A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at Saint Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church on Sunday, September 28, 2003, Trinity XV. Please read Numbers 11:16-30.

When people are hired for a particular job, it is understood that the proper supplies, tools and equipment will be available to fulfill that job. Imagine a firefighter without a fire truck, or a teacher without books and paper. In our lesson from the book of Numbers, God calls seventy elders to help Moses with the job of leading Israel through the wilderness to the promised land, because the burden had become too great for Moses to bear alone. God states that he will equip these new leaders for their new job by giving his Spirit to them (Num. 11:17). When this promise is fulfilled, most of the seventy men are gathered together outside the camp. When the Spirit of God rested on them, they began to prophesy. Two of the seventy have not gone out with the rest, but they too begin to prophesy. Joshua is upset by this breach of protocol and asks Moses to stop them. Moses responds, “Are you jealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num. 11:29).

Moses recognizes that God’s ultimate desire is that all of the people will be endued with the Holy Spirit, for all of God’s people are called to serve him. This idea is advanced by the prophet Joel who foretells of the day in which God’s Spirit would rest on every believer (Joel 2:28-29); and this promise is fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus Christ gives the Holy Spirit to the church (Acts 2:16). This reality of the Spirit’s work in our lives is mentioned by Saint Paul as being definitive of the Christian walk: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God…the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:14, 16).

We who are the children of God have been given the great gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells with us and guides us. But we must bear in mind that the Spirit prompts us to do the work of our heavenly Father and to proclaim the gospel of Christ in word and action. It is a high calling to be God’s child and to be part of the body of Christ. As we look at ourselves, we realize that we do not have the ability to meet the requirements of this high calling. There are times when we are not very Christ-like, and trying to show God’s love to the unlovable is never an easy task. However, God does not call us to the Christian life without giving the resources to live it. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and he has given the Holy Spirit to motivate us to do what is pleasing to God and to live a life the shines with the light of Christ. What is important for us is that we consciously ask for God’s grace and help each day, so that we are children of God who are truly led by the Spirit of God.
Amen.