Can't Manipulate God!

“Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more."
Numbers 21:18

You Can't Manipulate God!
By Rev. William Dohle

Isn't it frustrating when you don't get what you want?

Frustrating doesn't describe what my 3 year old feels whenever we say "no" to him. He really doesn't like it. Tell him he can't have more cereal(after his 5th bowl) or tell him he can't take the toy in the van or tell him anything that involves NOT being able to do something he wants to do, and my boy isn't a happy camper. In fact he's got a baby temper like you wouldn't believe.

He doesn't like hearing "no!"

And honestly I can't say I blame him. I like getting what I want too. It's probably pretty human of us. When we get what we want, what we think we deserve, we rejoice. When we get more than we deserve, we're even happier. But when we get something we don't want, than we, like my son, are pretty unhappy campers.

In life...and in prayer!

No one shows this best than King Balak. The story of Balak and Balaam takes up two whole chapters in the book of Numbers. It's huge. And its like no other story told so far in scripture. The Israelites aren't the central characters in the story. It's this crazy king and his dumb prophet. And its the story of what happens when God desires something we don't really want.

In this case, Balak desires the people of Israel to be cursed. Balak wants Balaam, the prophet of God in their area, to call down curses upon Israel and stop them from entering and conquering the Promised Land.

Just one little problem with that. God doesn't want to do it. Not only is God unwilling to call down curses upon them, God is bent on blessing them instead. Israel carries with it Abraham's promise. "I will bless those who bless you and whomever curses you I will curse and all nations of the earth will be blessed because of you."

God won't be manipulated. God wishes to bless Israel, not curse them. So God says: "No!"

Of course Balak doesn't like that answer and so he gets Balaam to try again and again and again. Three times Balaam tries to curse Israel and each time the blessings get larger and larger for them. Finally, Balak says to stop talking! Stop blessing my enemies!

We, like King Balak, would like to think we can manipulate God. We'd like to think that the American myth, that those who work hardest will prosper and excel, stands. We'd like think that God will reward those who work the hardest and punish the lazy, but that's not the case. God doesn't do what we want him to do. God can't be manipulated!

No matter how many authors claim he can. No matter how many secrets they share of how God will reward you if you just pray this prayer, think this thought, do this thing, contribute to this fund, God will not be manipulated! He wasn't manipulated by King Balak! God's blessings spoken to Abraham stood about this people moving into the Promised Land stood, no matter how many sacrifices Balaam made to counter them.

Maybe we should stop a moment and listen to our own prayers. Are we trying to manipulate God? Are we assuming we know God's mind and who God blesses? Are we calling down curses ourselves on people we think are lazy or good for nothing? Are we trying to be good to win God's approval?

If we are... stop! There's no use in it! Let us stop trying to manipulate God and instead just bask in the glory of his love and in the beauty of his presence.

Holy God, we are guilty, every one of us, of thinking we can buy you out or win your approval over and against someone else. We fail to see that you are above us and beyond us and yet love us all the same. Amen.

God Takes Sides

God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” Numbers 22:12

God Takes Sides
By Rev. William Dohle

It was just a few weeks ago when prayers rose up to God on both sides of an epic battle. Two teams, the Panthers and the Broncos, fought it out over who could call themselves this year's Super Bowl Champions.

Up in heaven, the prayers rose from both sides. God probably sat back and listened as both teams met in their locker rooms and prayed that they might be the winner. Coupled with the multitude of prayers raising up to heaven from both groups of fans too, God had a difficult decision to make. Obviously, God favored the Broncos over the Panthers that day, because the Broncos won that game. Maybe next time God will switch sides...but for now we know that God was with the Broncos.

We laugh at the thought that God would take sides in a football game like that, but still we pray. We roll our eyes, imagining God would truly care which side won over the other, but still we pray. We might pray for a good game...but still we pray our team will win.

But seriously, deep down inside, do we truly believe God takes sides?

Surprising as this might seem, God does take sides in scripture. God sides with the little, the least, the lost, and the dead. In the Torah, they're called "The People of Israel."

This side-taking is shown best in the story of Balak and Balaam. Balak was king of Moab and when he saw what the rag-tag group of Israelites were doing in Canaan already, he got nervous. So he sent his servants to summon the prophet, Balaam. This is what Balak says to Balaam.

A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me.  Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.(Numbers 22:5-6)

Makes sense, right? When faced with an opposing team, our first reaction is to curse them. To pray that God would decrease their strengths and increase their weaknesses. "Help us defeat these enemies," we pray.

Soldiers pray this all the time. "Help us defeat the terrorists." Some Christians go so far as to pray for the bombs to do it. Praying for God to be on your side, to help you defeat "the other" isn't unheard of.

But there's one problem with Balaam's prayer. What side God is on? You see, God has already taken sides and God won't be persuaded to change his mind. In fact, God has promised that these people will be blessed period. And that those who bless them will be blessed in return. He's also promised that those who curse them will be cursed as well...so Balak better watch out.

Still Balak, like the rest of us, doesn't take "no" very well...but that's another story. For now we can see something that we didn't really realize:

God takes sides!

We'd like to think that God is beyond all of that, that God stands somehow outside the game of life looking in, but here we see God actively taking the side of his people. God stands up for God's people.

Throughout scripture we see the same is true. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Paul writes. Only, strangely for us richer Americans, the people that God sides with aren't who we'd expect. We'd like to think that God sides with the rich and powerful. Those who have wealth in our world are somehow blessed by God, but God doesn't see it that way. Instead, God consistently sides with the poor and the widow, the orphan and the stranger. God sides with the outcast.

And God shows his bias throughout scripture. When his people are among the least of these, God stands with them. When his people stand against the least of these, God stands against them.

"The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow..." God takes care of those who can't take care of themselves and calls us to join him in doing the same.

Christians would say, God shows this bias in sending Jesus, a man who is a friend of sinners and tax collectors, who is called a drunkard and a glutton by some, but who consistently is standing with the least of these. What we do for the least, we do for him, Jesus declares. God stands even with the unrighteous lost to say: "I'm here for you."

So the next time you stand against the poor, think about this. The next time you look with distain on those less fortunate than yourself, calling them lazy, good for nothing, or worse. The next time you judge the least of these, remember this: God stands on their side. Do you really want to stand against God?

God of the poor, call us to show compassion to those less fortunate than ourselves. Call us to action on behalf of the needy, not because they deserve it, but because you command it. Amen.

Does that question matter?

"...and we laid waste until fire spread to Medeba." Numbers 21:30b

Does that question matter?
By Rev. William Dohle

It's funny how questions seem to stick in our collective head. Like a tune that just won't turn off or a song we just can't seem to get over, some questions leave us pondering months after they're asked and answered.

Take this one... fresh in the media. "Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?"

Everyone from Franklyn Graham to Bishop Eaton has chimed in on this question. Asked right at a time when Muslims are being cast as terrorists in the media and Western Christians are feeling persecuted, this question has become something of a rallying cry, to isolate the Muslim from the Christian and ratify our own feelings of fear.

But is this question really important? Is it absolutely necessary to argue one side of this question or the other? I personally believe that Christians and Muslims DO worship the same God, the God of Abraham. Christians, Jews, and Muslims all have differing interpretations of who this God is and what this God has done, but we all trace our faith back to that one desert wanderer and his relationship with God. We all see ourselves as his children, in some respect.

But what about the people who answer this question differently? Who say, because Christians believe in a Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ, Christians and Muslims don't believe in the same God? What do we say to them?

Is this question worth arguing about?

Well... it is if we view the outsider and the stranger as someone to be conquered and controlled. The people of Israel, as they near the Promised Land, begin a campaign of wiping out the native populations to clear the way for their entrance into God's Promised Land. The first group to be wiped out is King Sihon of the Amorites and his people. The book of Numbers tells us:

Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites; for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong...Thus Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.(Num. 21:24)

But the slaughter doesn't stop there. In the next few verses, God gets involved in the slaughter too.

But the Lord said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him for I have given him into your hand, with all his people, and all his land. You shall do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon." So they killed him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land. (Num. 21:34-35)

Two kings and all their people are the first to be killed to make way for the people of God. Why? Because they were different. The Amorites in Heshbon worshiped different gods, obeyed different laws, and, most of all, they were in Israel's way. Israel had been promised that land. They had not. So they must be destroyed.

If the question whether someone worships a different god than you do is going to lead to their destruction at your hands...then this question is vitally important to decide who warrants your compassion and who doesn't. This question, and your answer to it, will determine whether you will show them compassion and mercy, or wrath and anger.

But if we see everyone, regardless of the ones they worship, as being intrinsically important and valuable, having worth in and of themselves, then this question doesn't matter at all. Everyone deserves our compassion, regardless of their religion. Everyone should be loved and respected and cared for, no matter whether they are worshiping our God or not. The Hindu and the Buddhist doesn't worship the same God as I do...but they deserve my respect and my love for them as my neighbor. The atheist and the Sikh, the agnostic and the Ba'hai and everyone in between. They all deserve my love and my compassion. Not because we believe in the same God. But because, as a Christian, Jesus commanded it.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:34-35)

No matter what you think of this question. No matter whether you believe all the Abrahamic faiths worship the same God or whether you distinguish the Christian God from the others, we must understand that this question ultimately has no meaning. We have been commanded to love others. Period. To give our lives for them. Period. There's no way out of this commandment!

God, give me eyes to see the common humanity I share with everyone around me. Help me not to judge them based on their religiosity, but instead welcome and embrace them in Christ. Amen.

Does this place look familiar?

Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town. Psalm 107:4

Does this place look familiar?
By Rev. William Dohle

Confession time. I get lost very very easily. Ask anyone who's ever traveled with me and they'll tell you on average I turn around two or three times everywhere I go.

When I lived in Southern California it was bad. Armed with a street map guide I would frequently be pulled over on the side of the road, searching for where I was.

In Colorado and Montana, I would often pass by the tiny streets that led to people's homes. Once I drove my wife and I on the wrong side of the mountain to get to the house we were heading to. Scary part is... I'd been there before.

And alas, two years ago on a trip with our youth to St. Louis I led two of our chaperones all over the city, trying to find this or that. Crazy part is... I warned them!

I know what getting lost looks like and sounds like. I've been there and done that, as they say.

So when I'm reading this section of verses at the end of chapter 21 in Numbers I'm thinking: The people of Israel are lost! Utterly and hopelessly lost!

Listen to how they travel...

The Israelites set out, and camped in Oboth. They set out from Oboth, and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering Moab toward the sunrise. From there they set out, and camped in the Wadi Zered.  From there they set out, and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. (Numbers 21:10-13)

That's just the start of their trip. Notice how many times they "camp" and then "set out." And if you're still not convinced they're lost listen to verse 16... "From there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, 'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.'"(Num. 21:16)

See what happened here? The people went in a circle! They'd already been to this well before. it was the well of which the Lord said, "Gather the people and I will give them water." They've traveled in a circle! They're lost!

So why do the people then sing to the well. Why do the people rejoice??

"Spring up, O well! -- Sing to it!--
the well that the leaders sank,
that the nobles of the people dug,
with the scepter; with the staff."(Num. 21:17-18)

Maybe we can understand this song by understanding this little thing. The people of Israel are NOT lost! They've been wandering the wilderness true, but they've not been wandering without direction. God has been with them the entire time. And this well is a reminder of what God did for them through their ancestors. This well, come around again, reminds them that God provided them water in the past and will continue to provide water in the future. It reminds them of God's presence.

There's a really cool saying, I can't tell you where it's from, but it says something like this:

Not all who wander are lost.

It's a wonderful statement for how the people of Israel travel too. For their goal is the Promised Land, but they don't go straight there. Instead they wander around the wilderness, going here and there. They stop at a well God gave to Moses and there they rejoice over what God did for their ancestors and how God continues to watch over them.

Maybe we should take a cue from them. A little less rushing about. A little more wandering. Then we may find ourselves back at that Well which our ancestors drank and which continues to provide us with Living Water.

Holy God, stay near us when we wander away. Circle our roads that, no matter where we go, we return to your grace. Amen.

Ordinarily Radical

"Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." Numbers 21:6

Ordinarily Radical
By Rev. William Dohle

Did you know that even the most radically different ideas, if repeated enough times, will become common place? It's true! Studies have shown that when people are exposed to things over and over again, whatever that thing is loses its newness and radical nature.

It happened with music. The music that was considered "radical" in the 1960's are "classics" today. The messages they carried have been lost, not because they suddenly disappeared, but because they've been repeated so many times. The words that were once sung in protest are now sung to remember. The edges are gone, replaced by nostalgia.

Think about the song "Turn" by the birds. Pretty tame song, huh? "To everything, turn turn turn, there is a season...turn turn turn..."
It's actually a pretty good song to celebrate Ecclesiastes 3! As Yoda would say, "straight out of the Bible the words are!"

But if you listen closely to how this song ends, you can discover its radical message.

"A time for peace...I swear its not too late!"

That's not what the Bible says. In Ecclesiastes 3 it says, "A time for war. A Time for peace."

The song writer has reinterpreted the text to focus on that time of peace because THAT'S what his song is all about! It's a song calling for peace and saying, "Just as there's a time for every other season, there's a time for peace. And it is now!"

The same can happen in biblical interpretation too. The older an idea or an interpretation is, the less "radical" it seems. Only by digging through the texts and putting those ideas into words we understand today can we reclaim the radical words of God.

So it is with the image of Jesus as the "snake on a pole." The Gospel of John interprets this passage in Numbers that speaks of Moses lifting up a snake in the wilderness to heal the people as Christ. John writes: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."(John 3:14-15)

That's radical stuff! Really radical!

And yet we've been trained to see it that way. Christians since we can read have had this verse and this chapter drilled into us. It's become...nostalgic!


Christians usually sentimentalize Christ. Christ is perfect in every way. Christ is flawless. Christ is the light of the world. Christ is everything good.

But Christ as the snake on the pole makes Christ into the very thing that is killing us! Christ is sin itself! Christ isn't meek and mild. He's not the perfectly white, clean looking guy we've got posted up in our churches today. He's Sin incarnate! The very creature, ugly and disgusting, that is poisoning us is hanging on a cross. And we are granted eternal life when we stop and gaze upon this Sin! Looking upon Christ on the cross, Christ as sin, grants us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

That's what Jesus in the book of John is saying. That's what Jesus says later in John when he says, "...and I when I am lifted up will draw all people to myself."(John 12:32)

Paul caught this. In his second letter to Corinth he writes: "God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Cor. 5:21)

I have this same sentiment hanging in my office: "Christ and I stood side by side. He in his white robes, I in my rags. Christ said, "Let's exchange.  You put on my robes and I'll wear your rags." So we exchanged."

Christ is wearing our rags. Christ is bearing our pain and guilt and shame. Christ is dirty and disgusting and sinful for us. Christ has borne those things for us and in him we become light and clean and holy and righteous. In him we have life!

That's the radical message of this "snake on a pole." That's the radical image of the cross. Without that radical word, the true offensive message of Christ is lost. Without it, Christ becomes just a nice guy with a group of children sitting on his knees amid a group of grumpy men. Without it, the gospel loses its power to truly save and transform lives.

May we not forget, as lent approaches in the coming weeks and as we gaze once again on the cross in wonder, that this message is foolish and radical. May we not forget the message that the cross still speaks to the world of good and bad people. The one who was perfect from the beginning has made himself Sin incarnate for us that in him we might become the righteous of God!

Gracious Father, as we gaze upon Christ may we know the mystery that is your incarnation that through you becoming dirty, we might be clean. Amen.

They're Still Here!

“Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” Numbers 21:8

They're Still Here!
By Rev. William Dohle

Imagine, for a moment, that you had to hire an exterminator for an infestation of scorpions in your apartment. Those dreadful little monsters with their frightening appearance and their poisonous sting. (Those of you in the midwest might not realize that this is a REAL problem in the southwest...like Arizona!) The exterminator comes with all of his equipment, checks out your place. Then, this is what he says...

"Yup! You've got a problem!"
"I know! It's terrible!" you say.
"Yup." he says simply.
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Well..." he muses. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" you shout. "But can't you kill them?"
"I could," he says. "But I'm not going to."
"Okay..." you say.
"Instead I'm going to give you this anti-venom. Whenever a scorpion stings you, just take this anti-venom and you'll be okay."

Sound absurd, right? Totally crazy?
But this is what happens in this story from the book of Numbers.

Once again the people of Israel are stranded out in the desert. And once again they're complaining.
"The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”(21:5)

God tires of their complaining AGAIN so, Numbers tells us, "Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died."(21:6)

Pretty harsh punishment for complaining, huh? (No wonder people keep most of their complaints to themselves. If they knew this story, they'd be afraid!)

So the people repent. They now know they've been wrong. "The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people."(21:7)

Pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us. Sounds reasonable, right? After all, the people did repent. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Surely he'll listen and like a great divine exterminator rid the people of Israel of this dreadful curse.

But no. He doesn't. Instead, this is what Moses is instructed to do.
"And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live."(21:8-9)

God doesn't remove the serpents or kill them. He doesn't get rid of the pest problem the Israelites now have. Instead, God provides an antidote for them. An anti-venom. All they need to do is take it(look at the serpent of bronze) and then they'll be okay.

That's the story...
Now, there are many interpretations of this story. One Christians are most familiar with. The New Testament(particularly the gospel of John) interprets this passage and focuses on the bronze serpent.
" And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."(John 3:14-15)

In doing so, the Gospel of John likens Jesus lifted up on the cross to the bronze serpent that everyone who looks upon him and believes may have life. This passage becomes one of many prophecies to Jesus and what will happen to him on the cross.

That's how Christians are use to hearing this story. But here's my question...and one I've never heard asked or wrestled with.
Why doesn't God remove the serpents in the first place?

It seems kinda odd to me that Moses is instructed to make a bronze serpent and set it on a staff and tell the people to look upon it when they get bit to live. Wouldn't it have been easier to just get rid of the snakes like they prayed would happen to begin with? After all, they weren't there in the beginning! They were sent by God as a punishment for Israel's disobedience and when Israel repented, surely those snakes could have been dealt with. Why would God provide such an odd anti-venom with no end to the trouble at hand? Why not just dispose of the snakes?

Well maybe, just maybe, the ever-present serpents' presence in the story has an even greater meaning. Maybe it speaks to life today.

We have, among us, the same serpents that we've always had. Hatred abounds in our world. One people is set against another people. Military occupations abound. Wars are everywhere. Intolerance is everywhere. In a way, you could say, we haven't really changed much since the times of Moses. People do just what they did back then. Those pesky serpents are still among us. Still biting us and poisoning our lives. And we still need to look to God to rid us of their poison.

But there's something else here too. A solution to the serpent problem that isn't spoken about in the text itself but might be implicitly there. Maybe instead of living with these snakes and dealing with their constant biting presence, maybe the people are being implicitly told to kill them themselves.

Maybe God is saying: "I'll provide you with the anti-venom. You won't die. Gaze upon me and you will live. But getting rid of the snakes is your problem. I know you can do it. I'll remedy its poison, so it doesn't darken your life, but as long as you just stand there, those serpents will always be a problem for you."

And so God sets the task of exterminating the serpents to us and gives us the strength to deal with their poison. And it has happened. The serpents of this world have met an end by the hands of ordinary people. An ordinary businessman, Oscar Schindler, worked to kill the serpents of hatred and save over a thousand Jews from the hands of the Nazis. A simple nun, Mother Theresa worked to kill the serpents of poverty in the streets of Calcutta. Another businessman, this time a Jew, Steve Maman, is working to free sex slaves of ISIS one girl at a time.

And the list goes on and on.

We are called, each and every one of us, to cut off the head of the serpents at our feet. To kill the hatred and the bitterness, the war and the violence, the pride and the selfishness that we see. To do our part at changing the world for the better. The task seems impossible. Those pesky serpents aren't easy to kill and sometimes have a hard time staying dead. There's more snakes then you can possibly kill alone too. But together, and with God's help and strength, we might rid the world of the snakes around us, work against the poison of this plague and finally live in peace with one another.

Holy God, thank you for providing an antidote to the problem of our serpents. Give us strength to face down our snakes, to fight against hatred and violence and all the rest of the serpents that nip at our heels. Amen.

A Letter to Aaron

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,  “Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up Mount Hor; strip Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar. But Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.” Numbers 20:23-26

A Letter To Aaron
By Rev. William Dohle

Dear Aaron,

You don't know me, but I follow in your footsteps. You see, I too serve God's people as a priest. I'm not Jewish. I'm Christian. And they don't call us priests, but pastors, but basically they're the same thing. We are spiritual leaders of God's people, the same as you.

As a spiritual leader I have faced many of the same temptations as you did. I have been tempted to adapt my message and please my audience, as you did at Sinai when you made the golden calf. I have been tempted to denigrate those in authority over me, as you did to Moses when you spoke against him and sided with Mirium. And I have been tempted to disobey God's command, as you did at the waters of Meribah.

Not only have I been tempted, Aaron, but I've fallen into those same traps. I have adapted my message, sometimes on the fly during a sermon, and refrained from saying something that I knew might make someone upset. I have made for myself and others "golden calfs", physical signs of God's presence to bow down and worship instead of trusting in the mysterious presence of God. I too have spoken against those above me, knowingly and unknowingly. And I too have disobeyed God's commandment to trust.

I have failed just as you did, Aaron. I am wrong. I need forgiveness.

And reading your story gets me worried. You see, Aaron, people haven't changed in the thousands of years that have passed since you walked the earth. They're just as stubborn as they were in the wilderness. For many people, their pursuit of God takes a backseat to everything else going on in their lives. I know because they've told me so. They'd rather party with the golden calf than wait patiently below the mountain for a word that may never come.

People today remember things falsely too, thinking as your people did that things were so much better in the past. Looking with rose colored glasses at all the pain and suffering that they endured back then, they forget the present and concentrate on the past.

You stood up to that. You stood up for years in the midst of your people, proclaiming God's love and redemption and presence among them. You lived with people whose priorities are so much like the people I know. And I'm worried that, just as you were remembered at the end of your life, not for the good you did, but for your mistake at the waters of Meribah, so I too may be remembered by my mistakes and not for the good I do.

Aaron, I have no idea how many times you succeeded and how many good sermons you gave your people in the wilderness. I don't know how much you loved and cared for them. I don't know much of the good you did. But I know your mistakes. Those are the things we remember. Those are the things written down for us.

Sadly, at the end of your life, your time with Moses before Pharaoh was forgotten. It was your mistake at Meribah they remembered. It was for this reason God prevented you from entering into the Promised Land.

I'll never see that promised land either, I'm afraid. I'll stand on the mountain of life and pass on the mantle of leadership to another. I'll never see the promised land for myself, for I am a product of my own generation and my own time. Neither you, nor Moses, ever passed into the Promised Land. Maybe it was because of your mistake at Meribah. Maybe you always kicked yourself for what transpired there. Or maybe it was because you were a product of your own time and the promised land, being promised and not fulfilled, is always for another.

In any case, though I know God forgave me and has forgiven you for your mistakes, I still wonder: How will I be remembered? What will this people, still stubborn yet blessed and precious in God's sight, think of me when I pass on?

And do they worry about that? Do they wonder how they'll be remembered? Are they, at times, nervous or scared to make mistakes fearing that those mistakes will mark them as they marked you? Maybe they have that same worry... Maybe not...

As for me, I hope that I'm remembered as you are. Whether I succeed or not. Whether my sermons were good and interesting, or dry and boring. However I'm thought of, I hope I'm remembered standing up on that mountain top, stripped of all the pomp and circumstance of life, yet content to be up there with God with even a glimpse of the kingdom God has promised to bring.

May I trust my memory and my life to God, just as you did.

Gracious God, your faithful servant, Aaron, was gathered to his people just as you gather all of us. Help us trust you with the future so that we might work together for good in the present, not worried about what others think but confident in your grace and love for us. Amen.