Whether we are retired or still working for a living, we think nothing of using conveniences that our great-grandparents could never have imagined. Our great-grandparents washed their clothes by hand and hanged them out to dry. We use a clothes washer and dryer. They walked outside to the well to get water. We have drinkable water running inside our homes. They rode on a horse or in a carriage. We ride in automobiles that have the power of well over 100 horses.
Yet we live in a world in which the majority of people still have no clothes washer or dryer, no indoor plumbing and no cars to drive. We live in a world where the majority of people have never made one single phone call. In comparison to the majority who have very little, we have so very much. Yet we still crave more.
We want more money -- more recognition -- more freedom and the list goes on and on. If we piled all our cravings into the sea I suppose we could cross the Atlantic Ocean without a sail boat. Yet our cravings are not unique in the annals of human history. For example, consider our bible story this morning.
In Numbers chapter 4 we read the God's people had a craving for meat and starting whining, "Why can't we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt--and got it free--to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna."
God provided the Israelites with manna for food but what God provided was not up to par in their opinion -- God's provision was a little lacking -- the implication was that God had poor taste -- and God's food was tasteless. God's anger blazed up against this attitude.
Moses saw that things were in a bad way all the way around. Things were bad for the people of Israel because the people were craving and whining outside their tents. Things were bad for God who felt insulted at the ingratitude of the whiners. And things were bad for Moses because he was caught in the middle between a rock and a hard place -- between the whiners and God.
Moses said to God, "Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, 'Give us meat; we want meat.' I can't do this by myself--it's too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I've seen enough; I've had enough. Let me out of here."
The pressure on Moses was unbearable. He was reaching the breaking point. He called on God for relief. And God provided relief. Isn't it good to know when we call on our heavenly father He will answer. When we are doing God's will and find ourselves at wit's end, holding on by the skin of our teeth, and we call on God He will answer our cry. We can trust God like we would trust a reliable and loving parent.
Moses gave his problems to God and challenged God to find a solution and God did provide a solution. God said to Moses, "Gather together seventy men from among the leaders of Israel, men whom you know to be respected and responsible. Take them to the Tent of Meeting. I'll meet you there."
Meanwhile, two elders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were listed as leaders but didn't leave camp to the Tent as instructed. Still, the Spirit rested on them and they prophesied like the other leaders. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!"
Joshua, who had been Moses' right hand man since his youth, said, "Moses, master! Stop them!" Perhaps Joshua thought they were attempting to sabotage Moses' leadership.
But Moses said, "Are you jealous for me? Would that all God's people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them."
Here we see how Moses was an inclusive leader. Unlike Joshua who felt threatened by Eldad and Medad, Moses welcomed them as leaders. Moses was happy for God's Spirit to work with the people directly. Moses was happy to share his leadership with any person whom God chose to use. Moses did not feel a need to control God. Moses did not feel a need to control people. Moses trusted God and he trusted the people of God.
The Eldad and Medad part of this story may sound familiar. Once Jesus' disciples came to him complaning about someone who was casting out demons in Jesus' name but this person was not on of Jesus' recognized disciples. Jesus response to this man was similar to Moses response to Eldad and Medad. Jesus welcomed the help, saying, "He is who not against us is for us." Spiritual leadership tends to INclude rather than EXclude. Moses and Jesus welcomed the help and so do we. We welcome those who would join us in making disciples and meeting human needs.
Yesterday the session and Pastor Nominating Committee met with some consultants from the presbytery. We talked about some of the challenges facing our church. One of the issues we discussed was how to structure ourselves as a session. Presbyterians tend to excel at making such technical changes on paper. As Jim Bushong said yesterday, "Once things change they are different." We like the idea of change but get upset when things are different. This is how it was with Moses' people. They wanted things to change. They called out to God to send them a leader. God sent them a leader called Moses. He led them out of bondage in Egypt. But once things changed they were different. The people missed the foods they had enjoyed in Egypt. They craved meat. And so the story goes for this is our story too.
This week, in a presbytery publication called Connections, Mary Marcotte writes about spiritual leadership. She quotes former General Assembly Moderator and pastor, Joan Gray, from Gray's new book, Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers. Joan Gray speaks of a symbol frequently used by the early church: a sailboat. She uses the image of a sail boat to describe spiritual leadership. She says it is important to remember the image is a sailboat, not a rowboat. Our task as leaders, she argues, is to hoist the sail and catch the wind of the Holy Spirit so that the ship is driven where the Spirit is moving, rather than to try to keep rowing faster and chart our own course based on personal desires.
In contrast the wind of the whiners which will make the church lose all sense of direction like a sailboat in a hurricane, God's Spirit provides steady wind force that will fill the sails and drive the church forward in mission.
Mary concludes her article by reminding us of our ordination vows as elders and ministers of the word and sacrament - to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love, saying: "That promise cuts to the heart of spiritual leadership, a leadership which points not to us, but to our amazing Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer."
We are not in this alone. God is in this project with us. God demonstrates in through Moses that if we ask for help we will receive it. Let's not be timid about taking our problems to God. Jesus said: "Ask and you shall receive." I think he was talking about our spiritual cravings. Jesus once told the woman at the well: "I have living water. Drink my water and you will never thirst again." Let's drink of that living water. So may our deepest cravings find eternal satisfaction.
-Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston on September 27, 2009; 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
