Last Sunday was Pentecost, a celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church. On Pentecost, the Spirit enabled the disciples to communicate with Jews from all over the Roman World. These Jews spoke many different languages and had various customs.

In the background of Pentecost looms the story of the Tower of Babel; there is a symbolic undoing of the confusion and chaos caused by the effort to build the Tower of Babel. Many of you are familiar with this story, as it is one of the foundational Biblical tales found in Genesis, chapter 11.

At Babel, people were lost, scared, lonely and confused. And no wonder they needed a tower. The world was recovering from the flood that featured Noah’s ark. Then one voice started, “Let’s build a stairway to heaven,” and the idea grew and grew, until suddenly, a tower began to take shape and rise. They figured that at least this would keep them safely together if the floodwaters crashed again.

God looked down with concern as they worked, knowing that these scared, huddled masses would never finish the tower. Even if they did, its completion would not provide the security they sought. Yet, they would never stop trying. God was troubled, aware that the whole earth was a gift awaiting these people, but they would remain huddled and never enjoy it. God gave them a wonderful world, not just one frightened city.

God planned to give the beautiful gift of the world to these people, which they would never enjoy if they didn’t move on from their huddled mass. So, rather than punishing them, God gave them another gift. He said, “Here, my beloved people, are languages upon languages.” Thus, different languages were delivered.

Then, speaking a myriad of languages, the people could not understand one another. As a result, they began to drift apart, leaving Babel unfinished and venturing into the world as God intended. These folks spoke in various languages and with different accents, even as Jimmy Buffett sings, “southernese.”

Thus, they began to scatter into language groups. Consequently, the world became populated with diverse languages, and various cultures emerged. This marvelous diversity of our world is a gift from God that helps people fill the wonderful world God created. Diversity is a gift from God, not something to be feared. It has been part of God’s intention from the beginning.

And yet this gift is destroyed by sin, becoming a source of division, war, bigotry, and hatred rather than beauty. Diversity is seen as something to be avoided. Each group had its perspective, believing its location, culture, and language were superior. Too often, they were hostile towards those who were different and sought to destroy them. This division persisted throughout history, and sadly, it continues to this day.

And now, instead of viewing the world as a better place due to diversity, we have fostered an “us versus them” mentality. This can be observed in the anti-immigrant sentiment present in so many cultures.

For Christians, Pentecost was a symbolic undoing of the “us versus them” division among people. People retain their own culture and language, but there is a unity symbolized not by fear but by understanding.

Notice that the Spirit does not destroy diversity but promotes understanding. It breaks down the walls of separation through communication. People understand one another without giving up their identity.

The diversity of language and culture in our world is a gift from God to cherish and respect, not to fear. Diversity is one of the many beautiful gifts of the Spirit to God’s world.

It calls us to work for understanding and connection as we treasure God’s beautiful gifts of language and culture. Diversity and understanding are part of the Pentecost celebration and are a gift of God for all people.