Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The Feast - Fitness

September 28 2014 A Feast: FITNESS - *Exodus 17.1-7, Philippians 2.1-13 Pastor Jacqueline Hines
God’s people were on their way to the Promised Land. After a while, they got thirsty, but there was no water to drink. They poured their anger out on Moses. Suddenly, Moses went from being a hero   [  #1 Moses hero with a staff ] who delivered them from the wicked Pharaoh to being despicable and worst of all, useless. [  #2 useless ] It’s a terrible thing to believe that nobody needs you. Have you ever had that feeling?  That you’ve been put on the shelf [ #3 reaching for shelf ] and all that is left now is for you to just sit there and not mean anything? It’s also a terrible thing to believe that you’ve lost your influence; nobody pays any attention to you anymore. Unlike E. F. Hutton - when you speak, nobody seems to listen. [ #4 man blocking ears ]
Over and over again, Moses’ leadership was challenged; the crowd grew angrier and angrier. It became a mob ready to riot. [ #5 mob dumping leader ]We all know pouring our anger on one another never helps and always destroys some precious connections that may not be healed for generations. [ #6 hands joined ]
They had obediently followed Moses’ big plan to leave for the Promised Land, [#7 crossing Red Sea ] they expected that things would get easier. Instead, they seemed worse. The time for being polite was over. They weren’t even over the trauma and difficulties of they suffered in Egypt; how could they possibly endure the threat of another crisis. Where’s the water, Moses? And where is the God who is supposed to be guiding us to the Promised Land?
Last winter, when the snow fell so hard, power lines were knocked down, and temperatures plummeted. Some of us found ourselves days and weeks without water, without heat, and no idea how long it would be before things were back to normal. Secretly, we may have compared ourselves, wondering who was blessed and who was not, who had good luck and who had bad luck. In the end, we all had our faith stories, our stories of how God blessed us, whether we appreciated it in the midst of the struggle or not. God always deserves better than we give him and we deserve worse than we get.
Still, when things turn sour, it does not mean that God has abandoned us. Instead it is a time to remember that God has a purpose and a plan. [ # 8 notebook God’s pan ] It is a time to put our faith in action, to increase our spiritual fitness, to feast on God’s wonderful word day and night, from the bible, the internet, television, radio, the testimonies of family and friends. God’s word is everywhere. Feasting on the word keeps us fit. It strengthens us for the journey toward whatever God has promised us. [#9  Jesus with Teddy Bear]
Peg Linderman sent me an email that I never forgot. It showed a man carrying a cross. His cross was wide and long. [ #10  man and cross ]It looked heavy and hard to carry. The man complained to God that it was too much for him to bear and he cut it down and continued the journey. After a while, he became tired and continued to complain that his cross was still too much to carry so he cut it down some more. He kept cutting it down until it became easy. Traveling on, he came to a cliff that was several feet away from the next step he was supposed to take. The cross he rejected was the very cross that he needed to make it through. [#11 cross at cliff]
One of the crosses that we are called to bear in the Church universal is the cross to remain in harmony and unity despite our diversity. How in the world are we going to stay together as a family of God if we do not have healthy, respectful, adult conversations on our different views on sexuality?
Denominations have become divided without finding a way to live together, but I cling to a hope that the United Methodist Church will be able to have meaningful dialogue [ #12 let’s start talking ] that will bring peace and respect. Our international missions depend upon our staying together. The United Methodist Church responds to every crisis in the world – including the Ukraine and the Middle East. What matters more than being able to talk together without exploding in each other’s faces or bombing each other’s lives? Good soldiers respond with integrity and self-control. [#13 soldier/flag] Anger and disrespect leave us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.
Instead of asking where is the water? Where is what we want, what we need, and where is God?, can we first take a moment to answer the question Jesus asked the disciples in the middle of a dangerous storm. “Where is your faith?”  [#14 faith ] Though the disciples followed all the holy directions they were given, the storm still rocked their boat. Fearing for their very lives, Jesus still asked them, “Where is your faith?” Being afraid is no excuse for giving up our faith. Being thirsty or hungry or tired or sick or grieving is no excuse for faithlessness. Where is our faith in the God who promises to guide us, to provide for us, to love us though family and friends forsake us? Where is our faith in a God who faithfully keeps covenant with us, even when we reject that covenant? Whatever our circumstances, we do well always to keep the faith!  [ #15 keep the faith ]
After all God had done for them, they still doubted God’s love and provision. They walked head first into trouble, as we often do. Still God delivered them. They were freed from the Pharaoh, the waters were parted, the enemy was eliminated, and God gave them a vision of a new home where they would be free to plan and prepare a faithful life.
Instead of keeping their eyes on such an awesome God first, their first focus was on themselves. So they kind of had the attitude, “Thank you very much, for all you have done, Lord, but can you just give me what I want now?” All along, God says, just “Trust me. Call on me and I will show you great and marvelous things, you’ve never seen before. Trust me through your wilderness. Don’t rely on things that look secure. Don’t trust those simply because they appear strong. Don’t trust in a quick fix out of desperation. Don’t allow yourself to remain discouraged and depressed. Trust in me. I love you.
A counselor asks the question, how do you know when a marriage is bad? The answer was a marriage is bad when the two people in it continually subject the love that undergirds it to daily doubts. "Do you love me?"  
“The same is true of the marriage between God and creation as it is in the marriage of husband and wife. When there is no trust in God, nothing God can do will ever be enough. No prayer that God can answer will ever be enough. No blessing that God can bestow will ever be enough. God will always be one bad experience…from no longer being believed.*
As children of God, we can trust God’s love because God hears our every cry, just as he heard the Israelites. Just like any loving parent hears. Even when there are lots of children around, a parent knows the cry of their child, even when they have not even learned to say a word. A loving parent interprets the meaning of each cry and responds to what is wrong. Calling on God, crying out to God is a very powerful way to communicate with God. God hears the need, the urgent, loud cries of pain, anguish and distress. God cares, and God answers each cry.
God sent Moses as an answer to their cries and their prayers. Moses was given specific instructions from God: First he was to get away from the angry crowd – and bring along a few wise, calm, and trustworthy elders. Second he was to take the lead and go up front, carrying the same symbolic staff that he used earlier to divide the waters of the Red Sea, crossing over to freedom. Thirdly, he was to strike a rock and release water for all the thirsty people and their animals to drink. God did provide. Their prayers were answered!
What are you thirsty for today? [ #16  glass of water ]What longing lurks in your heart? What storms have you weathered? Trust in God!! Seek the Lord with ALL your heart. Do like Moses, get in front of the fray and bring someone who loves and trust YOU and your God; bring a symbol of the last miracle you received, [ #17 baby foot ] and dare to strike the rock. [#18 water coming from rock]
In Hebrew the word strike in this verse is “Naw Kaw” the rock, “Naw Kaw” to hit, strike a blow, capture, subjugate. In order to be refreshed, God wants us to deal with the hard, seemingly impenetrable things in life that we find on our way to our Promised Land. There may be hard work and hard conversations to be had because God loves us the way we are, but too much to let us stay that way.
In another telling of this story, Moses is not instructed to strike the rock because he had anger management issues. Moses is instructed to speak to the rock. Whether God tells us at a certain point in our journey to speak up in a hard place, or to strike the rock, one thing we have learned as we have kept the faith, and as we have used every gift and talent in good service, God will provide the refreshing waters that we need for the feast to begin. The quarreling, whining, and complaining cease and we can continue our journey and complete our mission. So, drink up! [#19 water spilling over] You will quickly find that our God is one who can take ordinary water and make it intoxicating. May we find rest in God’s presence today.  [cat at rest] Amen.

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