Category Archives: story

A Rabbi’s Taste of Manna

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One of the joys of writing for Resurrection Lutheran and others is that I learn from other blogs. Recently I discovered a blog from a Jewish rabbi in Pennsylvania who has great perspective on the story of manna in the wilderness.

One of the recurring themes of the Exodus is complaining. The people whine about being thirsty, hungry, tired, scared, or because they want to go back to Egypt. No matter how much Moses reassures them, or how often they see God’s power displayed, they remain discouraged and depressed. This week, we see them rebel against the manna.

The manna, however, is really just the symptom. The Israelites aren’t dealing with the real issue and the underlying problem that permeates every other situation: They don’t want to be there! They would prefer slavery to independence, because it means they don’t have to move, they don’t have to change, and they don’t have to try. How often don’t we see this happening today? People put up with an awful lot if it means they can avoid change.

Only once the Israelites take ownership of the Exodus, and feel a desire to conquer Canaan and become a nation, are they able to enter the Land. As long as we keep avoiding the real problem, we’re really just going around in circles. We have to face our fears and take on challenges head-on, otherwise we’ll keep chewing on the same bland manna for 40 long years.

How is God challenging you to change?  In what ways are you resisting?

Lord God, teach me again to trust in your grace and mercy to lead me into the changes you desire.

Grumbles and Grains

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Shortly after I turned 50 a friend sent me an article written by Garrison Keillor. It was titled:

Stop Complaining.

When you hit 50, you have to stop complaining about getting old, the strangeness of it, the fascination, the horror, etc., etc. That was okay in your 30s and 40s, but now that you’re old, it’s time to shut up on the subject. You shouldn’t complain about aging for the simple reason that nobody gives a hoot. If you were to pay people to care, they might care a little bit for an hour or two, but you didn’t and they don’t. So learn to be cheerful about it. When people ask you how you are, tell them, “Absolutely great. Never better.” (from 50 Things to Do When You Turn 50) 

I thought about Garrison’s advice as I read parts of Exodus. The Israelites are set free from Egypt but they immediately start to complain and grumble. First they don’t have sufficient water to drink (Exodus 15:24). Then they don’t have enough food.

The whole company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. The Israelites said, “Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You’ve brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!” (Exodus 16:2-3).

We humans seem to have this wonderful ability to compare our present situation to some “idealized past” and think we have some right to complain about it. The Israelites practiced selective memory, remembering the sufficient food of Egypt, while forgetting the suffering and hard labor they experience as slaves. So they grumbled to Moses.

Does a grumbling spirit ever take hold in your mind?

The Lord God was quick to answer. The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you.” (Exodus 16:4). God provided manna for the Israelites throughout their 40 year journey in the wilderness. Manna was a temporary solution until they arrived in the promised land which flowed with milk and honey. It was also a test by which to see if they could give up their complaining and trust in God’s provision.

Have you learned to stop complaining and to trust in God’s blessing?

Lord Jesus, give us this day our daily bread.

Send Someone Else!

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The book of Exodus is rich in stories: Hebrew mid-wives protecting the newborn children, Moses drawn out of the Nile River by Pharaoh’s daughter, the cry of the Hebrew slaves for God’s mercy. The central story is the exodus itself as God battles Pharaoh for the freedom of the Hebrew slaves until Pharaoh’s army drowns in the Red Sea. What a spectacular victory, worthy of song and dance (Exodus 15:20-21).

Art Prints
Yet my favorite story is the call of Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). God calls out of the bush to Moses by name. He tells Moses to remove his sandals because he stands on holy ground. God continues, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I have heard the cries and know the suffering of my people in Egypt. I will bring them to a good land flowing with milk and honey. I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.”

One can hear Moses cheering through the first part of God’s speech. “Yes, Lord, it’s about time you set your people free.” But then Moses’ cheering stops when he hears God’s plan includes him. Immediately Moses interjects, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Moses then puts forward five different complaints as to why he should not be the one. My favorite comes at the very end, “Oh my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13).

I confess that I see myself in Moses’ response. Like Moses, I know that there is mistrust, injustice and need in the world. Like Moses, I know that God needs pioneers who will prepare the way of God and lead God’s people to freedom. Like Moses, I know God is pulling at my heart, mind and soul to be a leader. But like Moses, I too often say, “Lord, send someone else!”

The good news in this story is that Moses, after complaining long and hard, went to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh. Moses caught fire and blazed with God’s Spirit. God is trustworthy to give us each the strength and courage to do his will.

To what adventures is God calling you?

Lord Jesus, give me ears to hear and feet to follow.

The Good Becomes Bitter

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Exodus has an odd beginning. At the end of Genesis, Joseph had brought his large family to reside in Egypt to avoid the famine in Palestine. Joseph died as did his brothers, yet their clan remained in Egypt, fulfilling Genesis 1:28 by being fruitful and multiply.

But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them. Exodus 1:7

This sounds like good new; the clan was becoming a nation. However Egypt was not the land God had promised for Israel. Though it had large food reserves and tremendous opportunities, this was NOT where God want the Israelites to be. At the very end of Genesis, Joseph reminded the people that someday they would return to Palestine.

There was a gap of some 430 years during which the Bible is silent regarding God’s interaction with the Israelites in Egypt. Only after this silent gap do we read how God moved the people from Egypt to the Promised Land. I wonder if God was speaking during this time, but the Israelites were not listening.

Whatever the case, the story of Exodus begins with a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. The Pharaoh decided to oppress and restrict the Israelites. The Pharaoh declared forced labor, “The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites and made their lives bitter with hard service.” Exodus 1:13-14.

What had started as a place of refuge and safety became a land of oppression and slavery. I wonder if that might not be true for many who live in our modern suburban landscape. So many of us move here as a place of safety and prosperity, but then we become trapped by our expectations and appetites. We need to work longer hours to meet the mortgage and other financial obligations we seek. We enroll our children in sports or the arts, but then become slaves to their schedules and expectations. Marriages crumble under the strain and alcohol becomes the master of our lives. Or we simply wake up one morning wondering why we feel empty and alone. The “good life” has slipped away in the night.

Fortunately the Exodus story does not remain in bondage. Freedom is coming.  God will lift Moses up.

How have you experienced bondage or slavery in your life?

Lord Jesus, awaken my spirit to hear your call to freedom.

Joseph and the Dreamcoat

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Joseph and his brothers by French artist Leslie Xuereb

As Resurrection Lutheran strides through God’s Great Story in Sunday worship, this week we stop to observe Joseph the dreamer. Joseph’s story covers the final third of Genesis, chapters 37 to 50. A character study, we watch Joseph mature and embrace his unique calling from God.  Like many, his story will be a bumpy one.

At first Joseph strikes the reader as an arrogant, self-absorbed, spoiled teenager of 17. He brags to them of his special dreams in which his brothers and even his father bow down to him (Genesis 37:6). Joseph has not learned to acknowledge God as the source of his gift. He has not learned to be humble in his use of it.  His dream will come true when he rises up to become second-in-command in Egypt. However, before Joseph can rise up, he will be beaten down several times.

His jealous brothers will attack him and sell him into slavery in Egypt. He will rise up as a favored administrator in a local household, only to be tossed in jail when he is unjustly accused of adultery. He will languish in prison because others have forgotten his talent with dreams. Joseph is on an emotional rollercoaster. Through all the dips and turns one refrain remains constant: “The Lord was with Joseph.” (Genesis 39:2, 23) God did not prevent Joseph from suffering unfairly, but gave him the strength and courage to walk through it.

When Joseph finally has his chance to help the Pharaoh with his dreams, Joseph gives God full credit.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Genesis 41:15-16

Humility can be a difficult lesson to learn. For years, Joseph sat in jail due to a false accusation.  Early in my ministry I faced an unfair accusation from a visitor to my church.  I wanted to yell and shout, but all I could do was keep silent and let the accusation fade away with time and the help of others.  Until it did I was constantly praying, “why Lord, why?”  No direct answer came, only the promise of God’s presence.  Like Joseph, I had to learn the valuable lesson that God was in charge.

When have you learned a difficult lesson through a humbling experience?

Lord Jesus, humble me that I might trust you completely.

Seeking Sarah’s Tomb

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The Narrative Lectionary that Resurrection Lutheran Church is using this year skips through the Old Testament at a fast pace. This coming Sunday we will be studying Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. But before I shift our focus to Joseph and Egypt, I want to examine one final story of Abraham. In Genesis 23, Abraham’s beloved wife Sarah dies and he must find her a tomb.

When God first called Abraham, God promised him land and descendants. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, the Lord said to him, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). His descendants will be as many as the stars of sky.  Yet as Abraham nears death, he has only one son and no land. Is God’s promise ever to be reality? Have you, like Abraham, ever wondered if God’s promises would become reality for you?

After Sarah’s death, Abraham goes to the Hittites who own the surrounding land and says, “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead.” (Genesis 23:4). The Hittites recognize Abraham as a great man and are willing to give him a burial site for his wife. But Abraham does not want a “gift” or “honorary guest” burial site; he wants to own the burial site with proper title. He wants something permanent and legal that can be passed on to future generation.

Abraham is willing to pay top dollar for it. (A stewardship sermon is buried in that verse!)  After skillful negotiation, he purchases the small field of Ephron in Machpelah where he buries his wife in a cave in the field (Genesis 23:15-19). Years later Abraham is buried there as well.

At first, a burial plot may seem like a useless, pathetic fulfillment of God’s great promise to Abraham and Sarah. Is this all the land God can give?  Yet it is the first step in God’s patient, enduring plan of salvation. It becomes a sign of hope and possibility.

After all, as Christians, we remember that God’s plan of restoration culminated in the empty burial tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Jesus’ empty tomb is the first step, the first fruits, of a new heaven and a new earth.

 Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died (I Corinthians 15:20).

In what ways does God give you hope in difficult times?

Lord Jesus, you are my rock and shield, give me the hope I need this day.

Blessed or Blessing?

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Abraham and Sarah celebrate Isaac's birth

What an incredibly simple start.  After the mess of Genesis 3-11, God finds the best solution: an elderly childless couple! Abraham and Sarah become the start of God’s rescue plan for creation. They are blessed in order to be a blessing to others.

God said, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

God promised a son to Abraham and Sarah. They wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. They try their own shortcut and fail. But eventually their son Isaac is born. Eventually after centuries of waiting his offspring will be Jesus, the truest blessing for all.

We so often seek blessing only for ourselves. But God showers us with generous blessings, so that we can be blessings to others.

How have you been a blessing to others?

Lord Jesus, make me into a blessing for others today.

The Rebellion

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When I read the first few chapters of the Bible, I am always struck as to how quickly everything slides from being GOOD to being BAD.  Declaring all creation to be “very  good” in chapter one and creating beautiful garden of paradise for Man and Woman in chapter two, the Bible provides us a glimpse into creation as God intended it to be: beautiful, balanced, and harmonious.

But the creation (and especially the human creatures) do not remain in harmony.  Man and Woman, Adam and Eve, choose to disobey God. The story in Genesis 3 is often called “The Fall”, because humanity “fell” out of God’s favor, but I prefer to call it “The Rebellion” because they rebelled against God’s order and design.  The Fall sounds accidental or unintended.  Their rebellion is not an isolated historical oddity.  It is a deliberate act., a rebellion in which we all participate.

We have all decided to go our own way and leave God’s chosen path.  We each do it in unique ways, but at the root of it all, we rebel against God being God.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Our rebellion is our sinful desire to be little gods.  Genesis 3-11 show how the human rebellion grow as Cain kills Abel (Genesis 4) and wickedness permeates all humankind (Genesis 6:5).

Yet there is good news in these chapters as God always provided for God’s children even during the rebellion.  God provided animal skins to clothe Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21).  God provided protection for Cain (Genesis 4:15) and an ark for Noah (Genesis 6:13-14).  Ultimately God chose Abraham to be the pioneer in God’s restoration (Genesis 12:3).  Through Abraham, a savior would come to save us from our Rebellion.

How do you rebel against God?  How has God continued to reach out to you?

Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin and restore me to the Vibrant Life of faith in you.

The Story of the Bible

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Pop Bible Quiz: Place these five famous Biblical characters in their correct chronological/ Biblical order: (answer at the bottom of the blog.)

  • Moses
  • Ruth
  • John the Baptist
  • Elijah
  • Abraham

The reason I popped this quiz is to prep for our upcoming sermon series this fall, winter and spring. This year at Resurrection Lutheran we will be using a series of Bible Readings that covers the WHOLE Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

The series is called the Narrative Lectionary. Narrative means story and Lectionary means series of Bible readings, so our series of Scripture readings will tell the large story of the Bible. We will be racing through the Old and New Testament, touching on the highlights of the God’s interactions with humanity. We will not be reading every chapter or book, but we will be seeking the BIG PICTURE of God’s consistent search to pull humanity back into God’s loving care.

This fall we will be moving through the Old Testament. We will read how humanity rebelled against God and how God chose a special people, the children of Abraham, to be his agents of restoration. This will be a quick survey of major stories and events and will lead us to the birth of Jesus at Christmas.

The Wonder of God's Creation

We will begin this week with the first chapter of the first book, Genesis 1. Many of us know the opening words, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” As one reads the chapter, a constant refrain keeps popping up, “And God saw that it was good.” (v. 4, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The goodness of creation is especially emphasized with the creation of human being. Humanity is the crowning glory, the best of the very best, in God’s magnificent creation. Humanity is not some fluke of chemistry, but the planned desire of God.

Which means you are not a random act, but a beautiful creation of God, made in God’s image. You are beautifully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139). You have purpose and meaning, given to you by the Creator. Part of that purpose and meaning is to discover your role or place in God’s story. So join us as we discover the unending story of God’s love for God’s people, and specifically for you.

Answers to the Pop Quiz: Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Elijah, John the Baptist

Lord Jesus, thank you for the wonder of your creation.  Help me to discover my place in your ongoing story.

Facing the Monsters of Our Life

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A Teaching Story from R. Wayne Willis.

There’s an old Egyptian story about a little boy named Miobi who came to a village where the people were very strange. They did little more than moan and groan about almost everything. The fires didn’t get lit, the goats didn’t get milked, the children didn’t get clothed, and the crops didn’t get planted, all because the villagers were expecting any time to get eaten by the monster that lived on top of the mountain.

Miobi looked up, and behold — the monster was real. He had a head like a crocodile and a body like a hippopotamus and a tail like a very fat snake. Smoke and fire came from his nostrils. The villagers lived in dread that any day the monster might come down and devour them.

Miobi said to the villagers, “I will go up the mountain by myself and challenge the monster.” The villagers pleaded with him not to go, sure that he would never return. Miobi began to climb the mountain, and as he climbed higher and higher and got nearer and nearer, the monster looked smaller and smaller. “This is a very curious phenomenon indeed,” thought Miobi. “When I run away from the monster, the monster gets larger, but the nearer I get to it, the smaller it becomes.”

When at last Miobi reached the cave, instead of a gigantic monster, he found a quiet little creature about the size of a toad. It purred. Miobi picked it up and put it in his pocket and headed back down the mountain.

When the villagers saw Miobi safe and sound, they wanted to make him their god for slaying the monster. Miobi explained exactly what had happened and how he had brought the “monster” back down the mountain as a pet. He showed them the little-toad like creature. “What is your name?” the villagers asked. The monster answered, “I have many names. Some call me famine, and some pestilence; some call me war, and some cancer.” Then the little creature yawned and added, “But most call me What Might Happen.”

— R. Wayne Willis in Hope Notes

How do you face “what might have been?”

“Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8

Lord Jesus, give me courage to face “what ever comes” with you.