Talk 3: Towers And Thistles

(Part 1)
Welcome to our third installment of our series, Ascend.
Talk 3 is Towers And Thistles.
Last week, we talked about Noah’s Ark.
Today, we talk about two familiar stories—(1) the Tower of Babel and
(2) God asking Abraham to offer Isaac on top of Mt. Moriah.
If you read what happened after Noah’s Ark and the great flood, you
realize that evil was not washed away by the flood; because evil remained in
the human heart.
That’s why the Tower of Babel happened…
Bad Babel
Let’s read: As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in
the land of Babylonia and settled there. Before I continue reading, I need to
mention something very important. If you say the word “Babylon” to a
typical Jew that lived in 500 BC, he’ll start frothing in the mouth and turn
red with rage. Because Babylon represented everything that was evil.
Remember that Genesis was written during the Babylonian captivity. It was
Babylon that conquered Jerusalem, flattened the city, destroyed the temple,
3 
and enslaved its people. Let’s continue… They began saying to each other,
“Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were
used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.)  4  Then they said,
“Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into
the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over
the world.” (Genesis 11:2-4 NLT, emphasis mine)
The first time I heard the phrase “Tower of Babel”, I had the images of
the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa in my mind. (Show Photos)
Not true. Most likely, the Genesis writer was referring to something
like the photo below. This is an artist’s rendition of Etemenaki, a temple in
Babylon dedicated to the god Marduk, that existed when Genesis was
written.
Question: Does it remind of you something?
Hint: What’s the theme of our entire series, Ascend?
Doesn’t it look like a mountain?

The Tower Is A Man-Made Mountain

Why did God not like Babel?
If you read the story, the Tower was abandoned as the people
scattered.
Here’s the key truth: Babel was man’s attempt to create their own
cosmic mountain. It was man’s attempt to create their own Eden.
Because in Babel, humans wanted to be their own gods.
Here’s the irony: God already made us like Him. God already made us
to be His Royal Representatives, His Kings and Queens.
And yet here was man still wanting to build his own empire.
Isn’t this our core problem? We look for what we already have.
Why? We’re blind. We don’t see what God has given to us.
(You can insert a personal story about this.)
 Friend, are you looking for happiness?
I’ve got news for you: Everything you need to be happy is already
within you. That’s why the Psalmist said, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall
not want.” (Psalm 23:1 NKJV)
Declare this with me: God has given me everything I need.
Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see to what You have already given to
me. You made me in Your image. You made me Royalty. You made to Co-
Rule with You. The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want!”
(Part 2)
How God Shows Up
Today, I want to preach the message, “God will show up.”
Let me tell you a story.
One day, a speaker was giving a seminar to a company of 200
employees.
At the end of the seminar, he announced, “Let’s have a fun activity!”
His team gave each person a balloon and a marker. “Write your name on
the balloon,” he said, “and when you’re done, we’re get the balloon back.”
His team collected the balloons and placed it all in the other room.
He then said, “Okay, listen up. I’m going to give you five minutes
only. Go to that room and find your balloon.” The 200 people stood up,
rushed to that room, and it was pandemonium. Each person were frantically
grabbing balloons, looking for their names, tossing them away, grabbing
another one… It was a picture of hell. It was the picture of the Tower of
Babel.
When the five minutes were up, the speaker blew a whistle, and very
few people found their balloon.
He called them back to their seats in the main room and said,
“Frustrating, isn’t it? Well, we’re going to do it again. But with a simple
little tweak. I want you to go back to that room, pick the first balloon you
see, read the name, and return that balloon to its owner.
The group entered the room again. Pandemonium broke loose again,
but it was the happy kind. You could hear people shouting different names,
like, “Where’s Sylvia?” and “Where’s Mario?” and “Where’s Karl?” and
someone says, “Sylvia is over there!” and “Mario is at the back!” and “I’m
here!” and “Thank you so much!” In five minutes, everyone was holding
their own balloons.
When his audience settled down, the Speaker said, “Here’s the big
lesson. When you try to search for your own happiness, you won’t find it.
But if you try to help others find their happiness, you will too.”
As a preacher, let me add a spiritual message. When people serve
others and forget themselves, God shows up. God provides all that they
need. The multiplication of bread and fish happen.
Babel Is The Anti-Eden
The first time the 200 people were trying to get their own balloons,
that was Babel. Babel was the mountain of ego. Pride. Greed. Selfishness.
That’s why Babel was the Anti-Eden.
In Babel, everything flowed inward; But in Eden, everything flowed
outward. Remember the streams of Eden? They poured down the mountain
to water the whole earth.
God designed blessings to flow outward.
Heck, God designed YOU to flow outward!
He designed you to live a generous life.
Try it. Give without expecting anything in return. Let this be your
fundamental orientation. Be free from the hypnosis of this transactional
world. And you will experience real humanity.
You are an Eden Stream
 God never blesses someone for the sake of blessing someone; He
blesses someone so that someone will bless another someone.
Today, God is telling you, “You’re my Eden stream.”
Say it with me, “I’m God’s Eden stream!”
Don’t Keep Your Blessings—Or Else!
A stream doesn’t hold the water it carries.
If a stream holds the water, it’s not a stream, it’s a swamp.
A swamp is a stagnant body of water that is infested with bacteria and
breeds disease-causing insects. It even can have crocodiles and alligators.
Friend, are you a stream or a swamp?
Say this with me again: Blessings flow outward.
If you don’t follow the intrinsic design of a blessing, the blessing
becomes a burden. Think of siblings who fight over money and property.
You become a swamp.
Believe me, after 40 years of ministry, I’ve met a lot of people whose
lives have become swamps of selfishness. Evil has taken over their lives,
they seem no longer human.
God didn’t like the Tower of Babel because it was going to bring Hell
on earth. Do you know of marriages, families, organizations, churches,
businesses, and governments that are Towers of Babel? They’re mountains
of ego, pride, greed, and selfishness? Me, me, and more of me.
Soon, they will scatter.
They’re swamps.
Which brings me to the next part of the story…
(Part 3)
God Finds Gold In The Garbage
From this evil place of Babylon, God picks a guy named Abraham.
From the garbage, God finds gold.
 We don’t have time to go through the entire story of Abraham. But let
summarize it for you. God sent Him 10 tests. Many of these tests happened
on mountaintops. He passed some but failed others.
And when he failed, he failed big-time.
Let me give you two of his horrific failures: (1) Abraham was such a
coward, in order to save his own skin, he lied and placed his wife in grave
danger. (2) When he felt God was delayed in answering his prayer, he took
matters into his own hands and impregnated his slave girl, only to abandon
her—and their baby—to die in the desert. Mama Mia. Lord, have mercy.
Abraham was not a nice fellow.
Yet God chose him.
God never gave up on him until he finally changed.
May I preach to you today? Perhaps like Abraham, you’ve made a lot
of mistakes. You may think you’re garbage, but God specializes in finding
gold in the garbage.
God will never give up on you.
Don’t Glorify Your Name
Remember how the Babel people were building their Tower to be
famous? In another Bible version, it’s translated, “so that we may make a
name for ourselves... (v.4 NIV, emphasis mine)
Freeze frame that as we read what God told Abraham.
Who was Abraham anyway?
Abraham was a no-name guy.
God told him: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s
household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-
3 NIV)
 Did you see that?
The blessings are designed to flow outward.
God was creating His Eden streams again.
But let me get back to the “Name” thing.
Did you see the difference? The people of Babel wanted to make their
name great. But God told Abraham, “I’ll do that for you.”
Babel people were looking for their own name written on their own
balloons. God said, “Don’t think about your name. Don’t think of your
balloon. I’ll give that to you. Just serve others!”
As we move to the most important part of the Abraham story, I’ll be
asking you 3 powerful questions…
1) Do You Believe That God Will Show Up?
Because in Test #10 of Abraham, his most important test, God asks
him to offer his son Isaac to Him. And they climb up a mountain called
Moriah.
While climbing, Isaac asks him, “Dad, we have the fire, we have the
wood, but where is the sacrifice?”
Abraham answers, “God will provide.”
The literal Hebrew translation is, “God will show it.”
Which is connected to the meaning of Moriah: “The Mountain of
Seeing”.
Here’s the Bo Sanchez translation: God will show up! God will show
you He’s there. When you think He’s not there, He is. When you think He’s
not listening, He is.
Let me ask you: Do you believe God will show up in your life?
Here’s the second question…
2) Can God Work With You?
When Abraham was about to offer Isaac, an Angel stops him.
And Abraham passes the test. Why?
 God wasn’t asking for Isaac’s life; God was asking for Abraham’s trust.
Bottomline, he didn’t eat from the Tree of Knowing good or bad.
Abraham did not decide what was good or bad, he let God decide.
And that’s the kind of human God can work with.
Friend, can God work with you?
Final question…
3) Will You Hold On Or Will You Let Go?
Abraham passed where Babel failed.
In Babel, they held onto their blessing for themselves.
In Moriah, Abraham gave away his greatest blessing—Isaac.
He let go, expecting nothing in return.
He became an Eden stream, not a Babel swamp.
And when he did, the blessing multiplied. And Abraham became the
father of many nations.
So here’s my question: Will you hold on or will you let go?
Will you be transactional or relational?
Will you selfish or selfless?
Conclusion: God Will Show Up!
From the thistles, Abraham sees a ram—the substitute for Isaac.
A thousand years later, King Solomon, on the same spot of Moriah,
builds the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, where daily sacrifices were made as an
incomplete substitute for the sins of the people.
And another thousand years later, just a few meters from that same
spot, the Greatest Sacrifice in the history of the world was made.
God provided Jesus to become the substitute for us.
God showed up in Eden, Ararat, Moriah, and Calvary.
God will show up.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez