Genesis 11:1-9

This Old Testament lesson is a story of failure, but there is a great truth for all of us in it. I had a dear friend who used to say, "Every man is my teacher. I either learn what to do from him, or what not to do." It reminds me of a cartoon, which showed a bum sitting on a park bench; his clothes were tattered and torn, his toes were coming out of his shoes - the stereotypical hobo. Beneath the picture was the caption, "No man is completely worthless - he can always serve as a horrible example." And so from this Genesis text we learn from it what to avoid doing rather than what to do.

The church, in choosing lections for each Sunday, oddly enough has linked this text with the second chapter of Acts, which gives the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit. The Tower of Babe…