Look to the Lord and Live! (Numbers 21:4-9)

March 4, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Back in 1896 when the first modern day Olympic Games were held, weightlifting was included, though it wasn’t an event in its own right as it is today.  Instead, it was originally held as part of the Field event, which was the predecessor to today’s Track and Field or Athletics event.  Because of this, weightlifting was not regularly a part of the Olympics until 1920, when fourteen nations competed.  Though there have been a number of different types of weight lifting competitions through the years, today there are only two types of lift competitions—the snatch and the clean and jerk.  Though similar, the essence of the snatch is to lift the barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement, while in the clean and jerk competitors first lift the barbell from the floor to chest height and then lift it up to locked arms overhead.  But regardless of which style lift a competitor is performing, each one knows just how important it is to find a specific point to focus on during the lift, for by looking intently at that single point, a weight lifter is able to focus all his attention on the task of successfully lifting the weight he has chosen to lift.  Well, in our lesson today, our Lord is calling on us to do the very same thing.  He is calling on us to look to him and live.  He is calling on us to move the eyes of our faith from the things of this world and focus them on him so that we might live. 

Look to the Lord and live!  Truthfully, this is all that the Lord really wanted from his people, Israel, as he led them through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan.  However, looking to the Lord and guarding their lives against sin seemed to be the very last thing that thing that the Israelites wanted to do.  For as you know, the Israelites were famous for their  grumbling and complaining against the Lord as well as their stubborn refusal to follow his will in just about every situation.  In fact, this is exactly what Moses is revealing to us in our lesson today as he writes: “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died." (Numbers 21:4–6, NIV84)

Sadly, it seems that whenever the going got too tough, or the way to the Promised Land was just too long, rather than guarding against sin and following the Lord’s will, the people embraced their sin and complained against him.  It seems that whenever even the slightest thing went wrong the people stopped looking to the Lord and looked at themselves as they complained about the things that they didn’t have.  Yet, before we go and judge the Israelites too harshly, we have to ask ourselves if we are any different than they were.  If we are honest with ourselves, then we will immediately realize that we are no different than they were.  For how often doesn’t it happen that whenever the going gets too tough or slightest thing goes wrong, we, like they, fail to look to the Lord?  How often don’t we fail to guard ourselves against our sins, and begin to complain and wail against the Lord just as they did.

Just think about it.  Though we haven’t had much to complain about when it comes to snow or ice, how often haven’t we been surprised by the cold temperatures and began complaining about them?  Or how often don’t we complain about traffic and road construction?  How often don’t we complain about mosquitoes, lady bugs, and box elder bugs?  How often don’t we complain about taxes, insurance, and the costs of prescription drugs?  How often don’t we complain about our jobs?  How often don’t we complain about our homes, or our friends, or our families?  How often don’t we complain about our church, or our pastor, or our childcare, or each other?  How often don’t we complain about our synod schools, or our synod officials.  In short, How often don’t we fail to guard our lives from sin by complain about anything and everything that crosses our minds?  How often don’t we have opened the floodgates and allowed our sins to pour out before the Lord our God?  So often we have failed to guard our lives from sin and have failed to look to the Lord who saves us! 

In fact, if there ever was a people who deserved the Lord’s wrath more than the Israelites, it is us.  If there ever was a people who deserved the Lord to unleash poisonous serpents in their mist, then we would have to stand up and declare that we deserve it.  For the truth is, even though we know exactly what the Lord’s will is for our lives, we have done the exact opposite on just about every occasion.  But even though the Lord has not sent poisonous snakes among us to chastise us as he did with his people, he still uses the tool of his law to turn us back to him.  Sometimes all it takes is the prick of our consciences constantly reminding us how we failed the Lord before we turn to him in repentance.  Sometimes it takes the heavy hand of his commandments pressing down on our backs before we recognize what we have done.  But then there are the times that it takes the full 16 ton weight of God’s Law falling on us and crushing us to the ground before like so many of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters before we realize how we have completely failed to look to the Lord and guard our lives from sin.  But even though it might take the full weight of God’s Law to crush us to dust and make us realize how horribly we have sinned against the Lord, when that realization finally comes, it is the Lord who gently speaks to us and tells us, “Turn to me for forgiveness.  Look to me and live!

Look to the Lord and live!  Turn to the Lord for forgiveness!  These two short phrases form the point of what the Lord was saying to his people when he sent the poisonous snakes among them.  For in the same way that he sometimes crushes us with the full weight of the Law, the Lord intended to crush his people with the full weight of the consequence of their sin, and recognize it they did.  When the people saw how those who were bitten by the snakes died, they quickly realized their sins and turned to the Lord for forgiveness as Moses tells us, “The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (Numbers 21:7–9, NIV84)

When the Israelites turned to the Lord for forgiveness, the Lord not only forgave them; he also gave them tangible assurance that if they looked to him in faith they would live.  This is why the Lord had Moses set up the bronze serpent for the people and tell them that if they were bitten, they could look at this snake and live.  He did this to give them a visual reminder of what faith was all about.  For just as the forgiveness of sins came to the people Israel through faith in the Lord God, healing from the fatal snake bites came only from looking at the bronze serpent with their eyes, and looking past it, with the eyes of faith, to the Lord so that they might live.

We have the same assurance from the Lord our God today!  For when we realize the enormity of our sins against the Lord and turn to the Lord for forgiveness, it is the Lord who says, “Look to me and live!”  For in the same way that the Lord gave tangible assurance to the Israelites of the forgiveness of their sins, the Lord has given us the same tangible assurance of the forgiveness of our sins through his Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  For in the same way that Moses lifted up that bronze snake in the desert, so also has God the Father lifted up his Son, Jesus Christ, in the desert of Golgotha, for the forgiveness of all of our sins.  In the same way that those who looked at that snake with the eyes of faith lived, we who have been bitten by the poisonous vipers of our sins, and have been crushed by the full weight of God’s law, have looked to the Lord our Savior, and have lived.  We have looked to the Lord our Savior who was lifted up on the cross, sacrificed for our sins, and raised to life on the third day, and we are assured that we have received the forgiveness that he won for us.  Now, whenever we look at the cross, we don’t see a broken and dying Savior, but we see the Savior who conquered sin and death by his death and resurrection.  Now, when we look at the cross, we don’t see a device for execution, we see a symbol of comfort and hope.  For whenever we look at the cross, we see more than just two pieces of wood.  We see our Savior to whom we turn for the forgiveness of sins.  We see our Lord to whom we can look and live.

What a great comfort it is for us to look to the Lord our God and focus the eyes of our faith on him.  For in the same way that weight lifters focus all their attention on a single point so that they might successfully lift the weight they are lifting, we who now look to the Lord in faith know that we will live.  Though we may not always be successful at guarding our lives against sin, we know that when we turn to the Lord in repentance he will forgive us, and having been forgiven, we will seek to look to him once more so that we might continue to live for him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Learn from Israel's Example (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

Dear friends in Christ.

The story has been told about a Sunday morning back in 1865, when a black man entered a fashionable church in Richmond Virginia. When Communion was served, he walked down the aisle and knelt at the altar, which sent a rustle of resentment through the congregation. “How dare he!” was the thought running through the congregation. After all, the believers used the common cup for communion! Suddenly a distinguished layman stood up, stepped forward to the altar, and knelt beside that man. With Robert E. Lee setting the example, the rest of the congregation soon followed his lead. Well in the same way that the members of that Virginia congregation followed and learned from the example of Robert E. Lee, so also the Lord is calling on us to learn from the example of the Israelites so that rather than setting our hearts on evil, we might set them on the faithfulness of the Lord our God.
Now, as our text opens this morning, we have the Apostle Paul reminding us of the Israelites example so that we might not set our hearts on evil as they did. In fact, as we heard this lesson read just a few moments ago, the Israelites were a very special people. They were the people whom the Lord had chosen to be his own. They were the people whom the Lord had led out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. They were the people who saw the plagues that the Lord God visited on the Egyptians. They were the people who saw the waters of the Red Sea draw back so that they could cross it on dry ground. They were the people who watched as Pharaoh’s army, which had pursued them into the midst of the sea, was drowned as the waters came crashing down upon them. But even though they were God’s chosen people, Paul tells us: “God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” (1 Corinthians 10:5)
Sadly, those few words are but a summary of the example of the Israelites from which the Lord would have us learn today. For as we look back into their history we see how they tested God’s patience on many different occasions. We hear how they grumbled and complained against the Lord because they simply weren’t satisfied with what he was giving them. We see how quickly they grew impatient with the Lord as their leader, erecting an idol of a golden calf as their god, and indulging in sexual immorality with the women of Moab. From their history, we see how so many of them set their hearts on evil, turned away from the Lord and by their example are teaching us the exact opposite of how the Lord would have us live. But now comes the question: Have we learned from their example not to set our hearts on evil? Or have we simply followed the example they set for us and not learned from it in any way?
If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that too often we have simply followed their example and set our hearts on evil. For the truth is, we, too, are God’s chosen people, chosen to be his own through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We are the people who have witnessed the Glory of his salvation in the death and resurrection of his Son. We are the people who, through faith, have been connected to the Israelites of old and now look forward to the Promised Land of heaven where we will live with the Lord forever. But sadly, all too often we have acted exactly like the Israelites did on the way to Canaan. Though we have never collected jewelry and other precious items with which to forge a golden calf idol so that we might sit down to eat and drink at a festival to this god and then get up to indulge in pagan revelry, we too are guilty of idolatry. For each and every time we allow anything to become more important to us than the Lord and his Word, that thing becomes an idol to us. Whenever we let work, school, vacation, leisure time, or anything else keep us from worshiping the Lord, we become guilty of idolatry. Whenever we allow worship, Bible study, or even home devotions to be an optional thing, we allow the Lord’s importance in our hearts to drop a peg or two, and when he is no longer number 1, we become idolaters who have replaced him with another god.
Though we may never have committed sexual immorality by going out and sleeping with another person before we were married or even while we were married, each and every one of us is just as guilty as the Israelites who went of to sleep with the Moabites. For we have all been tempted by the lust in our hearts. We have all lusted after another man or woman, if even for the briefest second. We have all sat and watched love scenes on television or in movies, we have been enraptured by the lives of soap opera stars and their multiple partners, we have all listened to the town gossip about who is shacking up with whom, and in doing so, we have been found guilty of sexual immorality.
Though we may have never tested the Lord, nor grumbled against him because all we had to eat was this lousy manna, we too have tested his patience with our grumbling and complaining. For how often haven’t we complained about the heat in the middle of summer, the cold in the middle of winter, the mud in the middle of spring, and the dry and dusty land in the middle of Fall. How often haven’t we complained that we don’t have all the things we want, or all the money we think we need. How often haven’t we complained about the government, the state, the city, the school, the church, our employers or employees, or anyone else that we could think of at that moment. How often haven’t we been angry with the Lord, because he hasn’t done what we wanted him to do, or because he has taken our loved one from this vale of sorrow to his or her heavenly joy.
Yes, there can be no doubt about it, we are guilty. We are guilty of every sin that the Israelites committed. Though the things they did were written down to keep us from setting our hearts on evil, it seems that we have rather followed their example and set our hearts on every evil the world has to offer. Because of this, we know that we deserve nothing but God’s wrath and eternal punishment. We deserve to be victims of one of the Lord’s plagues. We deserve to die from the bite of poisonous snakes. We deserve to be cut down by the destroying angel, and suffer eternal damnation for every sin we have ever committed against the Lord.
But even though this is what we deserve, this is the very thing that the Lord has not visited upon us; for the Lord our God is faithful! It was he who saw to it that the example of the Israelites would be written down so that we could learn from them and see how he reveals his great faithfulness. For even though we have constantly set our hearts on evil, it is the Lord who offers his forgiveness and now teaches us to set our hearts on his great faithfulness.
Now, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, calling on them to learn from Israel’s example so that they would not set their hearts on evil, he also urged them to learn from the Israelites example so that they would set their hearts on the faithfulness of their God. This, in fact, is the very thing that Paul is conveying as he writes in the last two verses of our text: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12,13)
With these words, Paul was warning the Corinthians to guard their lives, leaning solely on God’s faithfulness so that they would not fall into temptation. But he was also telling them that when they were tempted, their God would provide them with a way out so they could stand up under it. However, if they did fall into temptation and sin against their God, they could rely on the forgiveness of sins provided to them through their faithful God.
This was the very thing the Lord did for his people Israel. Though they were unfaithful to him on many occasions, and he regularly visited them with his wrath, he still remained faithful to them. For he was always there ready with his forgiveness whenever they sinned against him as they so often did. Though the Israelites were made to wander in the wilderness for forty years because they had turned against the Lord, he did still lead them into Canaan as he had promised. Though many were killed by the poisonous snakes in the desert, those who looked with faith on the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up were healed and lived. Though many died by the sword when Moses came down from the mountain and saw the people worshiping the golden calf, those who repented received the Lord’s forgiveness. Though many died in a plague when they grumbled against the Lord, those who looked to him in sorrow over their sins received the forgiveness that he offered them.
This is the second lesson that we want to learn from the Israelites example. For we too, like they want to learn to set our hearts on the faithfulness of the Lord our God. We want to rely on our God first of all for the strength to avoid temptations that come our way. We want to look to him and trust that he will provide a way out so that we can stand up under the temptations that are besieging us, but we also want to set our hearts on his faithfulness, turning to him in repentance whenever we sin against him. And this is what he has given us. For even though we have been unfaithful to him, he has remained faithful to us. Though we have been found guilty of idolatry, in his faithfulness, the Lord has removed the guilt of our sins. Though we have been found guilty of sexual immorality, our faithful God has washed us clean of every spot and stain of our sins. Though we have been found guilty of grumbling and complaining against the Lord our God, whenever we turn to him in repentance, he turns to us with his forgiveness.
What greater lesson could the Lord be teaching us to day than this! For through the Israelites example, we have learned of his faithfulness and the forgiveness he freely offers us when we turn to him in repentance. Let us always be students of God’s Word so that we might continue to learn from the example of the Israelites, continually placing our hearts on the faithfulness of the Lord our God. Let us learn from the example of the Israelites in the same way that the people learned from the example of Robert E Lee. Let us continually turn to the Lord in repentance, trust in his forgiveness, and learn from the Israel’s example so that we set our hearts on his faithfulness rather than on the evil of our sins.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN