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.