Copyright ©2019 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
In recent months, I've found myself being drawn to include within my messages the reality that God is not going to do everything for you, no matter how faithful you are. Certainly, there are things beyond our control, and we trust God to handle those things. But, so many just sit around lazily, content in what they (think they) know, but making little to no effort to put it into practice (and thus, make little spiritual progress). The question begs, "What good is it to know and not do?" And furthermore, "Why is it given to you to know in the first place?" These pregnant questions led into the following message.
I encourage you to pull out your Bible and read as prompted, and not just take my word for it.
With my children approaching the transitional period in life that calls for them to spread their own wings, I find myself reflecting upon my own transition back at the end of the 80s. Naturally, kids tend to develop their own interests, make their own friends, and pursue their own agendas as that bittersweet moment approaches. And yet, they still live under your roof, eating your food, wearing the clothes you bought. And then, one day, they're out of the nest, valiantly flapping their own wings, excited to fly, but nervous about whether those fledgling wings will actually catch the wind.
As we set up our own living space and establish our own patterns, we find that we still say and do many things that our parents and significant others said and did. Even if we had a healthy and loving upbringing, we may ultimately end up setting up new habits; but they're developed from a pattern that we witnessed at home.
In short, we often don't realize how we're being prepared to live in the world until we're actually out there living in it! I didn't realize how important knowing how to do laundry, how to iron, fold clothes, etc. was until I had no clean clothes (and no money to buy new), until I needed to look presentable and not walk around in a messy apartment! As much as I hated washing dishes, I hate the thought of inviting roaches and rats into my living space even more.
And suddenly, we realize that what I once thought was a chore was actually very necessary preparation for practical independent living. We realize that we actually learned a whole lot by osmosis: how to spend/manage money, how to cook and clean, how to relate to people, how to pursue your dreams, even how to deal with grief, sadness, and disappointment. It all was just "stuff we knew", until our independent survival depended on us acting upon what we'd learned.
There was a reason that God sent Israel into Egypt, for as He said to Abraham, "They shall come out with great substance." And, I set forth the notion today that Egypt, despite all of the negative connotations that Israelites associate with it, was the setting in which Israel became a nation, and the springboard by which Israel will achieve its destiny. Furthermore, I contend that the commandment for them to participate in the 10th Plague was much more meaningful than it seems at first glance. Let us, then examine this process of becoming.
Our scripture reference includes God's instructions to Israel to prepare for Passover, which was, unbeknownst to them, also their moment of deliverance. We learn in this passage something that is extremely important, although not explicitly mentioned, with regard to salvation; namely, that salvation is participatory.
We can see a progression in their plight over the course of the 10 plagues. They went from being affected by the plagues themselves, to being separated from them, to being commanded to participate in execution of the last one. Unlike with the other plagues, where Moses or Aaron did something, and the Israelites just observed, this plague required them to perform an act (a revolutionary one at that1). They were commanded to slay the lamb, and they had to use its blood to mark their door posts. If they did not do this, they would be subject to the death angel just as the Egyptians were.
Their participation in this last plague could be considered gruesome by some today, particularly the smearing of blood in such a brazen way. Much commentary can be offered for this, but let us focus on the use of blood.
In Leviticus 17:14, God says of blood:
...it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, 'Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.'
Although Leviticus 17 also speaks about pouring out blood and covering it with dirt, in Exodus, God commanded the unusual act of applying the blood to the door post. This should stand out to us as unusual and worthy of additional contemplation. Let us consider, then, this unusual act with a statement that Jesus made many centuries later, as recorded in John 10:
[9] I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
[10] The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
In the context of all we know about the plight of Israel and its destiny, we understand that Israel is supposed to be a way-shower. Israel was chosen, not to be "better than," but in order to be charged with the responsibility to demonstrate a way of living so that those of the world may (emulate it and) have life and have it more abundantly. Proverbs tells us (chapter 6):
[23] For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
God's commandments guide Israel along a lighted path in order to be literal trailblazers for the Nations. Thus, with the advent of Christ (consciousness), the culmunation or fulfullment of the Law, we hear Jesus say (Matthew 5):
[17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
[19] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Today, many people (including the so-called faithful, even in the House of Israel) consider God's Law to be a burden, to be obsolete, to be unfairly restrictive. But, just as the child who leaves home suddenly discovers new utility in what were once thought to be burdensome tasks; those who cling to God's Law ultimately come to the realization that keeping the Law has not only saved the observer from a whole lot of avoidable problems, it is preparing the observer to live and operate in the emerging higher consciousness, which is unfamiliar to most who dwell on earth.
Israel was being prepared in Egypt to live in the Promised Land. With the experience of Joseph on down, the Israelites learned how operate in a society, how to handle business, practice trades, establish government... and they learned how to serve their fellowman (not just family). They studied and learned how to receive esoteric knowledge (Moses and priesthood). And, they brought all of this knowledge (and experience) with them when the left Egypt. Truly, they came out with "great substance!"
But as anyone who has left home knows, it's one thing to know, another thing to do! Indeed, God said of Israel shortly after coming out of Egypt, "it is a stiffnecked people" precisely because the Israelites knew but didn't do.
One of my mentors, Rabbi Jehu A. Crowdy, Jr. taught that "we must graduate from believing to knowing." I would add that, even with knowing, we must transform that knowing into doing/being, else there will be no change or growth, no fulfillment! He also taught that "there is no transformation without conflict," so as we transform our knowing into doing/being, we'll have to face the our own ignorance, insecurities, and uncertainties, and balance them with faith in the righteousness of God's Way; then we must step forward. This change must first be internal, and will occur (it can't not happen) when we step out on faith. And we won't know what we're changing into (other than into a better self); so while it does not yet appear what we shall be2, fear thou not, for God is with thee3!
In the first of his Seven Keys, Bishop William S. Crowdy taught us that Israel is "called to be;"4 we're not there yet. But we, like countless others, can ignore the call and settle for complacency, security, the comfortable and familiar. We can keep playing like the foolish virgins5, we can settle for ritual and routine instead of spirit and growth; and miss the opportunity presently before us. Or, we can die of this world and let the inner man reign by sprinkling the blood of our outer man on the doorposts of our minds and hearts by truly living by God's Law; not focused as much on the letter as one is on the spirit6. Perhaps then we will become worthy to open the door to let Christ enter into our being and be free.
What Bishop Crowdy taught was what God gave from the beginning, a process of becoming (Christ), that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. So, I say in the words of Shakespeare, "To be or not to be; that is the question."
1The Egyptians worshipped the lamb/calf, so to kill it so publicly, and to then roast it in fire and smear its blood was the height of disrespect to their (pagan) god. It was also a test of faith in God. They could certainly die by the death angel, or they could possibly die by the hand of the Egyptians (or be saved by God). This was a very big deal.
21st John 3:2
3Isaiah 41:10
41st Corinthians 1:2
5Matthew 25:1-13
62nd Corinthians 3:6
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