The story of Pentecost is best understood in the context of the story of the Tower of Babel. The stories in the Bible have layers and layers of meaning, and both of these narratives contain multitudes.

The Tower of Babel at its core is a critique of human desire that is separate from God’s action. When nations work their human designs, they are destined to fail. The Day of Pentecost is the recasting of that story. The fired bricks of mud described in the building of the tower are replaced with the stones (such as Peter) now on fire and alive in the divine life of the Holy Spirit. The common human purpose is replaced with the diversity of God’s mission as the nations are gathered and transformed, still retaining their diversity.

There’s a lesson for this moment of American political history in all of this.

Direct link to the video here.