Insider/Outsider: Apparently God Can't Tell the Difference

“You can safely assume you have created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates the same people you do.” --Anne Lamott


Texts:

Psalm 35:1-10

Numbers 22:1-21

Acts 21:17-26

So here the Israelites were, having grown strong and numberous, about to take over the lands of Moab.  King Balak could see - based on the size of the army coming toward him - that he was no match for them.  Enter: Balaam.  

Bear in mind, at this time, a person's god or gods were determined largely by geographic region.  As of yet, Balaam has probably only heard of the Israelites and their God, who travels with them (a strange phenomenon at this point in time).

The king said to Balaam, "A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me.  Come now, curse this people for me, since htey are stronger than I: perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed," (Numbers 22:5b-6).

And God makes a surprising move: God approaches Balaam directly, commanding him to not curse the Israelites.  What is more surprising is Balaam's response to the king when he is summoned: "Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do less or more..." (Numbers 22:18).

Balaam's words the LORD my God are peculiar: isn't this the God of Israel?  What is it when the outsider blesses the insider?  What is it when we find the outsider and the insider have the same God?  Balaam's statement of faith: "I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do less or more," seems to be a statement of a man who understands the claim God makes upon one's life.

It is shocking, to see God moving in the life of a person whom we consider an outsider.  The "outsiders" are different, I think, for each of us.  So often, we understand ourselves as outsiders to the extent that, paradoxically, we create boundaries around ourselves, drawing imaginary lines in the sand for who is allowed to fit into our vision for God and God's work and who is not.  From the example of Balaam, we see God knows no such boundaries.  

It seems God will use whatever means necessary to get our attention.  Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear, we construct gods that show us what we want to see and tell us what we want to hear.  It is when we allow ourselves to be shocked, to be scandalized, by how God is in the world, we can be confident that it is the true God, expanding our vision for the shape of God's basileia.