The Priest Blessing!

Num 6:17-7:2         10/25/2017

“The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.”

God tells Aaron and his sons how to bless the people. A little counter-intuitive perhaps, from a post-modern with the extemporaneous habit of praying anyway I want. But it’s a form – not in a bad sense. It’s the structure of how to bless as given by God.

God is love. Love is a choice. Sometimes you don’t feel like loving. Love anyway. Do good to those who despitefully abuse you.

Sometimes you don’t feel like blessing. Bless anyway. This is how.

Do this.

Modern Nazirites

Num 6:6-16         10/24/2017

Perpetuating the Nazirite tradition.

With the destruction of the 2nd Temple, the strict tradition of Nazarite vows ended because it was tied to the sacrificial system of Judaism.

Devotion

The spirit of the Nazirite vow is found in the order of monastic life, or perhaps family life or even with a lay apostolate life.

You want power.

The power of the Nazirite vow is the constraint of ordinarily acceptable behavior for the purpose of being more devoted to serving God in some particular way. The key is a rule that increases your capacity to focus on the Christ narrative throughout the day – to see God in the ordinary circumstances of your life.

You didn’t come out this way – and no matter the quality of your upbringing, not many were raised to interpret life in this way. The constancy of a life interpreted in the light of Christ requires effort. But it is available.

You can do this.

“I am the light of the world” John 8:12

Nazirite Vows

Num 5:25-6:5         10/23/2017

No grapes for the Nazirite. Wholly separate unto the Lord, he or she lives a life of service and not luxury.

The Israelites were afraid of God. In fact, at one point they specifically asked Moses to tell God not to speak to them directly because it was overwhelming to hear God’s voice. Sore afraid – as a community they wanted a mediator – a system of safe relationship.

Though this is how the community responded to God, not every Israelite soul saw things this way. There were some who experienced God as friendly – as a faithful deliverer, extraordinarily powerful, wonderful and miraculous. People who saw God in this way usually wanted more. They wanted to move, as one has said, “from a friendly acquaintance to friendship”; From a life that focused on receiving benefits from God, to a life of service to God.

Nazirite. Men and women consecrated and devoted to friendship with God. No matter what tribe – tribe no longer a difference. All else replaced by a willingness and devotion to the God of all creation.

Because the vows of the nazirite were tied to the Jewish system of sacrifice, it is no longer possible to enter into such a vow.  But the devotion and the possibility of life made plain by this example is very much alive and available to all who desire.

Who’s in?

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Gal 3:28

Jealousy Ordeal

Num 5:16-24         10/22/2017

One of the strangest provisions of the law of Moses, it’s interesting that this ritual exists in the law yet there is no record in the scriptures of it ever having been used.

The shame of this for a family. A man incensed by jealousy, publicly revealing his fears and failures. A woman guilty or innocent, publicly humiliated. This is a desperately broken relationship.

Jealousy is amongst the most powerful of all emotions.  It is a response to the disvalue of a perceived injustice. The jealous person thinks, “Another has given away what I believe is exclusively mine. I refuse to accept this and demand justice!”

Scripture shows that the uncertainty of the jealous man could be solved with multiple witnesses – if jealousy was a mere thinking error. But that’s just it, jealousy is far more an error of affection.

Fixing your emotional intelligence is different than getting to the truth of a situation. Getting to “What happened?” is always easier than figuring “Why does it matter?”, because; unless we are looking at things from God’s perspective where value is immutable, the value I assign to a situation is always relative to my interests.

People say that “truth is relative”, meaning it’s dependent on perspective. But really that’s nonsense. Reality is what it is – reality isn’t dependent on what I think about it.

What’s really being said is that “Value is relative” – and if I act as is common in this world, nothing could be truer.

The Person Shall Confess

Num 5:5-15         10/21/2017

Injury against the individual is injury against the community and an offense against God. Confession is required as a restorative.

The libertarian streak in the west would have me believe that even my failings with respect to other individuals; my sins against other people, are a private matter between me and that person.

Life doesn’t really bare out this way of thinking. Settling a problem, even paying a private restitution doesn’t solve the communal injury. In fact, it perpetuates the effect of the injury.

The more committed you are to regularly communicating with others in your community about challenging relationships and any propensity to sin – the harder it is to deny the sin. So nip it in the bud. Be honest. Go to Confession. Have an honest conversation.

This is what it takes to build a healthy, authentic community.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”   1 John 1:9

Expel the Impure

Num 4:39-5:4          10/20/2017

How God sees us in the light of Christ

The problem with expelling from the community those people who have defiled themselves is that eventually no one is left. We have all sinned.

Purified in Jesus Christ. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. The power of Christ’s saving and sanctifying work is the hope of reconciliation with God.

There is a truth here that runs deeper than what we might normally call truth. The paradox of just (righteous) mercy has attenuated the process of truth. The formation of truth is actually altered in Christ.

So now we are seen in the purity of what might be. And we, through Him, remain in community with the Father and the saints.

The provision of bread and wine, body and blood, soul and divinity. Take and eat.

Remain in Me…

Merarites

Num 4:27-38         10/19/2017

Authority is a curious business. Especially for the western world – especially for Americans. I am an American.

My experience suggests to me that the only time I don’t intuitively chaff against the idea of authority is when I am the person in authority.

Whimsical and terrifying.

The priests came from Levi.  God spoke.  The rest of the clan who weren’t priests were placed under the authority of these three priests, namely: Aaron and his two surviving sons. Before these seemingly arbitrary distinctions were drawn, they were all just one clan. Other than God’s calling, there was nothing about Aaron or his sons that should give cause for their authority to lead and guide. (This is, after all, the same Aaron who made the golden calf!!!)

The Truth:  I would be suspicious and reluctant. It’s just in me.

So maybe it’s the pitting of autonomy versus authority. Would I rather be beholden to no man and in absolute control of my destiny or would I use the authority placed over me to enter fully into the possibility of my life?

My answer will be conditioned by my experience. Do I trust God? Can I trust God? What happens if I chose wrong? Who is this God anyway – how shall I know Him?

If God is like my father, and my father is untrustworthy, or unkind, or not present, then is God also these things?

Will the narrowness of my experiences limit God – limit my understanding of God – limit my ability to respond to God?

There it is. That’s the question.

No, it mustn’t. God is the best person you’ve ever met times infinity. If your high school football coach was a better person for you than your father, then call God “Coach”.

Let not the moral failings of our ancestors jade us out of the possibility of our lives.

Maintenance and the Maintenance Man

Num 4:15-26         10/18/2017

The Gershonites are assigned tasks for moving as well as maintaining the tabernacle.

Wearing out is a curious idea. We all know that things eventually wear out. But somehow it has always struck me odd that even God’s house wears out. There’s a part of me that thinks if something is serving the perfect God of all creation, that it shouldn’t wear out.

But for me, it really goes further than that.  What I’m really wondering is why anything has to wear out? Is this a moral principle or just the way things worked out?  Maybe I’m lazy, but I can’t help ask the question: Why should we have to maintain stuff? Why doesn’t it just last?

We build a building and within days things start to break. It’s not vandalism, it’s not even complacency – it’s just wearing out. It’s some kind of entropic drift – like there’s a certain cosmic injustice in things lasting. I don’t get it. If I had designed the universe, wearing out is one of the things that I wouldn’t have permitted.

But that’s not how God seems to see things.

Maintenance. It takes effort to keep stuff well-functioning; to continue the thing in its identity and function. When it comes to the things under our control, it’s a decision we make – or not. If things are going to last, there must be a persistent determination to make them last.  This is a condition of being.

Maintenance. Maintenance is a condition of being. There is a wisdom in this. An insight.

Everything that has being must be sustained.

Existence is good. But participation in existence through limiting essence requires work: Maintenance. Continuity in identity requires maintenance.

Even scrubbing the floor is holy.

“In him we live, and move, and have our being”  Acts 17:28

Breaking Camp

Num 4:3-14         10/17/2017

The procedure for Levites and Priests breaking down the tent of meeting for travel.

The cliffs of Newport. The signs clearly mark the danger and warn away the adventurous behavior. But you’re only a kid once – and you only live once – and you value cheap thrills and easy adventure. And so you cross the line.

No harm no foul.

It’s an hour later and there you are clinging with both hands to a well-rooted but all too lonesome weed, wondering if the plant will tear before you regain your footing. Praying now like you’ve never prayed before – that these rocks 100 feet below won’t receive your broken body on behalf of the coming tide.

God relents. You find a hold for your foot. You scramble up and over the fence. Thankless bravado – you survived.

Still you never disobey that sign again.

Action requires attention, understanding and a sense of value. When these things align on an object, our emotions powerfully drive us to appropriate action.  When they don’t, our emotions reflect the perceived value of a failed understanding muddled by diffracted attention.

God’s work in this world is about process.  The Israelites were given process.  Excellence in the little things is about commitment to process.  Temperance, prudence, justice and courage.  You are the salt of the earth.  Process.

The virtues are to empower you to love. But you cannot avoid being the first partaker of the preserving quality of your love.

Redemption of the Firstborn

Num 3:39-4:2         10/16/2017

God takes possession of the Levites as an exchange for all of the firstborn of Israel

The thing that is never really mentioned, and perhaps easily forgotten, is how the Levites are supposed to feel about this deal.

God made a special claim on this tribe. In exchange for sparing the lives of first-born Israelites during the trials in Egypt, He claims ownership over the entire tribe.

It’s not bad. The Levites received pride of place and proximity to God and His power. They don’t have to work the fields as the other Israelites. They still share in the harvest through the tithe. So, there are lots of benefits.

But was there not a single Levite who wanted to own a farm? Who longed to work the soil and keep large herds and flocks – as their ancestors had? What of them?

When we come to God, we must come to Him prepared to leave our dreams and hopes at the door. We come to Him in utter trust. We lay down our “right” to specific expectations about what life should be – knowing that we were ordained for His purpose from before time. Otherwise, this way of givenness is meaningless and utter futility.

Paul once said, “You have been bought with a price”. This is what he was talking about.