White As Snow: Racism in Numbers 12

Did you know there is racism in the Bible?  In Numbers 12 Miriam and Aaron attempt a coup d’etat against Moses.  He is married to a black woman and they are not pleased. They ask, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?”  Now Moses is the meekest of men and says not a mumblin’ word against his brother and sister but the Lord takes issue.  He calls them on the carpet, “come out you three, to the ten of meeting” and he proceeds to tell them how much he loves Moses, and when the Lord finishes speaking his anger is kindled against Aaron and Miriam and when the pillar of cloud is removed from over the tent, Miriam is leprous, her skin has been turned as white as snow.  I know there might be some who say, “How come God did not punish Aaron too?"  But remember Aaron is the representative of the entire people of Israel, moreover think what God is conveying here.  It’s as if God is saying, “You want a white woman, I will give you a white woman!”  When Aaron and Moses see Miriam they are horrified.  They plead with God, Moses says “Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.”  Their prayer is granted and Miriam is healed after seven days.  God chastises those whom he loves.  God is teaching his beloved about the evils of racism.  As a white woman myself I have begun to be aware of some of the privileges and rights that I enjoy that my black brothers and sisters do not.  I have never been redlined. I have very rarely been suspected of shoplifting in a store, to name just two in a long list.  My family and I enjoy the fruit of many generations of being accorded our rights; we have been able to pursue happiness without the roadblocks that have been constantly set in the faces of the descendants of slaves, the builders of this country.  In Anglo-Saxon law a slave is not just freed by proclamation, a slave is freed when he is given three things: land, a mule, and a sword.  By my count neither the slaves nor their descendants have ever been given any of the above.  Dear readers, God’s word bears fruit (Isaiah 55) and our words of liberty should too, not only for one part of society but also for the builders of this nation, the slaves and their descendants.

We the People

Growing up I was blessed in so many ways. My parents were both politically active, advocating for the stranger and for the oppressed. As a baby I went door to door (in their arms!) campaigning for George McGovern. They took me along to marches and in all their work included me and taught me many beautiful things. I think it was sometime in the 90’s that a new phrase, a new way of referring to the president came into being, “leader of the free world.”  For those who had been raised during World War II, calling a president “leader,” sets off alarm bells. Moreover as theological students they had both learned  that there is only one “leader” or “Fuhrer,” and that is Jesus, and Jesus alone, not Hitler, not Roosevelt and not Stalin; both Karl Barth and Bonhoeffer taught my parents this lesson, a lesson they would never forget. The Queen herself rightly bows to a foreign prince, the Lord Jesus. But my parents’ concern, a concern I share, goes further. What is a president?  A president is someone who presides over the national conversation; much like a skilled hostess, a president can turn the conversation this way or that.  The office is powerful as such, but not imperial.  I'm glad that in our day and age, the phrase, “leader of the free world” seems to be used less than it once was.  We don't want to forget that we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  The apostle Paul says, “let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God…those that exist have been instituted by God.”  Paul lived in an Empire. The authorities instituted by God were the emperors, governors, centurions and the like. But we have been given a  democracy, the authority instituted by God is us. There is no other way for Americans than democracy; if we resist we resist to our own hurt, even as the apostle warns. A young man I know and esteem, once indicated to me that he would like a dictator in America; he had been raised in Europe and used to the efficiency of the “strongman.” Democracy is sometimes not easy to understand. It must be painfully learned again and again, but God is faithful and good and he will not let us forget forever.  The buck does not stop at the presidency, but right here, with me and you. Every Sunday I pray for local and national government, but I never forget that the government is us; whatever happens, at home or abroad is our responsibility, we are the authorities instituted by God.

"Accidental" Evangelist

As we read aloud from the Bible my friend looked up and said, “Does this mean I don't have to worry about converting people anymore?” I was startled but I had to agree with her. We had been reading through 2 Corinthians 2 but also reflecting on places like Acts 1, and I realized that when Jesus tells the disciples, “ You shall be my witnesses," they neither set up on a street corner with a bullhorn, nor do they book a travel agent to travel to the farthest nations. Instead, look at how Peter's first sermon and the subsequent conversion of three thousand people came about-- The disciples, both men and women, had simply been praying in the upper room in obedience when the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they began to speak the praises of God in many languages. This was, not surprisingly, a bit startling to the people in Jerusalem, and they gathered in consternation and wonder but some asked aloud whether the disciples weren't just early morning drunks. It was to defend himself and the others against the charge of public drunkenness that Peter speaks, and in so doing is compelled to share the gospel. To paraphrase: "You meant the death of Jesus for evil but God meant it for your good.”  What we see with Peter and even more clearly with Paul in all of their preaching is that, in fact, we don’t need to worry about evangelizing at all.  The pattern that we see throughout Acts and the entire New Testament not to mention the Old, of  “stumbling” into preaching the gospel is everywhere. Truly, “in Christ Jesus we are created to do good things, prepared in advance by God for us to do.” Without a doubt we will be the Lord's witnesses, and "make disciples of many nations" but this is not because of our own efforts, but rather because we will see and hear wonders of God and he himself will provide a situation where we are almost compelled to share what we know. In other words, as my friend also said," Relax but be ready. ” We will simply, through no effort or worry beforehand, find ourselves telling the story, say, of Samson, or perhaps reminding someone of Jeremiah 31, even without directly quoting a single phrase. We will find ourselves, like Peter, like Paul and all the disciples, quite easily and innocently sharing the gospel, "accidental" evangelists. As Jesus said, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Test the spirits

The child was made to feel special.  He was told again and again how much the abuser loved him.  But now, as an adult, he knows the truth: that that love was a lie.  His abuser was incapable of loving him, or of really even seeing him, or any child.  His abuser was blind, imprisoned in adamantine bonds.  All of this raises the question: How do we test spirits? How do we find out what love really is?

    At precisely the point where would expect the apostle Paul to tells us to "love the Lord with all our hearts and souls and minds,” Paul goes in a different direction.  He speaks instead of a love that is beyond us but for us.  Much has been said and written about the famous "love" chapter of I Corinthians but let's keep in mind that wherever the word "love" is used, the phrase, "the love God has for us” or “the love God gives us” could be substituted: "the love God has for us is patent and kind, the love God gives us is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude."  You see, the law of Moses tells us to love the Lord our God but something even better happens in the new covenant. To understand, go back to the story of the new covenant.  King David was faithfully loved by God; the Lord supported him wherever he went giving help and hope, giving victory over the enemy.  But of course, this faithful love was not only for David but for the people.  God established David's throne forever in order that his people might have rest and dwell secure.  And there was even more to come.  The Bible speaks time and time again of a greater David, one descended from David's line, “there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.”  This branch, this shoot is the messiah, Jesus, and God's faithful love supports him and gives him the victory for our sake and yet even this is not the end of the good news, "I will give you the faithful pities of David" (Isa 55:3, Acts 13:34).  Not only are we "more than conquerors” because Jesus has conquered sin and death and the devil for us on the cross, we are also given all the faith and the love that he has, we too are "enfaithed," we too are supported and  helped and given the victory. And here’s what it comes down to: So often we think that love is just natural.  We take it for granted, forgetting that wherever and whenever love occurs it is a gift from the God who is love. It is from our heavenly Father. It is because of the word that rang out even before creation, it is for believers and non-believers (Matt 5:45, Isa 45).  The Bible tells us to test the spirits. So then, when someone says, "I love you," see if it is so.  Does it conform to I Corinthians 13?  Does it conform to the stories to which that chapter is pointing?  A child of course cannot do this; it is the parents' job, it's the community's work to protect children from those who are both deceiving and, most likely, terribly deceived themselves.  Contrary to what many say, the Lord does not teach us to suspend disbelief, rather we are to be scientists and prove what is true.  Well was it once said that theology is “the queen of sciences.” 

Conspiracy Theory

“But you know, no Jews died in there.” It was an uncle I think who said it. My tour group and I had been graciously invited to spend Sunday afternoon with a Christian family in Jordan and in the fullness of time the discussion turned to 9/11. One of the uncles was particularly keen to talk. He believed, no, he knew, that Osama Bin Ladin had not been responsible, rather "they" were to blame. A small secret group of, it seemed, mostly Jewish people and as proof, yet another uncle chimed in, to assert that no Jewish people had died, all the Jews, he said, had been warned ahead of time and had skipped work on September 11th. Our tour group sat aghast, what could we say? But what neither of the uncles knew was that I had seen with my own eyes the monumental, nightmare piles of twisted blackened ruins. What they did not know was that I had happened to have walked through and breathed in the dust that obscured the sun in October of 2001. What they could not have guessed was that  their guest had seen with her own eyes the workers traveling to and fro, into the murk, sifting through the rubble, searching for the remains of their fellow New Yorkers, clearing the ground, to do one last deed of mercy for the dead. What they did not know was that the published lists of those who had perished, gave the lie to the uncle’s words. What the family did not know was the voice that I and many others heard; the voice of thousands of souls, crying out to God. And my fellow believers did not know was what was about to happen next. To my utter embarrassment, when that last statement from the uncle had exited his mouth, I  lowered my head and began to cry, my green explorer hat that I had bought especially for the trip, falling on the carpet. 

The truth is that whether we know it or not there is no conspiracy. And even if there were somewhere a group of tented fingered schemers, they would be, to put it dramatically, innocents, in comparison to us.    The buck does not stop with “them,” it stops with us. It is tempting to assign blame to someone else. But the truth is we are responsible. “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”  We all know very well, that God plus one equal a majority. But we turn away from this truth, let's put it plainly: we turn away from Jesus and deny him. People are afraid. I am afraid too, and if our power were based on our own faith we would be right to be afraid, our escapism, justified. Our faith fails. But we are on firmer ground. We have been justified by the faith, i.e., the "enfaithment" of Jesus promised by Isaiah. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

As I wept trying to tell them about my trip to New York, head bowed, eyes on the dusky colored carpet, choking on tears and spit bubbles, I suddenly saw hands reaching out, hands offering tissues, a cup of tea hastily brought, sliding forward towards me on the coffee table, and my hat ever so gently restored to my head.  It was a while before I was able to lift up my eyes and see but when I did, I saw only sympathy and even, new understanding.  It goes without saying that I was more than surprised about the turnaround. It was none of my own doing certainly!  But later I remembered the words I had learned in the bosom of my family, words from the Bible, "God's power is made perfect in weakness.” God's power is made perfect in tears and spit bubbles. We would talk no more of conspiracy that day or any other, because somehow or other the delusion of "them" had been swept away at least for the time being leaving only the "us" of mankind, his suffering and his triumph in Jesus.  No longer could anyone in the room hold suffering at arms length by a "them," it was among US of US, together.  We were as the Bible tells us, "one body," and when one member of the body suffers, all suffer, but this is good news, for those "who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy." 

Isn't That Your Job?

The man chuckled and said, “But isn’t studying the Bible your job?”  We were in the check-out line and after a bit of small talk I had launched into an overly enthusiastic theological mini-lecture concluding with some cheerleading: “Keep on reading your Bible!”  But he was having none of it, genially explaining that the congregations were paying me to read the Bible so they wouldn’t have to, and with that, the swipe of his debit card, and the receipt safely deposited in his wallet, he took his groceries and bid me a friendly farewell.  I have realized in the days and years after this encounter that he had given me a gift: he was willing to engage (and I might add at a rather early hour of the morning!) and push back.  And I say, keep on, keeping on.  If there is one thing ministers really need it is criticism and challenge.  Right or wrong it always does us good. But it is a real temptation to lay down the work of Bible study and hand it over to the professionals.  We do this not only with ministers but with doctors, coaches, priests and legislators.  We leave them to do the job so that we can be free to pursue other things.  It makes sense and yet, this is not what the new covenant means.  Jeremiah 31 tells us that in the time of the new covenant, each one of us will know the Lord.  This does not mean we withdraw into an hermetically sealed room, on the contrary, as Paul says to the house churches at Rome, “you will help me and I will help you.”  We mutually encourage one another in the faith.  There is a famous medical clinic in Kansas and they tell their visitors that patients and caregivers are co-learners with the doctors.  I like that.  I have found when visiting my doctors at Mayo that the more research I can do ahead of time the better.  I try to follow Patton’s advice, “never to ask a question you don’t know the answer to.”  I certainly do learn new things from the doctors and nurses.  They are professionals but I have found that also learn from me and my family.  In the fight for health doctors need us to give them challenge, feedback, and help.  This is as it should be but this is also what needs to happen in our churches.  Indeed, we are told “judgment begins in the house of the Lord.”  May it be so!  Putting ministers, doctors, preachers, coaches up on pedestal has led to nothing but trouble: think of the scandals and horror that we have learned of in football, gymnastics, the Southern Baptist Conference, to say nothing of the Roman Catholic denomination as well many others.  It seems easier to leave it to the professionals but this is not the way of Jesus.  He said to his disciples at the feeding of the five thousand, “you do it,” you feed this congregation.  He enables us in wider and wider circles to minister to one another.  He empowers us to be co-ministers, co-legislators, co-doctors.  He puts the power in the hands of the people.  God is drawing us to himself with the cords of love and giving us all that he has, empowering us to do "even greater things" than what was done before Jesus' death and resurrection. " What is man that thou art mindful of him?"  But he is mindful of us and his thoughts are as high as the heavens above the earth because they are so filled with goodness towards us.