Rabble

I mentioned a few weeks ago in my introduction to the book of Numbers a section in chapter 11 where Moses deals with the "rabble". Most versions translate this word as "the mixed multitude" and Exodus chapter 12:38 tells us that this "mixed multitude" was not Israelites but others (even Egyptians) who had blood on their doorposts and left slavery with the Israelites. We can't say ALL of these "rabblers" were non-Israelites because we see in chapter 12 that Miriam, Moses’ sister, is one of the leaders of a dissenting group.

Whatever the case, there are complainers in their midst. The Israelites are experiencing a time of uncertainty and insecurity. They are in between, in transition, and there is ambiguity between where they ARE and where God has them GOING. It is interesting to note we have not changed much through the years. Anytime we are in transition, there will always be the tendency to romanticize the past and demonize the future. In this case the rabblers say, "Remember the good old days in Egypt when we ate good food at no cost?" We laugh at this, realizing that the "cost" they paid for a life of slavery in Egypt was the lives of their children! The food in Egypt was ultra-expensive...yet the rabblers manage to convince themselves that somehow the past represents the good old days.

I am quick to blame them, but then I realize that too often I begin to act that way. I romanticize the past sometimes because I am afraid of the ambiguity of where I am going. We all are capable of whipping up a frenzy or worry and dread for the future, and a common cure for that is to imagine that the past was a whole lot better than it actually was. That's why serving a God who points us forward on a journey to a promised land that he has prepared is an exciting adventure.

Certainly we all see a little of ourselves in the rabble. I rabble sometimes in my marriage, in my job, in my family and in my church. It’s encouraging to see a story where God's faithfulness and goodness leads, and how Moses, the great leader that he is, deals with the rabble.

Mark

Nazirite Vow

None of us like to be different or stand out. Well, at least in most cases we don’t. The average person does all he or she can to blend in. We dress the same and watch for “trends” so we match others. We conform to norms in hairstyles or clothes or cars or whatever. It’s one of the great criticisms that outsiders make of our culture…there is pressure to all look the same. If you don’t believe it, talk to someone from the goth community (ask Steven Stratton what that is), and they will tell you what happens when you don’t “conform” to what society expects.

Numbers chapter six talks about the Nazirite vow. The word Nazar in Ancient Hebrew meant “separate” or “set apart”. The goal of the vow was to look different and act different as a way of showing that the person who took the vow belonged to God. Those taking the vow would not cut their hair for a specified period of time (often years), not drink any wine (the common drink of all households and any meal), and never touch any dead thing. You can imagine how hard that might be if your mother or father or child died and you could not even come near the body. It was a serious commitment. Two of the prerequisites were about staying away from death and one was about life and growth.

There are some famous Biblical characters who took these vows. Samson is the most famous, though it must have been a modified version with all the Phillistines he killed! Samuel also took the vow; in fact, his mother took it for him. Many scholars believe that John the Baptist took some version of a Nazirite vow.

I wonder what it would look like today in our culture. (Since I have already mentioned one Stratton, I won’t suggest that Phil has taken one with his newest hairstyle;-) What would it take for us to stand out? The vows were only taken for a time, a period that had a beginning and end. It was sort of like a sprint for a runner…the vows were so strenuous that they were not meant to be kept up for long periods.

Today we will talk about being set apart, and how we can perhaps take similar vows to give glory to God.

Mark

Given, Poured out for You . . .

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Luke 22: 14-20

Following By Numbers

Remember those paint by numbers things we all did as kids? You follow the numbers and paint in that small area whatever color is requested. At first it looks crazy...then it all starts to make sense and turn into an impressive picture. Well, the book of Numbers is sort of like that. It contains some boring, historical facts, but when you get farther along and then back off and look at the whole picture, it’s pretty amazing to see the picture take shape.

Over the course of the fall and into December, we will be talking about following God. Our text will be the Exodus narrative and the stories that are found there. We won't stop reading in Exodus, but we'll use it as a way to look at the book of Numbers as God counts those who are found to be his people. Sound boring? Well, I have to admit, the book of Numbers does not usually come to my mind when I think about exciting reading. If so, just wait till we get a few of the numbers painted in and it won’t be.

As Christ-followers, our interest is in following God. We want to be His people, to go where He would have us go, to serve where He would want us to serve. One way to learn about that process is to look at those who have gone before us. If we look at their failures and successes, we can begin to construct a reference database for the future. We can form a lessons learned course for ourselves, a study in best practices. I'm using all this corporate language knowing that most of you sit in jobs all week where such language is the norm. The military in particular loves to construct lessons learned manuals so they can guide future teams who encounter problems and hopefully help them avoid mistakes of the past.

In many ways that’s what we have in Exodus and Numbers: an amazingly detailed history of God's people and their attempts to follow him. It shows the failures and successes of their leaders. It shows the failures and successes of everyday people. It shows those who were counted among the faithful at the end of a very long and trying ordeal.

More than anything, though, it shows the faithfulness of God. And since we have the amazing benefit of being able to read all of it with Christ-colored glasses, we can see God's amazing hand in these stories in a way that the people of Israel could not.

Mark

Is Your Child Ready for School?

You’ve been in the long lines at Staples, WalMart, or Target to get the items on the supply list. Wondered how he could grow so fast over a few months as you renewed his wardrobe at Kohls. You helped her find her room at open house. You’ve gotten the piles of paperwork nearly complete and even now warm up your signing arm for the reams coming in the Friday folder! All this, though, is just a small part of preparing your child to start another school year. There are great teachers, great programs, and wonderful experiences ahead this year in school, but, especially if your child attends public school (as mine will), there is a need for further preparation. How might you and I answer the following questions?

Does your child deeply understand his incredible value as one who is created in the image of God? Does she believe God loves her enough to have given His son?

Can your child discern between fact and fiction when the world says one thing and faith proclaims another?Could your child share why she believes what she believes?

Is he ready and willing to stand firm against peer pressure? Does he understand that being different as he follows Christ, not conforming to the world, is a good thing?

Does your child have ample opportunity to meaningfully read scripture or have it read to her? To pray for teachers, classmates, family, and friends?

Will your child come to you first with his questions no matter what the topic, knowing he will get straight answers?

Can your child count on following you as you follow Christ?

CTL

Show Children The Way

The mall wasn’t that crowded this particular Saturday. Aaron had no problem getting his favorite carousel animal—the zebra. Samuel helped him into the saddle as he had done many times before. The attendant pushed the pedal, the music began, and as the creatures moved up and down and around, my mind traveled back in time. While children’s smiles passed before me, I thought of Aaron’s first ride. Was it on his favorite striped beast even then? Six months old—another world, another time. With every wave to my son, I recalled waving at other times, other stages, other ages. Time is fleeting! Children do grow up so fast. We cannot miss these precious early years to show our children the Way:

So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you . . . so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God . . . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.~Deuteronomy 5: 32, 33a; 6: 2a, 5-7~

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these . . .” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.~Mark 10: 14b, 16~

CTL

Little Holy Heroes

There is so much hatred in the world. This has always been the case, but it seems that technology, through TV and the internet, exposes the hatred in overwhelming quantities that individuals are not used to seeing. Watching the news for fifteen minutes can really bring you down. Part of the reason we always see sensational news stories is due to the fact that tragedy and shock keep our attention and increase ratings. There are many good things taking place every day that we never learn about simply because they don’t make juicy headlines. Nevertheless, tragedy and trouble are indeed part of our daily routine. Amidst all the bad news we hear each week, how can the Christian person remain hopeful?

Earlier this week I asked the apostle Peter to help me better understand biblical hope. Peter tells us not to despair because hope is closer than we realize. He tells us we have actually been born into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In Peter’s eyes there is definitely death and trouble in this world. But there is also resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the source of all human hope amidst a dying world. Faith in Jesus Christ causes our hope to come alive. This faith he has given us is, according to Peter, “more precious than gold” and “tested by fire” through suffering and trials. But how does this faith in Christ change anything? What are we supposed to do with this “faith”? Peter’s answer is simple: “Be Holy.” After introducing the preciousness of the life of faith in Christ, he writes that we should be holy just as Christ who called us is holy. So the response to all the trouble and the suffering and the trials is “be holy”? These are difficult words. How does holiness accomplish anything?

Peter knew that the transformation God creates in the hearts of believers through the power of his Spirit was the hope of the world. I am hopeful today because I believe the power of the “Christ with us” life can transform you and me. If you are a Christian and you read this, realize your holiness is the hope of world. Holiness doesn’t mean being religious; it means acknowledging you can’t make life work on your own terms and accepting God’s merciful invitation for genuine relationship. He loves you despite everything you’ve done. He loves you, not with a nice puppy love, but with a love that is so holy and deep and wide that, eventually, it cannot help but compel you to change.

In the comic books I read as a kid, the heroes were big and muscular, fast and smart, achieving amazing things. Terrific trouble could only be stopped by a terrific super hero. Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the job description to become a hero or heroine is not like in my old DC comic books. You don’t have to be terrific or smart or muscular to stop terrific trouble. You just have to be humble enough to know you desperately need his help. Your desperate and daily reaching for him slowly transforms you into the little holy hero or heroine the world is literally dying for. Little holy heroes are little because their mistakes are huge, their love seems insignificant, and their lives seem mostly unimportant. They are holy because they reflect the love and service-filled life of Christ. They are heroes because Christ uses them, collectively, to shine the light of love and hopefulness into the darkness of the world.

Don’t expect the media to detect the little holy heroes of Christ. You will not see them on the covers of the magazines in the supermarket checkout line. They do small, weak, and undetectable little things like show kindness to people, pray in closets, weep over the seriousness of sin, and call people who are lonely. Little holy heroes consider others better than themselves, and they don’t believe they deserve anything. The collective actions of little heroes are a lot like the mustard seed Jesus mentioned in the gospel of Mark (4: 30-32):

“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Matt