The story of Babel serves as a reminder to the temptation that lives in every human heart. The temptation to settle into what feels safe, to build something that secures us, and to quietly make a name for ourselves while using God’s name to justify it. In our context, the towers we build look like respectable lives, strong families, successful farms and businesses, good reputations, growing churches, and carefully managed futures. Babel reminds us that even things that seem good can become dangerous when they replace trust in God with control, self-sufficiency, and fear. The hard truth of this passage is that God sometimes disrupts what we build not to punish us, but to rescue us from it. When God scattered the people, He was accomplishing His original blessing—to fill the earth with His glory. What felt like loss and confusion was grace at work. When we step aside and humbly live lives in obedience to God and under His authority, His glory shines into the world through us… And instead of making a name for ourselves, we benefit from His glory shining out for the world to see…

From one family the world is scattered, and through one family the world is gathered again… All the nations on earth are within God’s covenantal concern and God is operating redemptively in each of these nations and cultures… His spirit and His promise are not absent from them, but from only one line can the redeemer, rescuer come… Sometimes we assume that the only nation that God cares about in the Old Testament is Israel… but that isn’t the case. He focuses on Israel for the benefit and blessing of the rest of the nations…

God didn’t want humans to use violence to dominate so He gave them laws as restraints meant to slow humanity’s appetite to take, consume, and destroy. Scripture moves humans away from violence towards restraint. Away from vengeance and toward mercy. Away from reducing people to what they’ve done toward seeing them as God sees them. Human life is not sacred because of usefulness, productivity, strength, morality, nationality, race, age, or ability. Life is sacred because God has chosen to place His image there. And once God has declared something sacred, we don’t get to treat it as disposable.

When we ask the question, “What is God like?” the Bible doesn’t leave us guessing. In the ancient flood stories, the gods destroy humanity to protect themselves. But in the story of Scripture, God gives Himself to save humanity. In Noah’s story, the sacrifice of one man moves the heart of God to preserve the world. In Jesus, we are shown what God has always been like. He is the kind of God who steps into the chaos we’ve created and offers His life for our own… This is what God is like: He is slow to anger, abounding in love, rich in mercy, faithful to His creation, and willing to absorb the cost of our evil rather than abandon us to it.

This is how the world ought to know us… Not as ardent supporters of earthly powers, be they cultural or political, but blameless people who walk in close fellowship with God… Earthly powers tend to eventually turn and consume us when their appetite for power, influence, or wealth grows… God never does.

A divided church proclaims a divided gospel. But a church that is united under Jesus - imperfect, diverse, humble - bears witness to a different kind of Kingdom. Jesus prayed that we would be one, so that the world would know.

We celebrate tonight because on Christmas Jesus was born. He was God With Us! Jesus is the gift that the world had been waiting for. Even though we may not realize it yet, He is the gift that we truly need…

This Christmas, I don’t want you to just believe that God loves you, I want you to experience His loving presence with you, bringing you fullness of life. Invite Him into the anxious moments. The awkward moments. The quiet moments. And watch what happens when love moves close. But we’re not only supposed to be receivers of God’s love, we are meant to be conduits of God’s love, bringing His loving presence to others…

We often associate Christmas with circumstantial happiness – lights, decorations, presents, treats, Hallmark endings… but the Christian celebration of Advent has more to do with joy in the midst of shadows. It’s moving forward in the darkness believing the dawn will break.

We need to remember, peace or shalom is not escape from this messy world. Shalom is a person and a process. It’s repair. It’s like taking a broken plate and instead of throwing it away, fixing it. Making it whole again. It won’t be flawless, but it will be complete.