Naso: The Crown of Consecration

0:00Well, shabbat shalom everybody. And welcome, welcome. So good to see you and for those that are online as well that so glad you're here. And I wanted to just tell you something that bring something to your attention first that today is my anniversary. >> [applause] >> It's been 1 year since I was installed here at Sha'arei Sholom and and the year has gone by so fast. So fast. Wow. And but I'm so grateful and encouraged to be here and and have met so many of you at this point. And so you know, it's going to be an exciting time forward. But yeah, we're at that one-year mark and some of you may have been thinking is it my my marriage anniversary? Well, that was actually that's actually coming up on the 7th. So just take note of that if you want to you know the 7th 66708. So with that, I want to jump in this today because as I thought about today's Torah portion which means elevate. Naso means to elevate. When we move from Florida to North Carolina, it took me a while to get used to the difference in elevation. Because if you think about Florida, Florida's barely above sea level and then coming here it's three or four

1:19times the elevation of where Florida is. Now, I wasn't getting frequent nosebleeds or anything. But it was different and when I would jog, I do run with the kids and and run from time to time, probably a little more than that. And as I would run, I would notice that wow, I'm I'm like out of breath more than I was in Florida because I'm going up all these hills. And the kids absolutely love the hills because every single hill they go up doubles as a skateboard ramp or a bike ramp on the way down. So we've been trying to stock up a little bit with pads and helmets and those kinds of things because yeah, it can have quite a on the way down. But when we think about the difference there and in elevation and then the Torah portion today speaks of elevation. What does it mean to elevate? Well, one way to look at it is God is saying you've come out of Shavuot and it's time to elevate your spirituality. It's time to elevate everything about him about about him and about the the new form of spiritual walk we have going forward. But how many of you really desire yourselves to be elevated? How many?

2:37Yeah, right. Well, it depends, right? It depends because if I was to walk over there right now and like bear hug you out of your seat, you know, you might think that's a little weird, right? It's a little weird, although I might do that from time to time. But then what about if we just acknowledge you and appreciate you for your contribution? How How about that kind of elevation? Right, that that that actually feels pretty good, right? Well, that's what we're going into now because we've come out of Sinai and as we come out of Sinai we have Parashah Naso which means elevate and it's always the Parashah right after Shavuot. We've celebrated revelation, we've lived inside of that and the question now becomes how do we live it? Now that God has put the Torah on us and for us within us how do we live it? And the Parashah opens up today with the Leviim, the Levites and their function of schlepping of carrying the holy Mishkan. Naso et Rosh Benei Gershon the tribe or the the The of Gershon a Lev- Levitical clan, is going to carry the parts. It's similar to the census that we heard before, a su et rosh.

4:01A census, everybody counts, but this time we're elevating, we're lifting up. As they are carrying the portable Mishkan, they are being elevated themselves as they elevate God. I mean, just get that picture right now of how that's happening. We're carrying the portable building of God. God is elevating us as we're doing that from the tribe of Gershon, and at the same time God is lifted up. And so we have all of that. Now, Kohath was actually assigned to carry the Aron, the Menorah, the Mizbe'ach, so all of the parts that Shulchan, the table, all the parts inside, the most holiest parts. But then you also had Gershon that would carry the coverings and the curtains, the Bechor Parochet. Merari would carry the frames and supports. Now, unless you're in the construction industry, you probably think this is pretty boring, right? But this is carrying. This is what we do. This is bearing burdens. This is bearing loads. This is what ministry is. And this is where blessing flows right in that place. And what we begin to see in this week's parashah is that Hashem elevates what is consecrated. He elevates that.

5:23Different responsibilities, different functions, one elevation for the whole nation. Everybody's going to be lifted up this week. It starts out with the Leviim, naso, they're lifted up. The Kohanim are lifted up as conduits of blessing on the people of Israel as Dr. Seth was explaining. They become conduits of blessing. And then you have 12 tr- 12 tribal leaders. Nesi'im, and they're elevated. Bringing 12 identical offerings during a span of 12 days. And all of this culminates at the very end of the Torah portion where you see the voice of God come right to Mosha. Right there, but it happens through bearing and ministry and formation and communal elevation. Elevated as individuals, elevated as a nation, as a people. And those principles are what God is doing right here right now. We have to pay attention. He's doing those things. And then there's this other kind of elevation in the Torah portion this week. Lindor Nedair Nazir Lahazir Ladonai. This is a special one. This is a Nazir, a Nazarite. Who voluntarily utters a vow to be set apart, consecrated to Hashem. And the Torah brings something very remarkable here.

7:01Kenezair Elohav all Roshao. So, for the crown of his God, the Nezer, the crown of his God is upon his head. Now, the Nazarite is not wearing a physical crown, it's his hair that he or she is not able to cut. The crown of the God of God is on the head. The Nazir bears the Nezer, the crown of consecration. To be set apart for God. And that raises the question that I want to ask you today, and that is what and who crowns your life? When we hear the word crown and here at Nazir, we hear that word, we think of success, achievement, royalty, authority. Right? But the Nazir's crown is very different than that. It's not a reward, although we do hear about that later on in scripture about rewards. This is a responsibility. The Nazir's crown is restraint, discipline, consecration, that is being set apart to his or her God. That's very different. That's a different question. The world will ask, "How high have you risen here on Earth in your achievements?" But the Torah asks a different question. "Who and what are you consecrated to?" Very different question. How does the crown or how does a crown

9:05reveal what rules your life? Now, the first appearance of this idea of the crown is actually Yosef. When Yaakov, Jacob blesses Yosef, gives him a very special consecrated blessing here, and he says, "Nazir Achav, the consecrated one among his brothers." It was like he was crowned amongst his brothers. Now, Yosef was in a Nazir according to Numbers 6, but he was consecrated. He was set apart. Potiphar's wife was not his crown. Political authority was not his crown. Success and achievement that he eventually rose up and was elevated eventually was not his crown, rather God was his crown. Even when nobody was watching, Joseph was consecrated to Hashem every time. Now, here's the interesting thing about a Nazir. A Nazir resembles a Cohen, like a priest, but different. For example, no wine. Not that wine is evil, but no wine. Abstain Abstain from wine. No haircuts. I like haircuts, but you can't have haircuts if you're a Nazir. No contact with the dead, and not just anybody, even your immediate family, like a mourner. No contact whatsoever with the dead, because it's about purity for a Nazir, a

10:55voluntary oath to purity. The world will ask, "How can close can I get to the line?" But the Nazir asks a very different question. It's "How close can I draw to God?" That's the question. He does not become a Cohen. He does not serve in the Mishkan. Doesn't do that kind of avodah. But rather, it's the experience of pursuing God is what crowns the Nazir. And that's how the Torah pray places a crown on his or her head. Not a crown of achievement, you've done so great, good job. It's not one of those. No, it's a crown of consecration. Being sanctified before his God. Now, immediately before the Nazir, we see another story in the Torah portion called the Sotah. The Sotah is a tragic picture of a marriage shattered by infidelity, suspicion, jealously. And on the one hand, it seems that the Sotah is protected from her jealous husband, potentially. But on the other hand, we see a descent. So, you have the Sotah who is allegedly descending spiritually, and then you have the Nazir who is ascending spiritually. They're passing by each other. And Rashi asks a very interesting question here. Why does the Torah place

12:37them side by side? Does anybody know? It's a good question, right? And this is what Rashi says, quote, "Whoever sees a Sotah in her disgrace should become a Nazir." Right. One should become consecrated to God. Notice here the Torah doesn't say, "Stone her." No, it doesn't. It says, "Examine yourself." That's being consecrated to God. When we think about the fall of another person, Rashi reminds us to turn inward as opposed to outward. To see it as a mirror of what could possibly happen. And work on ourselves. When the Nazir encounters brokenness in the world, or when we encounter the brokenness in the world, one instinct may be to go and fix it. But the Torah reminds us to look inward to fix ourselves first before moving forward. And opportunities will arise, but how are we performing our own introspection of this as opposed to judgment? What needs attention in my own life is what should be on the radar in these circumstances. Yeshua asked a very similar question and then responded this way, "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to notice the log in your own eye?"

14:32Very similar response to Rashi. Of course, he was the first one to say that. And that brings us to Shimshon, Samson the Great. The Haftorah today, a Nazir from birth, consecrated to his God, called from birth. Yet, Sefer Shoftim, Judges, repeatedly gives us these clues about Shimshon and what's going on. He says in the Book of Judges, "I saw a woman. I saw. The lust of the eyes. Get her for me." he said. "She is right in my eyes." Is what Shimshon said. The theme in the book of Shofetim is everybody was doing what is right in their own eyes. And yet here Shimshon who arrives on the scene with all the power of God as a Nazir from birth set apart to deliver us from the police team that represented lawlessness. And yet he struggled with his flesh. The problem was never the hair, although he had a call from God to never cut the hair. The hair was a sign of what was supposed to be underneath. The heart. And the issue was the heart. The crown on his head did not match his heart. That's the lesson of the Nazir. Consecrated to Hashem but yet does the heart match the crown? Shimshon his his appetites became the

16:32crown of his life at times. And our appetites can take on many forms. Food and drink. Money. Lust of the eyes. All of those. Approval. Control. All of these are areas that we have to remember when your fleshly appetite becomes your crown, your spiritual life will be cast down. Or say turned upside down. That has the idea to wreck our spiritual life. Several centuries later, another Nazir-like figure arrives on the scene. Yochanan Hamatbil, Yochanan the Immerser. A wilderness prophet, bamidbar. A disciplined life consecrated to Hashem. Yochanan saw what Shimshon could not until they took his eyes out. See, at the end of Shimshon's life when he didn't have the eyes anymore, he was finally able to see who Hashem had called him to be. And it was in that moment that he did defeat our enemies. So, we think about these figures. Yochanan saw, "He must increase, I must decrease." That's the idea of ascension. As we ascend spiritually we must decrease. Think of the irony and the challenge there. Shimshon elevated his desires. Yochanan elevated Messiah. What are we elevating? is the question. Even lots of Torah study can sometimes

18:51lead us to elevate our knowledge. And knowledge builds up. But love puffs love itself is what truly builds up. So, in many ways Yochanan becomes a picture of what a Nazir is supposed to be. Set apart to God in the wilderness, but yet called for a purpose to elevate Messiah and to elevate his God. A life that God elevates. And a life elevated to God instead of self. That's the picture we learn with the Nazir. But the Nazir's journey doesn't end with the crown of consecration. See, he must actually make purification for himself. The Torah tells us when the nedar, when the vow is complete, he has to appear before the Kohanim at the temple. That's how you know you can't do it today officially because there's no temple standing. Just make sure you know that. In principle, yeah. Not officially. But the Nazir would bring korbanot. And it's striking when we look at the mirrored sequence. When the Kohanim would start their ministry, they would bring the exact same korbanot at the front end of their ministry as they are being ordained into their station as a Kohanim, Cohen. But with the Nazir,

20:40they would do it on the way out of the vow as if they're going from Nazir status back to Israel. It's like a reverse order there as they bring it. And among those, chief is chatat, a sin, a purification offering. The Nazir has gone through all of this, but yet still requires purification before God. And the same happens in the days of the Shlichim, the apostles. Shaul was appearing the Apostle Paul was appearing before the Jerusalem Council, before Ya'akov and the elders. And he was recounting all of the mighty works God was doing among the the amongst the Gentiles. Performing incredible in the scene, miracles among the Gentiles as they were coming to emunah, to faith in God through Yeshua the Messiah. Had gone through their own wilderness journey. Hearing the voice of God in the ruach, in the spirit coming. All of that. But yet there was something happening in the background. There were reports that Shaul himself was not keeping Torah and that he was actually teaching other Jews to forsake the Torah. These were rumors that began circulating and then as he's standing before Ya'akov and the

22:23elders they require of him a public demonstration. Several men are going to do their purification as they're going out, they're they're exiting their their Nazirite vows. Shaul had taken some form of a Nazirite vow and he also is going to join himself to them. To be purified according to the Torah. All this while carrying Messiah. All of this as the temple is still standing. And it was at that very moment Ya'akov >> [crying] >> said amongst the elders this about the Gentiles, that they are also to abstain from these four that we've heard. But let's think about these for a moment. To abstain from idolatry. That's purity right there. That's purification. That's living a pure life. To abstain from idolatry. To abstain from blood. Plus that was always forbidden to in in that context especially in the Greco-Roman world. That would happen in the temple cults. And then what to abstain from what is strangled also related to the temple cult. And then finally sexual immorality which actually connects pretty well to the sota. So you have all four of these expressions. Different expression. But yet the calling was the same. A life

24:08devoted to God. A life consecrated to God. A life pursuing purity. In this case Paul and and the four men who are making purification after taking a Nazarite vow. But on the other hand the Gentiles to abstain from all of that as the very entry way into Yeshua faith. Very clear. A life pursuing purity. So as we think about all this today a Nazirite and and and none of us are trying to be a Nazirite a Nazarite. But let's think about this for a moment here. Because the question becomes what actually crowns your life? And what does that look like? To be consecrated to God. The Cohen Gadol would wear the netzer hakodesh, the the crown of holiness. The Nazir wore a similar crown, but it was his hair or her hair, the crown of consecration. And then Yeshua, here's the irony, he wore a crown of thorns.

25:41Because sometimes when we concentrate to our our God, we have to go through a descent before we can ascend and God will exalt us. Three crowns, three questions in the Torah portion this week. One question is this, what receives my deepest loyalty? That's a question that we can wrestle with. Here's another one. What shapes my decisions when nobody is watching or at least I think nobody is watching. Cuz that's another one that would tell whether we're wearing the crown of our God or not. Another one is, what do I do instinctively when I am tempted or when I experience fear. And do I turn to our my God in those times of struggle? Even frustration at times. Because the the crown of God is not merely revealed by what I say I'm going to do, but rather what I do and what I pursue. This is about real spiritual pursuit of God. And so then the question the Nazirite asks us today is what should I do? What do I do with all this information? And it's all about exalt about exalting our God by uplifting others. Uplifting and edifying others in their journey as I look inward and see where I can refine my own spiritual walk with God.

28:08That's the life of a Nazirite. Wasn't actually serving Abba Dad in the temple, but yet was living the inward spiritual life that eventually must radiate outward. Therefore, that Nazirite had to exit out of that eventually and enter the real world again like we do every day. Now, of course, if you're a Nazirite from birth, yeah, that's a different story. Right? Shmuel, Shimshon, Yochanan, Hamatzbi, yeah, those those were the ones. Yeshua and Rashi speak in one voice here. Not go fix someone else, but rather fix yourself first. And as I am doing that and working on that, that's the power and the light that can change a soul one step at a time, cuz that has powerful ripple effect in the world. And I'm already helping others when I'm doing that, because they see they see it if they have eyes to see. So, as we think about this now, the decision point is what crown am I going to wear going forward intentionally? What crown? And that's an everyday decision. That's not a one-and-done. That's every choice. That's every priority. And that's every act of devotion. What are we devoting ourselves to?

29:59But when Yeshua becomes your crown, your spiritual life will be lifted to higher ground. Let's pray. Avinu Sheba Shamayim, we bless and sancti- fy you today in the heights of heaven and right here. You know our struggles. You know all of our spiritual breakthroughs. I ask that now would be one of those times that you would come to us and just spiritual reset. Just reset us to move forward, to be aware and cognizant of our own inward walk so that we can radiate properly outward. That we would learn the lesson of the Nazir. And that you would anoint us for service as you bring us through the wilderness, that we hear your voice, that we go into the the trials of life at times, but yet you bring us out ready for private and personal ministry today. To lift up Yeshua, elevate our God. In Yeshua's name. Everybody says Shabbat shalom.