Impatient for the promise

“Impatience and Eternity” A Lenten Sermon Preached by
Reverend W. Dale Osborne on March 22, 2009
Lectionary Texts: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21

This is the fourth Sunday in the Christian season called Lent. Around the world people like
you and me are living out their Lenten promises as a way of connecting more fully to the life
Jesus encouraged us to live. From Bangkok to Barcelona, our friends in Christ are patiently
and sometimes impatiently waiting for the promises of Easter. . . . There are millions of people who count Jesus as their redeemer and teacher who are
consciously and unconsciously seeking God’s abiding presence as they make their way on
the journey we call life. The lectionary readings from scripture on this fourth Sunday of Lent
can encourage the faithful to be focused on facing our fears, stretching our patience and
receiving the gift of eternity in Christ.

Our Old Testament reading is from the book of Numbers which is the fourth book of the
Hebrew Torah. The Torah which means teaching or instruction is composed of the first five
books of what we Christians call the Old Testament. Do any of our young people know why
this fourth book of the Torah is called Numbers? How did it earn this name? Most scholars
believe it is called Numbers because of how it begins. The book of Numbers begins with the
first census of Israel. A census is something we do at least every ten years here in the United
States. The book of Numbers details how the first census was taken for Israel. A census is
just a proper way of saying “Let’s count everyone who is part of our tribe or state or country.
Let’s find out what our total number of people is.” If the book of Numbers was just a census
it would have been quite boring. Thankfully it contains more than just numbers. Following
the census chapters there are several chapters containing laws. Laws are boring for some
people too. In order to keep Numbers more readable for people like me, the story-telling or
narrative section begins in Chapter 9. It follows the people of Israel from near the southern
tip of the Sinai Peninsula to Moab, which is east of Palestine, over a period of 38 years.
Numbers is less a history book and more of a recollection of how God and the people of
Israel interacted during their journey away from slavery in Egypt and toward their promised
land. Today’s lesson from Chapter 21 focuses on a critical time of heated, strained and
reconnected relationships between the Israelite people, their earthly leader Moses and
Yahweh, their God.

. . . .Our story finds the Israelite people due southwest of the Dead Sea. Their leader and main
connection to Yahweh is Moses. Moses who had worked so hard to convince Pharaoh to let
the Hebrew people go now had a bit of an angry mob on his hands. According to the New
Interpreters Bible Commentary, during their journey from Egypt to Palestine, the Bible tells
us of eight rebellions: six of the people against their leaders and God, and two of their leaders
against God. In today's reading, the people rebel against Moses and God. The people are
“impatient” or short-tempered because Moses has refused to engage Edom in battle and,
therefore their journey to Palestine is made longer. They are also impatient and angry
because of “this miserable food”. The miserable food was the “manna” which God had sent
to them when they were hungry in the wilderness. The people are resenting what God gives
them freely. In response to their anger and impatience, God sends “poisonous serpents”
whose bites become inflamed on the people who are bitten shortly before they die. The
people don’t like this course of events at all. The biting and the pain and the death made
them rethink their impatience and anger. Eventually, they repent, and ask Moses to intercede
for them. “Pray to the LORD” they beseech Moses in verse 7. God replies that the people
will be healed through a symbol, a bronze or copper snake on a pole. Those who are bitten by
the poisonous snakes are asked to look at the bronze snake on the pole in order to be saved
and healed from their poisonous plight.

This story of impatience and anger towards leaders and towards God rings true on many
levels today. I think of the great anger and impatience that people in the United States and
around the world are feeling due to the collapse of our financial systems. People are being
bitten by mortgage debts as they see their homes foreclosed. Unscrupulous lenders and
merchants of Wall St seem to be poisoned by greed. We cry out to our leaders to take away
our pain. Send the swindlers to jail where they belong we say! What then shall we look at in
order to ease our pain? What can be raised up on a pole for us to gaze upon and find healing?

. . . .The disciples who followed Jesus during his three years of recorded ministry on earth in and
around Galilee had reason to be impatient. They longed for a kingdom that might give them
power and security. The new disciples of Jesus who composed the early church after his
death were also impatient. They had access to John’s record of the Gospel which could have
prompted either anxiety or serenity depending on how it was interpreted for them. Many of
them hoped that Jesus would be returning soon. How long would they have to wait patiently
for an age of grace and hope to be realized? What could be raised up for them to heal the ills
of the impatience, anxiety and anger early Christians experienced in the face of oppression by
the ruling authorities?

John offered to them what he could based on his interpretation of God’s actions at work in
the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. God did not raise up a bronze serpent on a pole as
Moses had been instructed to do hundreds of years in their past. God moved in a new
direction to quell the fears of an impatient people. The words of the Gospel are just as
compelling to me and millions of Christians today as they were nearly two thousand years
ago. They are words of solace and of hope in the midst of turbulent times. They are words
of eternity in the face of impatience. In John 3: 14-17 we read, “And just as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that God gave the only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not
send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him.”

I have always found it boldest and best to deal with impatience and anger through the eyes,
ears and heart of eternity. In Christ, through Christ and with Christ there is eternal hope,
eternal love and eternal life. For this I am eternally grateful. Thanks be to God.

It's true, it's true, it's true...

I've always known, It's no surprise
It's just my pride keeps me from showing
Time after time, I've tried to disguise
But it's your love that keeps me going

When I find myself in doubt
Your love comes and pulls me out
And when I turn away
You give more and more love every day
Every day

Nobody loves me like you
Nobody loves me like you do

Nobody loves me like you
No one ever loved me
The way you do
No one ever loved me
Loved me like you do

All of my life I've needed you
Sometimes I know that I don't show it
I love you, Lord, for all that you do
And I want the whole world to know it

When I find myself in doubt
Your love comes and pulls me out
And when I turn away
You give more and more love every day
Every day

Nobody loves me like you
Nobody loves me, loves me like you
--Amy Grant

Cloud by day; fire by night

"Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." (Isa. 30:21.)

When we are in doubt or difficulty, when many voices urge this course or the other, when prudence utters one advice and faith another, then let us be still, hushing each intruder, calming ourselves in the sacred hush of God's presence; let us study His Word in the attitude of devout attention; let us lift up our nature into the pure light of His face, eager only to know what God the Lord shall determine--and ere long a very distinct impression will be made, the unmistakable forth-telling of His secret counsel.

It is not wise in the earlier stages of Christian life to depend on this alone, but to wait for the corroboration of circumstances. But those who have had many dealings with God know well the value of secret fellowship with Him, to ascertain His will.

Are you in difficulty about your way? Go to God with your question; get direction from the light of His smile or the cloud of His refusal.

If you will only get alone, where the lights and shadows of earth cannot interfere, where human opinions fail to reach--and if you will dare to wait there silent and expectant, though all around you insist on immediate decision or action--the will of God will be made clear; and you will have a new conception of God, a deeper insight into His nature and heart of love, which shall be for yourself alone--a rapturous experience, to abide your precious perquisite forever, the rich guerdon of those long waiting hours.--David.

perquisite n. an incidental payment, benefit, privilege, or advantage over and above regular income, salary, or wages.

guerdon n. a reward, a recompense, or requital

"STAND STILL," my soul, for so thy Lord commands:
E'en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands;
His arm is mighty to divide the wave.
"Stand still," my soul, "stand still" and thou shalt see
How God can work the "impossible" for thee,
For with a great deliverance He doth save.

Be not impatient, but in stillness stand,
Even when compassed 'round on every hand,
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend.
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still,
That He may work in thee His blessed will,
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.

"BE STILL," my soul, for just as thou art still,
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow;
In stillness God can work through thee and reach
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.

"BE STILL"--a deeper step in faith and rest.
"Be still and know" thy Father knoweth best
The way to lead His child to that fair land,
A "summer" land, where quiet waters flow;
Where longing souls are satisfied, and "know
Their God," and praise for all that He has planned.--Selected

The noise of words

Mark 8. 23: He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town.

Will this Note find someone puzzled about anything, in the dark, as we say, about what they should do?

This morning I was reading through the Gospel of Mark, noticing each place where our Lord Jesus suffered anything, or spoke of suffering, and as I read, words that have nothing to do with that special subject caught my eye: "He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town".

There is a town of the noise of words, the noise of other people's words, and of our own words, too, as we talk to ourselves and listen to the confusion of our thoughts and desires as they talk within us. There is only One Who can take the blind by the hand, and lead him out of the town. The hand that led that man was soon to be pierced. Soon after this incident we come to the words, "The Son of Man must suffer"--it is a suffering Christ Who leads us out of the town and along the road that leads to clearness of vision, and then to Calvary. But the road does not stop there. It goes over the hill to the Other Side.--Edges of His Ways, Amy Carmichael

Hope on

"For Abraham, when hope was gone, hoped on in faith. His faith never quailed." (Rom. 4:18, 19.)

We shall never forget a remark that George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith.

"The only way," replied the patriarch of faith, "to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings." This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails.--A. B. Simpson

No rain, no rainbows...

Struggling no longer...

Jacob got the victory and the blessing not by wrestling, but by clinging. His limb was out of joint and he could struggle no longer, but he would not let go. Unable to wrestle, he wound his arms around the neck of his mysterious antagonist and hung all his helpless weight upon him, until at last he conquered.

....It is not when we press and urge our own will, but when humility and trust unite in saying, "Not my will, but Thine." We are strong with God only in the degree that self is conquered and is dead. Not by wrestling, but by clinging can we get the blessing.--J. R. Miller

A hidden spring, just where you are

Judges 15.19; En-hakkore, the well of him that cried.

Samson was hot and tired and thirsty there on the hill, thereafter known as The lifting up of the jaw-bone, or The casting away of the jaw-bone, or for short, The jaw. There was, I suppose, water underground, a hidden spring, as there is in so many hills, but Samson did not see it, did not know it was there. "He was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of Thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst? . . . But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived." And he gave the place its beautiful name, The well of him that cried.

Have you ever been strengthened to win a victory perhaps over some inward foe, and have you suddenly found yourself tired out and sore athirst? Quite close, just where you are, there is water. Call, and the Lord will cause it to flow for you; some word of life will come to mind, some line of a hymn, some thought of peace, and your spirit will come again and you will be revived.
--from Edges of His Ways, by Amy Carmichael

In need of steadfast endurance

Heb. 10.36: Ye have need of patience [steadfast endurance], that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

This verse made me think of how continually our Lord makes obedience the test of love: "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." (John 14.21) I was thinking, too of how each act of obedience opens a window in Heaven, and light pours through upon the soul that obeys, and it walks on in that Heavenly light; whereas, just as certainly, the least disobedience shuts the window. No more light can come through. Then I came on this verse in Hebrews, which makes patience the link between obedience and receiving in their fulness the promises of God.

How does this bear upon our life to-day? Well, first I think that obedience is taken for granted (a disobedient child is not even contemplated). Can God take my obedience for granted? If He cannot, there can be only one reason: "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." If I disobey, it must be because I love someone else more. Who? But if that point has been passed, and the soul loves its Lord better than itself, and some word of His has been obeyed, or some urging in prayer yielded to, then may come the need of steadfast endurance. I think it often does. Lord, give to us all to obey and to endure, that even we may receive, for the enriching of our lives, Thy "exceeding great and precious promises." (2 Pet. 1.4)--from Edges of His Ways, by Amy Carmichael

Waiting for Sunday...

SOUTHBOROUGH L’ABRI NEWSLETTER, SPRING/SUMMER, 2009
49 Lynbrook Road, Southborough, MA 01772

....There are two ways to experience a story. The first way is when you know the ending and are re-reading or re-hearing it. The second is when you don’t know the end or any of the events until they happen. The first can have greater depth and the second has the intensity of suspense in uncertainty.
Many of us know how Bible stories are going to turn out. This is a good thing, but also a liability. If we know a story well it is easy to have a sense that the end was natural, obvious or inevitable. Anybody could have seen it coming. Easter follows Good Friday. It always has. There are no surprises there. We cannot pretend to “not know” about Easter Sunday, but we can try to put ourselves in the shoes of the people who thought that Good Friday was the end of the story of Jesus. If we don’t do that, we miss out on a lot that we need to learn. The problem at hand is that we all live our own lives in the second way, learning of events only as they happen and not knowing how our story will end. We are all future-blind and we need to learn how to live that way, but by faith. The early followers of Jesus could not “fast forward” to Easter Sunday, just as we can’t “fast forward” over times of darkness, grief and disappointment in our own lives.

I think it is hard for us to realize the kind of catastrophe Good Friday was to the disciples. So many hopes smashed, so much grief, helpless outrage and bewilderment. How could they have gotten it so wrong? Where was God? It was too hard to imagine that God the Father had failed or that Jesus had failed either. But what had gone wrong?

There is new interest in Saturday, “Holy Saturday”, but it is not because the Bible tells us much about what took place that day. It was the Sabbath, so the main thing they had to do was to be still. But imagine what it meant for them to be still after what had just happened the day before – their Savior, their Lord, their Hope, their Friend and their God, the one they had given up everything to follow, had just been tortured to death. They couldn’t do any of the normal things to distract themselves because it was the Sabbath. They were stuck having to stay still, think about it, and worship God. But where had God been yesterday?

Somehow, they had no hope for his resurrection. When the news first came to them from the women who had been to the tomb on Sunday morning, they considered it “nonsense”, “an idle tale”. Why? My guess is that whenever Jesus had predicted his crucifixion, the disciples had been so adamant to dissuade him from even thinking about his death, that they never heard him when he went on to speak of his resurrection. Whatever the reason, they lived Friday, all day Saturday and the start of Sunday morning with grief, confusion and without hope.

One implication of all this is that God in his wisdom seems to have allowed his people to go through this time of darkness and even despair, to look into a chasm of hopelessness. It seems also that he allows this to happen to us also, as we live out our life’s story without knowing future events or having a fast forward button available. Most of us have gone through times of bewilderment and despair. Many who come here as students certainly have, but have been taught that despair should not happen to “good Christians” and so do not think they even have the right to talk about it. Thank God that people in the Biblical account did not feel so constrained! God seems to allow these times for reasons that are in any final sense, unknown to us. But perhaps a partial reason might be that we can learn things that we cannot learn when everything is working according to our plans. His presence is with us even when we feel that we are experiencing his absence.

Easter Sunday was a time of lights switching on all over the place, lights of understanding and hope. Suddenly Jesus as king could be taken seriously again. The idea of Jesus as High Priest could be taken seriously for the first time – that his death was his own intentional, once for all sacrifice for the sins of all those who would ever trust in him. So much of his teaching began to make sense to them, sense that it never had made before. They could suddenly see how he was the “good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep”, the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

So, as we hear the story of Jesus, knowing its ending, let’s still try to experience it from the shoes of those who couldn’t see Easter coming. If we dare to look into the dark of their hopelessness, we may learn more about the brightness of the lights that came on at the resurrection, and that are still shining. That way we may also learn something about navigating our own future-blind lives by faith.

"The Rest"

from Streams in the Desert:

"'There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it.' In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by 'rests,' and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the 'rest'? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.

Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the 'rests.' They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, 'There is no music in a 'rest,' let us not forget 'there is the making of music in it.' The making of music if often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson!" -Ruskin.

Struggling in the cocoon...

February 17, 2009

from Streams in the Desert:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom. 8:18.)

"I kept for nearly a year the flask-shaped cocoon of an emperor moth. It is very peculiar in its construction. A narrow opening is left in the neck of the flask, through which the perfect insect forces its way, so that a forsaken cocoon is as entire as one still tenanted, no rupture of the interlacing fibers having taken place. The great disproportion between the means of egress and the size of the imprisoned insect makes one wonder how the exit is ever accomplished at all--and it never is without great labor and difficulty. It is supposed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected in passing through such a narrow opening is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings, these being less developed at the period of emerging from the chrysalis than they are in other insects.
I happened to witness the first efforts of my prisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. During the whole forenoon, from time to time, I watched it patiently striving and struggling to get out. It never seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was exhausted. Very probably the confining fibers were drier and less elastic than if the cocoon had been left all winter on its native heather, as nature meant it to be. At all events I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its Maker, and I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a very little easier, and lo! immediately, and with perfect ease, out crawled my moth dragging a huge swollen body and little shrivelled wings. In vain I watched to see that marvelous process of expansion in which these silently and swiftly develop before one's eyes; and as I traced the exquisite spots and markings of divers colors which were all there in minature, I longed to see these assume their due proportions and the creature to appear in all its perfect beauty, as it is, in truth, one of the loveliest of its kind. But I looked in vain. My false tenderness had proved its ruin. It never was anything but a stunted abortion, crawling painfully through that brief life which it should have spent flying through the air on rainbow wings. I have thought of it often, often, when watching with pitiful eyes those who were struggling with sorrow, suffering, and distress; and I would fain cut short the discipline and give deliverance. Short-sighted man! How know I that one of these pangs or groans could be spared? The far-sighted, perfect love that seeks the perfection of its object does not weakly shrink from present transient suffering. Our Father's love is too true to be weak. Because He loves His children, He chastises them that they may be partakers of His holiness. With this glorious end in view, He spares not for their crying. Made perfect through sufferings, as the Elder Brother was, the sons of God are trained up to obedience and brought to glory through much tribulation." -Tract. (bold emphasis, mine)