What is a great twist to a story or movie
or television show that really caught you by surprise? What is it about unpredictability that causes
us some wild sets of emotions, ranging from thrilling rushes to incredible
discomfort, depending on our personalities and what we are watching or
reading? Why is it, if we love
unpredictability, as some like to argue, do we not love God’s
unpredictability? Conversely, why is it,
if we loathe unpredictability and disorder, does God seemingly enjoy taunting
humanity with His unpredictability?
In the lead up to this week, I was really
struggling with areas of God’s unpredictability in our life together. A few 8am attenders offered me some great
suggestions, but most were about my own life.
I am often loathe to preach on my own life, as professors warned us in
seminary that we are here to make disciples of Jesus not fan clubs of
ourselves. That’s not to say that I will
not share those stories, I just prefer them in a different venue than worship.
I not only struggled with unpredictability
our life together as Christians, but even life out there in large. I thought I had a great one with the Bob
Newhart show. All of us gathered here
today, except for the young ‘uns, can probably remember Bob Newhart waking up
and telling Suzanne Pleshette, “I had
the strangest dream.” At the time, it
was groundbreaking, and actually funny.
Hollywood, of course, has made it into a trite gadget that, more often
than not, we see coming and often only elicits groans. Surprising dreams were used in Dallas to
interesting effects, and then other shows.
Now, that “twist” is not really a twist.
There are competing lists of shows that were ruined by such ridiculous
“unpredictable” actions like dreams.
For those of us of faith, I think,
unpredictability is one of those words with which we have a difficult
relationship. On the one hand, we serve
a God who is ultimately predictable. His
people will be saved and glorified; those who reject Him will find themselves eternally
punished. We like such certainty; we
need such certainty in our life. On the
other hand, we serve a God who is anything but predictable. This crazy Lord that we serve was “supposed”
to be only the God of the Hebrews; yet most of us gathered today have an
ancestry of Gentile blood. The Lord that
we serve has promised to redeem everything in our lives, but does He ever do it
in the way we want? Does He ever seem to
act according to our timelines?
Thankfully, we are not alone in this tension. We are not the first to discover that God is
unpredictable; and we are not the first to learn that we have great reason to
be excited by that unpredictability and to be discomforted by it as well.
Our reading from the Old Testament comes
from the book of Numbers. The book of
Numbers is one of those OT text with which we “modern” Christians have a
difficult relationship. I laughed a bit
at Holly’s ordination at the number of parishioners who told me they had never
heard a sermon on the book of Numbers before.
Numbers is so named because it is full of a lot of numbers. There are censuses and lots of other numbers
which Moses gathered from his talks with God.
One of my favorite commentators compares the book to that desk where he
keeps all those statements he might need later when he does his taxes. We all have that . . . filing system,
right? We have those statements we might
need and loathe to throw away . . . for years and years and years. Don’t worry, you are not alone in that! Anyway, Moses had all these numbers he was
loathe to throw away, so he wrote this book.
The people being loathe to cast aside anything that Moses wrote,
canonized it. Or so goes the skeptical
theories regarding the book. To many,
the book seems disjointed, out of place, kind of a castaway of the
Pentateuch. Once we begin to see the
book as a tale of two generations, a book about the dying off of those born as
slaves and the birthing of those born free, it begins to be much easier to
understand.
Our story today takes place in a
transition time. The first generation of
Israel has made some progress, and they have made some serious mistakes. In just the last couple chapters, Israel has
sought God’s will when it came to doing battle.
When the king of Arad attacked the camp and took some captives, Israel
asked Moses to pray to God about rescuing their kinsmen. God agrees, and the king is utterly
defeated. It may seem a small step, to
ask God whether they should do battle, but it was huge in the life of Israel
for them, just like for us, to be seeking God’s will in their life. That’s not to say the sin nature has been
left behind. Less than a chapter
earlier, Moses sins against God and finds himself, and his brother Aaron, on
the wrong side of God’s judgment. For
their lack of faith and disobedience, neither will enter the Promised Land. Aaron, in fact, dies.
All that follows their experience of God
in Egypt with the plagues, with His deliverance of them at the sea, with His
destruction of the Egyptian chariots, with His ability to provide water, food,
and even meat, with His cover of cloud by day and fire by night, and everything
else that they have witnessed and heard from God. Given all that, and still they do not trust
God completely.
Now, we read that Israel is
impatient. God is leading them on a
circuitous route. For those who like
point A to point B direct travel, this journey would drive us nuts. It’s like Waze has been hacked and leading us
through every neighborhood, including a couple cul-de-sacs, to get us to our
destination! What’s worse, why does God
not smite the people of Edom like He did the people of Arad? They offered to pay for what they took in
terms of water or food. They promised to
behave themselves. Why does God not
allow them to destroy Edom or at least march right on through?
In a
bad mood, Israel begins to grumble and mutter.
They complain to Moses that they have no food. What’s worse, the food they have is
miserable! For the first time in history
humans complain about the manna, the bread of angels. You know the taste, it was like bread with
oil, but better. Imagine fresh warm
bread with butter, but better. Now
complain to your mom or your grandmother that her warm bread with butter tastes
miserable. I saw the flinches. It’s ok.
You saw the backhand in your mind’s eye.
That’s what’s happening here.
Some might think the Israelites got off easy with fiery snakes! Lol
To Israel’s credit, though, they recognize
the punishment for what it is. All too
often God has to spell out His punishments for His people. He has to say to them “Since you sinned in
this way, I am going to punish you in this way.” God does not tell Israel that the snakes are
punishment for their complaining, murmuring, and accusations. They have learned that lesson in their
journey with God! They have sinned
against God and repent. Of course, just
because God does not say that it is punishment does not mean that it is
not. In fact, God’s acceptance of Moses’
intercession indicates that they have discerned correctly. Israel, naturally, has an easy solution to
their problem. They have repented. Moses needs to ask God to take the snakes
away so that they quit being bit and dying.
It sounds like a simple thing, and based
on their experience with God it is.
Making animals come or go is fairly easy compared to parting water or
giving water from rock. I mean, it seems
like it, right? God, though, has a
different solution to their problem. He
instructs Moses to place a bronze snake on a pole and place it in the middle of
the camp. Whenever anyone is bitten,
they need only to look at that bronze snake on a pole in the middle of camp to
live. It seems a simple solution in one
sense. But given human nature, I wonder
how many refused? We asked God to take the snakes from us. Instead, He instructed us to look at that
snake. How many people tried
tourniquets; the cutting, sucking and spitting of venom of good old westerns;
or poultices of their own fashioning?
How many people tried anything other than what God instructed and died?
Why, do you think, is this story included
for us? How many sermons have you really
ever heard about it? In many ways, it is
a forgotten story. It’s is a tale in the
middle of a book that we tend to ignore.
It doesn’t have a great deliverance story on one hand, and it does not
possess the fiery condemnation of God’s people on the other. And yet, it is the story referenced by Jesus
right before He gives those famous words of John 3:16. Thanks to television broadcasts and tons of
sporting events, it is hard for anyone with an electronic device not to be
aware of John 3:16. But before Jesus
shares that famous reminder of God’s love and His purpose for coming, Jesus
points His audience, and us, to this narrative.
Why?
I think there are two important takeaways
for us today, two reasons why we should always remember this story when we see
John 3:16 signs at Tournament games this next month, on the golf course at
Augusta, and wherever else it pops up on our screens. The first is the sheer unpredictability of
God. To the extent that we can study God
and that He has revealed Himself to us, we learn a lot about God. Sometimes, I think in that learning we, to
use the famous words of CS Lewis, tame Him.
We set limits on Him. We teach
ourselves what we are certain about what He will and can do. And in that bounding, in that limiting, we
begin to get comfortable and lose our fear.
No doubt such a claim will cause lots of pastoral discussions this week,
but how many of us abuse God’s patient nature?
How many of us act as if we have all the time in the world to repent of
a sin, to get serious about our faith, or to invite others into His loving
embrace? Hey, He’s been gone nearly 2000
years! I get it. You are only asking for another day, another
week, another month, another year. What
are those when compared to 2000 years?
And yet we are each called to remember that He can return any
minute! At any time He might return, and
then, for all His love and patience, time is up.
Or take His patient nature with respect to
our sins. How often do we feel like we
get away with our sins because His punishment seems absent? Like many of us, Israel was able to put two
and two together equals four because their sin immediately preceded the
snakes. But what if the snakes had
happened a few days later? A month
later? Years later? Would they have recognized the consequence of
their sin and repented appropriately? I
doubt it. You and I know the punishment
for all our sins were born by our Lord Christ; yet how many of us persist in
living, if not thinking to ourselves, that we got away with it? We did.
We do. But only because He did not.
The second takeaway today speaks to the
foolishness and weakness of God, to use the words of St. Paul. When I wrestle with God, it is often because
I have a great plan. If He’d only listen
to me, things would be so much better. I
know none of you ever have such thoughts, but maybe you can empathize with
people like me for a second this morning.
Yes, it is ok to laugh and snort.
I realize we are far more alike than either of us wants to admit. Brian’s plan to move Advent along was to rent
space to a homeschool group, hire an assistant priest with 25 years of youth
ministry experience, and to teach Adventers to welcome with open arms the
younger families that are missing from our camp . . er, parish.
Sound like a great plan, right?
61 unchurched families coming through our doors twice a week. North of $30k in rent coming in each year. Lots of opportunity for Holly to be Holly. Was Brian’s plan God’s? Apparently not. Why?
Does not God want to reach younger, unchurched families? Of course He does. Does God not understand the fatigue of some
around here? Of course He does. So why not bless that plan? Why not cause all 90 families to join us, let
alone the 60 who are unchurched. Maybe,
and I say this lovingly, maybe we are too much like the first generation of
Israel? Maybe we needed to be reminded
of that from which we have been freed so that we respond with the grace, the
mercy, the love, and the urgency He wants from His people. Maybe we need to understand His redemption in
our lives so that we can better evidence the joy to which He calls
everyone? In the end, of course, we
trust that His desire for us, His plan for us, is better than anything we can
ask or imagine, such has been His revelation throughout history, such has been
our experience in our walks with Him.
Our story from Numbers is critically
important to understanding God’s call on our lives, both collectively and
individually. Like Israel, we have been
called to be salt in the world, light in the darkness, ambassadors of His kingdom,
and a nation of priests. Like Israel,
how often do we forget His calling on us?
How often do we live as His chosen, holy people for a time, trusting in
His wisdom, provision, and will, only to forget or worse, rebel? In many ways, you and I live in a wilderness
every bit as full of death as Israel.
Because we live in Nashville, we may think our wilderness is nearer to
the Garden. But we face countless
opportunities to die, and I’m not just talking about the traffic on the roads
or the random acts of violence like we saw in Antioch. How many song lyrics point us to idols or
ourselves? How many companies are
willing to risk your life, your resources, or your sanity on their
well-marketed or unproven or corners-cut product? How many of our friends, members of our
families, or co-workers have found themselves trapped in the arms of an idol of
addiction? How many have forgotten their
roots and God’s call on their lives? We,
like Israel, stand at a crossroads between life and death. We can choose our own paths, our own idols,
to glory in ourselves, but that path leads only to death; or we can focus on
the loving God whose mercy and love are constantly at work in our lives.
Those who hear and now read Jesus’
instruction to Nicodemus likely understood that the murmuring, complaining,
griping generation would be dead in just a couple chapters. There was likely in their minds a temptation
to deem God’s action wrathful judgment.
But Jesus reminds those who hear and read that God’s action was one of mercy,
in keeping with His revealed character.
God gave that first generation abundant chances. And although they sometimes “got it,” often
they regressed or lived as if they had forgotten. You and I have now been given that complete
revelation. As crazy as it sounds, as
much as it is different from the way you and I would act to save us or others,
God allowed His Son to be lifted up, that we might be drawn into His saving embrace. Had God been wrathful toward us, brothers and
sisters, that Cross would not stand at the center of our camp or of our life? Had the poisonous bite of our sins been given
their full reign, you and I would be dead already. Instead, we have been cured! We have been given the power of the Holy
Spirit to live as He calls us, to bear our Crosses as He calls us, and to
glorify Him in our lives for the benefit of those in the world around us!
Brothers and sisters, where in your life
have you tamed God? Where have you
forgotten who it is that calls you, that redeems you, that loves you, that will
vindicate you? Where is the Holy Spirit
prompting you during this season of self-examination we call Lent to remember
the unpredictable Lord that you serve? Of
even more interest to me, where are you wrestling with God? What is it that He is calling you to do in
His name where you are throwing up all kinds of objections, offering up your
“better” plans, or trying to put off until a time that’s more to your
liking? Quit fighting. Quit wrestling. Remember that discussion of a young Samuel in
Epiphany and the “speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.
I am not being naïve. God has a plan for you. He wants you to glorify Himself in you and
your work in His name. No matter how
weak or how foolish you may seem to those around you, God will prove stronger
and wiser, if you will just agree and do it.
As one who has had those same wrestling matches, as one who is charged
with hatching better plans among you, please hear me. Whatever great plan you can imagine, whatever
strength or resources you think make His will untenable, whatever
insurmountable evil He has asked you fight in His Name—His foolish and weak
plan is better. He has demonstrated that
over and over, not just in the snake on a pole or His Son on the Cross, but in
the lives of all His sons and daughters who have come before and who live among
us still! And even if His call on your life leads
ultimately to your death, still you will be glorified in Him and vindicated in
the end as one who had a greater share in the ministry of His Son our Lord
Christ. Can you imagine? What crazy God would use you or me to draw
others to Him? The gracious and merciful
and loving God of John 3:16, Numbers 21, and our lives!
In
Christ’s Peace,
Brian†
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