Today’s Scripture Reading (September
27, 2015): Numbers 16
I recently
read an interview with Sir Paul McCartney. In the interview, Paul lamented a
little about the legacy of John Lennon. The problem, as Paul sees it, is that
John’s death at the hands of a madman made him a Saint. And being a Saint is
great work, and I am definitely paraphrasing here, as long as you are dead. But
most of us can’t survive the process while we are still alive. Paul has no
desire to retire to his condo and watch “telly.” But as long as he is playing
for his fans he will make a lousy Saint – because occasionally he will come out
with awful stuff. Paul realizes this. The problem with the comparison between
Saint John (Lennon) and Paul (McCartney) is that people always seem to compare
John Lennon’s best with Paul McCartney’s awful. But that will only last for a
time. The day will come when Paul McCartney will die (and I am definitely not
wishing that day to come soon) and Saint John and Saint Paul will meet on level
ground – and maybe then we will realize how great both of these musicians were
and the gifts that they gave to the world.
But, to be
honest, I also think that Paul is overstating his point. Yes, Beatles fans miss
John. We also miss George. We are happy that we still have Paul and Ringo
(although, admittedly a lot of us have no idea what to do with Ringo, although
recently seeing him in a “Skechers” relaxed fit shoe television commercial did
make me sit and watch the drummer for the half minute of the advertisement.)
But many of us are extremely grateful for what they have given to us – and love
what Paul continues to bring to us from his extraordinarily gifted mind. The
reality is that every one of the Beatles had a key role to play within the band
and within our culture. We would have been poorer for missing any of the four
of them.
Korah rises
up against Moses and Aaron. His accusation starts off with a statement of fact –
the whole community was holy, meaning that Israel had been set apart from the
rest of the world by God. And Korah is right, the whole community was holy. God
was with Israel, not just with Moses and Aaron. But behind the words something
else is lurking. Korah is not content with where he is placed within the
community. On the surface he is preaching equality for all of Israel, but what
he really wants is to replace Moses and Aaron at the top of the chain of
command. And the reason is fairly plain – Moses and Aaron make lousy Saints –
because they are still alive. They are still making mistakes, the awful still
lurks in the shadow of the best that Moses and Aaron bring to the task at hand;
sometimes they don’t understanding how the community works, or what God expects
from them. And Korah believes that he can do better. But what Korah misses is
that Moses and Aaron are not in their positions because of their abilities.
They are there because that is where God has placed them. And Korah has risen
to a place of leadership because that is where God has placed him. But Korah
decides to use his leadership not to advance the things of God, but rather to
advance himself. And in doing this sets himself up against not only Moses and
Aaron, but also against God. And he did it in full view of his audience. What
he fails to mention in his attack is that it was Moses and Aaron who had been
used by God to bring Israel out of Egypt, something that Korah evidently had
not been able to do. But now that Israel was out of Egypt, Korah was convinced
that he was the man to lead the nation into whatever came next. On this day,
the nation of Israel would suffer loss at the hands of Korah. His revolution
would fail, but the division it brought to Israel would weaken the nation. And whether
we are the Beatles or a nation, we always stand stronger when we are united.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers
17
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