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Woodlawn Methodist Church of West Monroe, 6150 Jonesboro Road, West Monroe, LA (2026)

06/14/2026

Here is the message for June 14, 2026 - 3rd Sunday after Pentecost.
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A Commission of Compassion

Psalm 100: (1 – 5)
Matthew 9: 35 – 38, 10: 1 – 8

PRAYER: O Lord, keep your Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and may minister your justice with compassion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Let’s start by reading our Old Testament and New Testament lessons for today:

Psalm 100: 1 – 5
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Matthew 9: 35 – 38, 10: 1 – 8
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

The first thing we notice as we look at passage in Matthew chapters 9 and 10 is that all true Christian mission is based in the teaching and the example of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:35). Jesus was no stranger to the aches and pains of the people and ministered to them accordingly. Furthermore, Jesus knew their deep, spiritual needs and He preached the glad tidings of the kingdom to them (Matthew 11:5).

Then we see Jesus’ compassion (Matthew 9:36). The word that has been translated “compassion” is a deep, almost gut-wrenching, expression of emotion. As Jesus looked at the crowds, his heart was thus moved within Him. He saw them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus’ comparing the people to sheep without a shepherd is interesting. Without a shepherd, sheep are prone to wander, or are prone to follow one another into all sorts of difficulties. But Jesus comes as the good shepherd.

Then Jesus changes from the shepherd analogy to the earth being “a plenteous harvest, ripe for the picking.”

In Matthew 9: 37 – 38, Jesus describes the mission beginning with prayer (Matthew 9:37-38).

Next comes Jesus giving the disciples their commissioning (Matthew 10:1). And with this commissioning the disciples now given the same power and authority “over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and over ALL sickness and ALL kinds of disease” as Jesus had Himself already shown them.

These disciples are sent first of all “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6) and no other countries.

So, what does this mission involve? It involves the Apostles doing as Jesus has been doing. It is the beginning of an extension of His own ministry of compassion. Their message is to be the same as His message (Matthew 10:7).

In Matthew 10:8 we see that the empowering of the twelve includes those things which Jesus has been doing: healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Thus, they are seen to have been conferred with His authority.

The same pattern applies to the Church today. Our care for souls gives priority to preaching, but there are other ministries in the Church, designed to minister to people in their everyday needs. If we have Jesus’ heart of compassion, we will not just look at our congregations as so many “souls” to be “saved” but we will also have a part to play in ministering to their physical needs.

Compassion.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

We have “freely received” (the hymn “Freely, freely you have received…”) so very much from the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we will be always ready to “freely give” in accordance with the gifts and abilities which God has given us (Matthew 10:8 b). May He grant to His Church, in these challenging days, His own heart of compassion, and the empowering of His Holy Spirit. And to His name be all the praise and all the honor and all the glory. Amen.

06/07/2026

Here is the message for June 7, 2026 - 2nd Sunday after Pentecost.
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What God Most Desires

Psalm 33: (1 – 12)
Matthew 9: 9 – 13, 18 – 26

PRAYER: O God, from whom all good things come: we pray that you will grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do those things that are right; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Let’s start by reading our Old Testament and New Testament lessons for today:

Psalm 33: 1 – 12
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him,
9 for he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

Matthew 9: 9 – 13, 18 – 26
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread through all of that district.

Here is a story about a mother who approached the powerful emperor Napoleon. Her son had gotten into deep trouble and was sentenced to death. Because of her love for her son, the mother appeared before the one man who could alter her son’s dire future. Boldly, she asked Napoleon to show mercy to her son and grant him a pardon.

Napoleon replied, “But your son has committed this offense, not just once, but on two separate occasions. Justice demands death.”

But she would not take “no” for an answer. “I’m not asking for justice, your excellency. I plead for mercy.”

The emperor responded, “But your son doesn’t deserve mercy."

The mother answered, “Sir, if he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy. And mercy is what I’m asking for.”

“Well,” Napoleon declared, “then I will have mercy.” And he spared the condemned man from his punishment.

Mercy. The book of Lamentations 3:22 – 23 tells us:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Mercy. We all appreciate receiving mercy. Mercy, by definition, is undeserved. Is there anything more lovely than mercy?

And yet there is something about mercy that sticks in the craw – especially when mercy is shown to someone else… certainly someone else that we think shouldn’t have received mercy. Something undeserved was given! Where is the accountability? It grates on our sense of what’s right.

At a very basic level, mercy seems contradictory to justice. And where would the world be without justice? But also, where would it be without mercy?

Justice and mercy. These two form the fabric of Hebrew theology. As we read the Old Testament prophets, both justice and mercy are fabric of their messages. Justice and mercy work together.

Together they establish and nurture the life-giving garden God intended for humanity. They are the basis of how we are to live with our neighbor. We treat our neighbor justly, and we act in mercy.

And yet there’s something about mercy …

Our Gospel reading for today includes a lot of quick little stories about mercy.

• Scene 1: Jesus calls tax collector Matthew to follow him. Matthew immediately gets up from his tax station and leaves everything behind.

• Scene 2: Jesus is over at Matthew’s house. Matthew is throwing a dinner party with Jesus as the main guest. Matthew has also invited his friends, and they’re not the sort of people that one should be around. After all, who does Matthew know? He’s shunned by proper society of Israel. So, he hangs with a bad crowd – fellow tax collectors and other social outcasts.

• Scene 3: A leader of the local synagogue begs Jesus to come and lay hands on his daughter who just died. Jesus goes with him.

• Scene 4: Along the way, a woman with a chronic ailment dares to reach out and touch Jesus. Her “female illness” has caused her to be unclean and therefore banned from the synagogue. She’s lived as an untouchable for the past 12 years. But when she touches Jesus, she is healed.

• Scene 5: Jesus arrives at the house where the dead child lies. Even though she’s dead, he touches her. Touching a dead co**se was something that rendered a person ritually unclean. But Jesus ignores that. He reaches out and touches the girl, and she is restored to life.

There are a lot of questionable activities that are going on in these stories.

• We have to raise an eyebrow at Jesus’ choice of people for his disciples. Matthew isn’t exactly “A Team” material. What will people think of Jesus and his motley crew of disciples?

• Jesus further sullies his reputation when he hangs out with tax collectors and other so called “sinners” at Matthew’s house.

• The woman with the bleeding situation dared to touch Jesus and thereby rendering him ritually unclean.

• And finally, Jesus casts aside ignores the law and touches a co**se.

When the Pharisees see Jesus dining with disreputable sorts of people, they question his decision making. Why is He doing this? If He wants to be held in high esteem and regarded with respect, why on earth would He be seen associating with such sinful people, and especially why would He eat with them?

Jesus responds with a challenging remark. Why do they think Jesus has come? Who the help of a physician, the healthy or the sick? Should a physician make a house call on a healthy person? So, who exactly should Jesus be hanging out with?

And then Jesus cites a verse from the prophet Hosea 6:6,

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings..”

Jesus highlights what is truly important to God, God’s set of priorities. Proper worship is NOT the chief priority. The songs of thanksgiving and the offerings of adoration are not what God is looking for. What God desires most is MERCY.

When we take a look at Jesus in all of these vignettes, we see one thing in common behind his actions. It’s mercy. He approaches Matthew in his tax booth with mercy. It’s mercy that moves Jesus to accept the invitation to dine with the people on the fringes of society. It’s out of mercy that he follows the grieving synagogue leader. And when he discovers that the bleeding woman touched him, he didn’t shout at her, “You evil woman, how dare you touch me!” No, he tells her “Daughter! Take heart!” And he healed her. In mercy, he gathered the lifeless body of the little girl up in his arms, and he restored her to life.

Throughout all of the gospels, in each and every single story about Jesus we see what his primary motivation is. He is driven by mercy, through and through. And that mercy is most completely expressed and fulfilled through his actions on the cross.

It’s precisely there on the cross that we have our clearest demonstration that mercy gets priority over justice. For who deserved to die on that cross? Was it the One who was completely blameless? No! Was there anything fair or deserving in Jesus’ ex*****on on his cross? Nothing whatsoever! It was the most unfair and unjust action ever to take place in the history of the world.

Here was the one who was without sin; he was completely without fault. But, by going faithfully to his cross, he willingly took on the sin of everyone who has ever lived. He carried all of it upon himself in order to bring about the biggest act of mercy ever to occur.

And in this act, Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Hosea: “I desire mercy.” Mercy is what is at the heart of the eternal. Mercy is what drove Jesus’ actions in his life AND in his death. And in his final act, Jesus demonstrated just how far divine mercy will go to restore the right relationship between a broken humanity and our creator.

Justice or mercy? What we deserved was divine justice. What you and I deserve is divine justice. But what we received was far sweeter and ever more powerful than divine justice. We were given divine mercy.

You and I are the recipients of that mercy. God’s mercies are new every morning. They sustain us every single day. We rely on them. We come before our Savior with the same faith as that grieving father and the ailing woman. We seek out Jesus for his boundless mercies.

And living in this mercy, may we become more and more like Jesus. May we reveal and embody his mercy as we step into this world. May our welcoming spirit and our compassion be motivated by His mercy working within us.

Friends, as we eat the holy meal our Lord has given us, we take him in. He is in the bread and the cup. His body and his blood come to us and enter us. He becomes one with us. And his mercy comes with him. Each time we eat this meal, he fills us more and more. Each time, as we take him into ourselves, his mercy fills and transforms us. And through him, we fulfill what God most desires.

05/31/2026

Here is the message for May 31, 2026 - 1st Sunday after Pentecost & Trinity Sunday.
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The Donkey Spoke

Psalm 8: (1 – 9)
Numbers 22: 20 – 31

PRAYER: Holy, holy, holy God, fill us with strength and courage, with discernment and compassion, that we may be your instruments of justice and love in this world, that it may be on earth as it is in heaven; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Let’s start by reading our Old Testament and New Testament lessons for today:

Psalm 8: 1 – 9
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are humans that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Numbers 22: 20 – 31
20 That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.” 21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.
22 God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand, so the donkey turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!” 30 But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down, falling on his face.

Last week, we read in Numbers 11, which contained one episode of the Israelites as they were wandering around in the wilderness. (Recall the excess of quail and the two elders who prophesied in the camp.)

In Numbers 22, we find the Israelites still in that wilderness. Their army has just won some battles.

After Israel’s defeat of the Amorites, who were living in land that used to belong to the Moabites (Numbers 21:26), the Moabites were afraid of the children of Israel (Numbers 22:2-3) because they thought that Israel would attack Moab next.

Incidentally, the Moabites did not need to be afraid of the Israelites, because the LORD had expressly commanded Moses that Israel should not distress these descendants of Abraham’s nephew, Lot (Deuteronomy 2:9).

The king of the Moabites at this time was a man named Balak. King Balak sent messengers with money to a well-known prophet/soothsayer named Balaam, to come and curse Israel (Numbers 22:4-7).

Even though Balaam was a pagan, occasionally he sought the will of the Lord God (Yahweh). So, Balaam did, indeed, seek the will of the Lord in this matter (Numbers 22:8-11).

God’s answer was quite clear: “You shall not go with them (the messengers from Moab); you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” (Numbers 22:12). So, initially, Balaam followed the will of God and refused to go to King Balak (Numbers 22:13-14).

The king repeated his request, offering even more money (Numbers 22:15-17).

Balaam responded emphatically, “… Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more. You also stay here overnight, so that I may learn what more the Lord may say to me.” (Numbers 22:18 – 19) Maybe the Lord would change His mind and allow Balaam to curse Israel (and, naturally, allow Balaam to be paid handsomely for this by the king (2 Peter 2:15). On this occasion the Lord instructed Balaam to go with the messengers to Balak: “That night God came to Balaam and said to him, ‘If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.’” (Numbers 22:20 – Which is where our passage in Numbers begins for today.)

So, Balaam saddles his donkey and sets off (NUMBERS 22:21).

HOWEVER, God’s permission to go on this trip does not mean that God has approved of the Balaam’s intentions. Thus “God’s anger was kindled because he went,” mostly for the money.

Three times “the angel of the LORD” blocked the way, “his sword drawn in his hand.” And three times Balaam’s donkey avoided the angel, saving her master’s life each time – although Balaam did not realize it at those moments (see Numbers 22:33).

Because he did not know it, Balaam beat the donkey with more force each time. (NUMBERS 22:22-27).

Then, “the LORD opened the mouth” of the poor donkey, who now spoke (NUMBERS 22:28-30 and 2 Peter 2:16).

You may be interested to know that there are only two occasions when animals are said to speak in the Bible: the serpent spoke for Satan (Genesis 3:1, Genesis 3:4-5), and was cursed for it (Genesis 3:13-14); and Balaam’s donkey spoke for God.

Now “the LORD opened the eyes” of Balaam, so that he could see the angel. He fell flat on his face, perhaps out of reverence, but also out of fear that the angel would kill him right there and then (NUMBERS 22:31).

Now the silly prophet/soothsayer, who had hoped to perform an easy curse and earn a fortune, would speak only the blessings that the LORD put into his mouth.

That’s all very good, but what is the message for us in this story?

When we see or we experience the consequences of a sinful choice, sometimes we get mad and accuse God of being short-tempered and harsh. However, the story of Balaam peels back the curtain and allows us to see just how hard God actually works to try and save us from ourselves:

• God said NO. There was no room for ambiguity – God’s first answer was NO. Balaam willfully chose to ask God a second time, hoping to get the answer he really wanted.

• After Balaam started on the journey, God put His angel right in front of Balaam, but Balaam was so blinded by the sinful path he had chosen, he couldn’t see the angel.

• God put up three barriers in order to slow Balaam down. Balaam just got mad and took out his frustration on his donkey.

• God used the extremely usual circumstance of a talking donkey to try to get Balaam’s attention. STILL, Balaam was too thick to notice and talked back to the donkey.

In a similar fashion, God also said NO to Israel.
• “No gods before me”
• “No making any idol. No bowing down to any idol. No worshiping any idol”
• “No coveting something that does not belong to you”

As long as Israel remained faithful, God would work mightily on their behalf. By their choices to go against God’s will, Israel put themselves first.

Please do not think for one minute that Satan will give up when we stand strong against external pressure. He knows all too well that as long as we stand with Jesus, he is defeated. So, he moves to areas of our life that we think we can manage ourselves. Things we “don’t need” God’s help with. Things we can “control.” That puts us vulnerable to Satan temptations.

And that is exactly what God is trying desperately to protect us from.

05/24/2026

Here is the message for May 24, 2026 - Pentecost Sunday.
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Prophesying in the Camp, Instead of the Proper Tent

Numbers 11: 4 – 6, 10 – 17, 24 – 29
Acts 2: 1 – 4

PRAYER: O God, on this day, you taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending the light of your Holy Spirit to them: We ask you to use that same Spirit so that we may have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Let’s start by reading our Old Testament and New Testament lessons for today:

Numbers 11: 4 – 6, 10 – 17, 24 – 29
4 The camp followers with them had a strong craving, and the Israelites also wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a wet nurse carries a nursing child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. 15 If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting and have them take their place there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and placed them all around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders, and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”

Acts 2: 1 – 4
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Today, on Pentecost Sunday, probably the majority of preachers will turn to Acts chapter 2 as the basis of their Pentecost sermons. This is the text – often described as “the birthday of the church” – that supports the day that is celebrated, ending the season of Eastertide and starting the long season of Pentecost.

I have given several sermons on Acts 2, and this Pentecost Sunday I have nothing new to say about it. This year, the lectionary suggests an alternative Scripture lesson to Acts 2, which is Numbers 11: 24 – 30. I admit that I have never written anything about this passage – or any passage – from the book of Numbers, so the Spirit moved me to have a look at it to have a look at it this week.

One problem with any passage from Numbers is that the book of Numbers, generally, is not given much consideration. Since I cannot recall any passages myself, I suspect that many Christians also could not recall a passage from Numbers if they tried. In my own experience, the only time that I studied anything from Numbers was to remember that Numbers is one of the first five books of the Bible (Old Testament)!

Dr. John Holbert, of the Perkins School of Theology at SMU said, “We Christians, often to our extreme detriment, can avoid such texts (like our passage today in Numbers) and stick with the Gospels and Acts.” Dr. Holbert goes on to say that we may find this obscure passage from Numbers to be very interesting.

The book of Numbers, as a whole, tends to reiterate the stories from Exodus, particularly the tales of the wilderness wandering, with significant additions and reflections to spice them up. For example, there is this somewhat dark story in Numbers of Yahweh’s gift of meat for the starving Israelites. In Exodus16:13, God’s gift of quail for meat is an act of divine grace, but Numbers 11 changes that story significantly, making God’s supply of quail into a divine judgment. You want meat, do you, says Yahweh? Ok, here is meat! Yahweh brought enough quails to cover the ground for about fifteen miles in every direction from the Israelites’ camp and about four feet deep everywhere! That is a LOT of quail! But Yahweh did warn them that their demand for meat had made God extremely angry. God was so angry that they would eat quail for an entire month “until it comes out of your nostrils” (Numbers11:19), a very repulsive image! Now that is a divine judgment, indeed!

Yet in the midst of that disgusting scene of quail meat, Yahweh offers the gift of the divine spirit to Moses and the elders of Israel in an interesting story. God’s supply of quail to assuage their desire for meat, now is interrupted by the gift of the spirit. This gift is very surprising, given what had just happened.

“Yahweh came down in a cloud and spoke to him (Moses), and reserved some of the spirit that was on him (Moses) and placed it on the 70 elders. And when the spirit found rest upon them, they began to prophecy” (Numbers 11:25).

Up to this point, God’s spirit was reserved only for the servant Moses. But now God’s spirit is distributed to the elders with him. Thus, the story says, the spirit of Yahweh is available to many more than just the leaders of the Israelites.

The tale goes on to say that two men, Eldad and Medad, who apparently are elders, did not go with the others to meet Moses outside the camp at the Tent of Meeting and to witness the presence of Yahweh. Nevertheless, Eldad and Medad, also prophesied, but they prophesied “in the camp” – not in the Tent with Moses and the other elders (Numbers 11:26).

A small boy witnesses to this fact, tells Moses’s right-hand man, Joshua, who rushes to tell Moses, saying “My lord Moses, stop them!” (Numbers 11:28).

But Moses replies, “Are you jealous for my sake?” (Numbers 11:29)

[NOTE: This may remind us of another incident, when the disciple John told Jesus about “… someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow with us.” (Luke 9:49). John might as well have said it this way: “He is not part of our denomination, so what he says cannot be right! He should not be casting out demons in your name!” Jesus’ answer was, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:50).]

What Moses said next is prophetic: “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29). This prophecy is similar to what Peter says to the crowd on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:15-18.

Moses gives us an ideal view of what might happen when God’s Spirit falls on all people. The result would be that everyone would be prophets, that everyone would speak the truth and power of God’s reign and rule in the earth. Access to God’s spirit is available to everyone.

This is similar to the more famous story of Peter’s sermon for the assembled crowd in Jerusalem at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. In the story in Numbers, the gift of the spirit comes from Yahweh unbidden, and as a result, those who are possessed of that Spirit become prophets. In Acts, those possessed of that Spirit start speaking the power of the Gospel in the language of every person in Jerusalem. The two stories present similar – but different – tales of the power of God’s Spirit moving among the people.

What should we take away from all this?

I believe it is quite simple:

(1) We cannot control HOW God works His will.
(2) We cannot control WHEN God works His will.
(3) We cannot control WHERE God works His will.
(4) We cannot control through WHOM God works His will.

We can be glad that God can use anyone any time (even us) to work His will!

It is my prayer that we will take that word of encouragement with us for the rest of our lives!

Address

6150 Jonesboro Road
West Monroe, LA
71292

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10:30am - 12pm

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Woodlawn Methodist Church of West Monroe