We do indeed wish you a happy Mother’s Day! We consider it both an honor and a privilege that you chose to worship with us. This summer we’ve been exploring ways we Wrestle with God. One way we wrestle with God is for significance. We often wonder, “Does my life matter?”
Mother's Day can leave a person's heart feeling full. Proverbs 17:6 says, “Grandchildren (think of your children and your childrens' children) are the crown of the aged.” Children give mothers a sense of identity, sense of purpose, a sense of significance. One of the single most significant, and fulfilling things you can do, is to raise up godly offspring. Nothing really eclipses the joy, significance, one feels through parenting. Not that it's always easy.
Mother's Day can also leave a person feeling empty. Maybe you’ve “struggled” to have children or your own or realize you simply cannot. Maybe the children you have aren't so much a crown, but a cross you’re forced to bear daily. There are quite a few people who steer clear of churches on Mother's Day and Father's Day because their dream of family didn’t work out.
From whom, or what, do we derive our significance? There is a less frequented book in the Old Testament called Numbers. As Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, into the wilderness, toward the Promise Land God ordered a census be taken. In Numbers 1:2 God says, “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of every male one by one.” In Numbers 1:46, the total number of men, 21 years or older, came to: “All those registered numbered 603,550.” This is the number of men who could be eligible for military duty. It’s interesting God told Abraham his descendants would be like the stars. In Genesis 15:5, “He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” God does Abraham one better. In Genesis 22:17 he says, “I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore.” God also uses the imagery of dust. In Genesis 13:16 he says, “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.” In Numbers 23:10 in Balaam’s oracle he asks Balak, “Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered even one-fourth of Israel?” Back to Numbers 1, God counted his people one by one, name by name. Jesus said the Father knows the number of hairs on your head!
I think of Psalm 139 which says [excerpts], “Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. . . Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?. . . For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. . . Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.” Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
Maybe we feel we have to wear someone else’s number and jersey to feel significant? Maybe we feel we need to be living someone else’s life, or have someone else’s story, to feel we matter. But in Numbers, people aren’t just any ole’ number. God calls these men by name and calls them into special service. Have you ever considered that maybe Your Life is Significant because God Counts You as His Own… His Own Special Possession! Yes, God counts YOU [state your name] as His Special Possession! Jew or Gentile, Male or Female… you belong to God! Hearing our name spoken is the sweetest of all sounds to our ears.
Another reason Your Life is Significant is because You are Connected to God’s Story. Don’t get me wrong, we each have a story. We’re each living out a subplot of our own. But our lives are woven together into a beautiful tapestry, and are part of an even greater, Divine narrative. Of all the tribes that were numbered in Number, the Levites were given the sacred duty of leading all the other tribes to worship. The Levites were charged to never let God’s people forget, to help them to always remember who God is, and what he’s done, and what he still promises to do!
Numbers 1:50-51, “Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. . .” The reason we worship is to stay connected to God’s story.
The Outer Courts of the Tabernacle reminded people to approach God in repentance and with thanksgiving. The Brazen Altar reminded people that a sacrifice of atonement, the shedding of blood was needed, to cover their sins. The Brazen Laver was a reminder only God would wash, forgive, cleanse, and sanctify his people. Only God could give his people a new heart, new mind. The Table of Showbread was a reminder that God has spoken, and that only his words are suitable to nourish our souls. The Golden Lampstand was a reminder that God leads his people by his Holy Spirit. In the wilderness God led his people with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. The Levites were careful to never fall behind, nor to go ahead of God, but remain in his presence. The Altar of Incense was a reminder that God’s people were to intercede in prayer for the nations.
Not only were the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle, but they were also in charge of the countless festivals, and meals, and celebrations, and offerings, and traditions. The Levites were the story tellers, the teachers, the guardians of tradition, and all that was sacred. In the New Testament, the church is called “the priesthood of all believers.” It becomes the sacred duty of every Christian not only to remember, but to be the guardians, the story tellers, the preachers and teachers, the disciplemakers of the next generation. To lose sight of God’s story, to fail to worship well, is to lose sight of our significance. We matter for God, and we matter for his story. His story preserves and sustains the lives of future generations.
Last, I’d be remise if I didn’t mention that in Numbers, God’s desires that his people (our life as a whole) be consecrated for his glory. There are a couple of things I would point out for you to consider. We don’t always like reading Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy. There are amazing stories mixed into these books that remind us of both the severity of God’s judgment, but also the profound nature of his mercy and grace. But observe how in the Law, Moses broke down God’s commandments into practical, everyday instructions. What does it look like to live for God at home, as parent, as a child. What does it look like to live within God’s designs for gender, sexuality, and marriage? What does it look like to be holy and live an ethical life in business, in pleasure, when you’ve been wronged, when you’ve sinned and hurt others. No area of life is left untouched. Our nation’s founders read the Law of Moses to discern “the principles” of justice and righteousness. It’s true some of the law is no longer applicable—much has been fulfilled in Christ. Some of the moral law feels antiquated. Some of the moral laws seem completely perverted to modern hearers. But the Law should be understood as a holy people’s sincere effort to Be Holy as God is Holy… to be consecrated, set apart, to serve God’s glory.
Graduation season is upon us. People are planning for graduation, planning parties, sending out invitations. What a momentous occasion to walk across that stage in graduation garments, decked out with that special hat and tassels right? I came across an interesting passage in Numbers 15:38-41 that sure sounds an awful lot like a graduation ceremony. What if every graduate realized the high call to live full unto God, and to serve no other.
Now granted the language of Numbers 15 is pointed, but here goes. “The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. 39 These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes. 40 This way you will remember and obey all my commands and be holy to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.” God designed tassels to remind “generations” to live holy lives—and here you thought it was some meaningless bling dreamt up by some nameless dead dude.
Could I just remind us of Jesus’ Great Commission to his disciples? He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing people into the name of the Father, Son, Spirit… teaching them to obey everything I commanded.” Numbers is an illustration of time when God’s people (led by the Levites) found great significance letting their lives be consecrated and dedicated before God! What if this generation found significance in this same way?
I’d like to end this morning with another nugget I found in the book of Numbers. It’s a priestly blessing, but I think it should be the prayer of every father, mother, student, graduate, man, woman… Here is goes:
Numbers 6:22-27 “The Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. You should say to them, 24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”’ 27 In this way they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
In our struggle for significance… let’s remember that (1) God Counts You His Own, (2) That You are vitally Connected to God’s Story. Don’t ever fail to worship, and know and remember your God, and (3) God desires that your life be Consecrated for his Glory. Granted most people are living for their own fame and glory. What greater meaning, purpose, and significance can we have than to live for God’s radiant, eternal glory? A glory that never fades.