Blessed and Kept

Perhaps the most compelling addition to any story, book, movie, television show plot is the introduction of one particular element. It is a situation that shocks everyone and that invokes a deep emotional response. It’s almost a cheap trick that we all keep falling for because it hits on one of our most core fears: Betrayal.

Think about it right? It’s almost impossible to think of a memorable story that doesn’t involve some kind of betrayal. Even in kids movies. Ariel the little mermaid is betrayed by Ursula, Simba in the Lion King is betrayed by his Uncle Scar, Aladdin is betrayed by Jafar. These are like core stories that I grew up on.

There is something that just wrenches our guts about human betrayal, even when it’s fictional. Like I remember how scandalized I was when I first watched The Empire Strikes Back and witnessed the betrayal of Han Solo at the hands of his friend Lando Calrissian. Yeah that one is rough right?

Betrayal is one of our greatest fears. And it’s one of our greatest fears because it comes in and it destroys the thing that we long for most in this world — security. We want to feel secure in our relationships, because relationships are a fundamental piece of our human existence and identity. God created us with the express intention that we would live in relationships. It’s written into our DNA. Betrayal, well betrayal is the antithesis of and the greatest enemy of one of our core identities.

But it’s one thing to read stories and watch movies or tv shows and experience betrayal in the third person. It’s a whole other ball game when we experience it ourselves. And if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, we’ve all dealt with it at some point. And it hurts. And often it causes us to change. To begin to guard our hearts more closely and to trust a little less openly and freely.

And we can become closed off. We can become calloused, jaded, and cynical of people, and perhaps even of God. And that’s no way to live. In fact it is the opposite of the desires that God has for us.

So we are beginning a new sermon series this week called “In the Wilderness” and what we are going to look at is how the promise of God’s faithfulness to us far outweighs the betrayals and hurts that we experience in this life, and how when all seems lost we can find respite in God’s love for us.

This series is going to focus on the book of Numbers, which maybe has you groaning internally already. But I promise it’s going to be good. You can let me know when it’s over if I’ve betrayed you...

But the book of Numbers is actually a really fascinating book, once you get passed… all the numbers. The first several chapters are a census and ordering of Israel’s society. And then there’s some more laws. But eventually it gets to some pretty compelling narrative, and that’s where we will spend most of our time.

So the story so far is that the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. And God came and rescued them from slavery and led them out of Egypt through a man named Moses. Moses led the people through the Sea and away from the Egyptian army, you may know the story, and when they were safe took them to a place called Mt. Sinai. And it was at Mt. Sinai that they camped for a long long time.

This is where God gave them the 10 commandments and all of the other laws that they were supposed to govern their fledgling little society by. So half of the book of Exodus is spent at Sinai, then the entire book of Leviticus, and the first portion of the Book of Numbers. And where we will be today is going to come to us just as the Israelites are preparing to set out on their journey towards the Promised Land.

They are about to head: into the wilderness. Now in the Original Hebrew that the Old Testament is written in the book of Numbers is not called Numbers. Its called ba-midbar which means --- don don don! “In the Wilderness” and so you can see where I got the name of this series from. And you likely can also see where the importance of the book lies. It’s ain’t in the numbers of the census at the beginning. It’s in the stories of how these people that God chose to deliver from slavery, that God chose to be the light of the world, messed up, hurt one another, and most clearly hurt their leader.

Moses is the leader of the people of Israel, and his brother Aaron is the high priest. God has just finished giving all of the law to Moses, and we already know that things aren’t going to go super smoothly. The people have already failed by creating a golden calf to worship, some of Aaron’s sons have messed up by not properly respecting the inner most part of the temple, and the people are just generally being people.

But God hasn’t given up on them. And neither has Moses. So after the law has been fully given out, knowing that it’s a tall order and that these humans are probably going to fail, these words are spoken in Numbers 6:22-27

Numbers 6:22–27 NRSV

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

This blessing, known as the priestly benediction or the Aaronic Blessing has been spoken over synagogue and church services for thousands of years now. It is perhaps the most iconic Old Testament phrase used in worship services. And that is because it truly encapsulates the human/divine relationship. It is a consistent reminder of the promises and faithfulness of God.

The Lord bless you and keep you is a reminder of God’s activity in the Garden of Eden, that God blessed the people that he had created, and that he sought and continues to keep or guard them from harm. Remember God’s warning against sin? Don’t eat from that tree, of you will surely die. Or even outside of the garden, when Cain’s anger rose up against his brother — God said to him “be careful, sin is crouching at your door and it seeks to devour you.” This line is a reminder to Israel, and also to us, that God is still in the business of blessing us with life sustaining grace and actively trying to protect us from sin.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you is a reminder that God’s presence is with us, even in our human failings. God is gracious to us, waiting for us with patience and grace.

And the final clause: the Lord lift up his countenance (another way of saying face) and give you peace.

This is truly the end goal right here. The gift from God of peace. In Hebrew this word is Shalom.

Shalom is the highest ideal of human existence in the Hebrew Bible, and is still God’s deep desire for humanity. Shalom is the reconciliation of broken relationships. Shalom is where the power of God in us takes control and heals the rifts caused by sin and betrayal in our world, our personal relationships, our own hearts, and between humans and God. But Shalom does stop there. Shalom is not simply the absence of betrayal and brokenness and violence. Shalom is the full realization of God’s vocation for humans.

Modern conceptions of peace means a state when there is no active combat. Shalom is a state of active reconciliation that is shown through life promoting and life sustaining activity. Shalom is a state of selfless service to God and to our neighbors. Shalom is the ultimate hope for our world, and Shalom is only possible if God is involved.

This is very idealistic. I get it. Even of God. Like God have you met humans? Of course you have. You made humans. In fact God is very intimately aware of how messed up this particular group of humans is. And yet, God promises them Shalom. And because they are promised Shalom, they are given the gift of bearing God’s name, and of living life as representatives of God in the world.

God says “they shall put my name on them, they are my own. I am theirs and they are mine.”

This, I believe is the cure for our hearts when we face betrayal. When we are consumed with the natural resentment that comes from having our trust broken we need something different to reconcile what we lost. We need God’s promise of faithfulness to us, and we need Shalom to give us the freedom to forgive.

Perhaps the greatest and easiest example of this is the death of Christ on the cross. After being betrayed, denied, falsely accused, whipped, beaten, and mocked— Jesus cried out “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus — in his agony — recognized that the human betrayal that was facing was nothing in comparison to the power of God to reconcile and save.

Jesus knew, in the face of human betrayal, that the betrayal itself would not get the last word. Yes the pain was real and tangible in the moment, but it wouldn’t and never will get the final word if God is invited into the brokenness that betrayal creates.

For Jesus, after 3 days in the tomb, the consequences of his betrayal were reversed. For you and I it may take a little longer than that. But the same God, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave is the same power that resurrects our hearts when they have been broken by the people we are called to be loved by.

God’s promise to us is that he is with us. God’s promise to us is that through him we will find Shalom. This is the gift that Jesus gave to us through his life, death, and resurrection. This is the hope that we cling to as we wait for him to return and make all things new.

And so for us here today, I think its important for us to simply name the elephant in our own hearts. I can imagine that all of us have felt the sting of betrayal at some point.

Ask yourself… has it changed my heart? Am I angry? Am I carrying resentment? Am I harboring ill will towards anyone?

The overall goal of this sermon series is to help you to learn to let go of that junk and to allow the faithfulness of God to bring you to a place of forgiveness and a place where Shalom can begin to reign in your heart and in the world through you.

So the invitation for you is to simply be aware. Think over your life… where has betrayal shaped the way you see those around you? Where has it shaped the way you see God? Where has it shaped the way you see yourself?

What would it take for you to reclaim the peace, the shalom that was lost? Where is the space for God to step in and shine the light of love into your broken relationships and make them whole once again? How can the faithfulness of God change everything?