Standing Between

Father Damien - 1873

"Aaron stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped." Numbers 16:48


Standing Between
By Rev. William Dohle

Did you know... there are superheroes all around us! Men and women willing to stand between the dead and the living, the stop the plague from killing more than it should. These people are God's great super-heroes of faith!

One of these superheroes was a man by the name of Fr. Damien. A website dedicated to him describes him this way: "Damien was born in 1840 in Tremeloo, Belgium. He joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts volunteering for the mission to the Hawaiian Islands. In 1873 he went to work as a priest in a leper colony on the island of Molokai. He died from leprosy in 1889 aged 49. The testimony of the life he lived among the lepers of Molokai led to an intensive study of Hansens disease, eventually leading to a cure. Pope John Paul II beatified Damien in 1995. He was named a saint on Oct 11th 2009."

Damien was a superhero of the faith...why? Because he stood between the dead and the living. Because he was willing to put himself between the plague and the Hawaiian people. Because he was willing to make himself an atoning sacrifice for them in their condition.

Damien's work is nothing new. It began long before he was born. Long before even Jesus walked the earth. It began with a man named Aaron and a plague brought upon by God.

In the book of Number we read of such a plague. Here the whole congregation is rebelling against Moses for "killing the people of the Lord." They've assembled against Moses, ready to stone him, when a cloud covers the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord appears. And Moses says: "Get away from this congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun."

Now what does Moses and Aaron do in a time like this? Do they retreat from the congregation? Do they leave?

No... instead Aaron makes atonement for the people and stands "between the dead and the living." And, we are told, the plague stopped.

Now... what happened here? Why is this story of atonement in the book of Numbers? What could this mean anyway?

We might recognize this story, not as the story of Aaron, but as the story of Christ. Christ is the one now who stands between the living and the dead. Christ is our high priest who "is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."(Hebrews 7:25). Christ is the one who calms the wrath of God, who takes the plague on himself. Christ is our mediator.

Because we are followers of this one. Because we are followers of this Christ, we too stand beside him as he stands between life and death. We too can stand between the bully and those bullied, between the haters and those being hated. We too can stand up for those in need, giving ourselves and our own life to save them temporarily for we know that we have a savior who saves them eternally. We too can stand with Aaron against the wrath of God and say, "No! We love them! We claim them! And we won't condemn them to hell!"

We too can be like Jesus!

Thanks be to God, for his super-heroes who have followed in the footsteps of his Son, who have given of their own lives and their own hearts to save this world in need.

Almighty God, pour your Spirit upon us today that we may love and serve and care for others as you have. Give us the courage to stand between the living and the dead and join your Son there. Amen.

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf

the church is in "an urgent situation" in which "the ELCA's leadership is overweight, inactive, depressed and, therefore, prone to diseases such as heart disease."  It placed the leaders' physical and emotional conditions in the context of declining church membership and fewer young leaders preparing to relieve them. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/4542#sthash.cEgQw21f.oO52g7wt.dpuf