Tag: teflon

Parashah Korach, Numbers 16-18

Leave a comment

Monday, July 4 I wrote about this parashah, and about how fear of the Lord is not the same as being afraid of the Lord. This parashah is the story of what my Chumash calls “The Great Mutiny”, when Korach (a Levite), Dathan and Abiram (Reubenites) came together, and under Korach’s leadership gathered 250 men- righteous, respected leaders- from the 12 Tribes and led them in rebellion against Moses and Aaron. The reason was to discredit Moses as the one God choose to be in charge by accusing him of taking on too much responsibility, and by association also accuse Aaron of doing the same by being the only person allowed to offer fire before Adonai.

I can’t do this story justice repeating it, and if you don’t know it you really need to read it. Spoiler alert!– Dathan and Abiram (who refused to go before the Tent of Meeting with the others) were destroyed right in their own tents, swallowed up by the earth, and the others in front of the Tabernacle offering incense met their fate as Aaron’s sons, Abihu and Nadab, met theirs- consumed by God’s fire.

The people, after they stopped running around screaming in abject horror and fear for their own lives, came against Moses again the very next day (Again? How long will they remain stupid, right?) and accused him, Moses, of killing God’s people! Well, that pissed the Lord off so much that as He was telling Moses how He was going to destroy them, a plague already started, and Moses had to tell Aaron to take fire from the alter and incense, run in the midst of the people (now remember there is a plague killing people right where Aaron is running to) and stop the plague. Aaron risked his life to help people that were there to stone him.

There is more to the story, and near the end all the people cry out that they are all going to die if they even come near the Tabernacle.

These people may have looked like they were made of skin and bone, but they were really made out of Polytetrafluoroethylene. You may know it better as….Teflon.

Teflon people, like the frying pans and cooking pots, never have anything “stick” to them. They have been in the desert for 2 years, they have seen God destroy Egypt with miracles and wonders, they have seen Him split open the sea, they have received water from rocks and manna from the sky, birds enough for a million people to eat for a month and a pillar of fire every night and a cloud leading them every day.

Yet all they know is that they were told to stone a man to death for collecting sticks on the Shabbat, Aaron’s sons, Korach and 250 leading members of their nation were burned alive, Abiram and Dathan with their entire families were swallowed up by the earth, they were struck with a deadly plague and to top it all off- they are not going to get the land they were promised. And who do they blame for all this T’souris? Moses and Aaron.

Oy! What a bunch of Meshuggahs!

The real reason all these terrible things happened is because they sinned: the man collecting sticks on Shabbat showed irreverence and rejection of God’s commandment, Aaron’s sons refused to follow Adonai’s orders about worship, Korach and all his associates refused to accept God’s authority and choose to follow a man (Korach) instead, and the people, well, the people just rebelled against God over and over. They complained about no meat when they had provisions from God that met their needs, they complained about no water, and they refused to take the land God gave them (then, after being told they were not allowed in, they tried to get in, anyway.) These people all earned their punishment, and proved over and over that their repentance was superficial and not really heart-felt. Their T’Shuva, turning from sin, was not a 180 degree turn- it went a full 360 degrees so they ended up going in the same direction that got them into trouble in the first place.

Teflon people are the hardest to work with, and the slowest to learn because, as the name implies, nothing “sticks” to them, i.e., they take no responsibility for their actions and are not accountable, in their minds, for what they do and say. As such, how can they ever learn anything?

I think we all have a little Teflon in us; I confess that there are many times I do something wrong or make a mistake and I would like to redirect the blame somewhere else, to someone else. I feel that way because I am a sinner and sinners don’t like to ‘fess up’ to their wrongdoing. But I also have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, indwelling which reminds me and admonishes me to accept the blame and not just confess, but ask for forgiveness. And more than that, it convicts me of my errors and when someone else does wrong to me it forces me to forgive them. That is the only reason I do anything that pleases God- it is because of His spirit in me, not because of who I am.

His spirit in me doesn’t make me a different me, it just makes me a better me.

We all have to deal with Teflon people, mainly because there are just so many of them out there. The best way to deal with them is not to waste your time trying to convince them or change them. What we, as Believers, should do is show them how to act in a way that is pleasing to God. If they throw their problems at you because they know things stick to you, you need to be gentle as doves and wise as serpents to CYA in everything you do so that when they throw stuff at you it bounces off your shields.

Daniel was upright and just in all he did, which is why the Satraps trying to trap him could only do so by fooling the king into making a law regarding something they knew Daniel did which was a righteous thing in and of itself (Daniel Chapter 6.) I’m not saying we can all be like Daniel- I know I sure ain’t gonna be that righteous, ever- but we can follow his example.

Teflon people are out there, everywhere, and they need to find someone who is stickier than they are. That would be you and me, because the Ruach haKodesh makes us accountable. And when you feel unjustly accused or you are in trouble for something you know isn’t your fault, accept it with humility and trust that God will justify you, sooner or later.

These Teflon people will one day come before the judgment of the Lord; He will strip off their Teflon and leave them with raw, unprotected skin that will have the lemon juice of their sins poured on it by the gallon. They will be held accountable for what they never felt accountable for, and they won’t be able to do anything about it.

Brothers and Sisters, all we should feel for these poor, ignorant sheep is pity.

 

 

Owning Up To It or Really Owning It?

Leave a comment

You know that person, the one who is willing to say, “Mea Culpa” as soon as they realize they have done something wrong, but they never seem to stop doing the wrong thing? They say they’re sorry, they promise it won’t happen again, then they do it. All over again.

They own up to their sin but they never really own their sin. That’s why they repeat their sinning.

David knew what it meant to own his sins- just read the pathos of Psalm 51. The prayers of Daniel (and he wasn’t even the sinner- it was his ancestors), the cries of Jeremiah, the prayer of Jonah (who felt absolutely terrible while he was drowning, but by the end of the book he seems to have recovered from it.) And Shaul- he called himself a “wretch.”

We know that Yeshua (Jesus) died for our sins, and that when we are asking for forgiveness (in His name) we can give our sins to the Lord. Well, there’s a small problem with that- you can’t give away what you don’t own.

There are people who are made out of Teflon- nothing “sticks” to them. They have plenty of excuses, they never run out of people to blame, but they, themselves, are never really the ones at fault. Even when they say they did wrong, it was for some reason; there’s always an excuse, which (in their minds) makes it acceptable.

That doesn’t work with your friends (although friends and family are more forgiving), it doesn’t work with your boss (never with the boss), and it certainly won’t hold water with God. Come Judgement Day (and we all will face the Lord) you can try all you want to excuse away your sins, but without Yeshua in your corner, you have no chance. Even if you say that you just did what the Priest, Rabbi, Minister, Pastor (whatever) told you to do, I expect you will hear something like this from God, “I know what they told you, but it’s what I say that counts!”

We need to do more than just own up to our sin, to do more than pay “lip service” to the pain we have caused to others (and especially to God) when we have sinned against someone. We need to own our sin, completely. We need to feel even more pain at what we did than the pain felt by the one(s) we did it to. We need to feel that frustration and anger that results when we want to make it right, but we can’t. When we want to “get back” at the person who caused such suffering, but we can’t (because it is ourself.) When we want to turn back time and make it never happen, but….we can’t.

Thanks to Yeshua we can give up our sins, we can be washed clean of our iniquities, and we can have eternal peace in God’s holy presence. But we can’t have that until we are dead, and while we are alive we need to deal with the consequences of our sinfulness.

They say you get what you pay for, so if something costs you nothing it has no real value. It is the same way with sin: we won’t ever truly do T’Shuvah until we take possession of the things we do and say against others, and pay the cost of those actions, so that it really means something to us. When we “own” our sin, then we feel the pain and regret, and that is a feeling you will want to avoid.

If you really, really want to overcome the sinful nature you were born with (which we are all born with) then own your sin. Accept not just that you made a “boo-boo”, but that you actually hurt someone. Take possession of your sin: don’t just own up to it, but completely own it.

Yeshua is waiting to take the sins you own away from you, and all you need to do is ask. He will make an uneven trade where you get the best part of the deal: He takes away your sin and you receive Grace.

The only way to really be rid of your sin, and to sin less, is to first own it completely.

How To Smell Nice When You Stink

Leave a comment

Have you ever heard the saying, “All things are relative?” If I am doing 40 miles per hour on the road, I am speeding by a pedestrian walking in the same direction; but the guy doing 60 in his sports car flies by me like I am standing still! Who is going fast and who is going slow? It’s all relative. The one thing that is undeniable is that I am doing 40.

There was a man who was a shepherd. Every day he walked behind the sheep, watching out where they go and making sure none got left behind or wandered off. Of course, walking behind the sheep meant that he often stepped in something he didn’t want to, but it was all part of the job, so every night he went home and smelled like, well, let’s just say he didn’t smell nice. After many years of this, he and his family got so used to the smell that he didn’t even notice it anymore. But his shoes were always dirty and always smelled bad.

One day he went into the city and was standing in an elevator with other people, all dressed nicely for work. As the elevator starting going up, the people began to seem jittery, nervously looking around, some picking up their feet and looking at the bottom of their shoes. Finally, one man came forward and said to the shepherd, “Friend, you smell very bad and you should be more considerate of the other people in the world who have to be close to you.”

At this the shepherd realized that he forgot about his shoes smelling so bad, but in his embarrassment he did not humbly ask forgiveness. Instead, he flicked his shoes at the man, sending sheep-stuff all over the man and everyone close by. Then he said, “You smell bad, too- I’m no worse than you! Who do you think you are talking to me that way?”  Then all the other people accosted the man who told the shepherd he stunk and blamed him for their foul smell. The shepherd walked out of the elevator, feeling justified, the people walked out of the elevator mad at the man who told the truth, and the man who told the truth just rode to the top, smelling bad and wondering how they could all be so blind.

This is what the world is like- those who do wrong and are inconsiderate do not take responsibility for themselves and humbly ask forgiveness, trying to do better. Instead, they throw sheep-stuff all over everyone else, pointing out that everyone stinks, everyone does wrong, everyone cheats on their taxes, nobody stops at stop signs, everyone calls in sick when they aren’t, and they walk away feeling they haven’t done anything wrong.

Well, they seem to be getting away with it, but sooner or later we all face the one judge that can’t be sent on a wild goose chase or be fooled by a red herring.

It is hard to be told when you have done wrong- I think nearly everyone, from embarrassment and shame, would prefer to hide when they have done wrong and pretend it didn’t happen than face the music and apologize. There are some who will immediately apologize, accept their wrongdoing and act responsibly. Most, I am afraid (disagree if you think I am wrong) will make excuses and try to blame others. By throwing sheep-stuff on everyone else, they seem to be, relatively, less smelly. Or, at least, everyone else smells just as bad so they are “normal” and, therefore, not in the wrong.

The difference between those that accept responsibility for their actions and those that try to avoid them, what I call the “Teflon” people (nothing sticks to Teflon), is more than just emotional maturity- it is spiritual maturity and a fear of God. Not fear of retribution, but fear in the biblical sense- awe at His holiness and respect for His commandments.

The bible teaches us much, and one of the most important lessons is that we are, and will be held, responsible for our actions. It is everywhere, from the prophets being responsible to warn the people, to Moses being responsible for striking the rock twice in anger, to Samson being delivered up to the Philistines because of the damage he caused to their crops, to the kings and people of both Shomron (Israel- the Northern Kingdom) and Judah being expelled from their land due to their continued sinfulness.

I liken Yeshua to the man who, in the parable above, is the one telling the smelly person what everyone else knew but did not take responsibility (to the smelly man) to tell him, and ultimately was the one who everyone was mad at. Yeshua did take responsibility, not for Himself but for everyone else. For you, for me, for everyone. He took the stench we have off of us and wore on Himself, all the way to the Execution Stake.

It is hard to be responsible. Not just for what we do, but to tell others when they need to know they are doing wrong. It has to be done with compassion and with the strength to accept that you may end up being the one hated for telling the truth that everyone else knows but doesn’t have the strength, spiritually or emotionally, to face.

We all sin, we all will sin, none of us can stop sinning; don’t use that fact as a reason to keep sinning. Everyone will be held accountable for their choices when they face the Holy One in the final court, and if you can’t handle being corrected on Earth, while you have time to amend your ways, in front of God you will not be able to throw sheep-stuff on anyone else because it will be just you and God, and God can’t be fooled.

We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less.

So clean your shoes, wash your body and be aware of when you start to stink. And more than anything else, accept correction humbly and gratefully- it may save your soul!

Even if the person correcting you doesn’t do it well, the bottom line is not whether they correct you nicely or angrily: the bottom line is whether or not they are right!