Numbers: Sin of Moses - sin of Ministers, Missionaries and most Christians wanting to do something good

In Numbers 20, Moses and Aaron are commanded to speak to the rock and water would flow. Instead, Moses struck the rock twice and water flowed. The people were happy but the Father was not.

All my life I was taught that his sin was simple disobedience - he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Yet the sentence that precedes the blow (20:10) indicates more was transpiring. “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Psalm 106:32 adds, "rash words came from Moses' lips." Why did Moses say "we"? Who was really doing this work? Perhaps the change from speaking to striking as no big deal for Moses if he was convinced in his heart that he was the one doing the action anyway. Thus it seems the real sin was not simple disobedience but rather a deep pride that claimed credit for God's work. 

Yet what fascinates me is not that Moses sinned nor the miracle per se but rather that God sent the miracle in spite of Moses' failure. God stayed faithful even though Moses stole the credit and failed to obey.

I ask myself just how many times has God done the same thing for me? How often do we believe the ends justifies the means and so we ignore deeper principles? How many times do we take credit for simply being the instrument through whom God worked? How many times has the Father been offended by my pride but at the same time not abandoned me in ministry? How many times have I committed the sin of Moses?

Acts 17:16-34; God's Address

As I read this sermon, two points jump out at me for us practicing evangelical Christianity. Paul starts out with an admonition that God does not live in temples nor need anything from humans. The way that many of us live, you would think we have not yet learned this simple lesson. We often treat church like it was going to God's house, similar to going to Grandma's house. God lives in the building and we come and go from our visits with him. Sometimes it is a good experience and we are excited at the thought of coming back for another visit. Sometimes it is more like having to eat the beets or lima beans on your plate -- you choke it down and hope that is not your last memory. Then we leave Grandma and God at their house and go on about our life. Its really about the same as the Greeks visiting the temple of Athena when you think about it.

Then Paul asserts that God manipulates human events so that he is accessible to everyone. I don't think most of us believe that -- though I think we are getting better. For years as I listened to people returning from short term mission trips or well meaning deacons I would hear the language of battle. Phrases like "when we go in" or "efficient machine" were thrown around. There seemed to be zero recognition that God was already there and at work. Yet Paul asserts that God is working in the world to make sure that he is within reach of everyone. I think believing that would change not only our language but our missions.

So the message is basically that God does not live in the church building but lives very close to everyone. Its a simple message but if we really believe it, it changes everything.

Acts 17:1-15; The UnMartyr

Often reading a text helps me see where my bias has given me wrong impressions. I have always viewed Paul as being the guy willing to stick it out, engage any mob and lay down his life anyplace, anytime and anywhere. But that is not what happens in his story.

In Acts 9 the new convert Paul was lowered by a basket out the window of the city wall in order to escape. In chapter 14 he and Barnabas fled Iconium. Now in chapter 17 he is sent away from Thessalonica by the church and then escorted out of Berea by caring brothers. Four out of four times Paul chose to leave so that he might preach in other places. Apparently he felt called to missions more than to martyrdom.

Interestingly enough, I don't see Jesus praying in the garden saying, "Thank you so much for this time to finally die. I've been looking forward to it."

I wonder if our glorification of martyrdom in the life of Paul and Jesus has served to make them less accessible to us. We think that they were made of different stuff than us; that they had another level of spirituality because they were martyrs. The truth seems to be that they were more like us than we care to admit. Maybe that makes living like Jesus a little too realistic for us. Maybe it is safer to leave them as inaccessible in order to not be threatened by their examples. After all, if I can't identify with them or understand them, then I can't be expected to live like them. Then I can go to Walmart, spend money on myself, ignore the needs of others and lead a much more comfortable -- and much less meaningful -- life.

Acts 14; Only Human

We tend to idolize or at least idealize Biblical people. We build Paul up to be the perfect missionary and attribute him with special gifts and blessings that we could only imagine. Yet, this chapter reads very much like a normal human caught in some tough situations.

To begin with, Paul could not convince everyone in Iconium anymore than the next missionary. When he was informed that a plot was afoot to kill him, he fled. Idolized leaders don't do that; real people do.

In the next city Paul and Barnabas were afflicted by the Achilles heal of many missionaries -- language. The people responded to their message by shouting out in the local language; Paul and Barnabas had no idea what was going on. It went on long enough that he priest outside of town had enough time to gather sacrifices and come into town. Finally they understood what was happening but even then had trouble stopping the progression of worship to them.

Scholars often mention that Paul might have been blind or became blind. He mentions problems with his eyes and writing in big letters. So added together we come up with a man who fled from danger just like us, struggled with intercultural communication just like us and had personal physical problems just like us. So much for the ideal. Yet knowing this should only lead us back to admire his conviction and effort. Instead of praising all of his methods and blindly idolizing the man, let us recognize his shortcomings and appreciate his heart. Yet perhaps most importantly, let us recognize once again that just like with Noah whose first act after the flood was to get drunk, Abraham whose first act after the call was to lie about his wife or David the man after God's own heart who committed adultery, we have this story recorded for us not to teach us about a great man but rather to lead us to the great God who was working through and in spite of the man.