Exodus 16:1-21 Wandering in the Wilderness 1/29/17-pm

Transcription

1 Exodus 16:1-21 Wandering in the Wilderness 1/29/17-pm Chuck Swindoll tells 1 of a young lawyer who was new to the firm - Every Thanksgiving that Law Firm had a ritual - The senior partner would fill the conference room with turkeys - Not the lawyer type, but the kind you can eat Everyone in the office would select one - And enjoy it with their families for their Thanksgiving feast - The young associate did not pick a turkey - Because living by himself in a new city - He could not conceive of what he would do with 20 pounds of turkey However, his coworkers brought one to his office - And cautioned him that refusing a turkey might offend the boss - Not wanting to do that - He took the turkey - Then upon leaving the office in a parade of turkey laden employees - He thanked the boss - And got on his bus home Sitting on the bus with this huge bird - The young lawyer still had no idea what he would do with 20 pounds of turkey - He noticed a discouraged looking man sitting nearby - And engaged him in conversation He was out of work and had been searching for work with no luck - It did not look like his family would have a very good Thanksgiving The young lawyer shared his problem of the overabundance of turkey - And the unemployed man agreed to take the turkey - They both left the bus feeling great - One because he was able to bless a needy family - And the other, because he had secured a turkey for his family s Thanksgiving dinner The Monday after Thanksgiving the young lawyer returned to his office - And was puzzled about why his coworkers asked so many questions about the turkey - When he finally admitted that he had given the bird to a poor family - The coworkers were stunned 1 Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll's Ultimate Book of Illustrations, 1998, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN) Page 1

2 You see, they thought they were playing a joke on the young lawyer - The turkey they brought him was fake - It was just a stage prop - Basically a plastic turkey stuffed with sawdust - I am sure the poor family was rather disappointed That is just about the exact same place we find the Israelites in today s Exodus reading - Rather disappointed, and a little hungry too They had been through a spectacular experience - They had seen God do so many amazing things - Witnessed the plagues of Egypt - And been miraculously delivered through the parting of the Red Sea In spite of all those amazing events, that was a month ago - Now they were in the wilderness - Their food was running out - And they needed to face the reality that they had to provide for themselves For years, the Israelites had been forced to depend upon a Pharaoh who cared only about their fitness to work on his projects - Suddenly they were independent; but they had never been equipped or prepared to take care of their own daily needs Ultimately they would find themselves dependent upon God for everything - Food and water, direction, and protection. 2 While slaves in Egypt, the Israelites had been comfortable with a dysfunctional system - They worked without much pay - But the benefits they received included not having to make basic decisions for themselves - And not having to worry about necessities They could grumble and complain about being overworked and treated unfairly - But at the end of the day, there would be food as usual - Now, everything had changed - And they longed for the familiar 2 Page 2

3 Those who work in prison systems will tell you that all too often ex-cons will long for the care they received in prison - Especially if the support of others is absent after they are released The certainty of three hot meals and a cot convince many offenders to work their way back into prison - By repeating criminal behavior - And not caring if they are caught Sadly, the comfort and predictability of dysfunctional behaviors serve as a barrier to growth for many people 3 - It is all too common to find humankind trapped in prisons of our own making - Because we hesitate to trust God to lead us away from those places As individuals, sometimes that keeps us trapped in abusive relationships - Or staying in places that are comfortable, but are not where God intends for us to be As a Church, that tendency may keep us trapped doing things the way we have always done things - Never being willing to try anything new - Dr. Warren Ebinger, one of my seminary professors said, The 7 last words of a dying Church are, We ve never done it that way before. It is in that mindset, that we find the Israelites in today s reading - Disappointed and disillusioned - Longing for the bread they had eaten as slaves - And engaging in another human fault - Finding someone to blame When my daughter was about 3 years old I took her to the park near our house, Alllaire State Park - Going to the park was one of our regular Saturday activities at that time - Our favorite trail led to a footbridge After the footbridge was a huge section of outdoor steps leading up a hill - There were 25 or 30 steps, and Melanie ran ahead, up those steps - Suddenly she fell, and tumbled back down the steps 3 ibid. Page 3

4 I was too far away to help her - But after bouncing off about a dozen steps she managed to go to one side into the bushes to stop her fall Unfortunately, they were bushes with lots of thorns - I was there in an instant and had my crying child in my arms - She had lots of bruises from the steps, and lots of scratches from the sticker bushes - But otherwise she was OK The next morning we were in Church - When Melanie went forward for the Children s Parable - The pastor saw all the bruises and scratches, and said, Melanie, what happened to you? - Melanie replied, nice and loud, right into the microphone, Daddy did it! Fortunately that Church knew me well enough to know I would not harm a child - And perhaps in Melanie s three-year-old mind, the fact that I had taken her to the park where she got hurt, made it my fault However, I think she was just demonstrating a trait that is all too common in humankind - We like to have someone to blame - Especially when it is someone other than ourselves There is nothing new about it either - As today s passage demonstrates - Because when things got tough for the Israelites - They too found someone to blame Did it help the Israelites situation any to blame Moses and Aaron? - Probably not - But that is what they did - Exodus 16:2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 4 At that point, we probably would not be surprised to read, Then the Lord s anger burned against the people, and He sent fire from heaven to destroy the grumblers - But that is not what happened at all! 4 Scripture quoted has been taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, 2001, 2005, 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., (Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI) Page 4

5 Exodus 16:11-12 tells us, The Lord said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God. That evening the people feasted on quail - Then the next morning, after the dew lifted the people discovered that the ground was covered with Manna - God would go on to miraculously feed the people for all their years in the wilderness - God may be depended upon In this passage, I see the experience of too many, with Christianity today - How often does someone receive Jesus as Savior, only to be left in the wilderness? The scenario is like this - The new believer has been the target of someone who has tried to reach them for a while - They have been the subject of many prayers, many invitations to Church, and many attempts to share Jesus The new believer makes that decision for Christ - But like the convict, newly released from jail, soon realizes the need for food - The ex-con has physical needs, but the nourishment craved by the new believer is more in the Spiritual realm If that person is not fed, they will revert to their old ways - The convict to the prison of bars and guards - The new believer back to the prison of their sins - Back to old habits and practices As the Church, we should not just be leading people to Christ - We should not just be filling our pews and membership roles with new people - We must also be a place where disciple making goes on A place where believers are fed on the journey - From the brand new believer to the believer of 50 years - We all need Spiritual nourishment Page 5

6 Finally, look at the encouragement of verse 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. Our Christian walk is sometimes going to walk right through the wilderness - Life after we come to faith in Jesus is not always going to be free of suffering, pain, hardships, and grief - Wilderness times are never easy - But when we know Jesus, He is there with us In the Israelites case, they could look back toward bondage in Egypt - Or they could look forward to life in the Promised Land - In the words of verse 10 they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD The challenge of this passage is that we resist the temptation to turn back - Jesus said, No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. 5 The passage also calls us to resist the temptation to grumble or find someone to blame - Contrary to what some people may think, it does not always have to be somebody s fault Instead, our Spiritual journey should be one of pressing forward - Not searching for someone to take the blame - But instead, trusting that God will lead us through those wilderness places - To our Promised Land 5 from Luke 9:62 Page 6