Deuteronomy 34

Shaping Tomorrow

Posted on by Betsy

Permit me to tell you about a fine young fellow I know named Steve. Steve is the journalism teacher at our local high school, where he leads students in putting out an award-winning student newspaper and yearbook every year. He writes for our local summer magazines and is a wonderful husband and father of two talented kids. Luckily for me, he is a faithful church member. Friends, Steve serves on our Staff Parish Relations Committee, which proves his worth to all who have ever had the (mis)fortune of serving on a Staff Parish Relations Committee. He uses his talents as the keeper of the minutes there. (For the non-Methodists among us, SPRC does the important work of evaluating the pastor and staff, making hiring and firing decisions, and facilitating the relationship between the congregation and the staff. It is a HARD committee, and the committee members have to be some of the most dedicated, patient, and unflappable people in the church.)

Steve is also my volunteer proofreader for my next book, ReLENTless Devotion, which will be available at Amazon in December. This is a book of 40 Lent devotionals. I wouldn’t have the courage to put it out if I didn’t have Steve’s help … his ability to see and fix all my punctuation mistakes is a blessing to me, especially with my misplaced-comma syndrome! (I have officially been diagnosed. It is terminal.) I have come to accept that there is no cure for this disease. That’s why I need a Steve for this book.

I thought about Steve this morning when I read this passage in Deuteronomy. It records the death of Moses and the passing down of leadership to the next generation. Joshua is selected to lead the people because he was filled with wisdom through his connection with Moses.

Deuteronomy 34 (Common English Bible)

5 Then Moses, the Lord’s servant, died—right there in the land of Moab, according to the Lord’s command. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moabite country across from Beth-peor. Even now, no one knows where Moses’ grave is.

7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn’t impaired, and his vigor hadn’t diminished a bit.

8 Back down in the Moabite plains, the Israelites mourned Moses’ death for thirty days. At that point, the time for weeping and for mourning Moses was over.

9 Joshua, Nun’s son, was filled with wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did exactly what the Lord commanded Moses.

This is the perfect example of what happens when someone mentors and teaches the next generation. When there is a leadership gap, the young mentees are ready and able to step into place and lead. Teachers like Steve do this work every single day of their lives. We owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.

10 No prophet like Moses has yet emerged in Israel; Moses knew the Lord face-to-face! 11 That’s not even to mention all those signs and wonders that the Lord sent Moses to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his entire land— 12 as well as all the extraordinary power that Moses displayed before Israel’s own eyes!

I have been blessed by my relationship with many teachers, youth leaders, camp counselors, children’s ministry workers, nursery volunteers … all those people who choose to use their talents in shaping and forming the next generation.

Where is God calling you to lead a younger person to a life in Christ? Sometimes all it takes is an invitation to meet for coffee for the relationship to begin. If God has put a burden on your heart to mentor someone, don’t let another day go by. You are shaping tomorrow by where you invest your time today.

To the Next Generation by Michelle Robertson

Son of a None

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever let your anger get the better of you? I have. It happened on a day when I had not had much sleep for weeks due to raising two small children while being a full-time seminary student and working part-time at a church. On that morning I allowed my exhaustion to turn into anger. The five-year-old defied my directions to get ready for school and was having tantrum of her own. Between the two of us, it was the perfect storm in the house that morning. I had no patience and she had no self-control. So the part where shoes had to be put on or the bus would be missed became a WWE wrestling match. We rolled around on the floor as I tried to cram shoes on flailing feet as she wailed in protest. Because I was bigger, I won. She made the bus on time.

IMMEDIATELY guilt became the second challenger in the ring and in no time at all, it gave me a one-two knock out. I was miserable when I realized that I had allowed my anger and frustration to be the way I touched my child before sending her off for a long day at school. So after I dropped the three-year-old off at preschool, I drove to the school and asked the teacher if I could speak to my daughter in the hall. I’ll never forget the crushing humility of being on my knees and apologizing for how the morning had gone. I told her that Mommy was sorry for her angry hands.

In typical kid-fashion, my child hugged me and told me it was all right. She had forgotten all about it and was so happy to see me in school, and would I come in the room so she could show me off to her friends? I learned a great lesson that morning and never again did I let my frustration and anger be expressed in my hands. My voice, yes, but never my hands.

Today’s lectionary passage ends the Moses saga that we have been following for months. The great leader who singlehandedly brought a huge nation from slavery in a foreign land to the Promised Land has died.

The leadership reins are now passed to a young fellow named Joshua. All we know about him is that he is the son of Nun and that Moses had “placed his hands on him.” The first fact is a big nothing. Being the son of Nun was akin to being the son of none. But the second statement is everything. The “placing of hands” is an indication of the conference of power, an anointing of a kind, and a visual statement to the nation that this is the new leader who has been chosen not only by Moses, but by God.

Kings are empowered this way. Popes and Bishops receive their authority by a laying on of hands. Even local pastors feel the hands of the church’s authority on ordination day.

Deuteronomy 34 (Common English Bible)

7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn’t impaired, and his vigor hadn’t diminished a bit.

8 Back down in the Moabite plains, the Israelites mourned Moses’ death for thirty days. At that point, the time for weeping and for mourning Moses was over.

9 Joshua, Nun’s son, was filled with wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did exactly what the Lord commanded Moses.

How are you using your hands today? Do they communicate gentleness and love, or anger and hostility? Can your hands be employed to confer kindness to someone else? What would God do if you gave your hands and your heart completely over to him?

Do this right now: lay your hands palms up in your lap, and pray for God to use them for his purposes. May the work of your hands be pleasing to the Lord this day and may they be anointed with love always.

A New Day by Bev Mineo