Fire From the Altar
Hello, Church!
Over the last number of days and weeks, many of us have been considering our role as believers in Jesus to see this global pandemic come to an end. In the Vineyard, we frequently use the phrase, “everyone gets to play”. I love that sentiment! This work is not reserved for the experts, the experienced or the confident. It’s a partnership that is available to all of us.
We have a spiritual authority that we need to learn how to access! Something that has been challenging me is this idea of praying “against the virus”. I found myself praying a few times in the past few weeks, “God, bring an end to this virus. Stop this pandemic!” There’s nothing wrong with that, but if I can be honest with you, those prayers sometimes feel a little powerless. I’m here to suggest that there might actually be more powerful, precise prayers that we can pray during this time.
What’s our role supposed to be?
Many of us look up to prominent individuals who have wide-reaching ministries. These folks have a reach that extends across millions of people and many nations. We are supposed to learn from them. The part we sometimes miss is that we aren’t supposed to imitate them, we’re supposed to learn from them and apply their lessons to our own context as we imitate Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul introduces an idea that I think we would all do well to consider. He talks about what we sometimes call a “sphere of influence”. He says that in his ministry, he’s sticking to the limits God has set for him. I think when we pray and do life, it’s profoundly important to consider the limits God has set for us. These are the areas God wants us to be most active - it’s where He has placed us!
Go and get some fire from the altar.
There’s a story in Numbers 16 about a plague that breaks out among the rebellious people of Israel. I will not make any bones about it - this is a weird Old Testament story. This is a story where people are dealt with in ways that Jesus no longer deals with his people. Hopefully, we know under the New Covenant, God isn’t sending plagues of judgment. We hold on to the truth that when we find ourselves confused about something in the Old Testament, we remember that Jesus is the measure of God’s character, not a confusing Old Testament story (John 1:18). All this considered, there is an important lesson to be learned.
Near the end of the story, a compelling thing happens. Moses and Aaron, being leaders who cared deeply for the people, threw themselves facedown on the ground and began to pray. They took some fire from the altar in their place of worship. Aaron ran into the middle of the congregation, stood between the living and the dead for the love of his people, and the plague stopped.
Reach out to your “sphere of influence”!
The encouragement I want to leave you with is this. In the face of what’s going on in the world today, take some “fire” from your place of worship, go out among your people (six feet apart), and see the plague stop. Maybe the plague is fear. Maybe it’s apathy or indifference. It could be anger or judgment. It could also be physical sickness! Your people could be in the hospital where you do battle every day. They could be your kids, your parents, your church, your company or your city.
I propose that we start focusing our efforts on the “sphere of influence” God has given us. I’m planning on reaching out to my neighborhood and the neighborhood around the church building this week. Pray and ask God who your people are! Of course, it’s still important to pray big prayers for our country and our world, but when we focus on our “sphere of influence”, we very well could see things change faster, spiritually and physically.