Complain, Complain, Complain
It is like an old broken record. Was the Israelite’s favorite activity complaining? From the get-go they complained. Beginning with Abraham and Sarah they complained to God. They complained about their situation, about how God seems to have forgotten them, and how God has not kept the covenant they had made together. Right here in our reading from Exodus they are complaining about having no food. Remember this was the people who complained that they were held in slavery in Egypt. When God sent Moses to free them they complained about that. When God freed them and Moses led them toward the promised land they complained about dying in the wilderness. They usually did not complain directly to God but to the person (here it is Moses) God sent to them to answer their complaint. We also note that the people seem not to thank God for their deliverance when it does happen. They expected God to save them, feed them, heal them, and take care of all their needs only to complain when these things did not happen and forgetting God when things were good. Wait! That is the story of all of God’s people. Isn’t it?
You have seen blatant examples of this. Those people who, when disaster strikes, show up at church after a long absence. Then, when their situation does not work out the way they desired, blame God and disappear once again. They like to have God around only when God does what they want; only when it is easy and simple, without struggle or pain. That is not how God works in the world. God works through the voice, hands, feet, knowledge, and dedication of people (all gifts that God has given to us). Moses and Aaron, Paul, and the disciples are our examples today.
What examples they are. From people who were reluctant to answer God’s call to one who was an enemy to God’s plan. Moses, after leading the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness was not allowed into the promised land because the people complained. Paul spent time in prison, was ship-wrecked, and was beheaded. Tradition tells us that all the disciples were martyred. You see God has not promised an easy, chaos free, non confrontational life. God promised to be a presence in our lives no matter what happens. As Paul tells us there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
In our text from Ephesians Paul also tells us that we are the body of Christ. Jesus is the head and we are the body. Just as the body has many parts, so are we. What is your part in the body of Christ? You have one. Is it to become a missionary and travel to a foreign land? Or are you called to support missionaries? Maybe it is something else. You have received generously of the gifts of God. Now you are called to share those gifts to build up the body of Christ – your body – by showing love and unity among yourselves and to the world. The world certainly needs this – a gift of Jesus to lift it out of the selfish and single-mindedness that has engulfed it. Pray, love, and work to share God’s love until the whole world shares in the love of Jesus when all people will be able to live the life that God desires of them.