Liberation Lectionary 2023

A Burst of Light

“I feel trapped on a lonely star.” Audre Lorde

Scripture & Lesson: Balaam the Seer

Read: Numbers 22-24

This week we are reading the saga of a prophet and his donkey. When word spread around an area of the ancient east that the children of Israel were being protected by God, leaders of different tribes and nations found ways to either avoid encounters or make certain the encounter would go their way. One such king knew Balaam was a seer and could hear the voice of God. 

As we learn in the chapters, that king tries to persuade, force, and bribe Balaam to set a curse on God’s people in any way that he can!
Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.’” But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though 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 22:15-18)

At some point, the Lord’s dialogue with Balaam is agreeable to his going to meet with the nervous king.
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”  (Numbers 22:20)

Balaam obeys the command to go meet the king, with the further instruction that he says only the words that God gives him. He loads up his entourage, saddles his donkey, and is on his way. Then God perceives something in the seer. What exactly makes the Lord angry with Balaam, we do not know for sure.
When he got up in the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the officials of Moab. But God was incensed at Balaam, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand on the path to oppose him.  (Numbers 22:21-22)

Whatever happens, it makes Balaam's journey one that the Lord does not support. And only the beast of burden can see the God-sent blockade. Balaam’s failure is not revealed even in the scriptures. But one might assume that Balaam promised God something he was not planning to deliver. Balaam admits he failed God. Maybe he did not intend to obey the instruction from God: to say only the words that God gave him. Maybe it was something completely different from the story at hand. What we do know is that it could not be concealed from God. The Lord reveals. 

And when God reveals, it is sometimes not obvious to the hearts that are hard against Them. Balaam was so set on the wrong plans he was making, he could not see the warning that God placed in his way. Balaam was a seer, which is someone who can perceive and predict many things, and even has the power to make a situation turn out well or poorly. Some folks might say Balaam was like a magician and a mind-reader. But none of that helped him along the road where all was revealed. 

Notice that the donkey’s actions are not recorded as astonishing. This animal performs a whole line of questioning on Balaam! Let’s stop for a bit and think about what we would do if an animal for real began speaking to us. Balaam might have smashed his foot against the wall, but that donkey saw what the so-called prophet’s trained eye refused to see. When the Lord confronts and reveals, the Angel of the Lord scolds Balaam for mistreatment of God’s creation - the donkey. This story shows what can happen when people respond to revealing. 

Balaam was revealed as reckless, and needing repentance. By God’s revealing, Ballam did repent. He admitted he was wrong, he promised to do what God told him, and that is what he did. He spoke only the words the Lord gave him. 

Sometimes when we are on a reckless path, it can be the lowly positions that perceive God standing in our way. Is something in your life stalled or not responding? Ask what’s going on. Be still and quiet, try to perceive the path you are on. Ask the Lord to reveal the words you are to speak, and the people you are to meet. Let the Lord lead you by Their revealing. 

Key Verses / Numbers 24:16-17

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;

the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God

and has knowledge from the Most High,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

I see him, but not now;

I perceive him, but not near.

A star will come from the child of blessing,

and a scepter will arise from the people of God.

Meditation & Prayer: Turn Fear in Fire

Audre Lorde’s book of essays A Burst of Light is the poet philosopher activist’s account of living with cancer, or as she called it “Turning fear into fire.”

Look at these quotes from Lorde and meditate on the truths revealed in them as you move through your week, making fire out of fear.

“Living with cancer has forced me to consciously jettison the myth of omnipresence, of believing—or loosely asserting—that I can do anything, along with any dangerous illusion of immortality. Neither of these unscrutinized defenses is a solid base for either political activism or personal struggle. But in their place, another kind of power is growing, tempered and enduring, grounded within the realities of what I am in fact doing. An open-eyed assessment and appreciation of what I can and do accomplish, using who I am and who I most wish myself to be. To stretch as far as I can go and relish what is satisfying rather than what is sad. Building a strong and elegant pathway toward transition.”

“But it is also true that sometimes we cannot heal ourselves close to the very people from whom we draw strength and light, because they are also closest to the places and tastes and smells that go along with a pattern of living we are trying to rearrange.”
“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out my ears, my eyes, my noseholes - everywhere. Until it's every breath I breathe. I am going to go out like a __ meteor!”

Music for A Great Burst of Light

Stevie Wonder - “Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away”

They say that heaven is ten zillion light years away
And just the pure at heart will walk her righteous streets someday
They say that heaven is ten zillion light years away
But if there is a God, we need Him now
"Where is your God"
That's what my friends ask me
And I say it's taken Him so long
'Cause we've got so far to come.

Tell me people
Why can't they say that hate is ten zillion light years away
Why can't the light of good shine God's love in every soul
Why must my color black make me a lesser man
I thought this world was made for every man
He loves us all, that's what my God tells me
And I say it's taken Him so long
'Cause we've got so far to come.

But if you open your heart you can feel it yeah yeah
Feel His spirit, wow oh wow
Feel it, you can feel His spirit
I opened my heart one morning and
I sure enough could feel it!

Artist this week: Kimathi Mafafo

Deeper Dive on today’s content:

A Burst of Light video overview a video with audio readings and interviews with Audre Lorde.