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“Incompetent Pizza Delivery”   September 28

 

It is quite amazing on how much trust we place on our sight.  The way we look at things is often what influences how we feel about things.  The more favorable something looks, the more apt we are to trust it. But what if we couldn’t see?  What if we were sightless?   In the wave of new movie releases before the election is a movie called “Blindness.”  The premise of the movie is that our government makes a mistake.  A chemical release happens, and everyone goes blind, except for some government types, and the heroine of the film.  The government makes a mistake and the people have to suffer the consequences.  They goof and other people suffer…  I would say that the people had grounds for a major lawsuit, if they could find a lawyer who wasn’t also blind…  I guess this gives new meaning to the saying that justice is blind.

 

Yes it is quite amazing on how much trust we place in our eyes.  We have been taught that seeing is believing, and whatever we see, we can trust, right?  I guess that thought was mostly true before the invention of television.  With television we see all sorts of things that may be true, and may not be true. Take for instance commercials, especially pizza commercials.  They all have some catchy jingle or slogan.  They all promise to deliver the pizza within a reasonable amount of time, and they all show you the most exquisite pizza you have ever seen. They pull it out of the oven.  Cheese bubbling.  Sausage steaming.  Golden brown crust with succulent onions and mushrooms.  Vibrant green and red colored peppers - - it looks so good you almost believe if you could just lick the screen you could taste it.  But you can’t wait any longer, so you reach for your phone, you call your local pizzeria, and you place your order.

 

And then what happens?  What happens after you hang up the phone and wait for that awesome pizza?  What does your pizza look like when you open the box?  Did we get that awesome pizza we saw on TV?  Nooo!  What we saw on TV was awesome…  What we got was eewesome.   Somewhere between there and here something happened.

 

Maybe the problem was believing in the advertising.  What we saw wasn’t true; they deceived us.  Or maybe we didn’t have realistic expectations.  Or maybe the pizza actually tastes better than it looks.  It is all in how we manage our expectations.  When we trust that things are better than they look we will often find that they are.  I guess it is all about trusting in the right thing.  When we place our trust in what’s appropriate, we will seldom be disappointed.

 

Our scripture reading comes from the Book of Exodus Chapter Seventeen and starting with verse One.  In today’s reading the Israelite people continue their wandering through the wilderness of Sin with Moses and Aaron.  The Israelite people have been released from their enslavement in Egypt.  For these former slaves life is all about what you can see touch and do.  They have no trust in an unseen God.  As far as they are concerned it is Moses who is in charge.  It is Moses who delivered them, and it is Moses who needs to provide for them. Today’s scripture begins as the Israelites are setting up camp and discover that there is no water.

 

They react in their usual fashion and they lash out at Moses.  “You incompetent nincompoop!  How could you lead us to a place that doesn’t have any water?  What kind of idiot leader are you?”

 

The Israelites are probably looking for that land of milk and honey that Moses spoke about in Egypt.  They are probably thinking that that awesome God that Moses told them about was just as unreliable as the Egyptian gods they were used to.  How could they be sure that God was still with them?  In spite of their deliverance from Egypt, their reliance on God’s sustaining presence falters again, and they accuse Moses of trying to kill them.  They are so angry that Moses fears for his life.  These Israelites have short memories. They seemed to have forgotten how God has been with them through the worst of times.  Bah Bah bah dumpah bump bump pad dah.    Remember that moment at the edge of the Red Sea?  The Israelites had nothing.  No vessel, ship, boat, canoe or raft.  Not even a collapsible, double kayak.

 

"The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left" (14:21-22). Then the pursuing armies went after them with horses, chariots and chariot drivers.  Bah Bah bah dumpah bump bump pad dah…  But the Lord threw them into panic, clogged their chariot wheels, and then, as a final death blow, flooded the entire army of Pharaoh with the waters of the Red Sea. "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians." All the Israelites had was the power and presence of the one Lord God.  And that of course was more than enough.

 

Then there was the time when Moses and Aaron led the Israelites into the wilderness and they ran out of food.  So the Israelites complained:  “Moses you nincompoop!  How could you lead us to place with no food?”  “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt when we set by the flesh pots and ate our fill of bread.”  Bah Bah bah dumpah bump bump pad dah…  The Lord spoke to Moses and said “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’  All they had was the power and presence of the one Lord God, and that of course was more than enough.

 

God provided food in the wilderness in the form of manna and quail, and the people continued to migrate traveling by stages “as the LORD commanded.”  Now they have food on their plates, but no water in their cups.  They didn’t just happen to wander into a place without water accidentally.  They were led there by God.  So they bring their complaint to Moses.  And after all of the mighty works done before their eyes they have the nerve to ask “Is the LORD among us or not?”  It is as if they have forgotten what their life was like back in Egypt; as if they had meaningful work where everyone had an equal share of the profits.  Moses' long-standing, long-suffering relationship with the uninhibited, outspoken, and sometimes out-of-control Israelites made him an expert in detecting massive criticism.  How did Moses continue to function as an effective charismatic leader of these unruly tribes, while confronting the worst sort of criticism?  Moses took three positive steps to make criticism work for good rather than for evil.

 

First he listened to the criticism.  Moses knew better than to dismiss surly remarks out of hand. 

  • As a savvy leader, Moses understood that he could learn more from his enemies than from his friends.  The Israelites' complaints reminded him of how dependent they were on him for their constant care and well-being.  This confirmed to Moses his own dependence on the Lord for his strength and ability to lead.
  • Second:  Moses learned was not that he was leading a headstrong and demanding people; he already knew that.  But Moses did learn he could not do everything himself.  When Moses felt at a loss, overwhelmed and berated by his people, God told him to consult with others to take the elders of Israel with him.  Sometimes we need other voices to add their insights, other heads to lend their ears, and other hands to hold.  Moses took these others with him as he made his way out to that lonely rock.
  • Third:   Moses kept linked with God.  He didn't let the criticism he heard, or the fears he felt, keep God from working through him.  With his new colleagues and confidants around him, he took the necessary decisive steps that would bring life-giving water to his people. One can imagine how popular God's solution to go hit a big rock with a stick must have been among those who did not hear God’s voice, such as those who already doubted Moses' leadership abilities, and those whose tongues were sticking to the roofs of their mouths.

 

Like many of us last week:  we are stymied by the lack of leadership from our government officials.  Many have placed their trust in those whom we can see, and we complain, while ignoring our God who has given us life, and who has delivered us countless times in the past.

Life is more than seeing is believing.  It’s about trusting in something beyond our eyesight.  Trusting in something more than what we can grasp with our hands.  It is about trusting in a God that is able to provide for us, a God that truly loves us, and is always there for us. God is at work in you!  And in me!  In each one of us!  If we trust in God, and in the Spirit that brings life in each of us, then there is truly nothing God cannot accomplish in and through us.  All we have is the power and presence of the one Lord God.  And that of course, is more than enough.

 

In the Name, of God the Creator, Christ the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit that sustains our lives, Amen.

 

Pastor Golden Neal