St. John United Church of Christ, Arlington Hts.,
Rev. Jeffrey L. Phillips, pastor
September 13, 2009 – Rally Day
Numbers 22:22-35
The Israelites are on the way from Egypt to the Promised Land must first pass through the land of Moab. The people of Moab see how many of them there are, and become afraid: “They’ll take everything we have. They’ll be like oxen eating up all the grass!”
Balak the king of Moab sends for a seer named Balaam in distant Mesopotamia. “As a seer it’s his job to curse people,” the king said. “We’ll pay him lots of money to put a curse on these people who’ve come up from Egypt!”
God didn’t want Balaam to go, but Balaam set out for Moab on his faithful donkey anyway – for the long, hard journey to Moab. [Poor donkey!]
On the way, the donkey suddenly saw an angel standing in the path, blocking their way. The angel had a sword in his hand. If they moved ahead, the angel would kill Balaam and his donkey. The donkey saw the angel with the sword, but Balaam didn’t see the angel.
To save their lives, the donkey left the path and went into the field. Balaam lashed out at the donkey, hitting her with a stick. [Poor donkey!] “Get back on the road!” Balaam yelled! [Poor donkey!]
Later, the path narrowed as it went between two walls. Again, the donkey saw the angel with the sword, and was so startled that she bumped against one of the walls, scraping Balaam’s foot!
Once again, Balaam didn’t see the angel with the sword, and didn’t know why the animal had acted that way. Balaam was angry and hit the donkey again. [Poor donkey!]
The third time the angel appeared with a sword, the donkey just sat down. Still, Balaam couldn’t see the angel. Balaam beat the donkey again. [Poor donkey]
The donkey asked Balaam, “Why have you hit me three times?” [Poor donkey]
Balaam forgot that donkeys don’t speak, and said, “You’ve made a fool of me. If I only had a sword, I’d use that on you, too!” [Poor donkey]
The donkey continued, “Haven’t I been a faithful donkey to you all these years? Have I ever acted like this before?”
“No,” admitted Balaam, thoughtfully.
When God saw that Balaam was willing to listen to a donkey and admit that he may not know everything, God let Balaam see the angel with the sword, and Balaam fell to the ground and bowed low. He experienced a spiritual revival!
He completed his journey to Moab, but rather than cursing the Israelites as King Balak wanted him to do, he blessed them, doing what God wanted him to do. As a result, Balak, king of Moab, did not attack the Israelites.
We don’t know whatever became of Balaam’s talking donkey [Poor donkey!]
Wow! A talking donkey!
Balaam was a seer. His job was to curse people, but also to see – to understand.
He should see the things of God, know God, and understand God, and what God wants him to do. But he doesn’t, does he? The seer cannot see.
But who can see in this story – see and talk? The donkey. [Poor donkey!]
But the donkey’s not so poor, is she, because she sees God’s angel and understands that God doesn’t want her and Balaam to go to Moab. The donkey sees more than the seer. Wow! And she speaks! An animal with more sense and wisdom than the person who’s supposed to be wise. Who’s the real jackass in this story?
Balaam is spiritually blind in this story. He’s spiritually asleep. And he’s arrogant, thinking he knows better than God what he should do, and that he doesn’t even need God.
But then Balaam begins to see. He begins to wake up. He starts to understand that there’s more to the situation than he thinks there is. He starts to listen. And God’s voice comes to him through the voice of his kind, obedient, wise donkey [Poor donkey!]
This little story’s about hearing, seeing, understanding, and waking up to the reality and power of the living God. It’s about admitting to ourselves that maybe we don’t know everything – that maybe someone else has something to teach us, and that maybe God wants to take us someplace. It’s about spiritual humility, and being able to open ourselves to the possibility that we just might have room to grow in our understanding of God’s will for our lives.
Are we ever spiritually dead? Do we need a spiritual revival? Or do we always perceive God’s presence on our path all the time and obey God’s will completely every day? Can the spiritually dead come back to life?
A couple moved into a neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the woman looked out her window and saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
"That laundry is not clean,” she said. “Doesn’t she know how to wash correctly? Maybe she needs a better detergent.”
He husband took all this in, but remained quiet.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash out, the woman would make the same comment.
About a month later, the woman got up one morning and was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line. She said to her husband, “Look! She’s finally learned how to wash! I wonder how that happened.”
The husband said, “Well, I’m not sure, but I did get up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”
Sometimes we think we’re understanding everything when we’re not. Sometimes we think we’re seeing everything when we’re not. Are we as spiritually awake and alive as we think we are? Are we as close to God as we could be? Do you perceive God’s presence on the path as the donkey did, or are you spiritually blind and dead like Balaam? Do you know God’s will for your life as the donkey did, or are you doing your own thing, oblivious to what God really wants for you, as Balaam was?
Maybe it’s our spiritual windows that need a cleaning so we can see God clearly and experience God’s love anew.
My recent sermons on the nature and mission of the church culminated last week in a plea for a spiritual revival in our congregation.
That’s where real church growth, vitality and the accomplishment of mission come from – not just trying harder, but waking up spiritually as Balaam did on the road to Moab and as Paul did on the road to Damascus.
Rally Day is a day to begin anew, but perhaps with new energy, new purpose, new and deeper love for God. And Rally Day is a day to try something new. So I’d like you to find somebody you don’t live with to discuss three things. Children can participate, too.
How are you aware/awake/alive to God’s presence in your life?
- What can you do to deepen your relationship with God?
- What does this have to do with your participation in St. John UCC?
Is it possible for our congregation to wake up to God’s presence? Is it possible for our church to come alive spiritually? Is it possible for us to listen to God’s voice on the path? Is it possible for us to so deepen our awareness of God and our love for God that we experience something wonderful in our life together this year?
You can focus on the needs of the church – we need a treasurer, we need money, we need Sunday School volunteers, we need more members, we need more sopranos, we need, we need, we need.
But do you know what we really need? We need to fall to the ground as Balaam did and bow deeply and humbly before God. We need to wake up, listen, and get acquainted or reacquainted with God as our friend, our only hope in tough economic times, knowing again in the depths of our hearts how much God loves us.
Friends and members of St. John UCC, we need a revival! We need to talk about how God is at work in our lives, not about the constitution, budgets, committees, and attendance. We need to talk about how good God is to us, and how much we need God in our lives. We need to know God, not just know about God.
You might say: it’ll never happen here. Well, it just did. A moment ago you were talking about God in your life, and in the life of our congregation.
To say that God cannot move us, touch us, stir us, inspire us as a congregation in a fresh, new way is to take the part of Balaam before he listened to his donkey.
But if Balaam can awake from his spiritual sleep, then we can, too. That is the heart of the Christian faith – a dead man rising from the grave. Today’s story is not about a poor donkey [Poor Donkey!]. It’s about poor Balaam, but also about how God did a miracle in Balaam’s soul and brought him back to the land of the spiritually vital. That’s what God wants more than anything else – us. Us as individuals and us as a faith community.
What will God do with us and through us this year? Let’s be open-minded and open-hearted to all the possibilities. As one preacher I know used to say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” And the main thing is God!
Let’s resolve this year to be donkeys, celebrating and responding to the unfathomable love and amazing grace of God, known to us through Jesus Christ. How about it? Are you ready for revival?
Amen.
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