My father had a saying:
“Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope.” He would level this saying at us when we were
whining about the unfairness of our childhood world, or exaggerating some petty
slight perpetrated against us, or blaming one another rather than working
things out between us. I was never sure what his expression actually
meant but I got his point: whining about something never solved
anything.
As Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and through
forty long years of wandering in the wilderness, they whined and complained… …a lot.
Life in the wilderness was not easy.
Challenges abounded. The basics
of life were often hard to come by. Moses
did his share of complaining too.
Leading is not easy either, especially when those you are trying to lead
seem to be questioning everything.
Leadership can be lonely work. The wilderness stories often follow a similar
plot: a challenge is encountered, the
people complain to Moses, Moses complains to God and God responds.
Yes, God responds.
God never dismissed the people’s complaints. God doesn’t blow off the people’s whining,
pettiness or blaming. God does not
ignore Moses’ petitions for help.
Instead, God proved trustworthy again and again and again. Water from a rock. Quail from the heavens. Bread like dew upon the morning grass. Protection from enemies. Guidance along the way. God raised up elders and leaders to support
Moses in his leadership, and gave them the courage, the strength and the wisdom
they needed to lead God’s people together.
In a way, God’s people always walk a wilderness road. There have always been challenges, trials,
struggles and troubles along the way.
There has always been plenty to whine about, and God’s people often
have. The scriptures and the history of
the Church are full of stories about the faithlessness of God’s people. We’re not an easy bunch. And yet, God has always proved
trustworthy. God has never abandoned us,
even when we have abandoned God.
Ultimately, God came among us, in the flesh, so that we might know that even
death could not separate us from God’s deep and enduring love. “While we were still weak,” Paul tells the Romans, “at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly.” (5:6).
Yep. That’s us.
As we walk the wilderness road of our own time, God goes
with us. God still hears our complaints
and God still proves trustworthy as we confront them and deal with them. God still sends us companions who will walk
with us along the way, and God still shows us the way to Jesus, the Rock, who
can and does slake our thirst.
Peace,
Bishop Mike.
Thank-you for reading.
Please keep praying for peace, with justice, for all God’s children
throughout the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment