Phinehas

Num 25:6-18         12/15/2017

A plague struck the Israelites because certain Israelite men had become involved with Midianite and Moabite women, who induced them to worship other gods and eat food sacrificed to those gods. Phinehas, the son of the high priest Eleazer, killed one of the princes of the tribe of Simeon and the Midianite woman that he had taken. This act was credited with ending the plague.

We talk about the contemplative versus the active life of religious. We talk about faith versus works.

And then we watch someone take an extraordinary step on faith and we marvel. And we say, “That person really believes in God!”, or “That person really loves God!”, or “That is a person of great faith”.

It’s interesting and strange that we all recognize the reality when we see it. When someone acts, we don’t argue about the virtues of a contemplative versus an active life. We no longer ponder about faith without works – and what that might mean.

Do something.

Five talents; two talents; a single talent; a single moment – write a blog that no one reads. Help an elderly woman across a snowy road. Bless a lonely neighbor with a meal and fellowship.

Sin means “without” – privation. The absence of good. Less than the possibility of the moment. The only way to avoid it is to do something.

The only way to avoid sin is to do something.

So get active. Take an intelligent risk on faith. There is no sin greater than wasted potential. There is no possibility of faith without action.

“So also faith of itself, it if does not have works, is dead.” James 2:17

Spiritual Warfare

Num 24:16-25:5         12/14/2017

Balaam, son Peor, left Balak to return to his home. Before he departed, he recited a prophetic poem concerning the nations around Israel. Almost immediately, certain men of Israel began to have relations with Moabite women, who encouraged them to worship their god.

The most interesting aspect of the Balaam story is that Israel is not directly involved. Balak, king of the Moabites, was pondering a military attack on the transient nation – but the Israelites were unaware of the danger. The entire episode took place without their involvement or knowledge.

Balak felt threatened and intended to attack, with the intention of driving out or destroying the nation of Israel. The Lord used Balaam to change the king’s heart. The battle was won in Israel’s favor before Israel was aware that a battle was imminent.

Paul once said, “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens”

I’m running late for a meeting. Here comes the train. I can’t get across the tracks before it arrives and I find myself cursing the train and its driver, who isn’t making the blasted thing go fast enough. Never thinking, never remembering “that God works all things together for good”.

It’s the agenda. It’s my agenda – my focus on having my expectations met – that allows me to forget. That allows me to be thankless.

Usually you never know the why. And that’s a great part of the challenge.

Part of the strangeness of the Balaam story is how anyone ever knew that it happened. Who told the Israelites about Balak summoning Balaam to curse them? Who told Moses about this confrontation so that it could be written down? And how many times did something like this happen to protect Israel without them ever knowing it.

And so you begin to wonder: This train experience. Is there an accident that won’t happen because the train prevented me from being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Is there some opportunity in this meeting for which I will be late that I shouldn’t have taken?

And then, suddenly, I can be thankful for a train blocking my intended path and bless the engineer who is impervious to my frustration – or even my existence.

Givenness: Receiving as given brings the freedom to live well.

“for the battle is not yours but God’s” 2 Chronicles 20:15

Receiving as Given

Num 24:3-15         12/13/2017

Balak was infuriated because Balaam blessed Israel three times instead of cursing them, as Balak had hoped. In the course of blessing Israel, Balaam recounted part of the blessing that had been given to Abraham, “Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you!”.

Loving what God loves. Caring about those things that God cares about. This is the path to assured blessing.

Balak was not consigned to defeat and destruction. He could have loved what God loves and cared about those things God cared about.

His curse, his frustration, and eventually the destruction of his people was assured by his commitment to work against what God obviously wanted.

Intransigence.

He refused what was given in favor of selfish persistence.

How could he have received it better? How could I receive it better?

Some mornings are like this. Today I feel myself worried. Life is not going the way that I want it to go. I’m tempted to cling, to force my way. It’s a dark morning of the soul.

Yet in an hour the sun will rise; God’s light on the world. Things will look different. Perhaps I’ll remember that, in its fullness, givenness means wanting what God wants.

“it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life” Francis of Assisi

Abundance Thinking

Num 23:18-24:2         12/12/2017

At Balaam’s direction, Balak made large sacrifices of bulls and rams. Three times Balak encouraged Balaam to curse to curse Israel with such sacrifices. But each time, after counseling with God, Balaam blessed Israel instead.

Balak was afraid of Israel. He feared they would consume the resources of the land. He feared that they might make war and displace not only him as king, but also the people of Moab – perhaps even enslaving Moabite women and children.

Were Balak’s fears based on a real threat? Was a clash with Israel inevitable?

It’s odd that Balak would come to the one true God and ask for a curse against the same people that God was leading to the Promised Land. Although we’re talking about men preparing for war, there is a certain childish charm about Moab appealing to God to prevail over Israel. Like Marquette undergrads praying for victory over Notre Dame (or vice versa).

Balak’s fear is unfortunately too common to remain charming. At the bottom of this, the fear is that there isn’t enough. There isn’t enough land. There isn’t enough water. There isn’t enough food. There isn’t enough of anything to support both Moab and Israel. It’s a zero sum game. If Israel wins then Moab loses. Looking down upon Israel, he could see only a lack of the abundance necessary for Moab to survive.

Lack of Abundance. This perception causes people to fear other people. It is the belief that the world doesn’t have enough goods for everyone.

Implicit Claim: God is inept.

To fight over resources is to say that God isn’t enough – that He hasn’t provided enough. This way of thinking causes me to fear my neighbor; to envy; to scheme; to steal; to legislate against; to reject; to fight; to war.

Claim of the Authentic Community: God has provided for all the world’s needs.

We, each of us, have to decide what we believe.

So don’t worry about your life. Worry makes a wasted gift. Find the freedom to share the good.

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? Matt 6:28

Balaam and Moses

Num 23:6-17         12/11/2017

At Balaam’s direction, Balak built seven altars overlooking the Israelite camp. On each of these, Balaam had Balak sacrifice a bull and a ram. Upon sacrificing, Balaam went a short distance away from Balak and met with God. When Balaam returned, he blessed Israel, instead of cursing them. This vexed Balak.

Balaam was like Moses. He didn’t have the same mandate to lead a nation like Moses, but he did have this extraordinary personal relationship with God. He seemed to speak with God like one man speaks to another.

So, God was not exclusive. God is not exclusive.

God could be the God of Moses, but also the God of Balaam – and for that matter, He could have been the God of Balak.

It’s still the same. God is God. He is the God of you. He is the God of me. Yet, each of us will respond to God as we do. In the currency of faith, it seems that heritage by itself means little.

The Roman said, “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.” Jesus was amazed. They had a relationship -and it was a relationship unlike any found in all of Israel.

The God of all Creation is calling out to you.

“…not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9

God Owes Balak

Num 22:33-23:5         12/10/2017

Balaam arrived in Moab. Balak received him with anticipation. And he wasted no time in demanding Balaam provide services. Balaam served Balak as his priest. He ministered the appropriate sacrifices before the Lord. And the Lord visited Balaam. Though standing at a distance, Balak reminded both Balaam and the Lord that he had completed the seven sacrifices as he was directed.

Balak had it in his mind that getting what he wanted was merely a matter of his willingness to pay. I know this feeling. There are few wants in this world that cannot be solved by spending some money. The world of the “subjectively satisfying” is almost entirely for sale.

I naturally want power. I want to control my field – to control my environment. I want to bend the universe in the same way that gravity is able to bend even light.

This is the modern human project.

To put all force under my feet. To put all forces under our collective feet. To put all forces under each of our individual feet. Oh what a mess we would make of the universe – were it ours to create. Even those of us who claim to know and love God play this game as though the will of God doesn’t really matter – shouldn’t really matter.

But it can’t be sustained. Every individual cannot simultaneously bend the universe – even if it was right or just to do so. We, someday, have to quite this foolishness.

My sacrifice does not make God indebted to me.

Peace and Joy – satisfying the desires of your heart comes from finding harmony with the will of God – not in trying to force my will down His throat.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7

Balaam’s Donkey

Num 22:23-32         12/9/2017

Balaam trekked from his home to visit Balak, the king of Moab. Along the route, his donkey refused to follow the path on three separate occasions. Each time, Balaam beat the donkey. Finally, the donkey spoke to Balaam. Having served Balaam faithfully, she asked him if she had ever refused him in the past. Balaam realized that the donkey’s behavior was out of character, at which point he was able to perceive the angel that the donkey had been avoiding.

Knowing and Doing God’s Will.

Balaam had projected his values and desires onto God. Like we are all want to do; Balaam wanted God to want the things that Balaam wanted.

It sounds convoluted. It is convoluted. When I’m in it, I don’t realize what I am doing. I don’t realize that I’m trying to force my agenda onto the Creator of the Universe.

I even tell myself, “If he loved me, he would want what I want. He would do what I want Him to do.”

Judas: Like Balaam, Judas had followed Jesus. He knew His words. He saw His power done in miracles. But Judas wanted Jesus to do what Judas wanted.

It’s counter-intuitive. We say to ourselves, “If I saw God face-to-face I could never sin again.” But those who’ve had that experience prove the claim untrue.

Balaam’s donkey. Faithful in work. Faithful in testimony.

If I find myself condemning those who love me most because they question my plans- maybe it’s time to get off the road and make sure I’m headed in the right direction.

Learning to listen involves wanting to hear. I must be quiet enough to want to hear the voice of a friend.

“Trustworthy are the blows of a friend, dangerous, the kisses of an enemy” Proverbs 27:6

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Num 22:11-22         12/8/2017

Israel had recently settled near Moab after defeating the Midianites. The King of Moab was concerned. He asked Balaam to curse the children of Israel. Balaam inquired of God. But God forbid Balaam to go to Moab or curse Israel. After an additional inquiry, God relented and allowed Balaam to visit King Balak at Moab.

When it comes to dealing with God, diligence and persistence have this essential difference: Care to ensure nothing necessary is left undone versus an unwillingness to put down my own agenda.

In life, they can sometimes look the same.

We all start off as infants and children living for ourselves; my desires, my sensitivities, my agenda. The infantile.

But no matter if your metaphor in the spiritual journey is a dark night or hind’s feet, the possibility of our lives is that we grow out of this selfish, moral solipsism.

With God’s voice, there is a contentedness in whatever may come. An apatheos. A lack of agenda which might lead me to believe that I am wholly available for God.

And Balaam seemed wholly available to God.

“You have the words of everlasting life”

And Peter seemed wholly available to Jesus.

And so, even between soul and spirit there is a parsing due.

Persistence won’t have it – the infant won’t have it. And that’s how, in God’s mercy, an infantile attitude of persistence is revealed.

“and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ” 2 Cor 10:5

Bashan

Num 21:35-22:10         12/7/2017

After Israel defeated the Midianite attack, Og, king of Bashan, went to battle against Israel and lost. Just as with the Midianites, Israel took over this land also. God continued to lead the Israelites and settled the camp near Moab. Balak, king of Moab, was very concerned because he perceived that Israel had become too strong to attack.

Momentum: Little victories build confidence.

Stories, like lives lived, have trajectory and velocity and weight. So, they also have momentum.

But the child in me allows that wonders sometimes simply fall out of the sky – bearing no resemblance to the rest of my experience. No continuity necessary. No trajectory. No momentum.

Elephants fly. Animals talk. Locomotives kiss. It could all happen – this is how small children perceive.

Jesus showed up one odd day at a wedding in Cana. Didn’t have much else going on. Hanging out. Someone mentions the wine is gone. Mary asks Jesus if he has any ideas how to help the couple out. With superhuman power he casually changes the water into wine. No big deal. Not showing off – but kinda showing off.

Told like this, it’s a story that a child could accept. But read as an arbitrary episode, it’s hard to believe the whole vignette made it into the bible.

It’s a lazy temptation to think this is how things work.

The reality is that Jesus’ first miracle was the result of thousands of years of history. This act had more momentum than a freight train racing downhill. Nothing could have stopped it’s fulfillment. From Adam, through Noah, through Abraham, through Moses through the kings and the prophets, through exile, through Roman occupation…this miracle was part of the fulfillment of a plan, of a story, that had begun with creation.

Jesus had the choice to get on the train. But the “Jesus train” couldn’t have stopped – couldn’t have been stopped. God intended to introduce His savior into the world. He would suffer, die and be raised as our salvation.

So when you rise tomorrow morning, make your bed. Not because your bed matters much, but because it sets you on the course for accomplishment. Get some momentum. Get on the train that can’t be stopped.

He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:40

Victory over Sihon

Num 21:24-34         12/6/2017

God led the Israelites near the territory of the Amorites. Moses asked permission from Sihon, king of the Amorites, to pass through their land on the king’s highway. Sihon refused and attacked the Israelite community. The Israelites engaged in battle and won. They captured the territory of the Amorites.

Victory in the Wilderness.

The children of Israel didn’t seek this fight. It came to them. Through Sihon’s obstinacy, they were attacked. The Israelites prevailed and won territory in a place they weren’t really expecting to gain territory.

Jesus sat in the wilderness. Forty days. He did not provoke an attack. Yet His presence there was a provocation. And he was attacked. And He prevailed.

We remain here, and so we know that we haven’t “arrived”. This life is its own wilderness. And yet some days we too find a victory even in our wandering.

You, perhaps, didn’t seek engagement – it came to you. And yet having prevailed – you fear engagement less. You want victory more.

Now we find ourselves saying, “when can we engage? When will the victory be complete?”

When will we see Your face?

“Amen, Come, Lord Jesus!” Rev 22:20