Tellico Village Community Church Sermons

September 19, 1999

Exodus 16:2-15

In the annals of culinary love-hate relationships, there are at least three controversial foods that stand out from the rest.

One, of course, is Spam. Why, according to some of my relatives who served in World War II, Spam must be the by-product of some chemical or biological warfare research. It is something that ought never be served to another human being again. They detest Spam. But on the other side of this argument are people like my father who truly loved Spam, and assumed that his children should love it too. However, I can assure you that, after being force-fed Spam throughout our growing-up years, we Singley kids now find ourselves way over in the other camp. Spam ought never again be inflicted on another human being.

The second food item caught in the controversy of being loved by some and hated by others is lobster. Why, did you know that, in colonial New England, lobster was so abundant that it became the regular staple prepared for people in both prisons and poorhouses? They had lobster for breakfast. Lobster for lunch. And lobster for dinner. And they complained loudly. These complainers, of course, are now offset by two groups of people who are fans of lobster. One group consists of those who think lobster is a fine delicacy to be savored as it is eaten, either with drawn butter, or stuffed with crab dressing. Some of this group are probably present today. Would you raise your hands? The second group are the descendents of those colonial prisoners and poor people who long ago were forced to eat lobster daily. These children and grandchildren learned that, if they opened up seafood restaurants, those of you who just raised your hands would soon come along like a bunch of country-bumpkins and be willing to pay twenty bucks a pop for one of the crustaceans! And most of them are millionaires today.

Now the third explosively controversial food item we want to take note of today is manna. As our Scripture lesson from Exodus 16 tells us, about two months after their escape from Egypt, the Israelites ran out of canned goods and fast-food restaurants. And with stomachs loudly growling, the Israelites complained to Moses, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt - when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill us all with hunger."

They were not happy campers. And Moses turned to the Lord, and told God about the problem. And God said, "Don't worry. Be happy. I'm going to rain down bread from heaven every day."

And lo and behold, when morning came and the dew on the ground lifted, there was a fine, white, flaky substance left behind. And the people asked, "What IS it?" which, in Hebrew translates as manna. And Moses told the people this was the bread God had promised. And every day, they could gather up enough for that one day only, and grind it and bake it. And the result was a sweet, honey-flavored wafer which provided them with the nutrients they needed to survive. And, it should be pointed out, the manna God provided in the wilderness is represented in Christian worship services by the wafer sometimes used for Communion. The bread of life.

Over the past three Sundays, you may have noticed that our readings from the book of Exodus have shared a common thread. Starting with Moses' experience at the burning bush, the stories tell us about God's miraculous way of leading his people to a point in life where they have no one to depend on but God himself. Where they have no thing to rely on but God himself. Bit by bit, God is leading the Israelites into a brand new world - the world of the kingdom of God. And even though the Israelites are entering this new world kicking and screaming all the way, slowly but surely, God is teaching them how to live life the way its intended to be lived.

In a sense, they are like the Christians Dallas Willard describes in his book "The Divine Conspiracy". Willard says that he has become personally convinced there are many of us who believe in Jesus, but who do not actually believe in God. That is to say, we have an emotional commitment to God, but not one in which we truly trust our lives to him. In reality, many of us are not really sure that God actually has the power, the ability, and the will to provide for all our needs on a daily basis.

So here are the Israelites. Convinced that the outcome of their lives is in their own hands. They are emotionally and spiritually and economically dependent upon the worldly powers-that-be. They trust in their own strength even if it is flawed and all-too-human. They trust in the status quo even if it is slavery, in the economic and political might of the government even if it is corrupt, in the mores and standards of society even if they are unjust, and, of course, in the accumulation of future stores of both food and wealth, even if that means others must starve and go without.

But moment by moment, God is pulling the Israelites away from everything they think life depends upon. And as God does this, he confronts them with what I believe is the central truth of all.

And this morning, I want to ask you how you feel about it. "Is God the key to YOUR life? Do YOU trust God?" Can you place your complete trust in God for the safety, well-being, and joy of your very life? Can you become more attached to God than you are to anything or anyone else and still live to tell about it?

God so often works in our lives the way he worked in the lives of the Israelites. As life-changing circumstances come along - the expulsion from a country, the loss of a loved one, forced early retirement, the birth of a child, a serious illness, political unrest, huge social problems - God inserts himself into the middle of these transitions. And there, from within the eye of the storm, God bends these experiences to his will. And suddenly we find ourselves at a point in life where we have no choice but to experiment with trusting him.

And here are the guidelines for the experiment:

First, you have to adjust your orientation to life. You have to shift your focus away from the past and away from the future, and place it firmly in the present. God brought the Hebrews out of their past in Egypt. The Promised Land was forty years in the future. And it was only when the past was left behind and the future was too far to reach that began to discern the first answer to the question of manna. "What IS it?"

Why, manna is the gift of today.

One Sunday morning many years ago, a man came to visit our worship service. He wasn't sure what motivated him to come, except for the fact that he was very lonely and sensed a deep thirst to know more about God. Upon arrival at our church, he was surprised to see Dot - an old friend from childhood days. She and her husband Conrad welcomed him warmly. They all sat together in one of the pews, and after church, went out to brunch to catch up on old times. On the way out the door, this man told me how wonderful it was to worship with us and to meet an old friend.

In that mysterious way that life seems to turn sometimes, making us feel that God is indeed at work in wondrous ways, I received a phone call a few days later from the man's son. His dad had passed away. In fact, he'd died that very Sunday night. The son wanted us to know that when he spoke with his dad late in the day on Sunday, his father was glowing with the joy of his experience with God at our church and with the friendship of Conrad and Dot. Later, when I let Dot and Conrad know about the man's passing, Dot made a powerful observation. She said, "I guess I never fully realized what a gift last Sunday was."

Every day is a gift, full of people, sights, sounds and experiences that are a part of God's purposes. Each day is a unique gift that will never come our way again. And yet, often we are so caught up in the wake of what happened yesterday, or preoccupied by some concern about what might happen tomorrow, that we never really fully experience the incredible beauty of today.

Manna is the gift of today! In the wilderness, it could only be used on the day of its collection. If you tried to store it up, the manna would spoil and grow worms. "What IS it?" the people asked. Manna is the gift of today. And God has given it to you this morning!

Now a second answer to the question, "What IS it?" is this. Manna is the gift or gifts found within the day!

One day, Joy and her family faced the most difficult moment they've ever faced. Joy's son Barry had been found comatose in his home. Some strange syndrome was at work in Barry's body and no one could figure it out. For several days, he lingered between life and death. But the moment inevitably came when there was no hope. The family gathered in a circle around Barry's bed in the ICU after the life-support was removed. And in that circle, among the family members, stood the little nurse from intensive care who'd been caring for Barry. You might think she would be hardened to this business of dying, taking it like a distant, cool professional. But there she was, arm around Joy, joining the family in prayer, dripping tears right along with everyone else.

Later, Joy told me, "Her tears meant so much to me."

You see, in all the times of our lives, God sends human gifts to us. To laugh with us. To cry with us. To guide us. To support us. To bring us some element of what we need to make it through the moment. And you begin to catch a true glimpse of the wonder of God's love when you really take the time to consider the gift of the people who come your way each day. And it even goes beyond people. Why, God sends us gifts of music. Did you know that what the choir sang earlier in the service was a gift God gave to you this morning? Were you able to take that gift and really unwrap it? Were you able to drink in the lyrics, and let the rhythm soak into your soul? Were you able to drink in the melody and let it swirl around inside? Oh, God sends us all kinds of gifts every day, just waiting to be unwrapped, studied and enjoyed - even out on the golf course, although many of those gifts are intended to produce humility.

The other night, I awakened at about 4:00 AM. Wide awake. Unable to get back to sleep. Worried about so many things in our family, in my own life, in the church. And then I rolled over on my side, and through the bay window in our bedroom, I could see a brilliant star that seemed to be twinkling just so I'd notice. And I studied that star for a long, long moment. I tried to imagine how many years ago the light from that star had started its journey across space just for me to be able to see it at four AM that morning. I tried to imagine how many thousands of other people were right then being touched by the light of the star. And then I said a silent prayer. "Thank you, Lord, for the gift of that star." And as I continued to watch the star, my thoughts were drawn to higher things, and I drifted off to sleep.

"What IS it?" the Israelites asked.

Why, its the gift of today. And its the gifts within today.

But it goes even deeper than that.

Aelred Squire, a Catholic author who writes about prayer, puts it very succinctly. Squire writes, "There is only one word of warning which applies to everyone. By whatever road the Lord leads us, we must gradually become more attached to the Lord than we are to the means which lead, or have led, us to Him."

You see, the gift of today, and the gifts within today, are intended to lead us to the Giver of the day, and all its gifts.

Many generations after the Hebrews were safely tucked away in the Promised Land, a group of skeptics who couldn't quite figure out Jesus remembered the story about manna in the desert and said, "Our forbears ate miraculous bread in the wilderness. What have YOU got to show for yourself?"

And Jesus looked at those skeptics with patient love, and then he answered. This is what Jesus said: "I AM the bread that came down from heaven."

Why, its Jesus! You do with Jesus what the Hebrews did with the manna. Every day you can gather him up, like manna is gathered. Every day you can consume him like the bread that he is. Every day, you can share him with others, for Exodus tells us that some gathered much manna and some gathered little, but everyone had enough! For when you let Jesus become the very food of your life, you can let go of the past. And stop worrying about the future.

You see, what God wants for us is not just to appreciate the gift of today, and not just to savor the gifts that come our way. What God wants is to help us into a relationship with the smartest person who ever lived! A person who knows God so well that he can show us how to let God become alive in us. A person who is so good at loving that he can show us how to make a friend of even our worst enemy. A person who is so brilliant that he can teach us how to calm the storms of life, and how to be truly happy. A person so fantastically alive that he promises to take us by the hand and lead us safely through death and into life!

"What IS it?" the people asked about the flaky white stuff on the ground?

Its the gift of today. Its gifts for today. And its the promise that the smartest person who ever lived is willing to be your friend, and is fully able and willing to lead you through the wilderness of life to the Promised Land.

If you're willing to gather him up today, and feed yourself with his life today, and drink in his living Word today.

Jesus is the manna God sends you every day. The bread of life. The gift of "What IS it?"

What will you do with Jesus?