The Party-Driven God!

"Do not be dejected and sad. For the joy of the Lord is your strength!"
Nehemiah 8:10

The Party-Driven God!
By Rev. William Dohle

How does your family celebrate the holidays??

Last night at our Couples Group at St. Paul, a group of us discussed how each of our families celebrated the holidays. It was really cool to hear the differences.

Some people traveled all over the place for the holidays. Their Christmas season consisted of going here and there and everywhere!

Some people stayed at home(my wife and I were among them). Because of distance, we chose to spend the holidays with family that was nearby. We really didn't have the traveling problems that the rest did.

Some people had lots and lots of traditions.

Some people had few.

Some were deciding on how much to decorate.

Some had already decorated.

The Christmas holiday is great for Christians, I think, in that we have so many different ways to celebrate.

But what is the right way? Or is there? Is there a right way to celebrate the holidays? Is there a way ordained by God?

You might be surprised, but the Christmas holiday isn't mentioned in the Bible. Not once. The disciples never celebrated Jesus birthday and if they had, they would have celebrated in the fall and not in the winter. There is a lot of history behind Christmas, why Christians celebrate it in winter and what the significance the 25th of December is. (Spoiler alert: It has to do with a pagan goddess who is said to have been born on the 25th. The Christians just subsumed an ancient Roman tradition.).

So with no guidance from scripture, are holidays important? Is it right to set aside one day apart from all the others?

The answer to this is a resounding: Yes! Holidays are important!

In the book of Numbers, for instance, God commands his people to celebrate certain holidays. Here's a list of holidays that Israel is commanded in Numbers to celebrate:

• The Sabbath(or Shabbat). This is a weekly holiday. Why? God figures we need a chance to rest each week from all our labors. God rested in creation and God commands his people to do the same.
• The Feast of Trumpets (Or Rosh Hashanna). This celebration takes place in September and is the Jewish New Year. If you have a chance to attend services at a synagogue on this day, I highly recommend it. It's a powerful testimony to the greatness of God! Plus it's a lot of fun!
• The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur... This is the day when the people atone from their sin. More than 24 hours of total fasting and praying occurs on this day. Traditionally, it is said that at the close of Yom Kippur, God makes his final decision on each persons fate for the year and records it in the Book of Judgment.
• The Feast of Tabernacles(or Succot) : Just 5 days from Yom Kippur comes Succot. During this holiday, Jews dwell outdoors in a booth. Tents are erected outside homes and synagogues and Jews are encouraged to eat the first meal of their holiday in it.
• Passover (or Pesach) : This commemorates God's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. For seven or eight days, Jews eat Matzah(unleavened bread) and abstain from foods containing leaven. Modern Jews celebrate this with feasts called Seders which recount the story of the exodus.
• Feast of Weeks (or Shavuot). This celebrates the giving of the Torah. It takes place approximately 50 days after Passover. It's also called, in Greek, Pentecost.

There are other holidays that Jews celebrate. These are just the ones mentioned in the book of Numbers.

Probably the coolest part of learning about this holidays is simple. These are the holidays Jesus and his disciples celebrated! Jesus never celebrated Christmas. Never said "Merry Christmas" or put up a Christmas tree. Jesus never celebrated Easter or any of the other holidays we celebrate today. Jesus celebrated these ancient holidays, celebrated still by the Jewish people today.

But even these holidays and their celebrations have changed over time. With the Temple gone, none of the sacrifices commanded can be fulfilled. The ways of celebrating even these holidays have changed. But the spirit remains.

And as Christians begin to enter into the seasons of our holidays, where Advent is followed by Christmas which will be followed, two months later, by Lent and Easter, we too may find inspiration in these holidays. For God isn't a God who disdains our celebrations but one who celebrates with us. God is the one who invites the homeless and the outcast and the widow and those without a family and friends to come to the table to celebrate and party. For God loves a good party and God wants even those we've cast out at the table with Him.

Give us joy, God, as we celebrate while, at the same time, opening our eyes to see and welcome those hanging out at the edges of our celebrations. Amen.

A Direct Connection

"...at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the Israelites with him, the whole congregation." Numbers 29:21

Connecting with God
By Rev. William Dohle

Sometimes I wish I could sit down with God, face to face, and talk with him. Don't you? To know what God knows and understand what God understands. That would be awesome!

I know it's impossible. A mere mortal talking to the divine. Such a feat wasn't even possible for Moses who is said to have spoken personally with God. Moses caught God's backside, not his face.

But sometimes when I'm praying it'd be nice to have a direct answer instead of an inferred one. Sometimes I'd just like someone to talk to, face to face. To know what God thinks right then.

As Moses retires from being the leader of the Israelites, the people lose this direct communication. They lose a face to face interaction with the divine.

Earlier in the Exodus and throughout the wilderness, whenever Moses needed an answer, Moses would "inquire of the Lord" and the Lord would meet Moses in the tent of meeting. From the burning bush through the encounter at Sinai, God had always spoken and interacted with Moses directly. In the wilderness, at the tent of meeting, Moses would hear what God had to say and then pass that onto the people. It was as direct of a connection as anyone ever had.

But after Moses retires, that direct connection stops. God doesn't establish that direct line with anyone else. Instead, Joshua son of Nun is instructed to hear God's word through the Urim.

"But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the decision of the Urim before the Lord." (Num 27:21).

What is the Urim, you ask. It's a divination tool, used to discern the will of the Lord. In a way, it's an ancient Magic 8 ball. The priest inquires of the Lord and consults the Urim and the Urim reveals the will of God.

Quite a difference from the face to face interaction the people had in the wilderness, huh?

So why would God change the way he interacted with his people? Why would the people suddenly start communicating with him via a Magic 8 ball tool?

As you read the Scriptures from the start all the way through, the way God communicates changes. In the beginning, God is walking in the garden, creating things with God's voice, and hovering visably over everything. In the Exodus, God does great deeds of power and leads his people out with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

But then, starting here, God takes a step backward. God starts communicating through Prophets and priests who receive God's Word via tradition and vision.

So why the transformation from direct conversation to indirect? What's going on here?

Perhaps God was expanding the ways he would communicate with his people. Instead of relying upon the word of one person(a person whose word may be fallible) his people would have to discern for themselves what God's will was. Perhaps he was helping his people infer what to do. Or perhaps God was preparing the people for incarnation, where God would reside not in a tent or a temple but body of one man, Jesus, and thus in the hearts and lives of all.

For whatever the reason, we see the results of that decision today. For, listening closely, we can hear God incarnate in the world around us.

Ever see a sign on the road that gave you the answer you were seeking? That's God.
Ever hear a song on the radio that said exactly what you needed to hear? That's God too!
Ever get a phone call at just the right time from just the right person about an issue that had bothered you? That's God too!
Ever been hugged and feel the love and care of another human being...that's God.
Ever been told by someone you're worth something to them...that's God too!

In fact, Joshua's Urim reminds us that God may not speak audibly to us. But God still interacts with us and through us.

We are the messengers of God. We are God's angels on earth. We are the ones through whom God will speak and act in this world. We are!
We are the answers to someone else's prayers just as they are the answer to ours.
We are the answer we are seeking, the whisper in the dark, the voice that we long for.

We are the answer because of this event. Because God decided instead of communicating to one man to become incarnate, first in the Urim and then in Jesus and now, through the Holy Spirit, in us.

Speak to me and through me, God, that your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Unforgivable Sin or Natural Consequence??

"...you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." Numbers 27:14

Unforgivable Sin or Natural Consequence??
By Rev. William Dohle

Have you ever done something so bad that someone else couldn't even be in the same room with you? Something so terrible that whenever they were around you, they avoided you, looked away from you, and, at times, ran the other way?

I have. Or at least I've got this reaction from people. I've been avoided, ignored, looked past, and made to feel like nothing. What I did to them is a mystery. I honestly can't remember the offense. But, still, I have been treated as if I have committed the unforgivable sin.

Sins are strange when you think about them. We talk about forgiveness a lot, especially as Christians. We speak about the power of God's forgiveness to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and help us live a holy life. We confess our sins on Sunday. Hear God's words of forgiveness. And then we leave it there, believing that God will forgive and forget.

We believe God forgives. But when it comes to forgiving others...that's where we struggle. We have a hard time letting go of what others do to us. So we cling to that sin. We hold onto it. We use it against our neighbor whenever we have a chance. All the while claiming we've forgiven them and moved on.

What is it about us that we can't let go of what is done to us? What about us makes us cling to the sins of others, allowing them to color our impression of them and their families?

Do others truly commit unforgivable sins against us? Do we really need others to apologize before we'll forgive them? Or is our actions just the natural consequence of their actions? Maybe it has nothing to do with forgiveness at all. Maybe the natural consequences of them harming us in us avoiding and leaving them. Maybe its as natural of a consequence as failing is when we've ignored our school work. It's just what happens when someone sins.

Moses on the mountain as he's looking over the promised land which he will never enter, is presented with what seems to be the consequences of his action at Meribah. Or maybe its the price he pays for an unforgivable sin. For whatever reason, Moses there is told the reason why he's being held back. God says:

"After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.). (Numbers 27:13-14)

Now I've read the story of Moses at the waters in the Desert of Zin and it doesn't seem Moses did anything so wrong there. Yes, he disobeyed the literal words of God. Yes, he struck the stone instead of speaking to it. But maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he didn't mean to do it. Maybe he was so burned out and frustrated with everything that was happening that he just had to lash out. It happens...right?

And what about all the years that Moses did exactly what God wanted him to do. I mean he didn't want to go in the first place. And he went. He didn't want to love and care for the people but he did. What about all the positive things Moses did beside this one negative thing? They must count for something.

And isn't God a God of forgiveness and mercy anyway? "Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and ready to relent in punishing."?? Isn't that who God is??

So why is Moses being burdened with this crazy sin? Why at the end of his journey does he get held back because of this??

I really can't say. Maybe not entering the promised land is a natural consequence of disobeying God at  the waters of Meribah. Maybe God isn't quite as forgiving as we think he is. Maybe Moses did indeed commit the unforgivable sin.

I can't wrap my head around this story. But I do know this. I believe in the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness starts with God. God has forgiven us. I believe, despite what this story may suggest, that God is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." And God is ready to forgive at a moment's notice.

As a Christian I see that forgiveness in Jesus and the way Jesus forgives others. I see through Jesus that same forgiveness in God and I believe that in Jesus we experience the full forgiveness of sins.

And I am challenged to be better than even God in this story. To truly forgive others and let them into my heart, into my promised land, even when they have committed an unforgivable sin.

Maybe that's the point of this after all. To challenge us with the limits we place on our own forgiveness. Natural consequence or unforgivable sin, we've gotta let go!

Help me to forgive my neighbors and mean it, reflecting that forgiveness in what I say and do around them. Amen.

It's not just your job!

"May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd." (Num. 27:15-17)

It's not just your job!
By Rev. William Dohle

I love to garden. I really do. In Montana, we had a good size garden full of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and even some really large pumpkins. We had raspberries and some strawberries too. Every year we'd go out and plant what we could, water it as we would, weed, and finally take in the harvest. It was a nice sized garden. Not too big and not too small.

I love to garden. But I can't imagine gardening this much. I can't imagine picking all these strawberries in the field above by myself. I can't even comprehend how much work is involved.

Gardening is great...but farming needs help. It needs people to come in on shifts, to pick the strawberries one person misses and strip the plants of their fruit. It needs more than one person at a time to work and more than one shift to get the job finished. In the end, to finish the job right, it needs a steady stream of leaders and workers.

The job of ministering to the world is the same.

I am a minister in the world. I serve a congregation of Lutherans in Peoria, Illinois. My job, though, was here before I arrived and will be here long after I am gone. My job was ably done by Pastor Tuhy and Pastor Borcherding and by other pastors before them. They shepherded the people I pastor now.

Someday my job will be passed on to another who will have the privilege of walking with these people too. Thus is the legacy of ministry and of any job. This isn't my ministry. It's God's. And I am but one worker in a line of workers.

It's not just my job.

This is what I think Moses realized too as he gazes over the land on the mountain in the Abarim range. The Torah tells us that he was gathered to his people, like Aaron was, because "both of you disobeyed me to honor me as holy before their eyes."(Num 27:14). You might think that Moses is mad at God for doing this. Or if not mad than a little sad.

But I think Moses is glad to be done with leading the people of Israel. I think he's ready to pass the mantle onto another.

After all the stress that came from leaving Egypt to all the complaints in the desert to countless times the people rebelled and had to be dealt with. All of this still weighs onto Moses, I think. And I think he's ready to be done with it. Ready to say "It's not just MY job anymore."

God, who is gracious to us, helps us do the same thing Moses did. When our time comes, God helps us pass on the leadership to the next generation and move on. God helps us let go as others take leadership of the group that WE use to lead. God strengthens us for whatever our next task is. And God gives us vision to see how our work fits in with the larger picture.

I think Moses saw what was ahead on that mountaintop. Gazing down at his people one last time peering back at their past and forward into their future, Moses saw what God had done through his hands.

And I think it made him smile.

Give us vision, Lord, that we may see our place as one piece in the puzzle of Life. Amen.

Evening the Scales

"But let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream." Amos 5:24

Evening the Scales
By Rev. William Dohle

There's a game we use to play in science class in school. One that I always found fascinating.

You take a scientific scale, one that has
a metal plate on either side suspended over a rod. On one side you put something heavy. Say a rock or a piece of metal. On the other side you place on it the various weights and you see how many weights measure up to your heavy thing. If one large weight and eight small ones balanced the scales, you can measure how much the heavy rock weighs. Evening out the scales was a simple way to measure the weight of a particular object.

Scales operate on balance. One side must equal the other. In society we call that justice. On one side are the needs, desires, wants, and arguments of one person or group of people. On the other side are the needs, desires, wants, and arguments of another. The goal of justice is to balance them out, never giving more weight to one than the other.

Ideally it works perfectly the first time, but sometimes weight must be added to one side in order to balance the scale out. One person or people must be favored in order that justice will prevail.

We see this kind of justice played out in the 27th chapter of Numbers where the daughters of Zelophehad (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) are given their father's inheritance after their father dies.

Now a few questions come to mind here...
#1. Why is THEIR story told? After all there must have been countless others who had questions about their inheritance after their parent died. Why is their story told?
#2. Why are they named? Why is THIS story so important? It seems odd that each and every one of them are named, doesn't it? Especially since they don't appear anywhere else in the Bible.

We may answer both of these questions with our scale of justice.

At Moses' time, a woman's status didn't matter. Not really. In a society centered around the son, where the firstborn son inherits everything, women really didn't matter much. If they had had a brother still living, their weight couldn't compare to that of his. With no brother, the lack of justice here was apparent.

Their story may have been dismissed in such a society. But it isn't. Instead it's brought before God and God rules in their favor. Their story matters to God! They matter a whole lot! And God puts God's own weight behind them to balance out the scales and provide justice.

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father's brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them."(v. 7)

God puts God's weight on their side. Justice is served. And justice, in this case, favoring Zelophehad's daughters because Zelophehad's daughters matter!

In the United States, the question of which lives matter has come up. In the wake of racial violence in Ferguson and throughout the country, some have said...

Black Lives Matter!

Pointing to white privilege and an injustice inherent in our system, they have lent their weight to the black community in America. In an effort to balance the scales, they favor focusing on the black community. At the same time another voice has countered that voice...

No... All Lives Matter!

They argue that no life matters more than another. That we shouldn't pick one minority or another. That we should lift up all lives as mattering equally. That the scales of justice are already equal.

The problem with this second argument is that its countered by the facts. All lives don't matter equally right now. They just don't. It's not a matter of favoring one group over another, its a matter of recognizing that injustice is being done and the only way we can do justice is by lending more weight to the minority.

Black lives haven't mattered as much. They just haven't. Think about how much American history centers around white Europeans. How many notable black Americans living before the Civil War can you name off the top of your head? They were there! But they've been forgotten. Think about how many white Europeans are read in English class. Think about how many white scientists are celebrated.

If black lives matter as much as white European lives do, then why aren't they better represented in our culture and what our culture teaches?

Black lives haven't mattered to most Americans. And neither have other minorities. At the same time as we speak on behalf of the African-American community, we must recognize that other minorities haven't mattered either. Hispanics, Native Americans, Jews, Muslims. We don't know their unique histories or their contributions to our society. We don't study their culture. We ask them to assimilate into mainstream American life, forgetting that that mainstream America is centered on the white, European story. They don't matter as unique people. Not really.

A year ago or so, I took a two-year class on Jewish history. I was amazed! So many things I never even knew about. Why don't we teach Jewish history as a part of our history? Why don't we study their migration into Spain, their expulsion, the rise of Polish Jewry, and what led to the Holocaust. It could all be one unit even. And we can do the same for other minority cultures too especially including the black community without which we wouldn't be the country we are today.

Black lives matter because they need to matter. The scales need to be balanced. If justice is to flow like a flowing river and righteousness like an ever present stream, than the story of the white European has to diminish so that their story may be told. And once their story is told and their lives matter more, then the story of other minorities, the Hispanic, Native American, Jewish, Muslim, and other neighbors can be raised up as well.

And finally...finally we might live in a just society.

God of Justice, let the scales of our world be made equal. Diminish the majority so that the minority can speak and be heard, that all may find peace in this life and forever. Amen.

According to Plan or Rolling with the Punches??

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father's brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them." Numbers 27:6-7

According to Plan or Rolling with the Punches??
By Rev. William Dohle

Four weeks or so before we left on our big vacation this summer, we sat down to make a plan.

We needed to know where we would stay and how much we'd need to bring. We decided to stop in Amarillo, Texas. We decided to stay in Ontario, California when we traveled there. We already had our reservations for Disneyland thanks to my parents. And we decided to stop in Lincoln, Nebraska on the way home.

For the most part, everything went according to plan. We had no unexpected stops or bumps in the road. Besides a rainstorm that God saw us through, the roads were great!

That hasn't always happened that way. One trip we took out to Utah from Colorado turned into a nightmare! We were traveling to a friend's wedding. There was a massive blizzard in Wyoming, so bad that you couldn't see the road in front of you. I was drifting off the road, both from exhaustion and from the snow. We stopped at the worst motel we've ever stopped in and prayed we could get out the next morning. Thankfully we did and we made it to Utah, just twelve hours before the rehearsal! It was a mess!

Plans have a way of doing that to you. Either they work out just as you thought they would. Or they don't and you have to roll with the punches.

God's plans work very much the same way.

Take the daughters of Zelophehad in the book of Numbers. Zelophedad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clan. He planned on having a son to pass down his inheritance to as well. Unfortunately he only had daughters. Five of them in fact. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Now in his journey across the wilderness to get to the Promised Land, Zelophehad died. He didn't plan to die. He just did. And he died leaving no sons to carry on his name.

Now this is a problem for ancient Israelites. After all, the SON takes the name of the father and inherits all the father's estate. (We have this same thing happen in America as daughters take the last name of their husbands). But he had all daughters. He didn't plan on having all daughters. He didn't plan to die. It just happened.

So the daughters go to Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, and say: "Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no son. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers."(Numbers 27:3-4)

Now what should Moses do?  They hadn't planned for this to happen. They planned on every family having at least one son to pass the family surname and estate onto. This sort of thing didn't happen.

So Moses brings it to the Lord. And the Lord rolls with the punches. "The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father's brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them."

In other words... plans have changed, Moses. We've gotta roll with the punches here!

This event brings me to a curious question. Does God have rigid plans for us or does God roll with the punches??

Did God plan on Zelophehad having no daughters?
Did God plan on Zelophehad dying in the wilderness?
Did God plan on this issue being brought forward to Moses and the Israelites?

It seems to me that, despite all that we might think, God's plans aren't rigid. They;re actually pretty flexible.

And that fits what we read in the rest of Scripture. In Jeremiah, God assures his people that he still has plans for them.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jer. 29)

In the book of Romans we read about God's plans too.

"For we know that in all things God works for good of those who love him, those who he has called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

God's plans, you see, are flexible enough to roll with the punches, to take whatever comes. God doesn't plan on you losing your job...but that loss can turn into gain when you find something else in a new chapter of your life. God doesn't plan on your marriage falling apart...but the death of that relationship can lay fertile ground for other relationships. God doesn't plan on someone dying...but that doesn't stop them from being with God or their memory from living on.

God's plans are flexible. Even when ours are not.

We are like Moses, stuck in the plans we had before the unexpected. Moses did right. He went straight to God. When the unexpected happened, when these five daughters came with their request, Moses knew to go to the Flexible One, the One whose plans are that we have a hope and a future, who wants the best from us. So Moses goes there and finds a new plan and a new way of living.

Maybe we could say that God plans on death and resurrection. Things dying and something else new taking its place. He planned the world that way in nature. New things grow where the old things have died. Maybe those are his plans for all of life.

Maybe that's what "plans to prosper you...to give you a hope and a future" really mean.

The plans we think God has are just temporary details. His true plan for us is shown in Jesus Christ where through our death God gives us new life.

Give us eyes to see, God, what your plans are for us and faith to trust that, even when our plans fail, you still give us life. Amen.

A Promise Just Out of Reach

"Among these there was not one of those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had enrolled the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai." Numbers 26:64

A Promise Just Out of Reach
By Rev. William Dohle

I read something the other day that made me pause. It said:

In one hundred years from now there will be all new people!

I paused when I read it because...it's true! None of us will be around in one hundred years. None.

Those that are one or two years old today might have a chance of seeing life in 2116, but for the most part, most of us will have left this place to our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.

And that gave me pause. I'm a Futurist, you see. I enjoy peering into the future, not just in literature but in our world and our church today. If I'm not here to see the fruit of my labor, what does my labor mean? If a whole new group of people will enjoy or suffer from what I do today, what should I busy myself with then?

I wonder if this is the question the people of Israel faced wandering through the desert. God had said...

"They shall die in the wilderness. Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Dephunneh and Joshua son of Nun."(Num. 26:65)

In other words, if you were a normal Israelite slave back in Egypt and had left with Moses, if you had seen the parting of the Sea of Reeds for yourself and had witnessed all the plagues of Egypt, your eyes would not gaze upon the Promised Land. It was not for you to see. Instead, your children would enjoy what you struggled your whole life to enter.

This realization can bring a new clarity to life. I've come to realize that, in large measure, most of the things we work and struggle for today will be meaningless in a hundred years. The arguments we get into sound crazy ridiculous to people in a hundred years. The things we strive for. The shows we watch. The ways we entertain ourselves. Think about what life was like in 1916. Do you think they could have imagined the world a hundred years from them?

And yet we are called to keep our eyes always fixed on the Promised Land, whether we enter it ourselves or not. We are called the "repair our broken world", to "announce the kingdom of God", and to "strive for the prize that awaits us."

We are a people always on the edge of the Promised Land, never quite there yet. It's prize is always just out of our reach. And yet, God calls us there all the same.

May God strengthen us with patience and with courage and diligence, that we may do something productive with our lives here and now that will better the world he has given our grandchildren in the future.

Eternal God, give us eyes to see the consequences of our actions today, well past our own human horizon, that what we do today might matter to people far beyond our years. Amen.

"Are we there yet??"

They confessed they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear they are seeking a homeland...Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;' indeed he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13,14,16

"Are we there yet??"
By Rev. William Dohle

This summer my family took an epic vacation!

From July 17th through August 3rd, we traveled a total of 4000 miles! From Peoria to Amarillo for our first stop. From Amarillo to Phoenix where we spent five days baking in the Arizona sun. From Phoenix we traveled to Los Angeles, to the beaches there to meet friends and eventually my family with whom we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Then from there we traveled to Utah where we stayed in my parents trailer for three days. Then we traveled back home, stopping in Lincoln, Nebraska one night on the way back.

It was quite a trip.

I began thinking of ourselves as migrants. Travelers whose possessions fit in our van. People who lived out of their suitcases.

It was a wanderers life, to be sure!

Much like the ancient Israelites were.

The ancient Israelites in the book of Numbers were on a continual wandering adventure. Having left Egypt almost a generation ago, these people were still in the desert and still looking for their promised land. In the middle of the desert, they decide to do what bored people do. They decided to start counting themselves. How many were there? Who were the people who remained in the desert? The number in Numbers is staggering. (This is from Numbers 26).

22200 Simeonites.
40500 Gadites
76500 Judahites.
From the clans of Issachar... 64300
From the clans of the Zebulunites... 60500
From the clans of Joseph... 52700
From the Ephraimites... 32500
The Benjamites had 45600
The Shuhamites... 64400
The Asherites... 53400
The Naphtalites... 45400
Total number of Isarelites enrolled?? 601730!

And to think that all those Israelites are wandering in the desert, searching for a Promised Land! I have to say... that's a lot of wandering Israelites!!

And yet I wonder if we took count of the number of wandering souls we have around us if we wouldn't be surprised. People living around us who don't feel quite at home. Either in their own skins or in their homes or in their jobs or in the places they live. They are strangers in a strange land, still searching for home. They are modern Israelites, searching for a promised land.

I've felt like that before. Not quite at home where I am. Still searching for a Promised Land to call home. Here but not here. A resident alien in a a foreign land. I know what its like to live out of your suitcase.

The assurance I've received from reading the story of God's wanderers is this: Despite our wandering, God stays with us. Despite us moving all over the place, God knows our address. God is still there. In fact, I might argue, God enjoys the wandering lifestyle. God spent much of God's time in a tabernacle, a tent, that was easily set up and torn down. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we know how much our body can move around. God calls us to a promised land, for sure, but God spends time with us in the wildernesses of our lives as well.

In the wilderness, as we wander, the promise of home remains. The promise of grace is still with them even in the middle of the desert. Those who wander are not lost. Not to God.

So take heart. Rejoice. Count the number of people crowded around you. Count even the clouds overhead. Enjoy your time of wandering. For time spent wandering makes our homecoming all the sweeter.

Watch over, God, those who wander in body, mind, or spirit. Keep us grounded in you that, by your grace, we may find ourselves in the Promised Land, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Peer Influence

Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom; hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family. Proverbs 28:7

Peer Influence
By Rev. William Dohle

I had a friend in elementary school who I had much in common with.
We had the same likes, went to the same church, played the same games.
He would come and hang out at my house. I would hang out at his.
We had sleepovers together and rode our bikes together.
Even after we got into a fight, we remained friends.
And best of all, I thought, we were going to the same high school.

But there's where we parted.

Once we were in high school my friend started hanging out with one crowd of kids. I another.
I found the Mormon kids to be my best friends. The band my second family.
He hung out with a different crowd.
I took one set of classes. He took another.
By the end of high school, we still said hello to each other...but very little beyond that.
He went one way. I went another.

Why did my friendship with him break away?

For no other reason than because of peers.

He hung out with one group of kids. I hung out with another.

You see... our peers influence us!

Sometimes for good. Our peers can lift us up. They can make us be better people that we would be without them. They can become our lifelong friends. My friends certainly did that. I didn't get into drinking or drugs because none of them were into that. The featured drink at our parties?? Shasta! (No joke).

Sometimes our friends lift us up... But sometimes they work against us too.
Sometimes they influence us to do the wrong thing and become the type of person we shouldn't be.
Sometimes they give us bad advice and sway us away from what we should be doing.

That's what happened to the people of Israel at least just outside the Promised Land.

It says in the book of Numbers...

"While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab.   These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.  Thus Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel." (Numbers 25:1-3)

The people of Israel on their way through Moab, start cavorting with the Moabite women. They in turn invite Israel to meet their gods and the Israelites accept the invitation. Only, instead of witnessing to their own God, they bowed down to the Moabite gods.

What is the Bible saying here? What it says throughout its pages...
Be careful you you're yoked to!

This applies to the people we hang out with, the ones who "invite us" places.
But it also applies to the ones we marry. The ones we are physically yoked with.

Be careful you don't get influenced by them.

Now before we think we should lock ourselves away and only talk to, hang out with, and associate only with Christians and people just like us, let's be clear here. This story illustrates the reality that come with associating with others. You will be changed. Open yourself up to others and they will change your life.

Sometimes that change is bad. But sometimes its good. Opening yourself up to your neighbor you might discover a whole new world waiting you on the other side. You might discover that your neighbor is human and just like you. Or you might discover the differences you have. You might find ways that they can help you, but more importantly, you might find ways you can love them.

The ancient Moabites were seen as Israel's enemy here...but later God turns the world around when a Moabite woman, Ruth, becomes the grandmother of King David himself(and the great-great-great grandmother of Jesus too!)

So know yourself. Know who you are and who you worship. Be confident in your own identity. Then you can accept the invitation of the Moabites around you, loving them as Jesus would, without bowing down to their gods and idols.

God, you call us into a world filled with people different from us. Assure us of your grace. Ground us in our faith that we might love them without falling away from you. Amen.

Speaking Thru Anything

But Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me." Numbers 22:34

God: Speakin' Through Anything!
By Rev. William Dohle

Have you ever been driving in your car when a song comes on the radio that speaks directly to the situation you were thinking about?

Or you pass by a sign that seems to shout out your name?

Or a person calls who you really needed to speak to?

I have! More times than I can count!

I can't tell you how often I've been thinking or praying or talking outloud to God or myself when I hear something on the radio. I turn it up and the song's lyrics hit me in the gut. I try to get myself home, teary eyed, cause I know that God spoke to me then. Not by some almighty word from on high, but through the lyrics of a simple song.

That's how God works. And that's how God speaks. God can speak literally through anyone and anything. And he does it all the time.

One of the most humorous examples of this is found in the book of Numbers. The story is named by the event. We call it "Balaam's Donkey" and it marks the time when God spoke out of the mouth of a donkey.

Balaam, the prophet, was on his way to do Balak, King of Midian's bidding. He was going to curse the people of Israel for him. Despite being told that God can't curse a people he blesses, Balak still insists on sending Balaam to try anyway.

Balaam obeys his king and goes to curse them. Only God sends an angel to stand in his way.

Balaam is so distracted, though, he can't see what is right in front of his eyes. His donkey sees the angel, however.

"When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with the staff."

The donkey was trying to alert Balaam that God was standing in his way. But Balaam doesn't see it and blames the donkey instead. So God does what God does. He opens the mouth of the donkey.

"Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me! I wish i had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!" But the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?" And he said, "No."(22:28-30)

Notice that Balaam didn't recognize God's voice even when the donkey started speaking to him! It's only when God opens the eyes of Balaam and he sees the angel standing there that he recognizes that it was God. Then the angel says: "The donkey saw me, and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live."(22:33)

How often have we failed to recognize God's voice in the people around us? Probably more than we even know about. How often have we been so busy with our own lives that we fail to stop and appreciate the lives God has surrounded us with? How often have those people saved our skins? How often have they been truly sent from God?

We pray for open ears, open eyes, and open hearts for this reason. God is good and God surrounds us with good reminders of God's love. But we so easily get distracted. So we pray for openness. Open eyes to see the messengers of God for who they are. Open ears that we may hear the message they have to share with us. And open hearts that we might take what God is telling and showing us through them and learn from it.

Gracious God, open us up to your Word spoken all around us that we might see, hear, and experience the love you have prepared for us today. Amen.

Be Careful Who You Curse

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.”  Numbers 23:11

Be Careful Who You Curse
By Rev. William Dohle

If you can't tell...2016 is an election year! How do I know?? Well...

On every station, especially at night, we have been subject to political ads. Each ad does the exact same things. Each ad curses their rival and blesses their campaign. Without fail!

I have yet to see an ad this year that doesn't somehow compare their candidate's position with their rival candidate's, blessing theirs with wisdom, understanding, and patriotism, and cursing their rivals for their lack of the same.

And its only going to get worse.

I usually moan and groan my way through an election year and, by the end, am incredibly grateful once Thanksgiving comes around and there are Christmas commercials on television again!

But this tendency to curse your opponent and bless yourself disturbs me. For a number of reasons. One of which is found in the story of King Balak and Balaam.

You see, in typical political fashion, King Balak has watched the children of Israel come closer and closer to his own camp. He's afraid. He knows that something is different with this people. Something he can't put his finger on. He knows he's going to need help defeating them too.

And so he summons Balaam, who is the resident prophet of his area. Balaam had an interesting adventure getting to Balak, one we will speak on at a later date, but regardless of that, Balak finally arrives and tells Balak.

“Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”  Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.  Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height.(Num. 23:1-2)

But when God speaks to Balaam, these are the words he is given.

How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
    How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced? (Num. 23:8)

Balaam tries again. His second oracle, Balaam says:

See, I received a command to bless;
    he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. (Num. 23:20)

Balaam tries a third time. The same result. You cannot curse the one who God has blessed!

This rings especially true, I think, in today's toxic political climate. On more than one Facebook group, I've read pleas for no more political posts. "Let's just talk about church" as if "church" can be spoken without talking politics. Maybe in a world where we don't care what happens this side of heaven, but in a world where we do, politics will always be spoken.

Between the lines, though, I read this: "Just stop the cursing! Stop the backbiting!"

And here I would agree. Cursing another candidate does nobody any good. And if you want biblical basis for this, just look at Balak. Balak tries to curse the Israelites and it fails...why? Because God has blessed them and said that anyone who blesses them will be blessed. Anyone who curses them would be cursed.

We'd be better off talking issues and policies than people. Here there's no blessing or cursing involved. Instead, we can talk about what this kingdom of God looks like here on earth. What does it mean to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? What does it mean to treat everyone, regardless of what they believe, with respect and dignity? What does it mean to be people of faith in our world today?

These are questions we can wrestle with and argue about that don't involve blessings and curses.

We can stand up for the needy without standing against any person. We can picket and protest the policies and opinions of others without cursing them from afar. We can do it.

And as far as the rest goes, maybe we should just say what they say in basketball games: "May the best team win." For in the end, as Balak discovered:

God is not a human being, that he should lie,
    or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
    Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Num. 23:19)

May God watch over our world and help us come to the place where the world is repaired, creation restored, and where even our curses are turned into blessings.

Almighty God, you listen to our prayers, even our prayers filled with curses, and turn them into blessings. Align our hearts with yours. Amen.

Can't Manipulate God!

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

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

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

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

He doesn't like hearing "no!"

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

In life...and in prayer!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Takes Sides

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

God Takes Sides
By Rev. William Dohle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God takes sides!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Does that question matter?

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

Does that question matter?
By Rev. William Dohle

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

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

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

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

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

Is this question worth arguing about?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Does this place look familiar?

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

Does this place look familiar?
By Rev. William Dohle

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

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

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

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

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

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

Listen to how they travel...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not all who wander are lost.

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

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

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

Ordinarily Radical

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

Ordinarily Radical
By Rev. William Dohle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's radical stuff! Really radical!

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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