Skip to main content

Eagerly Participate in Spiritual Community


Here we are at our third lesson from Numbers Chapter 9: Eagerly Participate in Spiritual Community.

“Why should we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” the unclean brothers asked. They saw the Passover offering as the privilege that it was. They valued community. How does your life reflect the degree to which you value community?
Today, many worship alone. The value of the community has been reduced over time. But the epistles were written to churches. We are to serve each other with our gifts. God called us to be part of His body. Jesus established community by His life, death and ascension. We need to be a part of a local church to function as a part of the body of Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 12) It is a right, privilege and responsibility to be a part of the body. It is not always easy; there are issues that will need to be worked out. But serving in the local church alongside other believers is how we grow spiritually, share the love of Christ and show that we are disciples. It is the local church that reaches others for Christ, reflecting love for others to see and desire. God’s answer to Moses allowed for the unclean people to celebrate Passover together at another time. This would be a festival celebrating not only the Passover but also a God who cares about our situations. Though a small group, it will still reflect community.

Are you part of a spiritual community? How do you serve in your spiritual community? It is not enough to just attend. Are you active in inviting neighbors, coworkers, family members and others to visit and join your local church? If you are not part of a spiritual community, why aren’t you? Were you ever? If you do not serve in your spiritual community, why don’t you? Ephesians 4:16 says, "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." We hurt the body when we withdraw and do not participate.  Lack of involvement also hurts us.  It is in community that we can thrive.

Pray over your opportunities to worship God with a group and function as part of the body of Christ. Ask God to lead you to the right local church if you don’t currently attend. Ask God to show you how you can serve in your spiritual community. Ask God to give you opportunities to reach others for Him and invite them to your church.

Being a part of a spiritual community is a vital part of our spiritual walk. Do not delay in praying diligently for God’s guiding regarding a local church, service and evangelism. The gospel of Matthew ends with the Great Commission: “Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" We need a spiritual community to carry out this commission. (Matthew 28:18-20)

So, in Numbers 9, an exception was made for those who were unclean to celebrate the Passover. These people had come in contact with a dead body. We are not given the details of their relationship to the deceased or what had happened. God also added, “But if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, they must be cut off from their people for not presenting the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their sin.” This additional provision falls into what we were already considering about community. Here anyone who does not join the community is no longer a part of the community. For a Hebrew, fellowship with his people was vital. If someone took that fellowship for granted or neglected to assemble for selfish reasons, they could lose the privilege of being part of a community. Even in Jesus’ time, the formerly blind man’s parents would not even claim their own son in John 9 because they might be put out of the spiritual community. Their membership in the synagogue was that important to them. (Now this is an example of wrong priorities, but they did value community.) Today’s believers don’t really live in fear of being put out of the local church, but there are instances when people do not feel accepted or welcomed. We have a responsibility in the church to be loving, welcoming and forgiving; to build our community and glorify our Father in heaven so that we all long to go to church and worship God communally.

While personal growth in the Lord is vitally important, we are made for community. Our walk in the Spirit is truly lived out in community. How can we serve others without community? How can others come alongside us without community? We grow, learn and share in spiritual community; it is instrumental to our faith.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Traveling with God

Setting Out   My husband and I love to travel.  Before a trip, I start planning what to bring and I pack over the course of at least a week before we go. Before we pull out of the driveway, we pray to God for protection, a sweet time of rest and adventure and we pray that we will honor Him with our time.  The Israelites are given directives by God Himself on their marching order and travel plans.  The divisions of the camps moved out in the order designated by the Lord, led by the leaders chosen by the Lord.  The ark lead the way, with the cloud  above it.  Judah’s division set  out  behind the ark . Then the tabernacle wa s packed up and carted off by the  Gershonites  and  Merarites .  Next, Reuben’s division set out.  “Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things.  The tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.” ( Numbers 10:21 )   The divisions of the camp of Ephraim followed the...

Look to the Lord

What is your first instinct when you need help? Do you call a friend, a family member, a neighbor? Do you exhaust  all of  your own resources before turning to the Lord?  After Israel finished mourning Aaron, they   moved on.  As they were going, they were threatened by a Canaanite king.  The king of Arad attacked and took some hostages. Israel prayed to the Lord and vowed to destroy these people completely if God gave them the victory.  The Lord listened to their plea and Israel  completely destroyed  Arad and its towns.   For once, Israel’s instinct  wa s to turn to the Lord.  And how great a response they received!  It is refreshing to see Israel take their troubles to God and vow to obey Him.  I love the Bible verse that says, "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You." ( 2 Chronicles 20:12b ) God already told Israel that they would have to totally annihilate the  Canaanites  or their ...

The Numbers Don't Lie

The Second Census   The United States conducts a census every 10 years. I use this data to teach my upper elementary kids how to create formulas in Excel. Today we are going to look at a census of Israel conducted toward the end of the wilderness journey.  After the plague of chapter 25, the Lord called Moses to take a second census.     I like numbers, so I have always enjoyed comparing the two censuses in Numbers.  A comparison leads us to  investigating  why some tribes had much lower counts than others.   Laying chapter 26 alongside chapter 1 gives us some information.   The first thing I notice is that in chapter 1 ,  leaders were chosen to conduct the census. Numbers 26 does not mention having leaders take the census, but they probably  did  or it would have taken much longer to count.  Also, both censuses counted men age 20 or older, but chapter 26 adds that these men were able to  serve in the arm...