I
can really identify with some of the characters in the Bible! Maybe you feel that way, too. Some of them just jump out of the pages of the Bible and reassure me that
I’m not alone in what I’m feeling. I can identify with Mary, Martha’s sister in
the gospels. I know how she feels when she just wants to sit at Jesus’ feet and
learn, but her sister nags at her to get up and do something useful! (Does that
sound familiar to anyone?) I can identify with Jeremiah. When God called him to
be a prophet, his first reaction was, “But I don’t know what I’m doing!” I’ve
said that many times myself. But the character who resonates the most with me
is Moses. Now, Moses is one of the most revered characters in the whole history
of Israel. Moses is liberator, pastor, prophet, and priest. He is God’s
right-hand man; the one who talks with God like a close friend. Deuteronomy
tells us that he is one of a kind; that “no prophet has arisen in Israel like
Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” I can’t claim to be anything like
that! But the Moses in this story (Numbers 11:4-6. 10-17, 24-30) isn’t Moses
the liberator, Moses the law-giver, or Moses the high priest of Israel. No, in
this story, Moses is the overworked and the frustrated! And that I can
sure identify with!
In
this particular story, the Israelites are complaining – again! They have
complained ever since they left their slavery in Egypt; and they’re still complaining! This time, they’re
complaining about the food that they have to eat. The miraculous manna that God
provides isn’t good enough for them; they want the kind of food that they
remember from Egypt. They remind me of three-year-old Mindy who wants a box of
crayons. But she doesn’t want just any crayons, she wants crayons just
like her friend Samantha has! So her mom looks all over town to find those
crayons – spends a whole afternoon, in fact, looking for the crayons that she
wants – and brings them home in relief.
But when Mindy’s mom gives her the crayons, she lifts up pleading eyes
and says, “But I wanted a package that has mint green in it!” It makes
you want to give up and cry, “Just take me now, Lord, I can’t do this anymore!”
And that’s pretty much what Moses said to God, because he’d had it up to here
with the Israelites! “Why have you brought this trouble on me?” he asked God.
“Why did you tell me to take care of all these people? I can’t carry all these
people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me!” Can’t you just hear the
frustration in his voice? “I’ve done my best,” he’s crying, “and it never seems
to be enough!”
So
God in God’s wisdom spread the workload around. God called for seventy elders
to come to the Tent of Meeting, the place where Moses went for executive conferences
with the Almighty. When the elders arrived, God gave some of the Spirit to
them, too, so that they could share Moses’ load of caring for all the people. Even
two elders who didn’t go to the Tent of Meeting were given a share of
the Spirit! What a relief for Moses! God gave power to a whole bunch of people
to share the workload and to help with the people’s needs!
I
think that every pastor feels like Moses at one time or another. Now, I don’t
mean to suggest that every congregation complains about their lot in life! On the contrary, I think that most
congregations are loving, grateful, and even affectionate. But everyone has
problems, the workload is heavy, and there’s always something more that should
be done. We Christians have the very same needs that the Israelites had. We
need guidance in the wilderness that we call life; we need encouragement that
we can keep on keeping on; and sometimes, we just need somebody to listen to us
when we are more than a little nervous about what the future might hold. Oh,
yes, caring for God’s people is more than a full-time job!
It
seems to me that God’s answer for overloaded, frustrated Moses is a pretty good
one for us, too. No one has to do the work of ministry alone. Moses didn’t have
to do it by himself, and no one today has to do it alone, either! I
don’t think that God ever intended anybody to do ministry alone. And we’re way
ahead of the Israelites! We don’t have to ask God for a share of the Spirit,
because we Christians already have that! We may have different abilities given
to us by that Spirit, but we’re all capable of doing the work of ministry in
one way or another. We’re can all help in the work of ministering to the people
of God, and of helping to meet their needs. One of my colleagues is convinced
that there are really only three main tasks of ministry. We need prophets; we
need cheerleaders; and we need comforters. I agree with her, and when the
church works as a team on these tasks, their ministry is the most effective. No
one person can do every task of ministry all the time. Even Moses needed some
help! So, what are those jobs all about, anyway?
First,
we constantly need to reevaluate where we are headed as the people of God.
Where are we going as a congregation? What activities should we spend our time
and talents on so that we serve God the best that we can right here? In other
words, what are the goals of our ministry here at Nashville UCC? The prophets
among us can help us to discern those goals. Now, lots of folks have the idea
that prophets are wild-eyed, ragged people who stand on street corners shouting
out a warning that the world will end tomorrow! But that’s actually not the
Bible’s idea of a prophet. A prophet was simply someone who spoke for God,
someone who could help remind the people who God was calling them to be. I know
that there are prophets in this congregation. Some of you are men and women
with a vision for the future, and a willingness to talk about it to get other
people on board. And you may be a little frustrated right now, because not many
of us are paying any attention to you! But I hope that you’ll keep talking,
because you are excited about the ministry of this congregation, and you are
willing to work to help move us along!
A
second task of ministry is to encourage, to help others believe that they can
and will get where they want to go! The people who do that are the cheerleaders.
Just like cheerleaders who lead the crowd in cheering for the football team, cheerleaders
in the church are those saints who always have an encouraging word for the rest
of us. Their cheers are a little bit different from the ones that the high
school cheerleaders use. Instead of yelling loudly, “Hold that line!” they
whisper quietly, “You’re doing a great job!” Or they say “Thank you” for the
work that we do. And sometimes they even say, “You know, you really have a gift
for that. You are a blessing in my life!” We have cheerleaders here at
Nashville. One gives me a hug every
single Sunday and tells me “That was a great sermon!” It’s always
reassuring to hear that, especially on days that I think I’ve done a miserable
job. And did you know that our peanut brittle brigade has their very own
cheerleader? If you help with that fundraiser, you know who she is! At every
single session, she says “We can do more! Let’s work another half hour! This is
going to raise money that other people need!” I can’t tell you how much I owe
to the cheerleaders in my own life – and I’ll bet that you do, too.
Finally,
the church needs comforters. Comforters have ears that are always ready
to listen when someone is afraid, or troubled, or grieving. They take time for
us when we need someone to talk to. They listen when we want to share joys,
sorrows, frustrations, and fears. Comforters have open arms, too. They give
hugs when others are feeling down. They send cards to folks, and they go to
visit members who are home bound. And they always know when we would appreciate
a phone call “just to check in.” This congregation is full of comforters! Many
of them are in our prayer ministry. Those folks are ready to drop everything
and kneel in prayer for someone else when the need arises. And lots of others
aren’t in any organized group. We just know that we can always go to them when
we’re troubled and they won’t turn us away.
Have
you recognized yourself yet? Whether you’re a prophet, a cheerleader, or a
comforter, we’re all part of this wonderful ministry team that we call the
church! So, team, let’s get going! Prophets, clean the lenses of your
binoculars! Cheerleaders, pick up your pompoms! Comforters, open your ears and
your arms! We’re travelling together towards the Promised Land! Our journey
won’t be easy; and we know that we’ll hit some speed bumps along the way. We’ll
make it in the end, though, because Jesus is our coach, the Spirit is our power,
and our creator God is traveling with us wherever we go. We’ll going there
together, and we’ll get there together! And hopefully, along the way, we’ll
even enjoy the journey.
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