walking….
A reflection on Exodus 16:1-18
Moses got the people out of Egypt. It wasn’t easy, but the Pharaoh finally let them go. The people are free some slavery, and safely on the other side of the Red Sea.
Except now they’re in a desert. It’s hot. It’s wilderness. There’s no water or food.
So one month into their journey to freedom, they start to complain.
“We’re thirsty!”
So God provides water.
And in Exodus 16, people are hungry and start wishing they were slaves again….
Wait… WHAT!?
Have you ever gone on a long trip? How much planning did it take? You had to figure out how much clothing to take. Where to stop for food. Where to rest. Where to stop and take in the sites. It takes some planning to go on a trip.
But the Israelites didn’t have that luxury. They had to get out of Egypt fast, before the Pharaoh changed his mind again. They grabbed what was most important and headed for safety.
Now they are wandering in the harsh wilderness without food or water.
We are taught to be independent, self-sufficient, that we can do it all ourselves. But what happens when we’re stripped of all that defines us. What if we’re left to fend for ourselves, trying to find the basic necessities of life? What then?
This is what the Israelites are learning in the desert. They are learning just how God provides.
We’re told they are promised food, and food is what they get. Fresh quail every night. Bread from heaven every morning. And every time it’s exactly what they need, not too much, not too little. In fact, if they try and hoard more than they need, it goes bad, full of worms and rot.
They are learning to trust in God. A trust that will get them far, that will get them to the promised land. Sure they continue to struggle. They still complain. But all along, when they struggle, when they complain, they see how God provides.
And God still provides today.
In many churches around the world, we are celebrating World Communion Sunday this weekend. In the bread and the wine, we are reminded what Jesus said in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
In Communion, we do not take communion, we receive. We receive this gift of love and mercy from a God who provides.
We just need to learn to trust.
Trust in Jesus, who brings us the One who provides for our every need.
called by I AM
A reflection from the life of Moses: Exodus 2:23 to 4:17
Before Moses came along, God made a promise to Abraham. A promise to this old man and his barren wife that they would have a child. Unlikely for sure, but it happened when Abraham was very old. In that promise, God said Abraham would have many, many descendants.
Isaac was born. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. Abraham followed out those orders, even if it meant God’s promise would not be fulfilled. God stopped Abraham before he finished the act, and life went on.
Isaac had twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob was a bit of a problem child. He tricked his brother and father into giving him things he didn’t deserve. Very important things. He lied and stole to get them. In the end, he had to go on the run. One thing Jacob has stolen from his older brother Esau was the blessing from his father, Isaac. A blessing intended for the oldest son. And now, even after receiving this gift, he was had to go on the run for his life. Jacob got everything he was after, but at the cost of his family and home. Now in exile, Jacob appears to be the end of the promise.
But God finds Jacob and makes the same promise: a land full of many descendants. A promise well on the way to coming true with his many sons.
And now, generations later we come to Moses.
Jacob’s many, many descendants are now living away from the land promised by God to them, and are living in slavery under the Egyptians. The people are in despair, crying out in pain from their suffering.
Meanwhile, Moses, born a Jew, adopted as a prince of Egypt, killed a soldier for the way a slave was treated, is on the run himself. Living as a shepherd, far from his people.
But God finds him. Just as God came to Jacob in a dream. God came to Moses in a burning bush. Moses was being asked to set the people free from slavery.
Oh how Moses resisted.
“Who am I to go to Pharaoh?”
“Who sends me?”
“What if they don’t believe me?”
“I’m a terrible public speaker!”
“PLEASE send someone else!”
Moses can’t see how someone like him, a murderer, a stutterer, a man on the run from the law, could possibly be the one to save God’s people.
We all have flaws. We all have weaknesses. We all have doubts.
We can all be found by God.
We are all chosen despite these weaknesses, these faults, these imperfections.
Jesus called 12 disciples, young men, teenagers, broken, full of faults. And he made them great.
Through Jesus, we too are found. We are called. We are made strong, despite our weakness. We help bring about God’s perfect kingdom, despite our imperfections. We are made holy, despite our sin.
God uses weak people. People with faults. People like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the disciples. People like Brant Hansen… people like me…. people like you.
He uses us to show His perfection and so others will know of Him as well.
Yes, God can use us all, wherever we are in our lives.
His promise never ends.
who are we here for?
I’ve been in a real soul battling wrestling match lately. My brain has been in overdrive, and at times I’ve been stressing over it. Nothing I can’t handle, but I do acknowledge there has been some stress involved. At times, it keeps me awake at night as I wonder and pray it through.
You see I’m trying to figure something out. I’m wondering if it’s possible… And most of the time I’m not sure it is… At least as things are today… I think.
Then this morning I read this post called “I Hate Church” and it’s hit on a number of issues I’m struggling with. Which prompted me to write this post.
The United Church in my area has vacated three buildings in the last year due to the inability to pay the bills. Two of which hold a couple of the oldest casavant organs in the city. One has sold to a developer wishing to use it for the arts community, the other two are still for sale.
Over the next 24 months, I expect we will close at least 3 more churches for the same reason.
I get that… if you can’t pay the bills, why keep going? Why burn yourselves out?
Then I walk the streets of my town. Then I read the news. Then I talk with school principals and teachers. Then I see the vandalism.
All I see and hear is brokenness. Families. Community. Relationships. Lives. Homes. Children. Parents. Teens. Schools.
Then I look around to see who is helping these people? The government? No. Community? No. Churches? Nope.
This is what bothers me most. I’d almost be willing to go so far as to say I hate it. And I don’t really like to use that word.
I was at an ecumenical gathering last week when the host clergy told me they had children in their church one evening when one child, new to the group, said he was scared to be in the sanctuary. The look of the organ scared him, it looked like a monster.
Fair enough, organs are big intimidating instruments. But it’s also a sign, for me, that our buildings are intimidating to new-comers. It’s a foreign land for many people. And as indicated in the article I linked above, it’s not always the most welcoming place for people who are “different” than the majority of the people who show up on a Sunday morning.
My denomination, much like many of it’s local churches, is walking a fine-line between closing and “getting by”. It’s on the brink of a financial cliff (in fact it’s probably over the side, clinging to a little branch in the mud) and it doesn’t know the future… again, like many of our local churches.
So do we remember that Jesus called us to baptize the nations, to heal the sick, walk with the broken, or do we just fight to keep the status quo for just a little bit longer? Until that last funeral. Until that last Christmas Eve service. Until that last dime is sent to the oil company.
A good friend reminded me of this quote, “Churches aren’t country clubs for saints, but rather hospitals for sinners.”
That same friend shared this, “When I stood up at Presbytery and said that something was wrong with the church, and that we should look at different ways of doing things, I was told by a minister in the court that he liked it just fine, and if I didn’t, I could leave.” So he did, at least that meeting. Thankfully he’s still with us in the church.
This is an example of the reaction many of us are facing when we try to move the church back to its origin, whether directly said as above, or through the (in)actions of these meetings. It’s the reason the church was called into existence: to help people. To help them encounter the risen Christ. To help them heal. To help them grow. To help them feel loved by something/someone far greater than we can imagine.
When did we lose this vision, this opportunity? Somewhere we lost our way. Somewhere we forgot who we are here for.
Is it for you? Is it for me?
Or are we here for someone else?
live second – a review
It’s taken me a while to pick up this book. I’ve been busy. I’ve been in important meetings helping people make important decisions. I’ve been in demand.
And it’s worn me out.
I’ve neglected my relationship with God.
So I’ve been thumbing through live second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First, a book I received months ago, but was too busy to pick up.
It’s a journey. This book is not unlike a lot of other devotionals out there, it’s goal is to help us grow daily in our relationship with God. It does occasionally point you to a video on their website. It encourages you to work with others in helping you in your relationships. It tries to help you see it’s best to put Jesus first in your life.
And maybe, if you are in the right place in your life, it will.
Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Thomas Nelson.
Humble
In Luke 14, Jesus watches guests at a dinner arrive and arrange themselves around the table. It seems everyone is trying to sit in the chairs of honour. They want those special chairs reserved for the “important” guests of the gathering.
Jesus remarks that we should not be striving for the most coveted seat because what if someone else comes along who deserves it more than we do? Then we’ll look like the fool and be forced to give up that seat for someone else. We won’t be as important as we think we are. Maybe we aren’t in the first place.
It’s been a long time since the church has had a prominent seat in Canadian culture. There once was a time when the leaders of the national churches could call upon the Prime Minister to discuss matters. And there were times when local clergy would work closely with locally elected officials to meet the needs of the community.
Those days are long gone.
Now the churches struggle for relevance in society. Once powerful houses of influence, the church wonders what caused this change…
There’s a new generation running the world around us. A generation that, somewhere along the line, lost it’s connection with God through the edifice we call a “church.”
Sometimes people need to work hard in life to get ahead. Sometimes there’s a lot of dirty work involved before one gets respect from others. Some call it “paying your dues.”
So maybe we need to begin again. Maybe we need to start out at the “kiddie” table and work our way back to the “big people” table. Maybe we’ll never return. Maybe it was never our place to begin with.
Somewhere we lost our way. Once we arrived in the seat near the head of the table, we thought we had made it. We had influence. We had people. We had money.
Slowly it has been slipping away. All of it. And now it seems there isn’t much left.
Somewhere along the line we forgot why we’re here. We lost our focus, the reason for our existence. So we need to be reminded of what Jesus asked the founders of the church to do as he gave them their final instructions.
He said to go out, baptize, teach, heal, proclaim, so that people would know God.
We are here to win people for God.
We are here to build people up in the knowledge and relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
We are here send people out to start the process again.
We need to humble ourselves before God and let Him guide us through the process again. We need to start over.
Jesus said,
“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:11-14)
Win. Build. Send.
How are we doing?