May the mumbling commence!
“Home, home on the range; where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day.” Living now in the heart of the American Great Plains, this song has become a little more poignant to me over the last several years. Seldom do I see any antelope playing (only at the Sedgwick County Zoo), but I have seen many deer.
It is the privilege of school bus drivers and others who get up early in the morning to see the world coming to life. Just this past week, I saw a group of five deer crossing the road. With their graceful ways of moving, they are beautiful to behold. Earlier that same morning, I saw somewhere between fifteen and twenty wild turkeys by the roadside. And, morning after morning, I see beautiful sunrises as I drive east into them. The ones most beautiful have some clouds to add the luminescent colors – red, pink, purple, and many hues in between. The sunrise, each morning, is a unique masterpiece of our Great Creator.
Having lived through the seasons a couple of times here in Kansas, I know that the skies sometimes are cloudy all day. Driving school bus for high school students, I have also learned that there are many instances of discouraging words. I wonder how my words and actions either encourage others or discourage them.
This morning has been a long way around to talking about Numbers 32 and 33. Moses and Israel, for the second time, sit on the cusp of the Promised Land. After Israel had defeated some enemies east of the Jordan River, the Reubenites and Gadites asked Moses if they could have the land already conquered. They had many flocks and herds, and the land was exceedingly good for those purposes.
Moses upbraided them for discouraging their Israelite brothers from taking the Promised Land, just like their fathers’ had done the first time around. Would they doom themselves and their children to another forty years wandering in the wilderness? The tribes of Gad and Reuben (and a little later in the chapter the half-tribe of Manasseh) committed to leaving behind their wives, children, flocks, and herds. They promised to lead their brothers into battle in the Promised Land until each tribe had their inheritance. They promised to lead and not follow. Only after all of Israel was settled would these three tribes be free to return to their appointed land.
What could have been discouraging actions and words were transformed into encouraging words and actions by the movement of the Lord through Moses. They were able to avoid the pitfall of their first experience at the threshold of the Promised Land. But discouragement does not only happen at the outset. The Lord warned Israel at the end of chapter 33 that if they did not complete drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land and totally destroy the carved images, idols, and places of worship, these people and things would become barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides. These are not exactly comforting or encouraging thoughts.
As we seek to live our lives in the present and coming kingdom of God, I wonder what barbs and thorns afflict us. For each of us live in the world. So, how does the world creep into our lives that hinder our relationship with God and with one another? Do I think that I can gain respect by tearing others down around me – disrespecting someone else? Do I think that I can have greater worth than another person solely by having more stuff? These and other lies are out there. These are the images, idols, and worship places of our society.
They throw barbs into our eyes so that we cannot see clearly what the Lord is calling us to do in this time and place. They stick into our sides and goad us forward into the cruel mold the world would like to form us into. May I lift others us by my words and actions – even without the knowledge that they would lift me up too. May I say no to the consumerism and deny myself the biggest and the best toys. My worth is not based on what other people say about me. Nor is my worth dependent upon the things I have. My worth and sense of self respect is built on nothing less than the love that God has shown me through Jesus Christ and through the gift of His Holy Spirit.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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