Unexpected Gifts

Exodus 16:2-15 Year A September 21,2014 Unexpected Gifts Isreal – the people who complain What is the favorite pastime of God’s people. They love to complain. Now before you start thinking that pastor is about to start talking about somebody in the congregation. I am not about to go there – not yet at least. I am not talking about you – I am sticking with scripture – so I am just unpacking the scripture. We are talking about the people of Israel. That is what Israel means – one who wrestles with God. One who has a God given right to complain to God and to expect an answer. God says in this scripture passage, as he has said many time before. I have heard the complaints of my people and I am compelled to give them an answer. I may not be the answer that they are looking for – but it is an answer. So there is nothing wrong with complaining. It is a part of our condition –it is who we are and it is what we do. The man unsatisfied with his service John Yates, the Rector of the Falls Church in Virginia, tells the story of a young man writing at a post office desk who was approached by an older fellow with a post card in his hand. The old man said, “Young man, could you please address this post card for me?” The young man gladly did so, then agreed to write a short message when asked and to sign the card for the man. Finally the younger man asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” The old man looked at the post card, thought about it for a moment, and said, “Yes, at the end put, ‘P.S. Please excuse the sloppy handwriting.’” Complaining takes no special skill. Anybody can do it. But maintaining our joy come what may takes grace, strength, and humility. It is going to require a spiritual DNA change. Let us make the decision today to seek those virtues and be people of holy expectation and contagious delight. Cheese with your whine There is nothing wrong with complaining – but as the people of God – we have been told that we can do better. The next time someone complains to you – you should ask them what kind of cheese they want with their whine. Some people will get that, and others it may take awhile. People on the way I thought it was a good idea for us to take some time to think about the exodus story. Because it is a story of God’s people who are on the move. And what is one of the surest signs that God is about to do a new thing – people start to complain. In order for us to get from Egypt to the promiseland – God has to take us into the wilderness. In order for us to get from where we were – to where we are supposed to be – we have to go through transition. None of us take transition very well – so what do we do – we complain. The good news for those who complain- is that time and time again God has a way of saying I have heard your cry. And I will make things better. Manna – what is it? The bible says that God gave the Isrealites Quail and manna. Our traditional interpretation of manna is bread. But the Hebrew word for bread means doesn’t just mean baked bread, it means anything that is edible. Manna could have been anything. As a matter of fact, that is what manna means what is this? What is this that comes down from heaven each and every day? What is this that we are only to take as much as we need and leave the rest for others? What is this to comes in a double portion when we are supposed to take a rest day? What is this that spoils when misused? Not your every day bread, but bread from heaven – The grace, peace and love of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our manna and he provides for all of our needs. Bread from heaven In my first appointment – the lay leader and I would visit the sick and shut in and serve communion once a month. One of the ladies that we would visit – was not only blind, but she was also hard of hearing. And she had not been to church in about five years. Since I was not her old pastor – Julius Trimble – it took her a couple of months to realize that I was her pastor. After the second time we came to visit – everytime we would come – she would start singing bread of heaven - . I had never heard the song before – but to hear her sing it gave the song such meaning. Bread of heaven – feed me til I want no more. Jesus Christ is the only thing that can feed all of our wants and needs. Jesus us the only thing that can satisfy us to the point that we don’t need to complain in order to be fed. We can be grateful for who Christ is and What Christ has done to save our lives. God’s gave the people quail and manna – they had both a protein and a carbohydrate – that should have been enough to keep them full – but they continued to complain. Don’t store up manna All God was trying to do was to get them to trust him. To understand that the Lord provides. He told them not to store up any extra for tomorrow – but to collect the bread from heaven anew and afresh day by day. And thousands of years later we still don’t get it- we still like to hoard and save things that we cant keep until tomorrow. We especially like to hoard money, property, youth, possessions, health, relationships. All things that we have to be reminded that do not belong to us in order to keep and hold onto. The harder you hold onto those things – the more devastated you are when you lose them. Some things you have to ask for every day And yet we are reminded that there are certain things in life that cannot be stored, for that matter you have to gather those things day by day – moment by Moment. Some of those things are: your blessings, your strength, your faith, your gratitude, your joy. All things that you cant store up for tomorrow. Each and every morning, you have to gather those things from heaven. And God gives you just enough to make it through the day. Tomorrow you have to ask for more. But Christ wants us to understand that when you have enough of those things in your life- then you start to see that there is no need to complain. God sees your need, whatever your attitude and your mindset. You can complain, or you can pray – either way- every day there is bread from heaven to feed you until you want no more. A season of new beginnings We are going to hang out in Exodus for a few Sundays – because I think that the Isrealites – those who wrestle with God have some important lessons for us for the future. As we celebrate a season of new beginnings – I think that it is important for us to realize that God is taking us to a new place in our individual lives, and in our communal lives. I think that there are several important lessons for today – first that in order for us to make it to a better day – we have to go through the wilderness. If it wasn’t an uncomfortable place to be – it would be called to wilderness. But even in our discomfort, God is with us. God is listening to our cries, God is providing for our needs. God is going to give us unexpected gifts from heaven – and that gift is going to be so strange, do different, that the only thing we will know how to say is what is this? But the only way we will truly understand what it is if we trust God, learn to be patient, count our blessings, and most importantly be willing to become a new person, in a new place, doing a new thing. When you are traveling with God – every day is a new beginning. Our call to discipleship is for everyone today – I am going to invite everyone to be a part of our celebration of new beginnings. Extra illustrations Add Air or Put on the Spare! (08.24.05--Under Pressure!--Exodus 16:2) When we are under pressure, we can either seek to manage the pressure or let the pressure manage us. Easier said than done? Yes, but like most things in life, there is a way if we really have our eyes and hearts open to finding it. The other day I had a flat tire on the Corvair. It was one of those slow flats that you look at every day as you get into the car in the morning and say, “I think that it is a little low. I’ve got to put some air in that tire soon.” After weeks of looking and not doing, I pulled out of the garage one morning and, after a few miles on the road, I began to feel the car handling poorly. There was a sway and unsteadiness about it. I knew that it could only be one thing--the tire that was going flat, not having convinced me of its plight in the garage, it was now speaking to me on the highway. It was time to either add air or put on the spare. I could have avoided the inconvenience of changing a tire if I had simply reached for the air compressor days ago and filled that tire to pressure. Not having done so, I was left with the lesser of the two choices, changing a dirty tire on a busy highway. Instead of handling the pressure, it had handled me. “There are two ways of handling pressure.” According to Jay Kesler. “One is illustrated by a bathysphere. Bathyspheres compensate (for pressure) with plate steel several inches thick, which keeps the water out but also makes them heavy and hard to maneuver. (When) you look through the tiny, thick plate-glass windows, however, what do you see? Fish! These fish cope with extreme pressure in an entirely different way. They don’t build thick skins; they remain supple and free. They compensate for the outside pressure through equal and opposite pressure inside themselves. “Christians, likewise, don’t have to be hard and thick-skinned--as long as they appropriate God’s power within to equal the pressure without.” (Jay Kesler.) Add air or put on the spare. The Bible tells us to manage our pressure by not giving into the temptation to let things go until they are unmanageable. When we fill ourselves up with God’s Word every day, pray and give thanks to our Creator God who is above all stress and pressure in this life, we manage the pressures of the day by equalizing them on the inside with His Holy Spirit. There is no need to wait for our lives to deflate under the pressures of the day as long as we keep filling ourselves up with the equalizing pressure of God’s love. Add air or put on the spare. The choice is up to us. AMEN. What kind of cheese do you want with your whine?