What’s in a Name? The Daughters of Zelophehad - A Sermon for Reformation Sunday October 27 2024

FIRST READING: Numbers 27:1-11

A reading from Numbers.

1Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. Zelophehad was son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph, a member of the Manassite clans. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they said, 3Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons. 4Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers."

5Moses brought their case before the LORD. 6And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 7The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father's brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them. 8You shall also say to the Israelites, "If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance on to his daughter. 9If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. It shall be for the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as the LORD commanded Moses."

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL: Luke 8:1-3

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

1Soon afterwards (Jesus) went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Once and for all,

Jesus declared on the cross;

“It is finished.” 

Death is defeated.

Evil is defeated.

Yet there is no denying the evil in the world.

There is no denying the evil that lives in human hearts.

The devil is a liar.

The Satan is the deceiver.

When we tell lies,

when we believe lies,

when we enforce lies,

you could say we keep the devil alive.

Jesus tells us that the truth shall make you free.

Marin Luther did not have time for lies,

with a couple terrible exceptions.

We live in the 500 year shadow 

of Luther standing up for truth.

It is a lie that we can purchase our salvation,

or purchase a lesser sentence in purgatory for loved ones.

It was a lie that built St. Peter’s Cathedral.

Salvation is not for sale.

You can’t buy it,

it is expensive,

and it is a free gift from God.

Luther put to bed,

or at least tried to put to bed,

the lie that our good behaviour,

our works of faith,

save us.

Christ alone can save.

On this Reformation Sunday,

as we live in this 500 year shadow,

let us put some more lies to bed.

We consider 6 different women today

in the “What’s in a Name” preaching series.

First is Mary Magdalene.

We will consider her both this week and next.

She isn’t exactly a lesser-known biblical character,

but one we don’t talk about much.

For 1500 years,

Mary Magdalene has been called a prostitute

and an adulteress.

She has also been called Christ’s wife.

None of this is scriptural.

If she married Jesus,

then the biblical writers didn’t see it as an important detail.

Considering that the gospel writers

let us know that Peter was married,

I’d expect us to know if Jesus had a wife.

It can be fun to think about,

or challenging to faith to think about,

but it is of no real consequence to us.

What is of consequence is Mary being called a prostitute.

Allow me to be clear,

no where does the bible say she was a prostitute.

It was Pope Gregory in the 6th century

who said Mary Magdalene is the same woman

from Luke 7.

Mary Magdalene was possessed;

she had 7 demons or unclean spirits in her.

One little interpretive leap by an ancient Pope

and Mary Magdalene is changed from an apostle,

the first to proclaim the resurrection of Christ,

to some vain, lustful sinner.

I don’t think Pope Gregory was trying to lie,

but what damage has been done

by one man’s words.

We are approaching the 50th anniversary

of the ordination of women as Pastors in the ELCIC.

Some lies take thousands of years to unlearn.

The truth is Mary Magdalene was healed,

Jesus sent the demons packing,

and she is an apostle of Jesus Christ,

and she is a preacher of the resurrection.

More on this next week,

but lie number one for today put to bed.

The next lie is similar,

and it relates to a very important story

from the Pentateuch,

the Books of Moses,

a story that does not make it into our lectionary.

It is the Daughters of Zelophehad,

and their story is recorded in Numbers

and in Joshua;

5 different occurrences.

This is the biblical writers telling us to pay attention

to the Daughters of Zelophehad!

What’s in a Name?

Numbers is a book about counting,

organizing the people Israel,

counting those able to go to war.

This is how the book got its name

in Latin, Greek, and English for that matter.

But in Hebrew, the book of Numbers is called

“In the Wilderness”

Numbers is Exodus part II.

In part One,

God frees Israel from bondage in Egypt.

Part Two in Numbers

God is with Israel in the wilderness

as they journey towards the promised land.

In their freedom,

Israel needed to learn how to be a freed people,

so we read many laws and commands

for God’s people

laws instituted in the wilderness.

It is chaos.

In Exodus,

God gives the Ten Commandments,

In Numbers,

the people rebel - ten times.

Rebellion, revolt, betrayal, politics, war.

It makes the wild west sound like a pillow fight.

The Daughters of Zelophehad

are Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

None of them were married.

Their father had died,

10th generation of the tribe of Manasseh,

he was no rebel,

and there was no son;

no male heir to leave the inheritance of land.

Moses was only handing inheritances to men.

The daughters waited until everyone

was at the place of worship.

They stand at the door of the sanctuary

and in so doing,

they stand up for themselves,

and for every other woman

with or without males in the family.

They ask Moses for an inheritance of the land.

Gender should not be a prerequisite.

God agreed.

“The Daughters of Zelophehad are right,

you shall indeed let them possess the inheritance.”

God changed the inheritance laws in the Torah.

If there is no male heir,

it goes to the nearest kin.

I wish I could say “And they lived happily ever after.”

Fast forward 9 chapters,

and who knows how many years,

and we hear from the daughters of Zelophehad

for the third time.

Moses continued to pass out the land,

and passed right over the daughters.

It was a blatant disobeying

of God’s ordinance.

Allow me to share some thoughts from

biblical scholar Wilda C. Gaffney:

“Some of the men get together and explain to Moses

why he can’t do what God said.

The daughters of Zelophehad might marry someone

outside of their father’s tribe,

and one tribe would get more land than another.

and then everybody would go around

marrying fatherless daughters

to get their land.”

(Lutheran Study Bible. “Numbers Study Notes” Wilda C. Gaffney.)

Biblical mansplaining at its best.

Moses declared, in God’s name,

the men are right,

directly defying God’s ordinance.

We hear about the daughters of Zelophehad

in the book of Joshua.

Again, who knows how many years have passed.

They stand again at the entrance to the sanctuary,

they come before Joshua,

and faithfully remind him of God’s ordinance,

that they have a right to inherit land.

Why are they asking Joshua?

Again, from Wilda Gaffney;

“They are standing there because

Moses refused to obey God - again.

Moses had already been told

he would not live to see the promised land

because of his earlier disobedience.

He could not get himself into the promised land,

but he could use the power he had left

to keep the women out.

They are standing (before Joshua)

because Moses went to his grave

holding their piece of the promised land

clutched in his cold, dead hand.

They are standing there

because they refuse to give up.

They are standing there because they believe God.”

Finally, Joshua grants the Daughters of Zelophehad

their inheritance.

Finally, the lie is put to bed.

Moses was imperfect.

He listened to the wisdom of earthly power

above the wisdom of the Creator of the earth.

God used Moses to free God’s people,

to lead them out of captivity,

and Moses’ wisdom by God’s grace

continues to be central for the Judeo-Christian faith.

But we have to acknowledge the damage done

in the name of upholding patriarchal power

especially when it defy’s God’s Word.

We don’t worship Moses,

we worship the God who called the imperfect Moses.

Luther was imperfect.

You can’t talk about lies and Luther

without naming the terrible stain

that is Luther’s later writing

“On the Jews and Their Lies”

Luther’s earlier writings about the Jews

was far more inclusive and appreciative.

Luther grew more and more curmudgeonly

towards non-Christians,

it’s like he could not understand

how Jews did not convert en mass to Christianity.

I would argue that the reformation breakthrough

- saved by grace through faith -

was lost to Luther,

and he went on the attack.

Like Moses,

Luther is very important for us,

his theology is central for us.

but we have to acknowledge the damage done

to people of the Jewish faith

by Luther’s pen,

by Luther’s lies.

I believe part of the path forward

in our own Reformation time,

is story telling

that puts the lies of this world to bed.

In a couple of weeks

we will hear another part of the Moses story,

about those who put Moses in the basket.

Moses knew the story of the people Israel

because he was told by his family.

Amidst his imperfections,

the story telling was formative

for following God’s call.

The Daughters of Zelophehad,

how is it that they had the courage

to stand in the door of the sanctuary,

to stand up for their rightful inheritance

as daughters, children of Israel,

except by hearing the story.

Zelophehad was among the original company of Israel

to leave Egypt,

he was enslaved.

The daughters knew their lineage,

their father must have told the story

going back to Manasseh, Ephraim, Jacob.

They knew that God’s story is one of reversal.

The last shall be first and the first shall be last,

God brings the tyrant down from their throne

and lifts up the humble.

God is turning things around.

They knew God is a God of blessing.

For Anna Carter Florence,

Zelophehad is an example for us,

“raise children to take pride in their roots,

and they will.

Tell them the family stories,

the range of what is humanly possible,

and they will see it”

(Anna Carter Florence. A is for Alabaster: 52 Reflections on the Stories of Scripture. 106)

And like Mary Magdalene,

we tell the story

of Jesus’ rising from the grave,

even if the men call it an idle tale.

We tell the story of Martin Luther,

with the imperfections,

and we know God’s radical acceptance

unconditional love

reckless forgiveness.

We tell the story,

we enter the story,

we are forever connected to the story,

we are part of the story.

This is the story of God’s work in the world,

in and through people like Abigail, Vashti,

Onesiphorus,

Mary Magdalene,

Zelophehad and his daughters,

God’s story is a story of reversal,

a story of justice, and equity,

of forgiveness, of grace,

of death turned to life.

So let us tell the story together,

let us enter the story together in song.

The Canticle of the Turning,

and let us trust that even with us in this time,

God puts the lies to bed,

God is turning the world around.

HYMN OF THE DAY Canticle of the Turning (ELW 723)

1 My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
and my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant's plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
so from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Refrain
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn.

2 Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
you will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn. Refrain

3 From the halls of pow'r to the fortress tow'r,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev'ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
there are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn. Refrain

4 Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God's mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror's crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
till the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around. Refrain

Text: Rory Cooney, b. 1952, based on the Magnificat

Text © 1990 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.