Follicle Power

Numbers 6:5

All the days of their nazirite vow no razor shall come upon the head; until the time is completed for which they separate themselves to the LORD, they shall be holy; they shall let the locks of the head grow long.

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My hair, flow it, show it
Long as God can grow
My hair

"Hair" by James Rado and Gerome Ragni recorded by The Cowsills

What's interesting about the Nazirites, and Samson in particular, is that there is no real explanation about why no razor shall come upon the head. It's pretty easy to understand why they should avoid a carcass or wine and strong drink, but no shave or haircut seems almost arbitrary.

There are two probible answers, the first is to show obedience and the second is to be set off to anyone who sees the Nazirite.

As for obedience, maybe this is the story of Samson in a nutshell. God was faithful while Samson took food, drink, and women that no Nazirite should take. God still blessed Samson with great strength even though he broke nearly every Nazirite vow. But it was when his hair was cut that his strength, and lo his freedom, were taken. Only at the end of the story, when Samson returns to God and his hair returns to his head is his strength restored.

So which came first? Hair or Faith? While they returned at the same time, It is probably only by faith that the power of his vows and the power that came through his vows returned. It just took the same amount of time to regrow the hair.

Something that is true, and still true among Orthodox Jewish men whose face and scalp has never seen a razor, is that their appearance sets them aside from other men in the community. This standing does not come from their hair, but their hair represents who they are in the community. It's a sign, a symbol. It represents that they are holy, set apart for the work of the Lord in the community.

Let my life show God is in control. Let my hair show I am obedient. Let my hair show all power comes from God. As the song goes: My hair, flow it, show it/Long as God can grow/My hair.

What's a Man to Do?

Hosea 3:1-5

The LORD said to me again, “Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. And I said to her, “You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.” For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

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Sunday morning when we go down to church
See the menfolk standin' in line
I said they come to pray to the Lord
With my little girl, looks so fine
In the evening when the sun is sinkin' low
Everybody's with the one they love
I walk the town, Keep a-searchin' all around
Lookin' for my street corner girl

I got a woman, wanna ball all day
I got a woman, she won't be true, no no
I got a woman, stay drunk all the time
I said I got a little woman and she won't be true

"Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?" by Led Zeppelin

There are some who think scripture is this clean, tidy, glorious, joyous work that shows the world the power and majesty of God. Well, except for clean and tidy, this is true. The book of Hosea is one of those times when scripture is anything but clean and tidy.

Hosea is a man, a simple man, a prophet, who is called by the Lord to "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom." You know Billy Graham never got this word from the Lord, and we should all thank God that we didn't either. Robert Plant singing "I got a little woman and she won't be true" takes on a whole new meaning in light of this scripture.

In our life, in our society, the man is a fool for taking such a woman into his bed. In the age of AIDS, and it's still the age of AIDS, it's suicidal. In the time of Hosea, it wasn't too good either. Imaging how a man could go broke if paying two weeks wages for his wife to bring her home.

Actually, given a six day work week, the fifteen shekels of silver would take between two and three weeks to earn and the homer of barley and measure of wine would cost more. There goes a month of wages and you don't know if the kids are yours until the Maury Show hits the airwaves thousands of years later.

So what's a man to do? There are two things. The first is tough enough, be obedient. The Lord tells Hosea to take this wife of ill repute. She won't be true, and you are called to take her into your bed. What could be tougher?

Well, there's this. The second is tougher, it is to do nothing. There is nothing Hosea can do to change the ways of his wife. Well, nothing he can do in an active way that is, not in the way "men of action" think of action.

In the end, these are too much for the man of the song and he leaves her where the guitars play.

In the end, in the truth of life, the work of redeeming the woman, and the work of redeeming Israel (which is the point of this Hosea), is only possible thorough the work of the Lord God. Hosea can do nothing but love her, show her true unconditional love; even in the light of her actions. This is the quandary of the Lord and the Lord's first love Israel, but while God will never force love upon the nation, the Lord will never leave either.

This is the reconciling work of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The work of God in Jesus Christ is glorious and joyous. The work of God is ripe with power and majesty. But it is not always clean, and it is not always tidy. Sometimes, somebody's got to get their hands dirty.

May Your Dreams Be Realized

Martin Luther King, Junior Day


Romans 8:18-21

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

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Sleep, sleep tonight
And may your dreams be realised.
If the thunder cloud passes rain
So let it rain, let it rain
Rain down on he.

"MLK" recorded and composed by U2 from "The Unforgettable Fire"

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Within all of us there is a dream of freedom. This is the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for all African-Americans, all Americans, and all humanity. In King's words, "Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (Excerpt from King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.)

King's dream comes a little closer every day for the Children of God. King's dream slips away a little bit every day for the children of the fall. Of course these two groups are not exclusive, actually they're identical. We are all born of sin and redeemed by God. This is what makes the yearning for King's dream more difficult. We are instruments in the hands of God for Christ's everlasting kingdom on earth; and we are prisoners of our own demise.

On this day, on the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, we remember the sufferings. We can remember fire hoses directed at protesters. There were fights. There were arrests. There were lynchings. The ultimate price was paid by many in this war so fought so that truly all people could live like we were created equal. The battle is not won yet either.

As great as the sufferings are; freedom, peace, and liberty for all God's children is worth the high price. Many have paid such a high price for freedom. Christ too paid a price for our freedom, and it's the price Christ paid for our freedom and our salvation. Now it is up to us to do something with that salvation given to us by God's good grace through faith.

Both prices are so very high, so let us act and live and work in ways that honor those who have purchased our freedom at such great costs.