Have you ever tried to protect God?
Today’s readings in part are all about limits. The boundaries and limits that we put on God and the boxes we put Him in so as to control him. God could only speak to Israel through Moses. Then through the designated ones who were on the approved list and who attended the mandatory graduation ceremony. Eldad and Medad missed the meeting, so obviously God could not be working through them. So too, with the disciples in the gospel story – Jesus could only confer his power of healing on his personally chosen disciples. There was no way that someone could expel demons without having the proper credentials – without their disciple’s union card. And rather than rejoice in what God was doing in both cases, they murmured and complained because God was acting ‘outside the box’ – not like he was supposed to.
And God’s response to those trying to do that is pretty much the same, whether spoken through Moses or Jesus. “I will not be controlled. I will not be put into a box. I will not be limited. I will speak when I want to, as I want to, through whomever I want to.” I will heal those who are in bondage. I will be whom I will be to you. Don’t make me into your own image, because I won’t be contained there.
So, what does that mean for you and I, who gather this evening? Let me suggest two things to pray and reflect into this coming week.
1) Look outside the box this week for God to surprise you. In fact, expect it. In the chaos around the Supreme Court nomination process, in the sometime hard-to-listen-to voices/stories in the #METOO or #BLACKLIVESMATTER or #SURVIVORSOFCLERGY ABUSE or (fill in your own #______) – can we hear a message that perhaps we’d never hear any other way? Can we trust that God is trying to get through all the walls and shields that we have put around him, to talk to us on his terms? Be open to that message. Be open to that communication.
2) And then look at the ways that you tend to put people into a box – he’s that loudmouth coach, she’s that helicopter parent, they’re that uppity family; – all the ways that we categorize people and effectively remove and shield ourselves from having to listen to anything that they have to say to us. Have the discipline of mind and heart to trust and believe that God is ready to speak to you at any moment, in any way, – let that be what you ‘cut off and cast away’ –the attitude that tries to control God.
I have lived, at times, trying to control God, trying to shelter myself from messages that I don’t want to hear, people who might challenge me because they see so much more of the truth than my feeble mind can ever hold. The good news is God is not limited by my wanting to control and set limits. God often plays outside the box. And you’ll just never know who and how and when he will speak next. Which is pretty cool, when you think about it, because it makes life like a great game of peek a boo…