“Abundance”

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Ever giving God, you fill us past what we need. Continue to flow through us, so that we might know the joy of being what you created us to be, conduits of your love, grace, mercy, and gifts. Speak Lord, your servants are listening. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

I was surprised to find that today’s text, the Exodus 16 passage, is not a lectionary passage. Not just today, ever. This is never read as a lectionary text, and therefore is not often read or preached. I think it is familiar, but have become aware that when preachers say, “Today’s passage is a familiar one” that preachers are not always correct when they say that. However, this is a passage that was referenced a couple of weeks ago during the drama “Old Testament Rewind.” By the way, I have a theory about that play. Often, pastor friends and I will issue a challenge. “I bet you can’t quote Bart Simpson and Kramer from Seinfeld in the same sermon.” Won that one. And they go both ways. I told my friend Kathryn “I bet you can’t make spandex sound like a good thing.” Lost that one, when she recently said, “Trust, like spandex, is a privilege, not a right.” I think that part of the reason the Old Testament rewind was written was because someone said, “Hey, I bet you can’t do a church thing that includes a rubber chicken and a reference to the perfect cheer from Saturday Night Live.” Anyway, this is a passage that was referenced in the play, without any rubber chickens, but with a flying flour tortilla.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in Exodus. Listen. Exodus 16.1-21.

1 The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days." 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your complaining against the LORD. For what are we, that you complain against us?" 8 And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the LORD has heard the complaining that you utter against him — what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the LORD."

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, 'Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.'" 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, 12 "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.'"

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.'" 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. 19 And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over until morning." 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

She started with such good intentions. This was a new start – new job, new town, new attitude. The pay at the new job was great, plenty adequate. Granted, she wasn’t making the huge bucks, but she could really be satisfied with this, it was sufficient, more than even. The vow was made. “I am going to be organized, and I am going to spend smart, and I am going to be happy.” And it worked, at first. She even began to give some away, and that was satisfying. But then she noticed that some of her friends had things she didn’t. The 4 gig IPod was soon replaced, with the 60 gig. The 27” television was moved out of the den into the bedroom to make way for the 52” high def with DLP, because the shows at her friend’s house were so much clearer. But, it wasn’t like she was throwing it all away. She was saving, stashing away some into savings, beefing up her 401k, diversifying her portfolio. But it wasn’t enough. She began to take overtime, because if she stored away a little more, then she could retire earlier. And if her savings were more, she could be insulated even further against not being able to afford car repair, or water heater replacement, or whatever might come up. It seems lifetimes ago when her new start began, you know, new job, new town, supposedly new attitude. But the desire to gather more and more, for good reasons even, took away the vow to be happy. She was living her life from mortgage payment to mortgage payment. Not that the payments were hard for her to make, just that every payment was what she lived for. “Only 347 more to go,” was her cry. I wonder, is that living? Is that something worth living for? No wonder the vow to be happy was out of the picture.

Don’t hear me wrong. I’m not saying we shouldn’t save up, that we should just spend everything we’ve got, by no means. Nor am I saying that we should give everything away, and just trust in God who will provide for everything, so who needs a savings account. Heavens no.

The Israelites wondering in the desert certainly had seen tough times. They had been slaves doing backbreaking labor, and their history had been a history of slavery for over 400 years. They had grown up in slavery, and their grandparents’ grandparents had grown up in the same slavery. Pharaoh had been so rough on them as to try to overwork them to death, literally. And then Pharaoh had ordered the killing of all the male babies among the Hebrew nation. Who wouldn’t want out of that?

I think that shows us just how tough the wilderness was, especially at the beginning. And the complaints about the lack of food were valid. “Moses, we are hungry. It would have been better for us to die a pain-filled, slow death back in Egypt, than suffer through this lacking.” Not having enough seems to them a fate worse than cruel death.

John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves.

John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years.

The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers.¹

Imagine being rich, and yet living like you are poor.

One of the most important moments during Sunday worship is the offering. Every time the offering plate is passed, your heart notices. Maybe your heart hardens a tiny bit, thinking, “All this church really wants is my money, and the rest is just show. Well, I’m not that gullible. No, thanks!” Or perhaps your heart softens, thinking something like, “My church does important things with this money. I’m proud to play a part, and confident in trusting that my gift will be used well.” Then your heart becomes a little harder or a little softer. In other words, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”

It’s either an ethos of scarcity, or a theology of abundance, for each one of us. How do you feel about your church?

But what is happening with the children of Joseph, the Israelites, is not simply a self made, post modern way of individualizing, choice. This is a corporate choosing, to gather up more than is necessary, even when commanded differently by God, because of the fear of not having enough.

Here we go, I don’t know how to say this next part without the danger of hurting feelings. But I can’t not say it. It simply must be said. One of the things that I noted early on here at NPC was that we often operate with an ethos of scarcity. There aren’t enough people for us to do this or that. There isn’t enough money to do this or that. And one of the things we often said, though I haven’t heard it recently, is “If we do that, the doors will close.” Meaning, if we make a mistake, and loose people or money, then our fate might well be sealed.

And I agree with you, on some part. There aren’t enough people. Because there are never enough people in church. Not until everyone in the community comes to know the joy of fellowship and worship together can we say there are enough people. And we should work on that. And we will. And there isn’t enough money to do what we could do for the sake of God’s mission in the world. Not until no one in the world goes without food, or clothes, or medicine, or the necessities of life.

But here’s the thing. We do have enough. There is enough here. There is enough of God’s providence to take care of us. We believe in a God who provides, and renews us everyday. But, like in the wilderness, we cannot store up enough from the past to get us through the present to the future. We must not be so fast to look to the past. We must be willing to move when the Spirit says move, and pick up new blessings at the beginning of each day. We used to have more members, or more money, or more whatever. The Israelites had more too, in Egypt. More food, more people, more security. But look where we are. We are a community of people who deeply disagree about some important faith issues. Yet, we will fellowship with each other, eat with each other, grow through our willingness to disagree and still be family together, pray with and for each other, realizing that those disagreements are less important than practicing being God’s family, the task to which we will be called for eternity one day.

We love each other in a deep and sincere manner, to levels I have rarely seen, even in, no especially in, church. You know, when David faced off with Goliath, Goliath cursed David “by his gods.” David countered with, “I come to you in the name of Yahweh.” Both fighters referred to their deity, but David knew God by name. There’s a difference – knowing someone’s name is part of being in a relationship. And, like cheers, we all seem to know each others’ names, and some of their stories.

Maybe you’ve been here so long as to take that for granted. I haven’t. Maybe you think that kind of practice in church happens regularly. It doesn’t. We’ve got something special here. I really believe we have previews of the kingdom of heaven here, in this very place, in this very time. We have got the most awesome church, sent like Manna from heaven. You are some of the most faithful people I have even known, and that includes three years of seminary, and one quarter of the work done to get a Doctorate.

And we are doing so well with that right now. I haven’t heard the refrain of not enough nearly as much as I used to. I haven’t heard the “doors are going to close” speech in quite a while. We are doing pretty good at moving from an ethos of scarcity to a theology of abundance.

I don’t know about you, but I want to work with God as we move into the future, being faithful to our call, listening to the Holy Spirit, and trusting that we will go where God wants us to go. There is enough here, an abundance of beauty and charity. Let us, like the Israelites, trust in God who will provide new grace everyday. Let us continue to invest our time, our energy, and our money, into this wonderful, gift from God of a church. Amen.