So Soon We Forget!
Sermon
Trouble on the Mountain
Sermons For The Middle Third Of The Pentecost Season
So soon we forget! The next time you complain of having to do the laundry - at home or at the local laundromat - where you have plenty of hot and cold water, a spin-dry machine, and a dryer to do the whole job remarkably easily, before you complain about how tough it is (like breaking a fingernail opening the package of new, blue, all-temperature Cheer or having to fold the clothes as they come out of the dryer), stop and remember it was not always so simple. Here is a "receipt" of an old grandmother in Kentucky for washing clothes:
1. Build a fire in the backyard to heat a kettle of rain water.
2. Set the tubs so that the smoke won't blow in the eyes if the wind is pert.
3. Shave one whole cake of homemade lye soap in the boiling water.
4. Sort things and make three piles: one for white clothes, one for colored, and one for britches and rags.
5. Rub the dirty spots on the washboard; scrub hard, then boil, rench, and starch.
6. Take white things out of kettle with broomstick.
7. Spread tea towels on the lawn to dry.
8. Hang old rags on the fence.
9. Pour rench water on the flower bed.
10. Scrub porch and kitchen floor with hot, soapy, wash-water.
11. Turn tubs upside down to drain.
12. Go and put on a clean dress, smooth hair back with side combs, brew a cup of tea, set and rest a spell, and count your blessins'.
So soon we forget! We can't remember how bad it once was nor how good we have it now! But this text reminds us that we have ...
Poor Memories
The people of God have been safely led from Egyptian bondage, across the Red Sea, and are now bound for the promised land. But, already they have forgotten the miracle of the Red Sea crossing. They are scarcely more than thirty days away from the time they clapped their hands, banged their timbrels, and sang loudly their praises for deliverance: "God has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."
But now the paean of praise is ended, their doubts arise, they are hungry, and fear they cannot and will not be fed. And so - disgruntled, discontent, disillusioned, and doubting - they forget God's goodness. They long for Egypt again. Their memories are short as they forget how bad their bondage was. When they were in Egypt they hollered they were cruelly and inhumanly treated. They said they would do anything - anything - to be free, but now, with empty stomachs, they are willing to be slaves again just to be fed. They have completely forgotten how great and good God has been to them.
They were not too different from us, were they? The mercies of God to us are unending, new every morning, and still we doubt he will handle our present difficulty for us. We grumble over the Christian responsibility which sets guidelines for our conduct. We chafe under the yoke we must bear. We look at others, the non-Christians, and see what they can do. They live seemingly without guilt. We grumble that the way of following Christ is too arduous, the demands are too great, the path too straight, the church asks too much. We want to live our own lives, do as we please, do it our way, be our own bosses, make our own mistakes, be free! So soon we have forgotten how empty we were before we came to Christ, how agonizing the hangover is after an all-night binge, how contaminated with guilt the soul feels after an adulterous relationship, how the heart can ache when we have willfully demanded our own way, how binding sins cause sleepless nights and stricken consciences. The way of the transgressor is hard. But we forget it, and like those Hebrews, we long for the fleshpots of Egypt (the world).
The truth is, we are never satisfied. We never know how well off we are until we are in trouble. We see only the pain of the present and forget the past mercies.
A young boy and his doting grandmother were walking along the ocean shore when a huge wave appeared out of nowhere, sweeping the child off the beach and out to sea. The horrified grandmother, who could not swim, fell to her knees, raised her eyes to heaven, and begged the Lord to return her beloved grandson to her. And, lo, in a little while another huge wave rolled in and deposited the stunned child on the sand before her. The grandmother looked the child over carefully. He was just fine. But, still she angrily raised her eyes to heaven again and complained indignantly to God, "But when we came here he had a hat!" We forget the mercies of God so quickly. We forget what it was like before we had a Savior, before we had someone to care, before we had someone to answer our prayers, before we had a God!
Peevish Murmurers
There's an old story that comes out of the Missouri Ozarks; it tells of a hound dog sitting in a country store, howling his head off, as hounds are prone to do. A stranger came in and said to the storekeeper, "What's the matter with that dog?" The man said, "He's sittin' on a cockleburr." "Then," asked the stranger, "why doesn't he get off?" "Because," replied the storekeeper, "he'd rather holler!"
So would we. We'd rather murmur. We forget the blessing of God, and like the Israelites, become blind to past mercies, and begin to grumble and gripe and complain about the situation. These petulant, peevish people lash out at God and Moses, "We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There at least we could sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death." How like spoiled children they were.
Forgetting God's mercies always leads us to the next step of pouting and complaining. A lady, in her eighties, rigid and conservative about a lot of things the Bible doesn't even mention, became very cynical. She thought everything modern was bad and every new change was a disaster. She whined to her minister, "Pastor, it's a good time to be dead!"
We haven't much room to brag. We find that griping is one of the things we do best. God has delivered us from sin's bondage, but we still find plenty of things we don't like.
We don't like the preacher: he/she is too old, too young, too skinny, too fat, too autocratic, too lax, too liberal, too conservative. The conference sent us the wrong one.
We fuss about the church: the order of worship is not to our liking, the sermons are too long, the organ is too loud, the hymns are too unfamiliar, the choir sings off-key, the board members control everything, no one speaks to us, all they do is ask for money. It's just not like it used to be.
And, of course, our grumbling spills over into everything else in our little selfish, self-centered worlds: at school, the teachers are inept; at work, the employer is unfair or the employees are lazy; they don't make cars like they used to; our home is too small/large; our children don't mind; teen-agers are worse than they've ever been; our spouse is a nag; we have to do more than our share; love has cooled, the bloom is off the rose, etc.
Just as the people of Israel blamed God and Moses, so we blame God and everyone around us. Lucy Van Pelt, of the "Peanuts" comic strip, once circulated the neighborhood with a petition which she asked everybody to sign. When she came to Charlie Brown he asked her what it was, and she replied, "It's a disclaimer. It absolves me from all blame." When Charlie Brown asked what that meant she answered, "This document guarantees that anytime, from now on, if anything should ever go wrong, anywhere in the universe, I can't be blamed for it!"
After all, it is never our fault! - God ought to strike us dead, or, at least, let us struggle all by ourselves for awhile, but what he does to us - as he did to those peevish people called Israel, is to grant his.
Patient Mercies
In the Exodus narrative, four times at least, the murmurings of Israel are mentioned. They acted like cranky, spoiled children. So when they were told to come near to the Lord (with the ominous warning "He has heard your complaint"), they must have felt a great deal of fear and trepidation. How they must have trembled with the certain knowledge they were now going to be punished for their fractious behavior.
When a child is caught throwing a temper fit - kicking and screaming - and the father says authoritatively and firmly, "Come here!", the delinquent approaches with great hesitancy, knowing he/she is now going to get it as he/she is called to account for his/her actions.
But instead of chastising the Jews, the message from the Shekinah cloud is sweet and gentle, and the Voice promises them manna and meat. As a mother quiets her wailing, squalling baby by feeding it, so God does not use the rod they deserve on his whimpering children, but instead seeks to win them by patience. He shames their unbelief by his swift, generous answer to their complaints. Don't forget faith is always what we need to receive God's highest and best gifts, but even our doubts can touch his heart with pity for us. When we have but feeble faith (doubting faith) when our fears cause us to murmur and complain, even then God will give us what he can so we may learn to trust him and be content. Crazy as it seems, even when we behave like spoiled brats, God loves us!
Sometime ago a woman went to her pastor with the tragic story of her marriage. Her husband had deserted her and run away with another, younger woman. For several months she had received no child support from him. She had to take a second job, and even then they had scarcely survived. She told the minister the story of her loneliness, heartbreak, shame, and despair. "And now," she concluded, "he has called me, says he still loves me and the children, and he wants to come back and make everything right." The pastor asked, "Do you still love him?" She responded, "Yes, damn it! I wish I didn't, but I do!" The pastor then suggested, "Well, then, why not just welcome him back with open arms?" She sneered, "Oh, yeah, just like that! Where's the justice in that?" The minister softly replied, "I wasn't talking about justice, I was talking about grace and mercy, which is love in action." That's what our patient, merciful God does for us. We forget him and he remembers us. We sin against him, and he forgives us. We complain to him and he showers us with mercy.
Of course, it is far better for us not to fuss at our circumstances. It is always best to walk in unfaltering faith. But, as even our grumpy children are fed and sheltered, nurtured and clothed, would our heavenly Father do less for us than we do for them?
There is a yet fuller truth in this Old Testament lesson. Jesus laid his hand upon it and claimed it as a faint foreshadowing of what he himself is. After Jesus had performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes (John 6:1-13), the Jews came to him and demanded a greater sign that they might believe in him. They quote Moses as being able to give manna, and of course the implication is, if Jesus is truly the Messiah he will be able to duplicate the manna-miracle. When his adversaries baited him, Jesus usually did not respond, but this time he told his questioners he not only gives the manna, but he himself is the manna, not just for them, but for all the world.
It's easy to see how the manna symbolizes Christ. The manna came from heaven; so did Jesus. The manna was food; Jesus Christ claims to be food, only better food, as he is the Bread of Life. Jesus is superior in every way to the desert manna, because he is the "true bread from heaven which gives life to the world."
The wilderness manna was needed for only a limited time - until they reached the promised land. Christ is the Bread for all people, for all time, and is the same "yesterday, today, and forever." The Israelites got tired of the wilderness manna (grumbling again), and longed for the cucumbers and garlic of Egypt, but we can never get enough of our Manna. We sing of Christ, "Sweeter as the Years Go By." Who could ever grow weary of such an intoxicating diet? He is all we need, he fully satisfies. What marvelous provision God has made for us in giving us Jesus. Let us not forget him. And yet we do forget our Manna. That's why Jesus said, "When you eat the Bread and drink the Cup, remember me!"
A young military officer had been given a difficult and important assignment and had failed miserably. Imagine his surprise (and everyone else's) when the commanding officer gave him another task of equal importance and danger to do. But this time he did not fail. He came through with flying colors, and exhibited such fine heroism that he was given a decoration. When the chaplain tried to congratulate him, the young officer waved the commendation aside, and said, "What else could I do? I failed the man, and he just kept right on trusting me!" We forget Christ, but he does not forget us. We murmur, but he remembers us with patient love and mercy. Who would not follow such a Lord to the ends of the earth?
A Word of Warning!
One word of warning: just as the Jews could have manna all around them and starve to death if they failed to gather and eat it, do not personally appropriate Christ, our heavenly Manna, to ourselves, we will starve to death! As we must have air to breathe, so we must have Christ, our Bread, to live! Let's not forget!
1. Build a fire in the backyard to heat a kettle of rain water.
2. Set the tubs so that the smoke won't blow in the eyes if the wind is pert.
3. Shave one whole cake of homemade lye soap in the boiling water.
4. Sort things and make three piles: one for white clothes, one for colored, and one for britches and rags.
5. Rub the dirty spots on the washboard; scrub hard, then boil, rench, and starch.
6. Take white things out of kettle with broomstick.
7. Spread tea towels on the lawn to dry.
8. Hang old rags on the fence.
9. Pour rench water on the flower bed.
10. Scrub porch and kitchen floor with hot, soapy, wash-water.
11. Turn tubs upside down to drain.
12. Go and put on a clean dress, smooth hair back with side combs, brew a cup of tea, set and rest a spell, and count your blessins'.
So soon we forget! We can't remember how bad it once was nor how good we have it now! But this text reminds us that we have ...
Poor Memories
The people of God have been safely led from Egyptian bondage, across the Red Sea, and are now bound for the promised land. But, already they have forgotten the miracle of the Red Sea crossing. They are scarcely more than thirty days away from the time they clapped their hands, banged their timbrels, and sang loudly their praises for deliverance: "God has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."
But now the paean of praise is ended, their doubts arise, they are hungry, and fear they cannot and will not be fed. And so - disgruntled, discontent, disillusioned, and doubting - they forget God's goodness. They long for Egypt again. Their memories are short as they forget how bad their bondage was. When they were in Egypt they hollered they were cruelly and inhumanly treated. They said they would do anything - anything - to be free, but now, with empty stomachs, they are willing to be slaves again just to be fed. They have completely forgotten how great and good God has been to them.
They were not too different from us, were they? The mercies of God to us are unending, new every morning, and still we doubt he will handle our present difficulty for us. We grumble over the Christian responsibility which sets guidelines for our conduct. We chafe under the yoke we must bear. We look at others, the non-Christians, and see what they can do. They live seemingly without guilt. We grumble that the way of following Christ is too arduous, the demands are too great, the path too straight, the church asks too much. We want to live our own lives, do as we please, do it our way, be our own bosses, make our own mistakes, be free! So soon we have forgotten how empty we were before we came to Christ, how agonizing the hangover is after an all-night binge, how contaminated with guilt the soul feels after an adulterous relationship, how the heart can ache when we have willfully demanded our own way, how binding sins cause sleepless nights and stricken consciences. The way of the transgressor is hard. But we forget it, and like those Hebrews, we long for the fleshpots of Egypt (the world).
The truth is, we are never satisfied. We never know how well off we are until we are in trouble. We see only the pain of the present and forget the past mercies.
A young boy and his doting grandmother were walking along the ocean shore when a huge wave appeared out of nowhere, sweeping the child off the beach and out to sea. The horrified grandmother, who could not swim, fell to her knees, raised her eyes to heaven, and begged the Lord to return her beloved grandson to her. And, lo, in a little while another huge wave rolled in and deposited the stunned child on the sand before her. The grandmother looked the child over carefully. He was just fine. But, still she angrily raised her eyes to heaven again and complained indignantly to God, "But when we came here he had a hat!" We forget the mercies of God so quickly. We forget what it was like before we had a Savior, before we had someone to care, before we had someone to answer our prayers, before we had a God!
Peevish Murmurers
There's an old story that comes out of the Missouri Ozarks; it tells of a hound dog sitting in a country store, howling his head off, as hounds are prone to do. A stranger came in and said to the storekeeper, "What's the matter with that dog?" The man said, "He's sittin' on a cockleburr." "Then," asked the stranger, "why doesn't he get off?" "Because," replied the storekeeper, "he'd rather holler!"
So would we. We'd rather murmur. We forget the blessing of God, and like the Israelites, become blind to past mercies, and begin to grumble and gripe and complain about the situation. These petulant, peevish people lash out at God and Moses, "We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. There at least we could sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death." How like spoiled children they were.
Forgetting God's mercies always leads us to the next step of pouting and complaining. A lady, in her eighties, rigid and conservative about a lot of things the Bible doesn't even mention, became very cynical. She thought everything modern was bad and every new change was a disaster. She whined to her minister, "Pastor, it's a good time to be dead!"
We haven't much room to brag. We find that griping is one of the things we do best. God has delivered us from sin's bondage, but we still find plenty of things we don't like.
We don't like the preacher: he/she is too old, too young, too skinny, too fat, too autocratic, too lax, too liberal, too conservative. The conference sent us the wrong one.
We fuss about the church: the order of worship is not to our liking, the sermons are too long, the organ is too loud, the hymns are too unfamiliar, the choir sings off-key, the board members control everything, no one speaks to us, all they do is ask for money. It's just not like it used to be.
And, of course, our grumbling spills over into everything else in our little selfish, self-centered worlds: at school, the teachers are inept; at work, the employer is unfair or the employees are lazy; they don't make cars like they used to; our home is too small/large; our children don't mind; teen-agers are worse than they've ever been; our spouse is a nag; we have to do more than our share; love has cooled, the bloom is off the rose, etc.
Just as the people of Israel blamed God and Moses, so we blame God and everyone around us. Lucy Van Pelt, of the "Peanuts" comic strip, once circulated the neighborhood with a petition which she asked everybody to sign. When she came to Charlie Brown he asked her what it was, and she replied, "It's a disclaimer. It absolves me from all blame." When Charlie Brown asked what that meant she answered, "This document guarantees that anytime, from now on, if anything should ever go wrong, anywhere in the universe, I can't be blamed for it!"
After all, it is never our fault! - God ought to strike us dead, or, at least, let us struggle all by ourselves for awhile, but what he does to us - as he did to those peevish people called Israel, is to grant his.
Patient Mercies
In the Exodus narrative, four times at least, the murmurings of Israel are mentioned. They acted like cranky, spoiled children. So when they were told to come near to the Lord (with the ominous warning "He has heard your complaint"), they must have felt a great deal of fear and trepidation. How they must have trembled with the certain knowledge they were now going to be punished for their fractious behavior.
When a child is caught throwing a temper fit - kicking and screaming - and the father says authoritatively and firmly, "Come here!", the delinquent approaches with great hesitancy, knowing he/she is now going to get it as he/she is called to account for his/her actions.
But instead of chastising the Jews, the message from the Shekinah cloud is sweet and gentle, and the Voice promises them manna and meat. As a mother quiets her wailing, squalling baby by feeding it, so God does not use the rod they deserve on his whimpering children, but instead seeks to win them by patience. He shames their unbelief by his swift, generous answer to their complaints. Don't forget faith is always what we need to receive God's highest and best gifts, but even our doubts can touch his heart with pity for us. When we have but feeble faith (doubting faith) when our fears cause us to murmur and complain, even then God will give us what he can so we may learn to trust him and be content. Crazy as it seems, even when we behave like spoiled brats, God loves us!
Sometime ago a woman went to her pastor with the tragic story of her marriage. Her husband had deserted her and run away with another, younger woman. For several months she had received no child support from him. She had to take a second job, and even then they had scarcely survived. She told the minister the story of her loneliness, heartbreak, shame, and despair. "And now," she concluded, "he has called me, says he still loves me and the children, and he wants to come back and make everything right." The pastor asked, "Do you still love him?" She responded, "Yes, damn it! I wish I didn't, but I do!" The pastor then suggested, "Well, then, why not just welcome him back with open arms?" She sneered, "Oh, yeah, just like that! Where's the justice in that?" The minister softly replied, "I wasn't talking about justice, I was talking about grace and mercy, which is love in action." That's what our patient, merciful God does for us. We forget him and he remembers us. We sin against him, and he forgives us. We complain to him and he showers us with mercy.
Of course, it is far better for us not to fuss at our circumstances. It is always best to walk in unfaltering faith. But, as even our grumpy children are fed and sheltered, nurtured and clothed, would our heavenly Father do less for us than we do for them?
There is a yet fuller truth in this Old Testament lesson. Jesus laid his hand upon it and claimed it as a faint foreshadowing of what he himself is. After Jesus had performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes (John 6:1-13), the Jews came to him and demanded a greater sign that they might believe in him. They quote Moses as being able to give manna, and of course the implication is, if Jesus is truly the Messiah he will be able to duplicate the manna-miracle. When his adversaries baited him, Jesus usually did not respond, but this time he told his questioners he not only gives the manna, but he himself is the manna, not just for them, but for all the world.
It's easy to see how the manna symbolizes Christ. The manna came from heaven; so did Jesus. The manna was food; Jesus Christ claims to be food, only better food, as he is the Bread of Life. Jesus is superior in every way to the desert manna, because he is the "true bread from heaven which gives life to the world."
The wilderness manna was needed for only a limited time - until they reached the promised land. Christ is the Bread for all people, for all time, and is the same "yesterday, today, and forever." The Israelites got tired of the wilderness manna (grumbling again), and longed for the cucumbers and garlic of Egypt, but we can never get enough of our Manna. We sing of Christ, "Sweeter as the Years Go By." Who could ever grow weary of such an intoxicating diet? He is all we need, he fully satisfies. What marvelous provision God has made for us in giving us Jesus. Let us not forget him. And yet we do forget our Manna. That's why Jesus said, "When you eat the Bread and drink the Cup, remember me!"
A young military officer had been given a difficult and important assignment and had failed miserably. Imagine his surprise (and everyone else's) when the commanding officer gave him another task of equal importance and danger to do. But this time he did not fail. He came through with flying colors, and exhibited such fine heroism that he was given a decoration. When the chaplain tried to congratulate him, the young officer waved the commendation aside, and said, "What else could I do? I failed the man, and he just kept right on trusting me!" We forget Christ, but he does not forget us. We murmur, but he remembers us with patient love and mercy. Who would not follow such a Lord to the ends of the earth?
A Word of Warning!
One word of warning: just as the Jews could have manna all around them and starve to death if they failed to gather and eat it, do not personally appropriate Christ, our heavenly Manna, to ourselves, we will starve to death! As we must have air to breathe, so we must have Christ, our Bread, to live! Let's not forget!
