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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
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