Melted Hearts

Deuteronomy 1:20-31         1/14/2018

Moses recounted the episode when the Israelites sent spies to check out the land. The spies confirmed the quality of the land, but most of them had become convinced that Israel could not displace the inhabitants. The people fainted with fear and subsequently refused to enter into the land.

Remembering the Failure to Enter the Promised Land

Moses reflected on how the Israelite’s fears drove them to disobedience. Of course, we call them fears because that’s common. But modern language has given us the term anxiety – which is probably closer to what they collectively experienced.

Going into battle is an uncertain business. The reality for any warrior is; I may not survive. And that thought – that projection into the future – startles and activates my fear mechanism.

The Israelites were never in actual danger. But the report of 10 spies forced them to imagine going into battle against giants, for which they felt entirely unprepared. Their hearts melted. They disobeyed.

Even though they had seen God destroy the most powerful army in the world with a breathtaking miracle – their imagined doom against the giants invoked an anxiety that bound up their thinking and paralyzed them from acting in faith.

Fear and Anxiety

Fear is appropriate when describing some immediate thing in our environment that could harm or even kill us. Fear is given. We are created with a capacity to fear because it keeps us from engaging in self-destructive behaviors. If there was something really threatening me – like a poisonous snake or a fast moving vehicle – my mind would instinctively know what to do. My body would automatically take action.

Without the capacity to fear real danger, I wouldn’t last very long in life.

But anxiety is a different thing. It’s not fear. It’s maybe more like misplaced fear. It happens when my body’s fear mechanism kicks in even though, in reality, there is no immediate danger. Perhaps I began imagining some terrible thing that might happen in the future. The fear mechanism in my brain can’t distinguish my imagination from the reality. But there isn’t an immediate threat to react against. So I have the fear feelings, but my mind doesn’t understand and can’t make sense of what’s happening. It’s confusion. I feel frustrated because I don’t know how to respond. It’s paralyzing.

Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart

Trust could have saved a generation of Israelites. We read it in horror. They lamented it with groaning.

So, let’s take the lesson. Get out of the future thought. Even if you’re about to face a giant, know that God is with you. He will be with you in the moment of engagement. He has no rival. He is greater than every adversary. He’s got you – You have nothing to fear.

You actually, really, have nothing to fear.

“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Appointment of Elders

Deuteronomy 1:8-19         1/13/2018

Moses reminisced about the early part of the exodus. He recounted how he had set judges over the people because he could not handle all of the disputes. He also recounted the harrowing journey from Horeb toward the Promised Land of Canaan.

Contentious Children

According to Moses, the children of Israel were contentious. As the leader, the people looked to him to judge between those in a dispute. But there were so many disputes, that Moses ended up designating 70 other tribal leaders to serve as judges. He only took on the cases that the other judges did not feel that they could handle.

With so many people, so tightly packed into such a small camp, disputes were inevitable. People contending for property or rank or whatever; they were striving to ensure they got their fair-share, that they got what they deserved.

Being Right or Being Successful

The need to be right. I know this need. To argue about nothing in order to prove that I’m not wrong – that I understand. To dominate and crush every opposing viewpoint in order to show that I know what I’m talking about. To alienate friends and family because being “right” has become more important than being kind, or hospitable – this is the challenge.

The need to be right. A curse. Accursed need. Pride.

The scripture says, “Why not rather put up with injustice?” But I can’t do that if allowing the other to prevail would destroy my identity. My pride isn’t easily persuaded to lay down its life. No wonder when it sees the prospect of a lost argument it perceives a fatality more deadly than a mortal blow to the body.

A solution

What do I really want? Happiness? Pleasure? Satisfaction?

All important things I suppose. But Jesus taught the thing that matters most is love. And this because love is transcendent and gives meaning that is also transcendent. It attaches and connects my story with the greatest story ever told.

Beyond pride, in love my identity is subsumed in the One who is love.

“And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.” 1 Cor 13:2

Spirit, Law and Wisdom

Numbers 36:9-Deuteronomy 1:7         1/12/2018

The children of Israel were located on the plain of Moab, preparing to cross the Jordan. Moses began an extended address to the people to help them understand the law and encourage them to obey it – even after he was gone and they had taken possession of Canaan.

The Law and Wisdom

It says, “Moses undertook to explain this law.”

As he prepared to die, Moses’ great challenge was to ensure that the project would continue to move forward and not die with him. His life’s work was to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. But it was always understood that, if they failed to obey God, they could lose their place.

Moses felt pressure. For more than a generation, the people had depended on him almost entirely to interpret God’s will for the community. He had to ensure the Israelites understood the law. But not just a literal knowledge of the law. He needed them to understand God’s reasoning in delivering the law. They needed wisdom, not leastwise because life in the promised land would be different than the life of exodus. He needed to impart the wisdom of God so the children of Israel could reason in harmony with God’s will – even when Moses was long gone.

Spirit of the Law

The Spirit of the Law:

The Great Shema. Hear O Israel; Love the Lord your God with all you heart. And love your neighbor as yourself. This is utter Wisdom.

Not the Spirit of the Law:

Eve once said, “…You shall not eat it OR EVEN TOUCH IT, or else you will die.” She went beyond the actual commandment – beyond the requirement – thinking she’d be safe. This is Unwise.

The law is set in opposition to the human propensity to find a way around it. In my mind, I can justify almost anything; my lust for pleasure and my lust for power and my pride. The proliferation of laws is the evidence the law has little power. I just keep trying to move the boundary a little further away from the temptation. Like sugar to an addict; we all know how this almost always ends.

And yet, until I embrace the Spirit – until the Spirit is in me- until I love the Spirit, the “sugar” of the law is all I have.

From this we’ve collectively come to realize that wisdom can’t be taught. Nobody taught Moses how to be wise.

But the Spirit of Wisdom can be known and loved – can be known through love. And this is my hope.

“I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence, and useful knowledge I have…. Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me.” Prov 8:12,17

Tribal Integrity 

Numbers 36:1-8          1/11/2018

This passage describes a clarification in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad. Earlier, because of the appeal of these sisters, Moses clarified that unmarried women could inherit land. However, should these women marry, the land would be associated with their husband as the head of the household. To preserve tribal integrity, it was determined that inheriting daughters were required to marry within their clan to prevent the permanent transfer of property from one tribe to another as a result of inter-marrying between tribes.

Political Integrity

This situation is different than the way we do things in the modern world. Say a boy from Indiana marries a girl from Texas who happens to own her own farm. This doesn’t really affect Indiana or Texas.

But for the Israelites, the permanent ownership of the land determined which tribe had political control over that land. So, a modern equivalent would be more like a boy from Indiana marrying a girl from Texas and, as a result of the marriage, the girl’s farm became part of Indiana.

Not many in Texas would want that. Not many of the Israelites wanted that. It would completely undermine the role of the tribal authorities.

Living in a Zero Sum Game

That’s always the challenge of the Promised Land analogy. If the population grows, and everyone remains a farmer, then the land has to be distributed between more and more people – making the size of the farms smaller and smaller. A zero sum game. A limited pie. The dilution of the heritage. The dilution of the promise.

If the population keeps growing, then someone has to lose. The only way to avoid this fate is if not everyone remains in agriculture. For the community to work, there will have to be other ways for the people to create value.

A Land of Opportunity, A World of Opportunity

Our nearer ancestors looked to America as a place of opportunity because of the availability of affordable land. They were called pioneers and settlers. But like Israel, the availability of cheap land in America is a long, distant memory.

Yet the truest sense of the pioneering spirit remains. It is found in the commitment I make to create value in whatever circumstances I find myself. We were made to create value. In this commitment is freedom and fullness.

“and, because he [Paul] practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. ” Acts 18:3

Healing the Person, Healing the Universe

Numbers 35:24-34         1/10/2018

The person given asylum in one of the cities of refuge was not permitted to leave the city until the death of the High Priest. He could not give money in exchange for his release from bloodguilt in order to end the asylum.

The Burden of the High Priest

A priest friend was once explaining that a Catholic bishop is charged with the well-being of the souls of the people in his diocese regardless of whether or not they are professing Catholics or even Christians. I remember shuddering at the thought of such an enormous burden.

In a similar way, the High Priest over Israel took on personal responsibility for the sins of the community.

Because he bore this personally, only through his death could expiation for the sins of the community be fully resolved. In a sense, the ground was healed by his death. The injury to creation was healed by his death. The asylums were ended – refugees sent home.

There was no other way to effect this healing.

A New High Priest

Jesus is the new High Priest. He has died. He has risen. He is worthy to receive power. He has healed the sins of the community – once and for all time.

It is written, “…if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

No matter what evil I’ve done, my offenses are always first against God and His creation. My moral failings – my sins –  have been done in more or less ignorance. If I could see how I was hurting creation and frustrating God’s plan, I wouldn’t do the things I do. My failure has been based on wrong beliefs and infantile values.

Yet my ignorance does not make me innocent.

In dying, He has healed our sin – to the extent we desire healing. And, He has healed the universe, injured and polluted by our sins.

He set you free from the asylum of this life. So, fearlessly go out and return to the city of your original possession. Return to your portion of the land of milk and honey. It’s waiting for you. The city of asylum is no longer your home.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.” Heb 4:14

Asylum Cities

Numbers 35:11-23         1/9/2018

The passage describes the principle of asylum cities. These cities were empowered to grant asylum from the “life for life” aspect of the law. They were Levite cities – filled with ministers of the law.

It was a little bit like a deadly game of tag.

Whenever a person died at the hands of another person, the victim’s nearest relative (known as the avenger of blood) was charged with exacting justice by killing the perpetrator. Even a person who was responsible for the accidental death of another person was still subject to be killed. The asylum city was a place where someone who killed without malice could flee. The avenger of blood was not allowed to kill in a city of asylum.

The Law is Crazy

The temptation is to think it’s all a mumbo-jumbo, capricious, arbitrary, nonsense.

So, if a man inadvertently kills another person, the avenger of blood is responsible for killing the person who committed the homicide. The only hope the unintentional killer has is to get to a city of refuge and stay there. He can’t leave until the high priest dies.

What is this? And who made it up?

Ancient Justice and Eternal Justice

The eternal purpose is community. God created the universe in order to produce an Authentic Community. If you claim the One, True, God – you are a part of this community.

All of creation supports this community. The planets and the stars and dark matter and quarks and bosons and essences and ideas – all exist for the purpose of supporting the Authentic Community. This is the cosmological Christian claim.

So, to injure the community, especially through the death of another, is a sin against all creation. Creation itself is adversely affected by my failings. Creation is injured by my sins.

Asylum

But asylum wasn’t a permanent fix. Asylum isn’t a permanent fix. It is a reprieve that allows time for healing before ultimate justice is exacted.

So my question for today: Do I live like someone granted asylum? Stuck in a small city? Stuck in a small life? Unable to remedy my situation on my own. Always afraid of the ever-lurking, avenger of death?

Or do I have liberty to go wherever I please in the land of promise?

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Cor 3:17

City of Levites

Numbers 34:28-35:10         1/8/2018

This is an instruction for the team of tribal leaders tasked with dividing up the Promised Land between tribes. Through Moses, God directed the leaders to provide cities for the Levites. The Levites cities would be distributed throughout the Promised Land and east of the Jordan.

Levite Ministry

During the exodus, their principle job was to support the priests in conducting the sacrifices and to move the tabernacle equipment as they went from place to place.

So what is their job supposed to be once they enter the Promised Land? Why do they need cities? Why don’t they just stay near the tabernacle, or have their own land?

The Levites were the practical, day-to-day ministers to the people who did not live close to wherever the tabernacle was located. God required the children of Israel to tithe one-tenth of their income. This tithe was given to the Levites as compensation for their ministry.

Ministry

So how many paid ministers should there be in a church?

How many times have you heard someone lament, “Teachers are paid little but have the most important job.” If the Authentic Community held to the 10% tithe commitment, 1 in 12 of us would be in paid ministry supporting the spiritual needs of the community.

How much more should we be investing in ministry? How important is the Authentic Community?

“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” Eph 4:11-12

Leaders and Resources

Numbers 34:10-27         1/7/2018

In this passage, Moses is directed by God to name tribal leaders who will divide the land. Eleazer the priest and Joshua assist him in the task. They name one leader from each tribe to participate in the allocation process.

Authentic Community

God’s purpose in creation is community. The power vested in the leaders of Israel to apportion the land points to a deeper truth: Everything we have as human beings has been given to us by God for the purpose community.

God gives men power to administer the Authentic Community.

We are endowed with the capacity to discern good. We are empowered to equitably distribute the goods of the earth. We are commissioned to assure justice between people. We are encouraged to collectively produce value for others.

You are Powerful, We are Powerful

It is written: ‘How good and how pleasant it is, when brothers dwell together as one.”

It’s more than a happy thought – It’s a spiritual mission. We are all called to this. We were all made for this. His principle intent is authentic community.

A trinity, God Himself exists as a community. We are most like God when we harmoniously function as a part of a community.

Connect in Community

If your spiritual walk is important, then get in a faith-filled community who sees it that way.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt 18:20

Boundaries

Numbers 33:53-34:9         1/6/2018

This is a description of the physical boundaries of the Promised Land.

Moses knew the land well enough to map it. A place where he, himself, would never set foot. A land flowing with milk and honey.

Banishment and Consolation

Banished from a land flowing with milk and honey. No ultimate consolation for all this effort – for all this life lived. But not bitter. Following because not following wasn’t really an option – even though it was a persistent, nagging, choice.

Yet, oddly enough a millennium later, on the mount of transfiguration, there is Moses. Feet firmly set in the land. Fellowshipping with Jesus right there in the place where he never imagined being allowed to set foot.

God’s Plan for You

You really don’t have any idea of the great things God has planned for you.

“But as it is written: ‘What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,'” 1 Cor 2:9

Temple Wrecker

Numbers 33:32-52         1/5/2018

God spoke to Moses. He told him to have the Israelites destroy the idols and sacrificial “high places” throughout the Promised Land. None of the idol worship was to survive the Israelite invasion.

Destroy the Idols of the Canaanites

As was common in the ancient world, the Canaanites had a system of gods they worshipped through the use of idols. Idol worshippers wrongly believed that patronizing their system of gods could alter their circumstances – could help get them the things they really wanted.

So the problem is two dimensional: On the one hand, it’s about self-serving. Me first. Me over everyone else. This attitude is contrary to the spirit of the God of all creation – who is ultimate giving.

On the other hand, it’s about the false mechanism. Human beings have a long established need to worship. It’s built into us. However, as the prophets later pointed out, idols aren’t worthy of worship. It’s a piece of wood, or metal or stone – shaped by the hands of a man. It has a certain power. It’s about manipulating my environment.

Destroying idols is intended to destroy both these dispositions. To set the people free from selfish ambition and from satisfying the need to worship through mere objects that are not intrinsically worthy of human reverence.

Destroy My Idols

I don’t bow down to man-made objects.

Yet, I do want to manipulate my circumstances so I come out on top – every time. That’s still in me.

And I still want something outside of me to rely on; something I can point to that is bigger than me. Something that is powerful but also relatable and meaningful.

It’s no longer about knocking the heads off of somebody else’s stone figurine. I’m post-modern. This was never my idol. The potential sources of my satisfaction are more “advanced” – the technology, or the dollars, (or bitcoins), or the movement, or the medicine, or the fame, or the facebook, or – the list goes on.

It’s not about these things per se, any more than it was about the wood, or the stone, or the metal of an ancient idol. It’s about my need and what I’m willing to do to get satisfaction.

So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that “there is no idol in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.” 1 Cor 8:4