Because Clayton knew that he was safe wherever he was going, with whoever was driving. When he was snug, when he could feel that car seat, those straps holding him tight, and he wasn't feeling that now. It wasn't about the car seat at all. He was sitting in the car seat. It was about what wasn't there, that feeling of closeness. What was missing was that feeling of being held, being wrapped in something that made him feel safe and secure. What he needed in that moment was the certainty of that familiar feeling.
[00:06:33]
Much the same can be said of our grumbling Israelites this morning. They've done a lot of moving since we were here last Sunday, and we've missed it all. We didn't have to cycle through all the plagues or the hasty exit, the painting of the blood, the parting of the sea and seeing the Egyptian soldiers washed away. They're two months into their great escape now, and they're wandering in some of the most arid and barren landscape on the planet. And what gets lifted up this morning, in the midst of all that, they're complaining.
[00:07:20]
But the thing is, God created us for so, so much more than that. And isn't that really the bigger story here? The Israelites weren't just leaving everything they knew behind. They were being asked to trust in something they couldn't see other than through a. A cloud by. By day and a pillar of fire by night. They're being asked to trust in this unseen being who goes by the name I Am.
[00:09:10]
We know this story, don't we? We are this story, aren't we? We're each wandering our own in our own little barren wilderness of health and financial and family challenges and uncertainties, not to mention the sheer uncertainty of the world around us that seems to be growing less and less and less certain, more and more fragile and unstable with each passing day. We just don't know what's coming next.
[00:09:58]
Their story wasn't just one of survival. It was of growth. It was of thriving, both in spite of and because of the challenges they'd faced. And now here they were, facing the greatest challenge of all. To shift from depending on the certainty of what they knew and what they could touch and what they could, could be certain of, depending on themselves, really, to being dependent on this God that they really didn't know anymore. For not just some things, but for everything. Every single thing.
[00:10:52]
Yes, their bodies had been freed from slavery, but it was going to take much, much more to free their hearts and their minds. Just as little Clayton Jeffrey needed to trust Grandma and Grandpa to make sure he was safe, these people needed to learn to trust.
[00:11:42]
Now, thankfully, Clayton was able to tell us what he needed in order to feel safe. And that's really in their complaining. What the Israelites were doing, isn't it? What we judge as complaining and grumbling and a lack of faith was really nothing more than being vulnerable enough to cry out about their fear.
[00:12:05]
Sadly, this world tries to teach us from the time we're tiny to deny our fear, to suck it up, to buck up, lest we look weak. And we don't like looking weak, do we?
[00:12:27]
So it's not wrong to fear. The problem comes when we're held in bondage by our fear. And it Keeps for us from doing and living as God created us to live. God teaches us to breathe, to look inward, inward, then to live into whatever it is that we see both inside us and up ahead. Fear is not a hindrance to faith, quite the opposite act. It's actually the beginning of faith. That's where we begin. Because in fear, we need to know. We know that we need to trust in something greater than ourselves.
[00:13:18]
So let's take a moment this morning. Breathe. Breathe deeply. God has chosen you to be the recipient of this breath in this moment, without ever promising another moment after it or where this moment will lead you. So just breathe and look inward as you do. Let your fear rise up. Name it. What is making you afraid today? Name it and hold that fear. Let your breath wrap around it and transform it as you breathe it in, holding it, and then release it. Blow it out.
[00:14:10]
And now commit to living in, to that fear that you've just breathed out into God's presence, whatever it is, knowing that God is holding it for you.
[00:15:23]
Did you happen to know that? Notice that in this morning's story, God didn't ever condemn the Israelites for their complaining. Not once. Not once. And actually, if you look closely, Moses and Aaron really didn't either. They merely named it. They called it out, they named it, and God responded to it. Not condemning, just hearing it, and providing.
[00:15:40]
And not just providing in the smallest way, the very minimalist way possible, but with great abundance. God gave them quail in the evening, which may not seem significant to us, but that was an extravagant gift that would have been tremendous to these Israelites, because in the ancient world of those people, the average family ate meat only on festive occasions. It was something very special for them. This wasn't just food that God was providing. It was luxurious food received not on a special occasion, but every single day.
[00:16:13]
Likewise, the mysterious manna, the what is it? In Hebrew, because they'd never seen anything like it before. A sustaining gift that couldn't be owned. It could only be received and then used up every day. As it was given, as it was received, it was used up. It's really easy to forget that part, isn't it? There was always enough. Always. No one was ever lacking. And regardless of how much or how little the Israelites gathered, it was always just exactly the right amount, the same for everyone.
[00:16:59]
It was God that caused the great equalization here. At the end of the day, everyone had as much as they needed. Oh, that. That could be our world, huh?
[00:18:40]
It's so tempting during these times of uncertainty to try to hoard and hold on to what we have so that we can feel secure and that might work in our everyday lives, our lives at home, with our families, in our jobs or not. But here, in this place, in the life of the mission and the ministry that God calls us to as the body of Christ just doesn't work. It just won't.
[00:18:59]
That's what it is to be the body of Christ in this world, and above all, to do that, trusting that God loves us and will always provide for our needs. Because if we're not using the gifts God is providing us for the betterment of the world around us, the community that is within our sphere, if we're not using it to spread God's love to those who don't know it yet or who are unsure that it's for them, just like the manna, it'll only go to rot and ruin.
[00:20:03]
We are more than a mere community here. We're a community grounded in Christ and in the teachings of Christ and the commandments of Christ. We're not called just to survive, to serve only ourselves, but to serve the entirety of the community in which we've been strategically placed by God for the purposes to which he calls us every day. And that's when we thrive. More so than just survive.
[00:20:42]
Even in the midst of all that and what I just said, I have to admit that our. There are times right now in my life with you and with Pastor Phil and with our children and grandchildren where I find myself saying, hey, I'm not feeling very good. In each of those times, I have to remember what it takes to feel God's presence.
[00:21:21]
And the best that I can do, which comes really from the everlasting reminder of my beloved, blessed friend, Rabbi Nadia, is to breathe. Breathe not the shallow breath that I'm used to, but to breathe deeply, remembering that that is gift of God, that God gives it to me, gives it to you, gives it to us. And every day, each and every moment, this breath of life.
[00:21:57]
And then I have to remind myself as I breathe to do just as we just did, look inward, admit my fear and name it. Name it so that I can actually put it where it belongs, back into God's hands. Trusting that that fear is actually where my faith is found. And as I trust, I just have to breathe it out and release it back into the world, which is God giving life to this moment, to every moment that's going to come after it, even when I don't know how many they are or how long they'll be living into the miracle, the absolute miracle that God will provide everything I need. Because God always has.
[00:22:40]
When I stop to remember that these are miracles that are written in the story of the Israelites, it is the greatest miracle of all that's written in the story of Jesus the Christ, the resurrected one, the living, breathing one. And it's written in the story of this little faith community, shepherd of the hills always has been Just looks different from day to day and month to month and year to year. And it's written in our stories, mine and yours.
[00:23:40]
