Is it possible that there was ever a time or place on the face of the earth when someone in authority did not have to say, this is for your own good? Surely this phrase or some variation of it exists in every language. And you can be reasonably certain that when it was said, whoever was on the receiving end was up to no good.

This brings us to the Tower of Babel. The story is set in the westward migration of the descendants of Noah. It is part of Israel’s oral tradition, presenting a timeline of meaningful events rather than facts of history. It’s likely that this narrative answered a question along the lines of: if we all came from one ancestor (Noah) why do we have different languages?

Arriving on a desert plain strewn with raw building materials, the people settled and decided to build a city and a tower. Not just any tower, but something truly monumental. So that it was not only going to be impressively tall, but also a monument to their own greatness.

The people said it was a matter of establishing a name for themselves. This is an interesting reason for their considerable investment of resources. To have your name known implies both honor and fame. So that in the eternal quest to keep up with the Joneses, you are the Joneses that all others desire to emulate.

But there’s more going on. A tower is also a means of defense. And if you are living on a broad, flat plain, it’s handy to have a high spot from which to spot a potential enemy’s approach.

Although, what enemies? All people were kin through their recent shared descent from Noah. But the fear was there. “Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over all the face of the earth.” This sentiment seems to foreshadow Israel’s future dispersions at the hands of many enemies.

In this case, opposition came not from enemies or kin. It was God who intervened. God’s stated concern was the concentration of power. That no fortifications would be able to stand against people united in language and intention. Whatever they plotted to do would be unstoppable.

And so, according to the story, God & Company (the heavenly host) swooped in to mix up their language. Further communication immediately became impossible and construction stopped. Then God did exactly as the people had feared. Separated by language, they were dispersed across the face of all the earth. The end. But, for our own good.

In the minds of many preachers the Tower of Babel story is the antecedent of what happened that crazy day at the springtime harvest festival called Pentecost. Because what God had scrambled, God now unscrambled. So elegant!

But, not so fast, says any observant biblical theologian. Because what happened on that festival day wasn’t the reversal of the Tower of Babel event. Many languages didn’t miraculously revert to one language. Everyone still had only their own language. This is made clear by the people’s response, “…in our own languages we hear them speaking…”

This is more impressive than it may seem.  Because every language has limitations. As Barbara Brown Taylor says, every language is like a deck of cards. Many things can be said, but only what the cards singly or in combination allow.

You can do many different things with language. But you can only communicate what your language allows you to say. Whenever you try to convey something meaningful to someone whose language is different…well. As they say, something usually gets lost in translation.

So something crazy different was happening at Pentecost. And there is a connection to the Tower of Babel after all. But not what is usually preached.

It’s that despite the jumble of people speaking multiple languages and dialects everyone got the same message in their own language. A simultaneous translation, in effect. And the speakers, though human, were not attesting to human things, or to their own powers. They were all, “speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Remember that the threat at the Tower of Babel was that when human minds are united in a goal, they become an unstoppable force. And if the point is to concentrate power for the purpose of making a name for ourselves, and the endgame is to become invincible, then what happens when the powerful are up to no good?

The general assessment of humankind in the bible is that we’re easily led into no good. What we call sin. Led there by our own wits, and by the influence of others.

So, we require interventions. Not just once, but over and over, according to the biblical record. Jesus was and is, in our estimation, God’s unprecedented intervention. Pentecost was an intervention. To bring people together with a common word or message.

And this is what Jesus was saying in John’s gospel. The words Jesus spoke were not his own babble. God was speaking in him. Through what he said, certainly. But more so, in what he did.

Ultimately, God is up to good and only good. When we begin to supplant the word of God expressed in Jesus with our own words, to gain honor and power for ourselves then we are up to no good. We are back into tower-building and massaging our words into whatever serves us best.

Jesus told his disciples that he was leaving them his peace. It seems that he didn’t mean peace of mind or heart, but shalom which is more a matter of his integrity or wholeness. His utter obedience to the heart of the covenant – to love God and one another with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

If we get this right, and our endgame is to accomplish good for all, the Spirit of truth will be at home in us. And will be our public defender even if all the powers of the world are arrayed against us. Therefore, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”