May 16, 2010, The Word Revealed

Numbers 22:21-35
Luke 24:44-53
Throughout the last several decades, there has been a growing fear among Church leaders, that the world was becoming illiterate regarding the Bible. My father and grandfather before him, were schooled in a paradigm of education, where when called upon you stood beside your desk and could recite Scripture and Poetry. My grandmother had a degree from Syracuse University in the Art of Elocution. Gone are the days, when the Bible was taught in school, gone also the days of memorization for public recitation. And yet, the Word of God is not gone! Our culture is ingrained with faith, waiting for such a time as this, when SEERS will reveal what we have heard and known, without previously having had the Word's relevance revealed.

We know the Bible to have had Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Herod. We know the Bible to have had Priests: Aaron, Eli and Samuel. We know the Bible to have had Prophets: Moses, Joshua, Nathan, Elijah & Elisha. But in addition to Kings, Prophets and Priests, there were SEERS, Visionaries, often from the world outside, who make connections and comparisons between disparate ideas, and by so doing reveal Curses and Blessings of the Word. Balaam was a Seer, a Soothsayer, a Shamaan, a Man of Wisdom, sent by the Empire to condemn people of faith.

For the last several weeks, we have been in the Season of Easter, 40 Days of reading the Resurrection narratives. As there were 40 days of Lent in preparation, so also 40 days of Easter's celebration of the Resurrection, during which we have not turned to the Old Testament. As we do, the first passage appointed for us is from the time of Moses' wandering with the Israelites before coming into the Promised Land, wandering in the Wilderness, across the plains of Moab. Like Pharaoh, when the Balaak the King of Moab saw and heard how numerous were these strangers, he sought to enslave and destroy them. The King of this Enemy Empire sent his most powerful weapon against Israel, Balaam who could offer curses to undermine and destroy, curses to cast fear into a people.

Lest we dismiss Balaam's power too quickly, afterall Balaam was not a great General, did not have Weapons of Mass Destruction, all he had was his power to see Spirits and Potentials, to offer Words of Caution and Doubt, realize the power of fear, the ability of doubt to undermine and weaken and destroy. Five years ago, when I went to Sudan the first time, the Chief of All the Dinka pronounced a Blessing and Curse. Chuiee Deng Leek named “If you do this thing, of providing Health Care, you and your community will be blessed. But many others have made promises they did not fulfill, so if you do not, you will be cursed, suffering all your days.” Next morning, I awoke with a high fever and nausea, and wondered about that curse! But, I also believe that having that mission has been a great blessing for this community. Our words do have power. Having a Mission, a Purpose, a Noble Cause to work for is a great Blessing. Cursing others, leaving them in worse than depravity by breaking promises and violating trust, is a curse that east away at our soul.

This ought to be self-evident, the New Testament is over 2000 years old, the Old Testament thousands of years before that, and the power of our words and actions do offer curses and blessings upon others. The truth of faith ought to be firmly planted in our minds, but according to the story, Balaam the SEER who only the day before had seen God, and was now sent by the King of Israel's adversaries to curse the People of God, had blinded himself to all realities other than what he had been told to do. Early in the morning, he saddled his donkey and set out to Curse God's People. Three different times, the donkey saw the Angel of God before them and turned aside, taking abuse for doing so. A question we perpetually need to ask ourselves, is when we react to others, when we abuse them, when people we trusted do not do as we want, What Else May be Going on we cannot see? There are points in this story when you want to ask who is the Donkey? The height of irony is when Balaam wishes for a sword so he could kill this stubborn mule, and he has been blind to see the sword ready to strike him dead.

Folklore has many stories of animals that talk, Fish that can grant wishes, Frogs wishing to be kissed, Lassie always listened and seemed clearly able to think though she communicated in ways other than speech, the Bible has but two, Balaam's donkey and the Serpent in the Garden. Both of which, like All Creation recognize God, like the mountains, lakes and rivers serve as witnesses, and interact with people. As an oil rig continues to spew millions of gallons of toxic chemicals unabated, the earth shudders and quakes beneath us, it's hard to believe Creation is not speaking. The economy of Greece is so deep in debt, that their Nation owes more than their entire Country produces in a year, and our own country is not far different, yet instead of listening to the warnings, instead of changing direction learning from experience to live differently, instead of redemption, people seek some greater power to take away all the problems we have created. When I was seven years of age, I remember my father preaching about Balaam's donkey, and as an illustration he described that his child's favorite television show was about about a talking horse. At Seven, I was proud to be that illustration. At Fifteen, my father recycled his old sermons, describing his son's favorite television show was Mr. Ed, and I was embarrassed it was still true, but I did not want anyone to know. When I was 33 and this had become his favorite sermon illustration, I was more than a little frustrated; but foolishly, I had never heard what the talking donkey had said. We learn in life, we are carefully schooled, that by showing up and doing what is expected we can be average. By applying ourselves, working harder, we can earn the B and can always strive to work harder, to stay up later, to do more to acquire an A. But there are circumstances that no matter how hard we work, how much we apply ourselves, no matter what it costs, we cannot succeed. At those moments in life, we stop in Sabbath to question and reframe differently, to question our faith in God.

That is the power of the Ascension. The disciples had understood they were Called to follow Jesus. They listened attentively to his parables, they assisted as he changed water into wine, and fed 5000 with a few loaves and fish. They were changed from fear to awe and wonder as he calmed the storm and walked upon the water. They did not understand when they shared in Communion with Jesus at the Last Supper, they abandoned and betrayed him only a few hours later when he was arrested. They saw him suffer and die upon the cross and thought it was ended, but instead, they accustomed to a new reality of resurrection. The Empty tomb, walking along the road to Emmaus, gathered in fear for worship in the Upper Room, DEATH could not keep him from them. While for 40 Days and Nights, Jesus appeared to them, all this was preparation for what was to come as IMMORTALITY was changed into ETERNAL LIFE. More than cheating death, this is the realization that the world has changed for ever. Instead of being the TEACHER of Disciples, Instead of SUFFERING on the Cross, Instead of simply CHEATING DEATH by Resurrection, the ASCENSION is Validation that the world was changed, all Humanity was changed by the Word having once in history having been INCARNATE among us, now being ETERNAL.

The Power of CURSES, like the Power of SECRETS, is that they gnaw away at us, growing and building by their hiddenness, lurking in shadows. The Power of BLESSINGS is that Blessings look both Backward and Forward! Al the things we should have seen, should have known throughout a lifetime, come back differently, and we understand that perhaps all this WAS necessary for us to be prepared for this moment. But also, Blessings provide a CHARGE a Mission, a Purpose of living our lives for others. Finally like the Donkey, we recognize the reality of God and we understand life is not our possession, our work, to do our best so as to attain the A, but rather that we are Charged with living life for others.

Why is it Grandparents seem to understand so much more than parents, and often are able to be more forgiving and accommodating? Because through generations, we move from being focused on our life, our getting a job, our getting married to our beloved, our raising our children, to reframing what we can do to bless this child, what we can do support and encourage not ourselves. All that we know from our lifetimes, the Scripture that has become ingrained in our culture and in our life suddenly is revealed as having been present all along, and we live life a s blessing.

The design of this Sanctuary, this place of gathering from life, for life, is that there is no explicit Cross, instead the cross is all around us in the ceiling tiles, in the pattern of the doors, even in the floor beneath the Chancel. So implicit that we would come to know we are surrounded by the cross in all of life, and rather than focusing upon an icon only in this time and place, we would go out into the world blessing others. The Font is on the floor and we pour water every week, to affirm that we are Baptized, claimed by God, Forgiven in order to forgive others. The Table is Central, because in each of our homes, we gather at the Table for sharing life's questions and journey, for discussing hopes and dreams and fears, breaking bread with those we life life for.

The WORD, the Love of God, is all around us, in all Creation, if we only open our eyes to see.