“BALAAM’S
ASS”
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A sermon preached Readings: Numbers
22:21-35, Luke 19:28-40 |
How
many stories in the Bible can you think of
where there is a donkey or an ass?
In
the New Testament we think of course of today’s Gospel –
the story of Palm Sunday.
(Nativity
Plays often have donkeys in them –
though in fact no animals are actually mentioned –
though the stable setting of the story makes them likely).
In
the Old Testament we have plenty of donkeys -
·
Abraham
rides one
(You tarry here with the ass whilst I go yonder with the lad)
·
Joseph’s
brothers load sacks of corn onto them
·
King
Saul first appears as a young boy
searching for his father’s lost asses
·
Ezra
and Nehemiah record assets of returning exiles -
a few 100 horses and camels
6,720 asses
Asses
were a bit like a Citroen 2CV -
family
transport, farm cart, sturdy, versatile,
overloaded, frequently abused.
Donkeys
were not often thought well of –
to be like a donkey was to “make an ass of yourself”.
Yet
whilst donkeys were the butt of much abuse
they were also very valuable and necessary part of the economy –
for they were there “to do the donkey work”, as we might say.
If
people didn’t walk, they normally rode on a donkey -
Camels
and horses only for the rich
Horses
were normally associated with victorious armies –
there was always a bit of unease when they are mentioned.
But
donkeys –
they were domestic and safe,
a mount for men and women, and a trailer for the luggage.
Nearly always the donkey in the Bible stories
couldn’t be in for anything more than the supporting role
There
is just one exception.
There
are two stories in the Bible
where animals speak using human language -
·
The Serpent tempts eve in the Garden of Eden
·
Balaam’s ass talks to his master.
We
heard the second of these read from Numbers 22:22-35
And
the point of the story?
Balaam
was a very clever and important man -
King Balak had sent messengers to fetch him to help him
But
Balaam was blind - not literally blind,
but blind to God’s will.
He just didn’t see what God was trying to say to him
But
the humble donkey - he saw the angel -
he saw what God wanted to happen -
and kept faith with God’s will even when
(like a Grand National Horse in the last furlong,
he was being pummelled with his rider’s stick.)
Then
of course finally Balaam’s eyes are opened,
and he sees that it was he and not the donkey
who was making an ass of him self, but Balaam
- and then he too listens to God’s word.
When
a blind man walks out with a Guide Dog,
the dog acts as his eyes.
Just
so, Balaam’s ass acts as the spiritual eyes of his master.
Balaam
was spiritually blind,
but the humble donkey, like a spiritual guide dog -
helped him understand God’s will.
There was a Blues singer in Nashville called Peter
Thorpe.
In 1993 he suffered a stroke and was partially blinded.
As a result of his experiences he was converted to Christianity –
he found spiritual sight.
He changed his name to Nashville Fats
and began a new career as a Christian singer.
He died two years ago yesterday – on 3 April 2002.
Nashville Fats described his ministry as the
“Balaams Donkey Ministry”
He said that his mission in life was
to encourage all to be used by God.
”If God can use Balaam’s donkey
he can use a jack-ass like me
and if he can use me,
he can sure use you"
And
you and I may sometimes feel a bit doltish,
a bit of an ass, a bit of a supporting player on God’s stage
But
maybe God has a job for us -
and if we just keep our eyes wide open -
we might see something of what God wants of the world
that the rich and the clever and the famous just miss!!
Today is Palm Sunday –
and here is the story of another donkey -
A
donkey needed by Jesus -
”Say the Master has need of them”
the disciples are to say to the donkey’s owner –
Needed
to carry a king -
What
a model for us to seek to follow -
just
a donkey, an ass,
a lowly and despised beast of burden
but
given the most important supporting role of all -
to carry the King of Glory.
Trevor
Huddlestone in “Naught for your comfort”
talks about a Church in the South African townships
known as the “Donkey Church” –
with a donkey instead of a weather cock.
It
isn’t a bad description of a Church –
to have a donkey ministry –
how better to thank the Lord for his journey to the cross
than to share the road with him?
“A missionary in China calls herself "the
Lord's donkey."
She's a humble believer, "carrying" her Lord
faithfully into town after town ….
The
Lord has need of many such "donkeys" in today's world,
humble people who will carry Him
into their Jerusalem and make Him known.
The donkey had to be untied before Jesus could use it.
We too must be released from worldly attachments
if we are to serve Christ.
Are we willing to be the Lord's donkey?”
[Our Daily Bread, March 24, 2001]
In
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar,
Mark Anthony and Octavius are talking about Lepidus,
the third part of the Roman ruling triumvirate -
MA: “He
is of no value - mere messenger boy”
O: “You
did think well of him”
MA: “He
is a mere donkey carrying gold -
to be put out to field when
used - cast aside.”
Carry
Christ and you carry gold.
But
you will not be cast aside –
those who take Christ on the road to Calvary,
find it is also the road to the Kingdom.
And
to those who laugh at the dolt of a donkey, the answer is clear -
“Fools, for I also had my hour,
One far, fierce hour and sweet,
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms about my feet”
[G.K.Chesterton]