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What’s Wrong with this *&$%^!# * Rock?
“The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff…speak to the rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water…then Moses struck the rock twice with his staff…But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” Selected excerpts from Numbers 20: 7-12
This story takes place in the last year of wandering for the Israelites. Forty or so years earlier God had brought water out of a rock (Ex. 17). This is the second time God commanded Moses to take his staff to a rock. This is the same staff that God caused to bud as proof of who He had chosen to lead the Israelites (Num. 17). This is also the same staff that is “to be kept as a sign to the rebellious.” Its purpose was to “put an end to their grumbling against” God so that the Israelites wouldn’t die.
At first glance it seems a bit harsh that God would ban Moses and Aaron from entering the Promised Land. In fact, tucked away in this second story of the gushing rock is the phrase “So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as He commanded him.” But, this was only partial obedience and partial obedience is disobedience. Moses relied on his traditionalism when he thought he was standing on tradition established by God* (see below). Another way to say it is that he was practicing religion of God when he needed to trust his relationship with God.
I’m not sure if Moses and Aaron panicked. They probably did to some extent. I would have. They were coming to the end of their bizarre odyssey. The end was in sight, the Promised Land was just over the horizon. But, the whining, petty, ingrate Israelites were about to blow the whole deal…again. They needed to be put in their place or another sentence of forty years would be handed down.
All Moses and Aaron had to do was point to the budding staff and say, “hush up, now!” That staff was given by God for specifically this type of situation. I don’t know if they forgot about it or if they didn’t believe it would work or what…but, they didn’t use the tool God had given them. I could write about what happens when leaders don’t use the tools God give them, but that’s not where I’m going. I could also spend several paragraphs writing about what happens when leaders work out of their frustration. But, what I want to explore is how we, as leaders, try to recreate what only God can create.
The first gushing rock was a great success to be sure. The Isrealites were faced with overwhelming odds: starvation, dehydration, an impending battle. God specifically told Moses to strike the rock and, voila, it gushed water. This was immediately followed by a great victory of the Amalekites. Why wouldn’t Moses think the same formula would work again? So, he woops up on the rock. In fact, he hits it a second time. Maybe it was out of anger that Moses took his wind up and went, “wap-wap” in quick succession. But, I suspect it went more like this…
Back when God spoke to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting all Moses heard was, “Take the staff…to the rock.” In his heart Moses most likely said, “OK, God, I remember what we did last time. I’ve got it from here.”
Whoa…wait just a minute. “What we did last time? There was no we there, Lone Ranger.” Back in “Gushing Rock I” God said, “I will stand there before you by the rock.” God was already at the rock…He had already primed it…He had already done the work. Moses could have tripped and fell with the staff hitting the rock and it would have gushed water.
Now at “Gushing Rock: The Sequel” I suspect Moses stormed over to the rock and took a hefty whack driven by his frustration with the Isrealites. He probably heaved his chest, raised his arms in triumph and waited for his moment of glory for recreating the wonderful climax of Gushing Rock I.
Nothing happens…cue crickets chirping in the silence of the dessert.
Not even a bubble of water seeped to the surface of the rock. But, maybe Moses’ frustration with God was starting to bubble. “I did exactly what we did last time! Why don’t you have my back, Mr. Burning Bush Great I Am!!! I’ll show you all!” There may have even been a torrent of “bowling words” as Mr. I’m Slow of Tongue spit on his hands and, just like Mighty Casey at the Bat, took his back swing and whooped up on the rock a second time. It was probably out of pity for the poor rock “that never did nothin’ to nobody” that God brought forth water.
Before we look down our noses at the pitiful sight of Moses getting the tongue lashing he deserves from God (Num. 20:12) we need to take a look in the mirror. As leaders how many times have we witnessed God do something great in our ministry? It might have been a spiritual breakthrough. For me, as a worship leader, it most often takes the form of a great moment in a worship service; one of those moments when you can feel the Spirit of God sweep over the room like a hurricane and the pastor comes to the pulpit to go straight to the invitation/alter call/decision moment without a sermon. People rush the altar. Repentance breaks through; revival breaks out. It was probably even during one of those otherwise mundane moments in the service when only God can split open the rock and let His spirit gush all over the people. We relish the moment giving Him the glory for doing something only He could have done.
Until the next time we think we’re in a similar situation. Then we get all full of ourselves and try to formulate it. “What was it I said to create that moment, what song did we sing that spoke to people, what did we do to convict people like that, what was it about us that encouraged so many?” we search frantically for the formula. Then we get frustrated with ourselves, the people and God when the formula doesn’t work. For goodness, sake! What are we thinking? We’re trying to do what only God can do. We’re trying to be God! For reasons we can never understand, because our thoughts are selfish and, therefore, are not God’s thoughts, He created that moment for that time for His purpose and His glory. It’s not our business, right or even privilege to recreate it. But, God is doing a new thing…not old things.
It’s what I call “glory hijacking.” And we all try it. We need to stop. We’re not God and He’s not just a great big us. Our job is simply to stand next to The Rock and let Him be God. We need to learn to obey; do what He says…nothing more, nothing less.
Then watch the water gush. It’ll be like drinking water from a fire hydrant…um, more like Niagra Falls.
*”Traditionalisms are the dead faith of the living. Traditions are the living faith of the dead.” The first half of this quote is attributed to Jaroslav Pelikan in his book “The Melody of Theology”. However, only the first have can be attributed directly to him. The second half remains attributed to my favorite quotist, anonymous.
Starbucks and a Weekend at Bernie’s
“From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or the will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.” Numbers 18:22
The Tent of Meeting was kind of like Starbucks for God and Moses. It’s where they met to discuss, chat, chew (burn) the fat, etc. Okay, I’m bordering on sacrilege. The point is that the Tent of Meeting is where God was manifest for the Israelites. Moses was allowed in to the Tent to be with God, the Levites were allowed within proximity of the Tent. Everyone else? Stay away!
Why? Because God’s presence reveals sin. God’s holiness publicizes those things that were hidden in shame. The glory of God shines a spotlight on just how dirty and nasty human deeds really are. Proximity to God let’s out the secret that we’ve all tried to deny; that is, we’re really dead.
We might act like we’re alive. We party and celebrate, act joyful, commiserate with friends. We fill our lives with things that fool us into feeling like we’re alive, even vibrant. Our check book registers and credit card statements are filled with purchases of wide screen TVs, cruises to the Med, dinners at the finest restaurants. But, they’re all just illusions of life. We all know it but are too prideful to admit…we’re dead. In spite of all the things we do to feign life we’re really empty, nasty, dirty carcasses.
Rather than being alive, we’re actually just puppets; lifeless marionettes manipulated by an unseen and ruthless puppeteer. Or maybe like poor Bernie in one of my favorite movies “Weekend at Bernie’s” (the first one, not the sequel). Like Bernie, we’re just used to perpetuate the illusion of life. Who is the puppeteer? Who’s pulling the string and manipulating through the charade of life? Satan, Lucifer, the father of all lies.
“Wait a minute, Joe,” you might say. Go ahead say it. “There are at least two problems with saying we’re dead. First, what if we just don’t go near God? Or second, isn’t that a rather vindictive god you’re describing?”
The cool part is both are perfectly valid questions and both have been answered with the same name. For the first point, God is here and we can’t get away from Him. And I don’t mean just metaphysically. God coming to earth to be with humans is what separates Christianity from all other religions. All other religions base “salvation” on us bringing ourselves to life; on us working our way to heaven. But, in Jesus, God came to us. And, because God came to us in the person of Jesus then His presence in the world revealed the dirty little secret that it was filled with death.
Second, God knows that we’re dead. He knows what we we’re deceived out of or may have discovered about ourselves but wouldn’t acknowledge. We can’t make ourselves better, we can’t evolve, we don’t improve…duh, we’re dead. Dead doesn’t get better. And, that breaks God’s heart. He created us to be alive. He created us as life. So He came in the person of Jesus.
There’s a common misunderstanding amongst us humans. It seems to cross the boundary between denominations, the divide between Christian and non-Christian, nationalities, philosophies, etc. That is, many people, I would argue, the majority of people believe Jesus’ mission in life was to make sick people better. Mentally sick people, morally sick people, physically sick people; the mis-belief is that He came to heal us. Or maybe to forgive us; to gloss over our sin. While it is true that He came to do all of those things, they were just to reveal who He is and as a means to an end.
No, Jesus came to bring dead people back to life. In the person who reveals that we are dead is also the breath that brings us back to life. In one fell swoop God did one of the most compassionate and kind things in all of history. He exposed our condition and broke the lie of Satan. No, broke isn’t strong enough. Vaporized, obliterated…I don’t think there is a strong enough word, but you get the idea. That is, we’re dead and we need of Savior. In that same fell swoop, He did the most kind and compassionate thing in all of history and that is that He gave us a way to life. And, He did it through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Now, take a look at the check register and credit card statement. Re-examine the party schedule and social calendar. What does our life in Jesus look like? It’s not the view of an old rotting carcass anymore is it? The smell is sweeter, the colors brighter, the music more harmonic, the dancing more vibrant. Isn’t it good to be alive?
That’s why worship!
Beware the Third Mile
My Running Shoes
“Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the Lord when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai.” Numbers 3:4
I love to run. Well, more specifically I like to run after the first mile. The first mile is hard. It takes discipline to get started. The second mile is better, but I still feel like I’m plodding along. During the second mile it takes discipline to maintain pace.
Then the third mile…ah, the third mile. I think of it wistfully with longing in my heart. I guess that’s when my runner’s high kicks in. My stride lengthens, my shoes lighten, feet gently padding the ground in tempo to the music that pulses from my iPod. It’s as if I’m gliding across a sheet of ice without any effort…a sublime experience to be sure. Sometimes I feel like I could close my eyes and just float along.
(By the way, you can follow my progress as I train and see what I’m listening to on my iPod by checking out the sidebar to the left. Near the bottom you’ll find my running stats and a list of songs I’ve listened to recently.)
Anyway, the discipline of the third mile is to not let my pace get away from me. When running distances longer than four miles a good pace for me to run is between twelve and thirteen minutes per mile. Yeh, I know it’s not terribly fast…actually it’s more like jogging. Sometimes it seems like I can maintain that pace indefinitely. I’ve made it over twelve miles at that pace.
But, if I don’t discipline myself during the third mile, then the fourth mile is like dying. And, anything longer than four is like death. During the third mile my heart relishes the feeling of freedom; basking in the glow of endorphins. But, my head sends out dispatches saying, “Whoa there big fella’. You ain’t built for speed.” If I don’t heed the warnings twelve minutes per mile slips to eleven minutes per mile which quickly becomes ten minutes per mile. Once I even made it to 9’51″ per mile. Guess which mile it was. Yep, mile three. Guess how fast mile four was. I don’t know. I had to stop at about four and a half because I thought I was going to vomit.
Nadab and Abihu had seen God do some incredible things. They were some of the privileged few who saw God and lived to tell about it (Ex. 24:9-11). Later, they saw God himself participate in their inaugural sacrifice by sending down fire from heaven to burn the offering (Lev. 9). The complete story of what happens next is in Leviticus 10, but I’m using Numbers 3:4 because its curtness gives it more impact. By discipline they made it through miles one and two (Ex. 24). God privileged them to experience mile three (Lev. 9). But, they didn’t understand that God didn’t ordain them for that glory. They weren’t built for that kind of “speed”. They were intended to be witnesses to glory, not to be glorified. Glorification is God’s place. There was nothing inherently wrong with what Aaron’s boys were doing. Except that they were trying to take God’s place and create their own glory. And everything is wrong with that.
Then like so many of us in leadership do, they ran beyond God’s authority. They believed, like we often do, that just because there is blessing in what God is doing through us that He is sanctioning what we are doing on our own. God’s blessing isn’t necessarily endorsement of what we’re doing. Sometimes God reveals something amazing to us, a vision of what can be…a glimpse of what He can do, what only He is supposed to do. And, then we try to recreate it like we had something to do with the original. It’s as if we actually say to the Creator of the Universe, “OK, Big Guy. We’ll pick up where you’ve left off.”
Whoa! Wait a minute! That’s exactly backwards. We don’t pick up where He leaves off, He picks up where we leave off. We don’t continue where He ends, He continues where we run out. We don’t complete Him, He completes us.
As spiritual leaders our job is to follow God. Beware of the third mile. Are you wondering why mile four feels like death? Reflect on mile three to see if you ran too fast. Praise God for letting us chase His glory, but don’t run past it trying to make it your own. Running past his ordination for us is death. Do only what you can do and allow God the glory of doing what only He can do.