You’ve heard me preach before that I
consider things like the state lottery to be a tax on the stupid. The government’s already taking a big bite
out of the proceeds to fund things, and then if you win – especially if you win
big – you still have to pay taxes on the winnings! It’s a win-win for the government.
Of course all gambling is frowned upon
by the church. Oh, I’m not talking about
things like making a friendly wager with a colleague over the outcome of a
Bills game – although if you’re betting on an outright win the odds aren’t in
your favor. I’m talking about big
organized gambling. The root evil is the
desire to gain without properly working for it.
If you bring to mind an image of a big
casino with blackjack, and dice games, and roulette wheels you might find some
of the verses from our Numbers reading a bit confusing or maybe even
funny. We read in Numbers 27:20-21 God
saying to Moses, “You shall give [Joshua] some of your authority, so that all
the congregation of the Israelites may obey.
But he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him
by the decision of the Urim before the Lord…”
Now what does that mean? Nobody know exactly what this Urim was. Most places in the Bible it is mentioned
along with the Thummim, and both together used by the high priest to discern
the will of God. The best guesses are
that these things were something like dice.
The priest would do something like say a prayer, toss them, and then
interpret the results. The idea being
that since God didn’t speak directly from the sky, God would direct the Urim
and Thummim to turn up the divine answer.
We’d call it chance, but they’d call it divine intervention. Then again, how often have people prayed to
the dice on the craps table to give them what they want.
Perhaps the whole tabernacle and early
form of Judaism was the first recorded casino and the priests were the staff!
Actually, records of the Urim and
Thummim are scarce. Historically it
appears that their use fell out of favor by the time of King David. From that time on the prophets were consulted
to learn the will of God. That was
probably a good thing. How would like it
if business or our political leaders used a Magic 8 Ball to guide their
thoughts?!?
The key issue for all of this is
knowing the will of God for individuals and for the nation. Up until this point God spoke directly to
Moses. God told them right from wrong. God gave them literal direction their
travels. God set the time frame.
If we make the reasonable presumption
that the text of Numbers and Deuteronomy don’t come to exist in the form that
we have them today for about 1000 years from the history they present, we see
the problems. Who has authority? Who speaks for God? What is God’s will? Does the king have that authority? Is it the chief priest? Is it an official prophet employed by the
king, or some hick from the sticks like the prophet Amos who claims God gave
him a message? How can you tell what is
God’s will?
By the time books like Numbers and
Deuteronomy come to have the form they have today you have at the center of
authority the law as God gave it to Moses.
And Moses’ words were ultimate words.
What are the final words of Deuteronomy that we read, “Never since has
there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face-to-face. He was unequaled for all the signs and
wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against
Pharaoh, and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds
and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of
all Israel.” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)
Moses was the key authority for the
Jews. By Jesus’ day the sect called the
Sadducees recognized the law from Moses as the only authoritative scripture and
no other – not like the Pharisees who recognized the whole of what we call the
Old Testament. Even for them though,
Moses was the all-time ultimate authority – the standard with which all
decisions were made.
Moses’ authority and closeness to God
were central. Perhaps that is the best
explanation of why Moses is not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but just
glimpse it from afar. No one knows for
sure, but it is rooted in Numbers 20:12.
There the people need water. God
tells Moses to command a rock to yield water.
But Moses does not do that.
Instead he says to the Israelites, “Listen, you rebels, shall be wring
water for you out of this rock?” Then he
takes his staff and hits the rock, just like he did once before. While water does come from the rock God then
tells Moses he will not enter the Promised Land because of it.
To me it seems trivial that Moses hit
the rock rather than speaking to it, and then it is absurd that God would tell
Moses he can’t enter the Promised Land over it.
But from the perspective of Moses being the key authority on God – that
Moses was seen as always doing and carrying out God’s will perfectly – here
Moses let’s his temper with the situation.
Here Moses acts to solve the problem in his own way and on his own
authority – not God’s way and on God’s authority. So, for the key authority on God to so
disobey was a major breach of trust.
Perhaps this may seem like an abrupt
turn for a sermon, but I think the key thing for all of this is what is
authoritative in your life? To where do
you turn for truth? Where do you turn
for leadership, for life guidance? And
maybe more importantly, what does it take for you to change your mind about
something, or change course in life?
Perhaps a simple trivial example is if
you’re driving into Rochester and you hear on the radio that 490 Westbound is
all backed up. You’ll use that
information to immediately plan a different path. But what about more substantive issues?
A hundred years ago there were pretty
clear places to go for truth and reliable information. The local lawyer could give you solid legal
advice. The Bible was the authority for
morals. Medical doctors were considered
authoritative, as were pastors. Though
everyone knew politicians and business leaders could be corrupt there was still
a trust and respect for government leaders.
Today what is authority? Where is our Moses? Do you believe the news? Our president has made the term “fake news” a
daily part of his vocabulary. Of course
many side with the president’s views and throw stones at most mainstream
media. And many believe mainstream media
and throw stones at the president. What
about scientific authority? What about
scientific findings? Do you believe
those scientists who claim the planet is warming due to human activity or do
you reject it? Maybe that gets at the
deeper question. What makes you believe
or reject?
My theory about what is authoritative
is this: people are inclined to believe
what they want to believe. They tend to
believe those things which make them feel good about themselves and their
lives. They tend to reject those things
which make them feel bad or guilty. They
tend to reject those things which call for a drastic change in life that will
make life harder for them or more painful.
They embrace things that make life easier and more convenient.
Does that fit you? It fits me!
I’m all for anything I want to hear, and if I don’t want to hear it I
immediately start to try to pick it apart.
Into that does come God’s truth, and
it comes to us in many and various ways.
Certainly the words of the Bible teaches us basic morals and the
principles of living by giving of ourselves for the betterment of others.
But there is a lot more. We learn that lot more through Jesus, who is
the new Moses. Jesus taught us just how
broken and imperfect we are, but in the midst of that brokenness God still
loves us and empowers us. Jesus taught
us that though we may fail in technical righteousness God is interested in
something deeper – relationship with people built upon love.
What is truth? God is love and God loves you. God wants to empower you not for an easy life
of convenience and luxury, but for a fulfilling life of work, purpose and
meaning. I think we need to ask
ourselves in our world of all sorts of information and things clamoring for us
to call them “true” this: Not, what is God’s will, or what does God want me to
do, but, What builds the goodness of God’s creation and the value of the people
around me.
In fact it’s very simple. If it hurts, diminishes, tears down or
destroys someone -or the earth’s goodness- we should work against it. If it builds up, enhances, empowers or celebrates
without tearing down someone else -or the earth’s goodness- then we should
embrace it.
Our goal in life is this – to have our
life’s story be God’s story. God will
not then bless us because of good behavior, but God’s blessings will come to us
because we are in sync with God’s own designs which are eternal. May you have the insight you need and the
trust in God to follow God’s will.
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