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.

Remember, We Were Brothers

But Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through or we will come out with the sword against you." Numbers 20:18

Remember! We Were Brothers!
By Rev. William Dohle

Can you imagine taking everything you own that you can carry on your back, cramming it in a suitcase or some other item, and dragging it across hundreds and hundreds of miles? Can you imagine being pursued by a government that wishes to kill you? Knowing that if you stayed where you were that you would likely be put to death? Can you imagine what its like to trust the ocean more than you trust your homeland?

The people of Israel could. They knew what this was like. For years they had been wandering the desert of Sinai, searching for their Promised Land. They had left a land where they were in slavery, where they spent their time making mud bricks. They left that for freedom...or so they thought.

And now they were at the edge of the Promised Land. Just one more land to pass through before they reached their destination, before safety, security, and a land flowing with milk and honey. Just one more land called Edom.

They were pretty confident that the Edomites would welcome them, or at least let them pass through. After all, the Edomites were Israel's brothers! They were descended from Esau. "These are the descendants of Esau)(that is Edom)"(Genesis 36:1). Surely they would see that Israel was their brother!

And so Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom saying:

"Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us: how our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians oppressed us and our ancestors; and when we cried to the LORD he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh...Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from any well; we will go along the King's Highway, not turning aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory. (Num. 20:14-17)

Surely, Moses thought, they will help them across their land. Even if they won't help us, surely they will allow them to pass through!

But Edom refuses. "You shall not pass through, or we will come out with the sword against you."(Num. 20:18)

But help was not to come. Edom refused. And Israel had to go around the land of Edom to finally reach the Promised Land.

We too are faced with a refugee crisis in our day. Not since World War II have so many people been displaced. And those who stand at the borders, like Israel, ask for safety. They ask for security. They ask for compassion and hospitality. They ask for brotherhood.

And yet, sadly, more and more, we see us like the Edomites turning them away, from our borders and from our hearts. Maybe we think they're dangerous. Maybe we fear the terrorist in their midst. Maybe we don't understand that fundamentally, we are brothers as Edom and Israel were, and turning them away is turning away a member of our own family. Whatever our thoughts, we are turning them away from us in droves.

Perhaps we ourselves have never been refugees, have never been aliens, and so we can't relate. The experience of rejection from Edom sure changes Israel in a dramatic way. From this moment on, the commandment repeated more times in the Torah becomes "Do not oppress the alien, for you yourselves were aliens." The experience of being a refugee, an alien, has profound effect on Israel.

Maybe instead of worrying about our own safety, we should obey THIS commandment! Instead of worrying about our own resources and becoming hoarders of our stuff, maybe we should think about how we would wish to be treated if we were in their position. If we were Israel, how we would have wished others had treated us...and how we should we treat them knowing they are our brothers.

Or maybe, just maybe, if we are Christians, we should think about how Christ would want us to treat them if he were among them. Because, like it or not Christians, Christ is there, among the refugees, begging for safe passage in and through our land among the least of these our brothers. A homeless, wandering Jew, a nobody in the land of somebodies, an instigator of a quiet revolution. Whatever should we do with a guy like him at our borders?

Compassionate God, help us trust in your goodness. Give us grace to reach out beyond our borders and assist and welcome those in need. Amen.

A Whole New Perspective

"These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord and by which he showed his holiness." Numbers 20:13

A Whole New Perspective
By Rev. William Dohle

Do you know that every story you have ever heard and every story you tell has a central question it's wrestling with?

It's true.

The easiest stories to see this in are the parables of Jesus. Here Jesus wrestles with such questions as: "Who is my neighbor?" and "How does God rejoice over sinners' returning?" and "What does the Kingdom of God look like?" Here the stories are obviously about the questions.

The hardest stories to see this are the stories we tell each other. The fishing story that answers the question: "How much of an outdoorsman am I?" or the story of a date which still leaves us wondering "How romantic is that guy?" Or the story someone tells us which leaves us wondering, "Why did he tell me that?"

The Bible contains stories upon stories. Some stories are original, told just once. Other stories take a story told earlier and change it up, asking a different question, and changing the story forever. As a result you hear a very different story the second time around than you did the first.

Take the story of Israel at the waters of Meribah. This same story is also told in Exodus 15. The same thing happens there that happens here.

The Israelites are thirsty.
There's no water for the congregation.
They come to complain against Moses and Aaron.
God tells Moses to take the staff, assemble the congregation, and find water in a rock.
Moses does it and the people drink.

Same story, right? Well... not quiet. There's just one difference. The question here isn't "How did the Israelites drink?" The question here is: "Why didn't Moses go with the people into the promised land?"

That question leads to the differences in this story. It starts with a change in what God tells Moses. In the version from Numbers, God explicitly commands Moses : "Take the staff...and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water."

In the story in Exodus, God isn't so specific.

Here God commands Moses to talk to the rock. There he's not told what to do with the rock.

But in Numbers Moses doesn't listen to God. Remember the question the story is answering is: "Why didn't Moses go with the people into the promised land." Instead, in Numbers, Moses tells the people. "Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock." Then he strikes the rock twice with his staff.

What went wrong here? What was Moses' mistakes? The first is... Moses takes all the credit. WE shall bring the water out of the rock, he says, not God. The second mistake, and the one which addresses the central question in this retelling of the story, is how Moses brings the water out. Instead of talking to the rock, Moses strikes the rock!

Not a big difference, right? But one that answers the question. Why did Moses not go with the people into the promised land? Because... he didn't listen at Meribah and struck the rock with his staff.

Is that a good answer to the question? Maybe... Or maybe not. But it is the answer this story offers up.

So we see how the questions we ask fundamentally change the stories we tell. It does in scripture. And it does in life too. Listen closely to your neighbor, when they're telling you the story of their life. Listen to how they phrase their sentences. Listen to how they speak. Listen to what they're proud of, what they emphasize, and what they're not proud of. Listen to who's right and who's wrong in their story. Then you can hear what questions they too are wrestling with.

Are they fearful? Their stories will tell stories of fears realized. Are they hopeful? Their stories will tell positive tales. Are they nervous or confused? Are there questions of faith in their lives? These things can all be found in the stories they tell you.

Just like the story of Moses at the waters of Meribah, our stories change too depending on the questions we are struggling with. But, thanks be to God, his grace and love remain regardless of how we tell the tales of our lives. No matter what questions our stories struggle with. No matter how true or false our telling of them is, our God never leaves us. God never forsakes us.

Let us rest in his grace knowing that, no matter what happens to us, we are his beloved forever.

Almighty God, give us ears to hear the stories of others and discern the questions they are struggling with that we may join along with them, bear their burdens with them, and support them in their life in you. Amen.

Strange Traditions...

"Since the water for cleansing has not been dashed on them, they are unclean." Numbers 19:20

Strange Traditions...
By Rev. William Dohle

Have you ever tried to explain your particular traditions to someone else outside of those traditions? Have you ever attempted to do so?

Take something Christians are familiar with: Communion. What are we doing when we take communion? An outsider would hear words like "This is my body" and "This is my blood" and then watch us eat them and assume we are cannibals! After all, that's what cannibals do, right? They eat another person's flesh and drink their blood? What's up with that, they might think.

Being an outsider raises lots of questions. I had that experience once when I visited a Jewish temple on Rosh Hashanna. There I watched them parade a scroll around the congregation. People, dressed in prayer shawls and such, would touch the scroll either with their book or with their shawl, smiling and singing. I still don't quite understand why they did that. Or why they rocked back and forth when they prayed too. That also made me wonder.

Traditions are strange, especially for strangers. And for outsiders, traditions, especially ones that have been institutionalized and made an essential piece of the religious tradition, can be so confusing and overwhelming that, unless they really grasp what the meaning is, it can turn them away. How do you explain to someone that the bread and wine taken at communion IS the body and blood of Christ, though it doesn't taste like it or look like it? And how can one not address the cannibal question if it truly is what we say it is?

Tradition is something that the book of Numbers is talking about as it describes the most odd way of removing uncleanliness ever! The Red Heifer!

Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid. You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. The priest shall take cedarwood, hyssop, and crimson material, and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning.  Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp; but the priest shall remain unclean until evening. The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening.  Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing. It is a purification offering. The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them. Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean seven days. They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean...Numbers 19:2-12

So... what's up with the red heifer? Well... the Christian in me thinks: "That sounds like Christ! Christ is killed and his blood makes us clean! We are washed in the waters of baptism. Yes!" But then I thought that might be a stretch. Kinda a big stretch now that I think about it.

I think to understand this we need to understand the why. Why is this important? The problem in this passage is uncleanliness. How does one become able to be ritually clean when they've become unclean. When they've touched a corpse or eaten with unwashed hands or done any of the things described in Scripture that can make a person unclean. What happens to them?

How do we make an unclean person clean again?

The answer is ritualistic and simple: "To make that unclean person clean again, wash them in some special water. Make the water with the ashes of a special bull and special spices and set it out so that anyone who is unclean might become clean again."

What a cool way to solve the problem of uncleanliness! Wash and be clean!

We might look at this passage and dismiss it for its irrelevance for today, but I see it as a window to what we do in worship. How do our rituals translate to the stranger? What issues do our rituals address for us?How do we communicate how special they are and what they do for our faith to others who haven't experienced them before? How do we explain their meaning?

In Communion, for me, I think about what happens with the food we eat. How, as they say, "you become what you eat." If that is so that means me eating the essence of Christ means that I must somehow become Christ to my neighbor. In that meal I receive forgiveness of my sins, life, and salvation, but I also in some way become a new person, to serve and love my neighbor as I believe Christ would.

So...what traditions do you have? How would you explain your traditions to someone? What are the whys behind what you do?

Almighty God, help us understand each other and our traditions better. Give us eyes to see our own traditions honestly and help us learn and appreciate those of others. Amen.

A Note from a Wanderer

"Then he led out his people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock." Psalm 78:52
 
A Note from a Wanderer
By Rev. William Dohle

I swore it wouldn't happen...but it did. I hoped it wouldn't happen. I wished it wouldn't happen. I thought: "Surely this time it'll be different." But it happened.

I am wandering in the wilderness.

My wandering manifests itself in many ways but has really become apparent in my blog. Five years ago I promised that I would "Blog through the Bible" in an attempt to get through the wilderness of scripture from Genesis to Joshua. I blogged through Genesis with flying colors and Exodus as well. I even hurdled through Leviticus pretty well(Leviticus is always the book I stop on when I decide(as I have before) to read through the entire Bible!).

But then came the book of Numbers.

I love Numbers. I really do. The way it mixes law with story. The way it goes back and forth between Moses' frustrations with the people of Israel and God's instructions. It's really awesome.

But it's also about wilderness and I found myself slipping into the wilderness it describes. It grew harder and harder to post on the text. I found so much in one chapter, but when I was finished with it there was always another. And instead of calling out in me inspirational stories that would touch and encourage others, the text drew out the complaining Israelite in me, always looking backward to the land that I left, always eager for what I don't have. My reflections grew more and more critical until the last one(which I still have unpublished) when I growled and complained my worst. That was when I just stopped writing.

The wilderness was around me. And I was wandering in it.

As I stood there in the middle of my wilderness, I wondering how long that would last. The people of Israel wandered around in that wilderness for forty years the Bible says. I don't know if that number is literal or not, but we are told that it took a whole generation of people before they found their way to the Jordan and across the promised land. A whole generation in the wilderness!

Would it take that long for me? I hope not. I hope it doesn't take that long to escape that wilderness for me. But I know this place. I've been here, wandering this wilderness before. In my personal and professional life, I find its allure hard to resist. The temptation to wander instead of focus, to criticize instead of construct, to complain instead of follow. Those temptations are great here in the wilderness.

Maybe that's why Jesus was thrust into the wilderness by the Spirit. Maybe that's why he met the devil here. Because the wilderness holds temptation that draws you in, that holds your attention. Better to be a wanderer in the desert than to be one who actually makes a difference in the world. Easier to be a complainer of manna and quail than to actually decide to feed yourself.

I've been in this wilderness. It's a familiar place for me. I've been lost in its emptiness before...and I think you have been too.

Wandering in this desert isn't easy. Nor is it pleasant. But I do know this. No matter how lost we become, we're never truly lost to God. Even here God's presence goes with his people. Though the people wander, God never abandoned them. God doesn't leave them at the shores of the Red Sea or at Mount Sinai or even in the middle of the desert when they were bickering and complaining. God still stayed near them.

And I know that whatever wilderness you may be wandering in, and whatever wilderness I may find myself in, no matter however lost you feel right now, God is with you too. And he's with me. Even in the midst of our complaining, arguing, and procrastinating, God is still here.

So I vow that my blog will go on. My devotions will continue. The wilderness will be traversed. It may take a little longer than I anticipated, but that's a wilderness for you! And God will be with us all the way!

God of the wanderers, be near us when we find ourselves in the wilderness. Strengthen us that we may not fall into temptation, but remain faithful. Amen.

Inside the Clergy

Then the Lord said to Aaron: You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites. Numbers 18:20

Inside the Clergy
By Rev. William Dohle

Imagine taking a job where you are judged by the actions of everyone who had the job before you as well as everyone doing the job around you. Your "good work" puts pressure on others and their good work puts pressure on you to be like them. Their failures became your failures too. Their weaknesses turn on you.

Anytime you talk about your job people see you as weak. "Can't you handle it?" they say. "Why did you get into this profession in the first place?" And of course the classic "Quit complaining!" Quiet suffering is preferable to vocal expression. Either you accept the life you're given...or you get out.

Would you ever survive such a calling?

A friend of mine wrote me last week to tell me he's leaving the ministry. This is the fifth or sixth friend of mine who has left ministry because of the pressure put on pastors. When I heard his news I felt like a bullet has pierced my side. I felt so...alone!

Sometimes I wonder if we actually described ministry right if anyone would follow the call. Would they want to be pastors if they knew that it sometimes involved long hours away from your family at a moment's notice? Could they survive both good comments and negative criticism, the loud noise of the critic and the quiet support of the silent? Could they find joy even when their heart is racing? Could they see the good when others are pointing out the bad?

The Washington Post recently posted an article that makes me shudder. Here it says this:

A new LifeWay Research poll last week says a pastors’ work-life balance is not exactly balance:

• 84 percent say they’re on call 24 hours a day.
• 80 percent expect conflict in their church.
• 54 percent find the role of pastor frequently overwhelming.
• 53 percent are often concerned about their family’s financial security.
• 21 percent say their church has unrealistic expectations of them.

This is not good. With numbers like these, could we re-imagine some things together for the health of your churches, your families and your own souls? 

Maybe we start here: 90 percent of you believe you inadequately manage the demands of your job, and half of you are so discouraged, you would abandon ministry if you had another job option."

Later there are even more frightening statistics:

"The numbers tell us you suffer in private and struggle in shame: 77 percent of you believe your marriage is unwell, 72 percent only read your Bible when studying for a sermon, 30 percent have had affairs and 70 percent of you are completely lonely."

What is most frightening is how scared I am to share these numbers, having been told once I shouldn't be honest about my struggles.

Still, I love my job, don't get me wrong, but I know why it's called a calling. Only by God's call and through God's power are we able to survive the wounds that come with being in ministry.

This isn't anything new. In fact, since the people of Israel were in the wilderness and God was organizing them into tribes, priests have always bore the weight of the people.

"You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood."

Sounds pretty heavy. "Responsibility for offenses"? What's up with that? What possibly could God mean by his priests alone being responsible for offenses connected with the priesthood? And what responsibilities could he mean?

In Moses' time, the priests weren't as responsible for the people's connection to God...but they weren't alone. No priest ever worked alone. They worked as a tribe. The ones descended from Aaron being the High Priests in the tribe and the rest being their acolytes and other priests. This tribe owned no land. They raised no crops. They existed solely on the generosity of their neighbor. They existed because people needed God and they became the link between God and his people.

Sounds like today, huh?

And just like today, the Levites(priests) relied upon the offerings given by others. They shared in the people's offering. Without it, the Levites would whither and die. Thus when the people were faithful to God, the priesthood thrived. But when the people fell away and worshiped other gods, the priesthood suffered.

Sounds familiar too?

In both cases, though, there is one word that stands out. One word that is repeated over and over again in this text. That word is: Gift. And let me tell you, despite all the statistics and the trials of this job, that is what I live for. I live for the gift of...

• Standing around the bedside with the family of someone who dying. The gift of giving hugs and prayers and walking with them during the most difficult time in their lives.
• Holding a brand new baby baptized into the congregation and watching that baby grow up.
• High fives after church...as a couple little girls go by me.
• Seeing God come to life for a middle schooler.
• Hearing the words God gave you in a sermon repeated back positively to you later.
• Being a part of the body of Christ.

God has filled ministry with lots of perks. It might be a dangerous world out there, filled with land mines seen and unseen, but God has given us gifts too and those gifts are worth the risk.

God of grace, thank you for those who minister to us. Pastors, priests, counselors, rabbis, and those who touch our spirit. Fill their lives with your gifts. Amen. 

"Lord, give me a sign!"

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

"Lord, give me a sign!"
By Rev. William Dohle

One of the most frustrating parts of faith is the unseen piece of it. Even though we know that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for and conviction in things not seen" we'd still like to see its fruits once in awhile.

That desire is strongest when we're faced with a tough decision. When a decision presents itself, be it a life-and-death decision or just a life-changing one, we pray for guidance. We pray for an answer to our dilemma. And, most of all, we pray for a sign.

"Just give me a sign, God!"

We'd like God to tell us what we should do and show us the way...just as he did for Aaron and the people of Israel so long ago.

There, in the desert, the question arose: Who's going to be in charge? After complaints arose against Aaron and Moses and their leadership, cries arose for a new leader. So God answered. God decided to give them a sign of the man who he had chosen to spiritually lead his people.

So this is what he said:

"Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant,where I meet with you. And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you." (Numbers 17:1-5)

So the people did that and what happened? Well...

"When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff." (Numbers 17:8-9)

Low and behold God gave them a sign! Aaron was to be their leader. His staff had put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. A miracle! God had answered their prayer!

Only... the people weren't exactly happy about this. God tells them: "Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die." and the people tell Moses: "We are perishing; we are lost, all of us are lost!  Everyone who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?"(Num 17:10-11)

What happened? They got a sign right? But it wasn't the sign they wanted! They heard from God but they didn't like what they heard. So the same complaints continued, even after God's sign.

The same happens to us too. If we're honest, we really don't WANT a sign to some of the questions we ask God. Or rather, we want a sign from God to confirm our own decisions and our own choices. We want God to tell us what we want to hear, rather than tell us what we'd rather not hear. Think about it... what if God said...

"I will give you peace as they die" when you pray for a sign of healing for a dying neighbor.
Or... "I think you are great just where you are..." when you pray for a promotion.
Or... "I will help you through this..." when we pray for an end to our suffering.

Sometimes we don't want to hear from God. Sometimes we don't want a sign...especially when we want something specific.

Instead of asking for a sign, perhaps we should ask for eyes to see more clearly. Perhaps we should pray for eyes to see the answer that God is giving us and wisdom to accept that answer too. Perhaps we should pray that God would grant the strength to accept God's choice, that we may have peace in that decision and patience to see it through, and that the love and joy of his Holy Spirit would continue to shower down upon us regardless of our circumstances.

Almighty God, you gave us the ultimate sign of your love: Jesus on the cross. Grant us the grace to see that love and accept it, knowing that it will make us uncomfortable at times, but save us in the end. Amen.

Ancient and Modern Reminders

"So you shall remember and do all my commands..." Numbers 15:38

Ancient and Modern Reminders
By Rev. William Dohle

Ask my wife and she will tell you I am terrible at remembering things.

Someone can tell me a date, a time, an event and if I don't rush out and write it down I will forget it. I write it down multiple places too. I have a traditional calendar(complete with pictures of my family so I remember why I AM so busy). Then I have my calendar on my phone. Just recently I found an app called "Wanderlist" that helps me list out everything I have to do throughout the week.

If I don't have it written in any of these places, I will forget. Guaranteed. Maybe you have a better memory than I do, but I need reminders.

Even as I sit here tonight writing this, my youngest son is reminding me to pay attention to him. With his book in his hand, he is calling me to read to him, to pay attention to him. He's pulling my face to the book to look at him and demanding I take seriously my calling as a father.

I am grateful that God in his mercy has understood that we need reminders too. We are a very distractable, forgetful people. One of the most used words in all of scripture is the simple word: "Remember." God says it. Christ says it. Paul says it. Everyone knows we need help remembering.

One of the first physical reminders for us is given in the book of Numbers. Here we Gentiles can understand why Jews have blue cord on the frindges of their prayer cloak. Here's what is written...

The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and you shall be holy to your God.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God. (Numbers 15:37-41)

God instructs that blue cord be sewn into the prayer shawl to remind the people. But there is more. When you see it you WILL remember and DO THEM. The reminder actually aids in the action. God does not remind us once and then expect us to remember. God reminds us and then helps us obey so that we "shall be holy to the Lord your God."

What an awesome God we have! He understands that we are a forgetful people! Left to our own devices, we would fail and fall and forget. When left on our own, we quickly follow the lust of our own hearts and our own eyes. We care more about us and our family than we care about the rest of the world. But God gives us reminders of his love that help us, so that, through His Spirit, we may become holy.

Communion is done in rememberance of Christ. We wash one another's feet to remember our Teacher's words. And God has surrounded us with other reminders too. Creation itself. Signs of his love all around us.

So...what reminders have you seen? How have those reminders helped you follow his way and his commands? How have they turned you from the lust of your own heart and eyes to God?

Surround us with reminders, O God. Whether it be in the body and blood of your Son or in the people we have surrounded ourselves with, bring us to obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

Who's "In Charge?"

"They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them,'You have gone too far!'" Num. 16:3

Who's "In Charge"??
By Rev. William Dohle

It's fascinating how our "current events" shape how we read the text.

As I write this, we are now a week past the day when the Supreme Court ruled that marriage was legal in all states between two of the same gender or two of different genders. No one can withhold a marriage from same-gender couples. And with the license came the legal rights it guarantees.

The reactions to this decision have been all over the place. Some praise the decision and celebrate what has been done. Others aren't quite as happy about it. Some would say that the courts were right in their decision making and had the power to do so. Others would argue that the courts have no power to decide what the states and the people should and shouldn't do.

At the heart of this debate is one central question...

Who's in charge??

Who has the authority to make decisions on who gets married and who doesn't? Who decides what the definition of "marriage" is anyhow??

Who's in charge of all of this??

That question isn't a new one. In fact, it's as old as the human race.

The people of Israel faced that same question too when a man by the name of Korah and two others, Dathan and Abiram, stood up against Moses and Aaron.

"You have gone too far," they said. "The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?"(16:3)

Do these arguments sound familiar? They should! They're at the heart of every single debate over lately. First comes the accusation: "You've gone too far..." Then the argument: "The whole community is holy, every one, and the Lord is with them!" And finally what they want, "Why then do you set yourselves above us?" In other words... step down!

Why would Korah say such things? Why start this rebellion to begin with? Googling Korah's name reveals that Korah "claimed that since he too was a great-grandson of Levi he too should be allowed to draft Law."

In other words... Korah thought HE should be in charge and not Moses and Aaron.

So what does Moses do? Well... "In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy and he will have that person to come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him."(16:5)

After going back and forth, God finally makes this right by swallowing up Korah, Korah's men, and all their possessions in the ground. They are known as the ones who go down to Sheol alive!

Where is the answer in all of this? How does this help us decide who is in-charge?

Well... we don't have a heavenly sign like Moses did. Contrary to what some say, doom will not come upon our country because of this decision, any more than it has come upon other countries because they legalized gay marriage either. We are more likely to be punished for our lack of concern for the environment than we are for who we allow to marry whom.

So...without some heavenly sign...how do we determine who is right? Some would say that God's law is clear...but clear on what? God's law itself is up for interpretation. The Jewish holy book, the Talmud is a great illustration on how many questions and answers can be given exploring God's law. Volumes upon volumes have been written in commentary to the words found in the first five books of the Bible. But no clear answers. God doesn't give clear black and white answers. He begins a conversation.

So we can't get our answers from heavenly signs or from the Law itself... where will they come from?

Maybe there's something to be redeemed in Korah's statement. Korah himself is half-right. He says, "The whole community of God is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them." That is correct! The whole community of God is holy, every one of them. God is with us! Korah is correct here.

Korah's rebellion against Moses is wrong, but he is right in his reasoning.

We too might say that we are originally holy, every one of us, because we are made in God's image. Even when we factor sin into the equation we are left with a picture of uniqueness. Every one of us is unique and special and different. Therefore, we should not put ourselves over and against another person. We have no right to dictate the lifestyle of another. We have a right to stand against injustice and violence. We have the right to rescue the oppressed and liberate the captive, but we have no right to decide how other human being peacefully lives his or her own life. That isn't in our power.

Korah rebelled against this. Korah wanted to be law-giver. Will we? Will we stand with Moses and Aaron and trust the decisions made by others chosen by our society? Or will we rebel in our hearts against them?

Maybe its not about looking for God's answer in the heavens or even in the books of the law. Maybe it's our choice. As it was Korah's. Will we choose life? Or will we be swallowed up by death itself? Will we use what has been given us, the gentle rule of love that permeates scripture and faith, or will we get sucked into the details and become law givers ourselves?

The choice is ours to make...

Almighty God, your Spirit is alive in our world, bringing life. We thank you for the work that others do on our behalf. Help us accept their decisions and continue to work for justice. Amen.

Why we really don't listen...

"Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding...
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her." Prov. 3:13,15

"Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Matthew 26:52

Why we really don't listen...
By Rev. William Dohle
The world is united it seems. At least on Facebook.

This past week, my timeline has been covered by South Carolina. Everywhere I look there are prayers and petitions, cries for help and calls for action. Articles on gun control or on the value of such guns. Ignorant statements made by one politician or another. And even some heartwarming stories too.

More than anything else is the call for justice in our country and the call for awareness. If rascism hadn't a face before, it certainly has one now.

And as an ELCA Lutheran, I ponder this deeply. I wonder how the perpetrator could have been one of our own. What happened in this young man between Confirmation and that moment he started shooting? What was said to him as he went through Confirmation and at church? Did he go to services? What did he hear there? And what now should we say to our kids today? What should we tell them about all of this?

A piece of me places the blame on us. We Lutherans have been lax at raising up the goodness and the image of God in everyone, no matter what. Falling back into the "we're all sinners" creed, we forget that we are created by God in God's image. We are beloved by God. We are God's children, adopted into his family through Christ Jesus. We have a right and a duty to look for the good in other people. Even the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the imprisoned are reflections of Christ. What we do to them, we do to Christ. We have a duty to see each other, not as poor, miserable sinners, but as beloved children of a God willing to sacrifice everything to save us!

Part of me blames us.

And part of me blames our human nature. Let's face it, we are creatures that ignore warnings and consequences.

Take for instance, a little story from the book of Numbers. Numbers 15:32-36. Most of us probably ignore this passage since it's not a popular story and it doesn't fit in with what we know of the Bible, but this little tale speaks a warning. It speaks a warning to those who would break the Sabbath.

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses, Aaron, and to the whole congregation. They put him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him outside the camp.” The whole congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Num. 15:32-36)

Now what do you notice about this story? It's a warning! A warning of what could happen to you should you break the Sabbath law. It's a rather graphic tale, one without a happy ending, but it serves its purpose, to tell you: If you break the Sabbath law, you will be stoned. If you break God's law, there will be consequences.

So... why don't we know this passage? Why don't we heed it? Maybe because we really don't believe these consequences will happen. We really don't follow its logic. Despite the text saying in no undercertain terms, "This action has a consequence." We don't believe it.

We're pretty stubborn creatures. Even when Jesus himself tells us, "Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.Those who live by the sword, die by the sword..." we still choose the sword and fill our homes with weapons that kill. We fight for our right to have weapons rather than look at what having those weapons actually does to us.

Why don't we listen? Why don't we change? Why don't we look at our culture that's obsessed with violence and put a stop to it?

Because we don't want to. Because it feels so good. Because maybe those consequences are avoidable. Maybe they're exaggerated. Maybe there is no consequence for our violent ways.

Or maybe it really is sin. Sin that has infected our souls and in lives. Sin that blinds us to our own participation in this culture of violence and death. Sin that divides and subdivides us.

I don't know who's to blame, but I know who's the answer. That answer is God. The God who doesn't leave us to wallow in our consequences. The God who rescues and saves us. The God who is the only hope of transforming our culture and rescuing us from this violent world. That God didn't stand idly by, but took the consequences of a culture obsessed with violence upon himself, suffering death, in order to bring us to a new creation, a new life.

In the wake of this tragedy and in so many others, I pray. May God open our eyes that we may see our participation in this culture of violence. May we be advocates of peace and justice in the world. May we see each other as Christ sees us. And may his kingdom come, here and now. For we need it, more than ever!

Holy God, we cannot imagine the pain that you endure as we blindly participate in our culture of death. Heal us, redeem us, and bring us to the kingdom where swords and guns are ground into plowshares. Amen.

The Most Repeated Command

You and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. Numbers 15:15

The Most Repeated Command
By Rev. William Dohle

"How many times do I have to tell you??"

Oh! Teenagers! My family has two of them in the house now. One just turned a teen and the other celebrated his second birthday as one and believe me...it strains the patience.

For instance...let's say you want them to do the chores that you have arranged for them to do. Countless times you have met with them and discussed exactly what they're to do and how they're to do it. They agree it needs to be done and agree that they shall do it. As you part ways, do you then sit back will they do it?

No!

Instead even after the lecture, they just sit there and stare at you. When you remind them, they say, "Oh sure..." or they groan and moan and then continue to sit there. Or they get up and look like they're going to do it, but they don't. Or they start doing it and get distracted and then leave the job. Or they never get up. Or...

Yeah, getting teenagers to work requires a whole lot of work and a whole LOT of repetition. "Do it...do it...do it...I said do it...if you don't then I'll..."

Shall adults be any different?

No. Adults need repetition too. And the most repeated things are usually the things God wants us to do most.

Of all the commandments in the Bible, there is one which is the most repeated. Rabbi Daniel Boggard often stumps his congregation with this one. The most repeated command isn't anything that we'd think it would be. It has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments or anything that we've ever memorized. No, the most repeated commandment concerns the alien residents among us and sounds something like this:

An alien who lives with you, or who takes up permanent residence among you, and wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord, shall do as you do. As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout all generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.(Num. 15:14-16)

The most repeated commandment is: Treat the alien resident with respect!

This may come as a shock to us given our culture's emphasis on other commandments, but God cares more for how we treat the outsider than he does for anything else! That's the commandment that he repeats over and over again. That's the one we read over and over again!

But why? Why repeat this? Why not repeat the commandment to love or the dietary laws or anything else?

Because, I believe, this is the one commandment that we ignore more than any other.

We're pretty good when it comes to loving our neighbor(as long as we can define that neighbor as the person we like). We're okay when it comes to not doing the things that destroy us(as long as we're not liking those too much either). We'll think about keeping God's name holy and worshiping only him.

But the resident alien? What?!

Think about America in the 21st century. How many God-fearing people quote all the other commandments but ignore the commandment that God gives the most times that says, "You and the alien shall be alike before the Lord?"  How often do we hear one Christian politician or another stand up to speak while showing no compassion to the illegal immigrant? How often have we seen hatred funneled to the "resident aliens" among us?

"Those illegal immigrants..." we say with disgust, as though being from another country in our country makes them somehow less than human.

God is clear "you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord." God doesn't look at our nationality. American or illegal immigrant to America are all the same to him. God doesn't care whether we speak English or not. He's doesn't say the pledge of allegiance. He doesn't salute our flag. God considers us all the same. American and Palestinian, Israeli and Saudi, Russian and German and Irish. All of us the same. There is no distinction.

If we claim to be a Christian nation, shouldn't we look to treating everyone equally, regardless of their nationality or language or creed? If we claim to follow the path God gave us, should we not look to this most repeated law of them all?

God reminds his people too why they're to treat the resident aliens this way. Later he says, "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm..."(Deut. 5:15) In other words: Remember you were just like they are once.

And we were. Each and every one of us. Few people in America can claim not to originate from somewhere else. Our country was founded on immigration and an open door policy. So...why do these immigrants now consider themselves natives? Why do we shut out and shun people who are resident aliens now just as our ancestors were?

It's time we listen and respond. It's time to listen to what God is repeating to us over and over again. It's time to give the grace that has been given us. Let the Holy Spirit change our minds individually. Let him change our perspective on things and together, the mind of our country can be changed too.

God, we are all of us pilgrims on earth. Give us grace that we might see and love our fellow pilgrims whomever they might be. Amen.

While We Wait...

"After you come into the land to which I am bringing you..." Numbers 15:17

While We Wait...
By Rev. William Dohle

Waiting...is not my favorite thing in the world to do. Of all the gifts of the spirit(Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control), I find myself praying for patience most often. Usually my prayer is...

"Lord, give me patience RIGHT NOW!"

Waiting patiently doesn't come naturally to us today. In our world of instantaneous communication and instant messages, we abhor waiting. Think about the last text message you sent where you actually had to wait. Were you thinking to yourself... "Where are they?! What's taking so long to respond!?"  Sometimes I do.

Waiting is hard in the short-run. Imagine waiting for years. Worse than that, imagine waiting for a generation!  40 years to be exact!

That's how long the people of Israel were instructed to wait before entering into the Promised Land.  When God told them "...none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness...shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors..."(Numbers 14:22)  he was telling them that there's going to be a VERY long wait before the promise comes.

So...what do the people do? They start dreaming with God of what that day will be like.

"When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, and you make an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or from the flock..."(Numbers 15:1-2)

Now you might read this verse and those after it and think, "How boring! It's just more laws!" But these are no simple laws. They're dreams. Dreams of what the world will be like, not for them, but for their descendants! Remember, nobody who is hearing this will be alive to see the promised land. It's out of their reach. But that doesn't mean they can't dream!

And dream they do. Twice God says, "After you come into the land to which I am bringing you..." and twice God dreams with them what that day will be like.

What dreams do you have for the future? And are they out of your grasp?

There's a story about a man who was a stonemason at one of the great cathedrals in Europe. The cathedrals themselves took almost a generation to complete. Many of the workers who began the work never saw it to completion. This stonemason was asked once what he was building. He said, "A great cathedral. Can't you see it!?" He never lived to see the cathedral completed, but he could dream of what it would look like.

We too have promised lands beyond our reach. They are places and times that we'll never physically see. What will the world be like in 2100? What do we want it to look like? We may not be alive to see it, but that doesn't mean we can't dream of it. The seeds we plant today, the dreams and the plans we make, will be ripe then. Just as the people of Israel did as they waited to enter the promised land, we too can dream of the future, put down foundations for it today, and trust God with the rest.

For the God who brought us to the border of the Promise Land will see the next generation into it and beyond.

God of Promise and Dreams, we exist in just a tiny fraction of time and space. Give us vision to look beyond ourselves and to dream of what is to come. Amen.

Would You Intercede??

"But Moses said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear..." Numbers 14:13

Would You Intercede...Again?!
By Rev. William Dohle

If God took you aside and told you he was going to destroy America but save you and your family...what would you do??

Would you go along with God's plan? (After all, he is God after all!)
Would you negotiate with God? (Come on, God, do I have to bring ALL my family?)
Or... perhaps... just perhaps now...
Would you argue with God to save the whole lot of them??

And if God came to you a second time? Would you do the same? Would you have the guts to stand up to God if God made the same offer again? Or as many times as God offered it to you?

That's what happened to Moses...in the middle of the desert in fact!  The people of Israel have complained one too many times and God is sick of it! God offers Moses a way out. God will destroy the people and raise up Moses as a new nation.

God's already made the offer once. The first time was at Sinai when the people made the Golden Calf and began worshiping it instead of God. There God's anger rained down upon them...but Moses intervened.

Now in the wilderness, the same thing happens. Here God appears in front of the tent of meeting and tells Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."(Num. 14:11-12)

Now what would you say to that?  Yes?  Go ahead, God? Maybe I was wrong to save them on the Mountain, God? Let's talk details, God, about this nation you're going to make of me?

I know many Christians in our world who would shake the dust off their feet, wash their hands of the whole mess, and say, "Go for it, God! I've been waiting for you to intervene like this for awhile!" Maybe not the first time God offers, but certainly the second time. I admit, I too have been tempted to wash my hands of the mess of the community of faith before. When people fight, when arguments arise, and when we wonder where God is in the messiness of life, then we too may want to give up.

But Moses doesn't. Moses, the righteous man of God, shows us what righteous men and women do. What do the righteous do? They stand up for the people, even against God himself! Even when the people are complaining against you and abusing you, Moses still stands up for them. Moses does it in two ways. First...he appeals to God's self-image.

"Now if you kill this people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will say, 'It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness."(Num. 14:15)

What is Moses saying here? "What will they say about you in Egypt? What kind of God are you showing yourself to be?" In other words, Moses is appealing to who God wants to be. But who is that, you ask? Who is God? Well... Moses needs to remind God here of who God is too.

"And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying, 'The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression...Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt until now.'"(Num. 14:18-19)

Reminding God of who God is, Moses appeals to the promises God has made. Promises on which he and the people stand. These promises tell them that God is not a God of wrath and anger, a God who strikes out at people for no good reason, but this God is a God who forgives, who is slow to anger and has steadfast love and faithfulness. This God is ready to relinquish in punishing. This God is good!

If we believe in this God, if we truly believe that God is this good, than we are not compelled to do the same? Are we not compelled to appeal to God on our people's behalf and intercede for them?

In our world today, we are polarized. Republicans against Democrats against Libertarians against Catholics against Protestants against Muslims against Jews against Palestinians against...ahh! The list goes on and on. Jump on Facebook sometime and read how many polarizing shares you get. People so desperately want us to agree with them too. "Share if you love Jesus..."... "Like if you think like I do..."..."Share and Like if you hate Obama!" Many of these posts and much of the media that is produced, isn't loving or forgiving the other side. It is mean and bitter and cruel, especially to those we disagree with.

What if we took a cue from Moses here? Instead of condemning the world, why not intercede on its behalf? God is good and gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...and everything he promises to be. Shouldn't we, God's followers, be the same?

God of life, give us boldness to stand up, even to you, just as Moses did, for your people. Give us hearts of grace that we may give ourselves this way, even as Jesus did for us. Amen.

Can We Do...anything?

Wadi Kadesh...this is where the people would have camped.

Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies."  Number 14:42

Can We Do...Anything?
By Rev. William Dohle

Is there anything you CAN'T do??

I remember in high school, on occasion, we were summoned to the auditorium and there, in front of everyone who came to the assembly, a speaker would come at us with words of motivation.

"There isn't anything you can't do..." they'd say.
"If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything..."

Such speakers were often quoted at graduation time.  "The world is ours!" our valedictorian said.  "All we have to do is claim it!"

As an adult, there are other motivational speakers who seem just as wise as they were in high school.  Like Pastor Joel Osteen who declares in one of his sermons, "...if you're going to tap into that hidden treasure you've gotta go where you haven't been before."

But are they right?  Is there really no limit to what you can do if you put your mind to it? 

The people of Israel struggled with this very question in the book of Numbers.  Here, at the Jordan river, they faced a choice... to believe Joshua and Caleb's report and enter into the promised land confident in God's presence or to believe the other spies who discouraged them.  A hard choice to be sure.  One way promised them temporal safety.  The other promised risk...and reward.  Which way would the people choose?

The people chose to believe...the other spies, mocking Joshua and Caleb for their report.  God couldn't do that!  Why would God have brought them into the wilderness to die!  Then they had the nerve to complain about what God had done to get them there in the first place.

What gall, huh?

So... God tells them what will happen.  "As I live, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and of all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, not one of you shall come into the land in which I swore to settle you..."(Num 14:28-30)

Is this harsh?  Or punishing?  Is God being too mean?

No...not really.  You see, just previously, the people had said that God would leave them in the desert to die.  What God is doing is fulfilling their own prophecy.

"Fine...you want to die in the wilderness?  Be my guest!  I'm in no hurry.  I'll fulfill my promises to your children instead."

You see God knows what the motivational speakers are hinting at.  In some cases, we decide.  We decide what will happen to us.  In our minds, we erupt some crazy scheme or plot or plan.  We prophecy to ourselves...and then make that prophecy happen.

That's what the people did.  They said God would leave them...and God left them.  They said they'd be defeated by the Canaanites and, guess what?  They were defeated by them!  God left them to their own devices.  God let their self-fulfilling prophecies, fulfill themselves.

That's why Moses tells them, "Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you!"

And the other reason Moses says "No"?  Moses says, "because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you."

Once again, consequences follow our actions.  BECAUSE you have not listened to God, God isn't listening to you.

So...can we really do anything if we put our minds to it?

I admit, I believe our positive attitude does help our lives.  In my life, I have found self-fulfilling prophecy to be a scary thing.  God used it to drive me to become the pastor I am today.  Seeds of my ministry were sown back when I was in grade school at Vacation Bible School.  God used self-fulfilling prophecy to bring me to this congregation and to a city that I've always dreamed about.  "I wish I could live in a place..." became reality with God.

Our attitudes can also harm us too.  "They're going to get mad..." I've thought or said...and I've learned those thoughts can actually sour the mood between you and someone else.  Thinking "They're probably not going to like this..." doesn't help you get a good response out of people.

Staying positive and believing can help you in any situation.  But we can't really "do anything."

No amount of positive thinking is going to change your spouse...or cure your cancer...or make you immortal and invincible.  I can think I can fly all I like and believe it in my heart, but that doesn't mean it will be true!

And following God and staying positive doesn't mean bad things aren't going to happen to you either.  It doesn't mean you'll always triumph and succeed with this formula.  Even Moses, with his unshakable faith, didn't live to see the promises of God fulfilled.

Instead in every and any situation we must trust.  Trust that God has our back, our front, and is along side us too.  Trust in God's promises.  Stay positive...and then let life come!  Life might be rough before we die, but we have a God who doesn't leave us behind, but instead calls us forward into the future whatever that future might bring.

Blessed are you, Lord God, king of the universe, for you have called us to follow and obey, to trust, hope, and live in your promises of grace.  Give us confidence and boldness that, even when faced with crazy decisions, we may stand out as people of faith, confident in you.  Amen.