Listening for the Trumpet

"Make two silver trumpets...and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp."  Number 10:2

Listening for the Trumpet
By Rev. William Dohle

I don't know what it is about the trumpet that attracts my family to it, but, as of now, we have two trumpet players in my family.

My brother, Samuel, is by far the best trumpet player in my family.  He took up the trumpet in Jr. High when my mother informed all of us kids that we were going to choose an instrument to play.  He chose the trumpet.  He played it in marching band and even after.  In fact, to this day, my brother still gives trumpet lessons, though he hasn't really found another "group" to play with in awhile.

My son, Matthew, also chose the trumpet when we asked what he wanted to play.  He's less enthusiastic about it than Samuel is, but still does a very good job with it.  I'm so proud of him sitting in the chair, ready to play!

Of course trumpets have taken on a different role in our world than they had in the time of the Exodus.  In the book of Numbers trumpets weren't used primarily to play music.  At least that's not why God instructed his people to make them.  Trumpets were made to gather people together.  To bring them out of their individual lives and unite them in a communal life.

When both are blown, the whole congregation shall assemble before you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.  But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall assemble before you.

These trumpets was a way to rally the people together.  To unite them.  Imagine going about your day in your own tent when you head the trumpet blown.  Not one trumpet, but two.  In the days before loud speakers, this would have been an important tool to have.

Not only do these trumpets rally the people together for meetings, but at other times too.

When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the lord your God and be saved from your enemies.  Also on your days of rejoicing, at your appointed festivals, and at the beginnings of the months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over your sacrifices of well-being; they shall serve as a reminder on your behalf before the Lord your God. (10:9-10)

Notice who also is listening for the trumpets?  It's not just the people.  It's God too!  The people "will be remembered before the Lord your God" during war time, so they may be saved.  And during festivals they shall serve "as a reminder on your behalf."  These trumpets call the community together, not just among its human participants, but also with God too.

Communities of faith gather together today in much the same way as they did back during the Exodus.  As congregations and communities, people of faith gather, either on Sunday morning for Christians or on Friday for Jews and Muslims.  And we gather with the sound of music.  At the church I currently serve, we have a tall bell tower that rings before services each Sunday, reminding people in our neighborhood that the people of St. Paul are beginning to worship the Lord.  In Muslim countries, the sound of chanting can be heard throughout the day as Muslims are encouraged to stop what they're doing and pray.

Music is important to gather people together.

Still, I wonder sometimes how much we pay attention to that sound.  How busy are we with our own lives?  Do we even hear the trumpets sounding overhead?

I wonder what Israel would have been like if, after the trumpets had been sounded, everyone just continued doing exactly what they were doing before.  Nobody really cared about anyone else, just their own tribe and family.  They peeked up from their cell phones and nodded, or perhaps they didn't even blink as the trumpets blared overhead.  How far would the people have journeyed through the wilderness then?

Not far at all.

We too need to stop what we're doing and pay attention sometimes.  God's trumpets are sounding still.  God still calls people of faith together.  Are we too busy to listen and respond?  Or will we take the time, stop what we're doing in our lives, and join the crowd that has gathered to worship and work for God's kingdom?

It's our choice.  The trumpet still sounds.  Won't you join us in the courtyard?

Gather us, O Lord, into your sacred community that together we might work to further your kingdom.  Amen.