The Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2009
Numbers 21
The Cathedral Church of the Nativity
The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, writing in the June 1867 edition of the periodical The Atlantic monthly shares his observations of the then “negro” people. He reflects particularly on their spirituality as reflected in the songs they would sing. Higginson writing some two years after the Emmancipation, he speaks to a people who have been freed by law but who continue to wait to experience the fullness of freedom.
A long waiting of oppression continues and our writer comments on the power of the songs that carried a people held in captivity to a place of perseverance even while they waited. One such spiritual of waiting goes like this:
Go in de wilderness,
Go in de wilderness, go in de wilderness,
Jesus call you. Go in de wilderness
To wait upon de Lord.
Go wait upon de Lord,
Go wait upon de Lord,
Go wait upon de Lord, my God,
He take away de sins of de world.

"Jesus a-waitin'. Go in de wilderness,
Go, & Go.
All dem chil'en go in de wilderness
To wait upon de Lord."

Waiting upon the Lord is where we find our engagement with the scriptures this day as we turn our sights on the Book of Numbers. The Book of numbers translated from the Vular English is Numeri. The Greek is Arithmeti but the Hebrew title for this book reads B’midhar, which reflects more the reality of the book itself, translating “in the wilderness”.
The Book of Numbers is the fourth of the Pentateuch. It is a compilation of 1,000 years of experience and scholars tell us contains at least three different sources who are reflecting back on the years of the people of Israel’s time of waiting in the dessert for the full promise of God’s salvation after having been liberated from slavery in Egypt. Its characterized by telling the story of God’s salvation with God’s people, and the ordering of those people. It is a wilderness story and it is a story of waiting. It is a story of the struggle that exists to be patient in waiting, to struggle with keeping eyes fixed on a hopeful dream, when the realities of the wilderness of life are chipping away at those dreams.
The scripture speaks of this struggle . Numbers tell us that Moses led the people out of Egypt by way of the Red Sea going around the land of Edom. On the way we are told, “the people grew impatient”. They asked Moses, did you bring us out to this desolate and awful place to die? There is no water and the food is horrible. One can understand Yahweh perhaps responding to this “impatient whining” negatively given all the trouble to free these folks. Moses himself must intercede on behalf of the people when God’s disappointment is manifest through poison serpents biting those who have lost the vision of hope for their lives. Ironically it seems Moses himself is begging God to remind the people of the vision of freedom rather than give in to the limitations of the struggle in the dessert where people will die. Yahweh responds with a symbol of life, a serpent on a stick, those who are bitten by despair and hopelessness may now turn and gaze upon a vision of life. In the wilderness wait upon the Lord. Be Patient and look for life.


The text book definition of patience is,
1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay

Let us be honest with one another, it is easy to lose patience when the provocation, annoyances, misfortunes and pain of life is more than we can bear. It is not unnatural to experience restlessness or annoyance when the movement of our hopes and dreams of our lives are delayed.
All of us know misfortune, all of us know pain. All of us know irritation. When all the guarantees of life and the hope of what has been promised is so distant we have lost sight of it, then what? Some of us may know first hand what it is to have our sights set upon a life long dream, even having labored toward that life long dream only to be left in some in-between place waiting and wondering what happened or what is going to happen. I myself was certain at this point of my life I would enjoy my induction into the baseball hall of fame after a successful career at second base with the Philadelphia Phillies. More seriously we have had dreams perhaps for our children, investing time, love, money, hope in the lives of one you love only to see that child run into a difficulty or become involved in choices of life that dash their potential. We have had dreams perhaps of our own lives when health, emotional or physical, present challenges that dash our own potential. We have had dreams perhaps of relationships we imagined with fullness and joy instead stressed and strained dashing our imagination of love. We have had dreams perhaps for our professional lives believing we would arrive at a promised land of accomplishment only to spend time in the wilderness waiting to a point of impatience where we can no longer even imagine a once tangible reality of future.

Indeed wilderness is a time that tests our patience. Like the people of Israel where will we turn? Who will intercede for us? How will we discover again God’s presence and how will God remind us of his dream for our lives? In the wilderness, especially in the wilderness we need to be reminded of God’s dream for our lives. It is especially when the things the world can offer us for our existence seem to be working against our dream that we must pray for intercession to reach for those things that cannot be quantified to lift us to a new place, a new reality.

You all remember the story of Frederick. Leo Leoni’s dreamer field mouse. You remember how Frederick and his friends prepared so very differently for a long and arduous winter.

You remember about the chatty little field mice who began to collect straw and corn for the winter. The staples to keep them warm and fed. They worked hard and long, all except Frederick you remember.

Working hard and growing tired of seeing Frederick seemingly doing “nothing” they asked,
“Why are you not working Frederick?” “ I am”, he said. “I do work. I gather Sun Rays for the cold dark Winter Days.”
Again another day, the field mice worked hard, pulling food closer to the wall that would become their refuge for the winter. In the distance they looked and they saw Frederick staring off into the meadow. Frustrated and with despair they asked, “And now Frederick?”
“I am gathering colors for winter is gray.”
Finally, after a long day of work, the busy mice gazed upon a meadow only to see Frederick standing by himself. In Frustration they proclaimed, “And now Frederick, now what are you doing?”

Frederick proclaimed, “I am gathering words for the long winter days, for surely we will run out of things to say”.

Well you remember the story, the snow came and the mice were prepared. For some time, they nibbled comfortably in the warm wall, feeling good they shared stories of foolish foxes and silly hens.

Slowly their supplies ran out. They winter days grew longer and colder and slowly the supplies so carefully stored began to run out. Finally, their worst fears became a reality and the field mice were left without food. Cold and hungry they realized they had nothing left and turned to Frederick. ‘What about your supplies Frederick?”
“Close your eyes”, said Frederick.

“Now I send you the rays of the sun. Do you feel how their golden glow?” The mice began to grow warmer.

“And how about the colors Frederick?”, the field mice begged.

They closed their eyes and told them of blue periwinkles, red poppies in yellow wheat, and green leaves on a berry bush, they saw colors as clearly as if they has been painted on the sky above them.

“Now the words”, they exclaimed, “Give us the words Frederick!”

Frederick stood among them, cleared his throat and exclaimed,

“Who scatters snowflakes? Who melts the ice?
Who spoils the weather? Who makes it nice?
Who grows the four-leaf clover in June?
Who dimes the daylight? Who lights the moon?

Four little field mice who live in the sky.
Four little field mice….like you and I.

One I the Springmouse who turns on the showers.
Then comes the Summer who paints in the flowers.
The Fallmouse is next with walnuts and wheat.
And Winter is last….with little cold feet.

Arent’ we lucky the seasons are four?
Think of a year with one less…..or one more!”


Like a vision of something more God holds out for us the promise of new life even in the wilderness. A serpent on a stick or a poet’s words painted on our hearts. We hold and wait for God to draw near to us and point us expectantly to a new day.
A people waiting patiently to see the fullness of their freedom sang these words and we join them this day:
THE COMING DAY

"I want to go to Cannan,
I want to go to Cannan,
I want to go to Cannan,
To meet 'em at de comin' day.
O, remember, let me go to Canaan (Thrice.)
To meet 'em, &c.
O brudder, let me go to Canaan, (Thrice.)
To meet 'em, &c.
My brudder, you -- oh! -- remember (Thrice.)
To meet 'em, &c.
To meet 'em at de comin' day."