he can do something about it. The manager must go to his star employee and address the situation at hand. He needs to address the areas of concern and continue to address them. God does that with us. He constantly is involved in our lives.
Despite our disobedience
Illustration about a boss that wants what is best for you, is always there, helps you when you fail, ect.
God is involved with his creation. Our sin and constant disobedience separates us from God, but it was Jesus who came and lived a perfect life, atoning for our sin making a way back for God’s creation to himself. God is involved in the life of his creation for their good. It is God that works all things together for good for those called according to his purpose. God has made a way by coming to us that all may no Him.
2. God’s evaluation requires consequences.
2. God’s evaluation requires consequences.
God begins to put his foot down on Babel’s plan. The people were united and in the same boat. They all settled in hope of making a name for themselves and avoid being dispersed over the face of the earth. The New American Commentary calls this a “confusion of language [that] condemns their project” (485). The consequence was that the language was confused.
3. God’s evaluation involves discipline.
3. God’s evaluation involves discipline.
The discipline was to prevent this from happening again. The confusing of the language was so that they may not understand one another’s speech. Following the confusing of the language came the dispersing over the face of the earth. God judged the very pride and disobedience that the people showed and there were consequences because of it. This expresses that God’s will is sovereign over any other persons plan. The confusing of the languages prevents this type of event from happening again. God was looking out for the best interest of His creation.
4. God’s evaluation provides course correction.
4. God’s evaluation provides course correction.
to prevent mankind’s stubborness from happening again.
By confusing the languages, mankind could not group together again in a prideful and disobedient way. This eliminates the possibility of all of mankind being prideful and disobedient toward God. The star employee also deserves discipline for the way he is acting towards his manager. The manager disciplines in a way that he does not want to see it happen again.
An employer providing course correction to keep individuals from failing again.
God disciplines us to bring out good. Looking to the cross we can be thankful that we cannot unite together in a prideful way to be disobedient towards God. Now we are all disobedient, but because of Christ, we are able to have salvation through his atoning sacrifice. When we go through our lives we need to continue to realize that God is in control even when we do not think He is. Discipline is good, especially from a God that loves us and cares for us.
As we conclude I want to give you two walking points and conclude by asking you a question.
1. In Christ, we are now united and have the same goal.
1. In Christ, we are now united and have the same goal.
We must fight resistance and sin against God. We must take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We must be fruitful and multiply and make disciples everywhere we go.
2. Our job is to take the gospel to the nations.
2. Our job is to take the gospel to the nations.
Our job just became more complex because of language barriers and various culturally contexts. However, we have an employer who goes before us through the Holy Spirit who is able to tear down walls of language barriers that slow down our mission. God can do more than we can ever think or ask.
Is God your Chief Employer?
Is God your Chief Employer?
Is God in your life. Do you allow him to be so. If not, what are we waiting on.