NOTHING IS INCONSEQUENTIAL TO GOD

“NOTHING IS INCONSEQUENTIAL IN GOD’S WORLD”

NUMBERS 20:2-12

2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!

4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?

5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,

7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.

It may be hard to believe but it’s true. Several years ago a child was playing in the garden by the church fountain. In his enthusiasm the child began picking some of the flowers. When the church secretary saw what was happening she went outside and brought it to the mother’s attention. “Excuse me,” the secretary said. “But your child is picking flowers in the garden.” The mother looked over her shoulder at her child. She then looked at the secretary, shrugged her shoulders and said “So? Just plant more flowers.”

Unfortunately, that’s a big problem these days. People don’t take responsibility for their actions. You can do whatever you want because actions don’t have consequences. Just look at what’s happening on Wall Street and Main Street. People on Wall Street made loans that they shouldn’t have made and people on Main Street took on loans that they couldn’t afford. Now it looks like there’s going to be a bail out that’s going to cost us hundreds of billions of dollars.

These days actions don’t always have consequences.

A teenager fails a test but it’s not his fault. It’s the teacher’s fault.

A husband abuses his kids but its not his fault. After all he was abused when he was a child. So, he doesn’t know any better.

A young couple get into serious debt but it’s not their fault. The fault lies with the credit card companies that kept sending them all those tempting offers to buy now and pay later.

A politician gets caught doing something illegal jar but it’s not his fault. It’s all a conspiracy by his opponents to make him look bad.

A young woman keeps getting pregnant but it’s not her fault and it’s certainly not a problem. All she has to do is go to the free clinic down the street.

Then there’s Olestra. You remember Olestra don’t you? Olestra is that artificial fat molecule that’s too big to be absorbed by your intestines. The food companies invented it and put it into all kinds of junk food products. That way you can eat all the potato chips you want and not have to worry about getting fat.

Yes, actions don’t have consequences anymore.

Just ask the judge who was convinced that a man was guilty and needed to go to jail. The jury felt sorry for the man though and decided that he was innocent. The judge was shocked. After the verdict was read the judge turned to the foreman and asked, “how could you possibly find this man innocent after all the evidence that was presented in this courtroom?” “Your honor,” the foreman replied, “we found him innocent by reason of insanity.” “Insanity?” the judge exclaimed, “All twelve of you?”

Yes, actions don’t have consequences anymore. As far as God is concerned though actions do have consequences. You can see that by looking at what happened to Moses out there in the wilderness. The children of Israel were thirsty. So, God told Moses to strike the rock at Meribah and that’s what Moses did. Moses struck the rock and a stream of water came gushing out of the rock. All’s well that ends well right? Unfortunately, the story didn’t have a completely happy ending though. That’s because Moses made a big mistake. When he performed the miracle he didn’t give the glory to God. Instead, Moses gave all the credit to his brother Aaron and himself. Moses said to the children of Israel, “shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

Now compare what Moses said at Meribah to what Moses said when God sent the children of Israel manna from heaven. We looked at that miracle last week. Moses announced the miracle by saying to the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord…”

There’s no way around it. When Moses struck the rock at Meribah he didn’t give the glory to God and because of that God immediately put Moses in his place. God tells Moses that when the time comes he won’t be the one who leads the children of Israel into the Promised Land and that’s exactly what happened. When the children of Israel get to the edge of the Promised Land Moses urges them to go on without him. Moses then climbs to the top of Mount Nebo, looks over into the Promised Land and dies there on that mountain. So close and yet so far.

What do you think? Was the punishment that Moses received too harsh? Do you feel at all sorry for Moses? Poor Moses. After leading the children of Israel through the wilderness all those years he doesn’t get to lead them into the Promised Land. After putting up with their grumbling all those years he doesn’t get to lead them into the Promised Land. He makes one little mistake and he doesn’t get to lead them into the Promised Land.

Poor Moses. It wasn’t as though Moses was a mean spirited bad to the bone stinker. Moses wasn’t anything like that little boy who had to go to the emergency room after he fell and got a cut above his eye. The little boy was kicking and screaming and had to be restrained by two nurses and an orderly. The doctor examined the little boy’s eye. He then turned to the mother as the little boy continued to kick and scream. “You know this is serious,” the doctor said. “Billy will be lucky if he doesn’t end up with a black eye.” The mother nodded her head. “Doctor,” she said, “do what you have to do. He’s a terror at home too.”

Moses wasn’t a mean spirited bad to the bone stinker but there’s no way around it. Moses didn’t give God the glory for the miracle and this was a situation where the action had to have a consequence. That’s because the focus had to be on God and not Moses. Otherwise the children of Israel probably wouldn’t have made it to the Promised Land. They needed the inspiration that came from knowing that God was the One who had called them out of the land of Egypt. They needed the conviction that came from knowing that God was the One who was going to get them through that barren desert. They needed the courage of knowing that God was the One who was going to lead them into the Promised Land. Take the focus off of God and put it onto Moses and things would have started to fall apart. Things would have started to go from bad to worse.

That’s what happens when actions don’t have consequences. Things go from bad to worse. Let a child do whatever he wants and eventually you’re going to have a big problem on your hands. Let someone at work gossip and talk about people behind their backs and eventually you’re going to have a big problem on your hands. Let people borrow and borrow and borrow and before you know it you’re going to have a big problem on your hand.

That’s why in God’s world actions do have consequences. God is loving but that love also expects us to take responsibility for our actions. If you make a promise God expects you to keep it. If you break something God expects you to fix it. If you do something wrong God expects you to say “I’m sorry” and make amends.

If we all took more responsibility for our actions this crazy mixed up world would be a lot better place to live. That’s why I like the story about the elderly woman who went to the post office one day. The elderly woman went to the post office to mail an old family Bible to her brother on the west coast. After the clerk took the package from the elderly woman he asked, “Is there anything breakable in here?” The elderly woman smiled and replied, “Only the Ten Commandments.”

God expects us to take responsibility for our actions. When you do that not only will the world be a better place to live but you’ll also be a better person and you feel good about yourself. That’s why I don’t think Moses was devastated when he got to the edge of the Promised Land. Instead of being devastated I wouldn’t be surprised if Moses climbed Mount Nebo with his head held high and a feeling of satisfaction in his heart. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

September 28, 2008