17th
Sunday after Pentecost / Year B
Numbers
Pastor Gayle M. Pope
“To
Tell the Truth”
Our God is so big, so strong and so
mighty, there’s nothing our God cannot do!
That’s what the kids were singing during Sunday School this morning.
It’s a children’s song that sings of a childlike faith. As we get older and
wiser, though, our faith tends to get more realistic.
Maybe there’s nothing God CANNOT do, but it sure seems like there are
things God WILL NOT do or SHOULD NOT do.
God just does not always behave the way we expect. God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way
we think He should.
Our readings today show what a big and mighty God we have, but they also
show how unsatisfying God’s behavior can seem to us at times. And there’s one more thing they show us, which is not so
readily apparent. When God’s behavior
bothers us, we ought to let God know!
For example – the Israelites were wandering in the desert hungry. God was big and mighty enough to send them manna
to eat from heaven – for which the Israelites were grateful, at first. But
manna every day is tiresome. Who
wouldn’t get tired of eating the same thing every day? What they really craved was MEAT and they let
God know it!
The LORD was displeased it says, and so was Moses. He complained, too. God was big enough to lead the people out of
God may be big and mighty, but God is not too big to listen to His
children. He heard their complaints and did something about them! He sent quail for the Israelites to eat, and
he told Moses to gather 70 elders and bring them to the tent of meeting and
there God anointed them with the Holy Spirit so that Moses could get some
support.
But, apparently God didn’t RESTRICT his anointing just to those who were
at the tent. Meanwhile, back at the
camp, Eldad and Medad ALSO received the Spirit and prophesied.
Joshua seemed to think that was a little TOO BIG of God, and so HE
complained. But Moses told him to get over it, saying, “Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD
would put his spirit on them!”
This is similar to the incident we heard about in today’s reading from
the gospel of Mark. God’s sphere of influence was not restricted to the control
of Jesus’ select disciples.
An “outsider” was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. The disciples thought, “How can he do such a
thing when he isn’t ‘one of us’?” So they
tried to stop him.
But Jesus said NOT to stop him. “Whomever
is not AGAINST us is FOR us,” Jesus said. In other words, “He may not be part
of our group, but if he is claiming my name, and doing good, he will soon find
himself aligned with God’s purposes.”
In fact, Jesus gave stern warnings against putting ANYTHING as a
stumbling block in the way of God’s ever-reaching influence.
God is on a mission to win hearts – to bring people into relationship
with him – to heal and forgive and restore and bless. However and wherever and whenever we see that
happening, we are not to try and stop it!
Now, you might think it was wrong for the disciples to complain. But because they complained, Jesus could
respond, and we learned some important things about God. God is so much bigger than our preconceived
notions.
We may fuss and fret about the propriety of various methods used by
preachers and churches, and we might even be right! But right or wrong, these
readings suggest that we should take
our complaints directly to God because God is big enough to hear them and He
knows what they are anyway.
Rather than complain amongst ourselves, what would happen if we complained
directly to God in our prayers. What if
we prayed like this: “Lord, how come those mega churches are attracting so many
people with their fancy electronics and big praise bands? Aren’t they just catering to the culture and
giving people entertainment rather than real worship?” What would God say?
Well, given today’s gospel, God might say, “As long as my name is being
lifted up, I can work with that. Don’t
you worry about what they’re doing – worry about what YOU’RE doing to lift up
my name where YOU are!”
What if I prayed one of my complaints? “Lord, how come there aren’t more
people coming to Bible study and Sunday School and church? What am I supposed
to do about this?” How am I supposed to lead if people don’t follow?
Maybe God would say, “Just keep lifting up my name and leave the rest to
me. Stop worrying about the people who are NOT here and focus on the beautiful
and precious people who ARE here. Worry less about leading others and more
about following ME. Remember my promises and trust in my power.”
The letter from James says, “If you are suffering, pray. If you are cheerful, sing. If you are sick, ask for help. If you are in
sin, confess.” Notice he doesn’t say,
“If you are suffering, sing. If you are sick, keep it to yourself.”
Maybe James is telling us to take WHATEVER is really inside of us and
let it come out before God. “The prayer
of the righteous is powerful and effective,” he says. Who are the righteous?
Since all of us are sinners, the only
way we are righteous is by being in Christ. By faith in Christ, we receive HIS righteousness
– his blood covers our sin and makes us right with God. In the flesh, we are sinners, but the life of
Christ dwells within our spirits. There is no falsehood or deceit there.
So, to whatever degree we put on a false front in our dealings with God,
perhaps to that degree we are praying in the flesh. Maybe one aspect of a
righteous prayer is a truthful prayer – in which we are willing to lay our true
feelings before God, just as they are and not as we think they are supposed to
be, so that God can take us as we are and shape us into the image of His Son.
Psalm 139 is a good help for this, especially verses 23 and 24: “Search
me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if
there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
James cautions against “wandering from the truth” and encourages us to
bring back a brother or sister who wanders from the truth. We tend to think James is talking about
people wandering from the truth of the gospel, or wandering from the faith. But
one definition of truth in the Scriptures is: “that candor of mind which is
free from affectation, pretense, simulation, falsehood, deceit.”
Maybe what James is saying is to help one another be real. That means not only speaking the truth in
love to others, but also being willing to ALLOW the other to be REAL and
truthful to us.
Are we willing to hear what’s really going on in someone’s heart and
life – willing to listen to laments – willing to face unpleasant realities and walk
through dark valleys and be the bearer of God’s love and aid?
Or do we put up stumbling blocks that get in the way of another person
receiving the love of Christ? Do we
consciously or unconsciously erect barriers to the Holy Spirit with our judgmentalism
or self-righteousness or desire to avoid messy situations?
As the children’s song says, “Our God is so big so strong and so mighty,
there’s nothing our God cannot do.”
God can even take the likes of us and our neighbors – with all our
complaints and whining and faults – and love us to perfection. God answers our
prayers in whatever way is best, taking into consideration not only OUR
situations, but the world around us and all with whom we are connected – beyond
what we can see and understand.
Can we trust God enough to tell God the truth? Since God KNOWS the truth
already, even better than we do, what do we gain by putting on a front? So go
ahead and whine and complain and fret to God, if that’s what’s in your hearts.
Be honest about it! But be prepared to let God change your heart and transform
your life!