EXODUS 16:2-15

2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”

8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord said to Moses,

12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Here’s a question for you. What would you say is our national pastime? If you’re big on tradition you might say it’s baseball. If you’re a pigskin fanatic you might say it’s football. Or how about this?  It isn’t baseball or football.  Complaining is our real national pastime.  I say that because everywhere you look these days people

are complaining about something. Turn the television on and you’ll hear people complaining about the economy. Open the newspaper and you’ll hear people complaining illegal immigrants. Walk down the street and you’ll hear people complaining about the way teenagers dress and the way old people drive.  They’re not happy about the price of gas.  They’re not happy with the big banks.  They’re not happy with the politicians. Because of all of the complaining you could call us the Goldilocks Generation.

You know. This porridge is too hot.  This porridge is too cold.  This chair is too big.  This chair is too small.  This bed is too hard.  This bed is too soft.

All the complaining brings to mind the salesman who went to get a haircut before heading out on a business trip. When the barber learned that salesman has heading to Rome he shook his head and said, “I was born in Italy and I can tell you that Rome is very overrated. What airline are you taking and what hotel are you going to stay in when you get there?”  When the salesman told him the barber groaned.  “That airline is really undependable and the service at that hotel is terrible.”  “That’s okay,” the salesman said.  “When I get to Rome I’m going to close on a multimillion dollar deal and then see the pope before heading home.”  Once again the barber shook his head and said, “I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed doing business over there and the pope only gives audiences to really important people.”   Two months later the salesman went back to the barber for another haircut.  “How was your trip?” the barber asked.  The salesman smiled and said, “The trip was wonderful!  The flight was great.  The service at the hotel was excellent.  I made a big commission on the business deal and I got to see the pope.”  The barber was impressed.  “You got to see the pope?  That’s amazing.  What did he say?” “Well,” the salesman said, “when I knelt down to kiss his ring he looked down at the top of my head and said, ‘My son where in the world did you ever get such a lousy haircut?”

We live in an age of chronic complaining.   In some ways it’s similar to what went on out there in the wilderness.   So, let’s go back and set the stage. The children of Israel are hungry and food is in short supply.  So, what do they do?  They go to Moses and lower the boom on him.  They go to Moses and say, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

In other words, “Moses!  What are you doing to us?  We’re starving out here.  Why did we ever let you bring us out into this godforsaken place?  At least back in Egypt we had enough to eat.  Shame on you Moses.  This is all your fault!”

The children of Israel weren’t very happy and they made it abundantly clear to Moses that as far as they were concerned it was all his fault. But here’s the thing.  It wasn’t all his fault.  After all, Moses didn’t force the children of Israel to follow him out there into the wilderness.  Moses didn’t mislead or manipulate them with false promises. He didn’t threaten them with dire consequences if  they didn’t go with him. It was the children of Israel who decided to follow him out there into the wilderness.  They went of their own free will.  So, it wasn’t all their fearless leader’s fault. 

The children of Israel didn’t take any responsibility when it came to their predicament and that’s the danger when it comes to complaining.  People who complain all the time usually don’t take responsibility for their problems. It was true out there in the wilderness and it’s also true today.  For example, people complain about the high price of gas but no one forced us to buy all those gas guzzling SUV’s that only get 12 miles to the gallon. People complain about the cost of health care but no one tied us down and forced us to eat all those greasy artery clogging big Mac’s.   Yes, the economy really does stink but no one forced us to take on mortgages for homes we couldn’t afford. No one forced us to run up our credit cards so we could live the good life.

People who complain usually don’t take responsibility for their problems and here’s the other thing about complaining.  It only makes the situation worse.   Look at what happened out there in the wilderness.  The children of Israel hurled their complaints at Moses and what does Moses do?  He gets down in the mud and hurls a few complaints back at them. He accuses them of disrespecting God and tells them that they were going to regret it big time. Moses says to them, “the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

Things were getting ugly out there in the wilderness and what does God do in response to all of that ugliness?  You might think that God would read them all the riot act and tell them to grow up.  You might think that God would punish then by sending them to bed without their supper but instead of doing that God blesses them.  That’s right.  Instead of punishing them God blesses them. God throws them a lavish banquet.  God sends them quail and manna from heaven. God says to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”

Now why would God bless them like that?  The answer to that question is simple. Out there in the wilderness God is sending us a message. When there’s a problem we can complain and turn ON each other or we can turn TO God and be saved. 

God is always there waiting to bring a blessing out of our complaining.  You can see that in a story that Yitta Halberstram and Judith Leventhal tell in their book Small Miracles. Nineteen-year-old Chris Graham and twenty-year-old Steve Ashton were heading to a lake in upstate New York.  When they got there they were going to meet up with some friends for some swimming and water skiing.  Things didn’t go exactly as planned though.  First they got a flat tire and then their battery died.  Then when they tried to make up for lost time they got pulled over by a state trooper.  Things went from bad to worse when they pulled off the highway and the car died.  It took an hour for the tow truck to arrive and another two hours to get the fan belt replaced.   Chris was at his breaking point and grumbled “I give up!  Can you believe our bad luck?  When the car’s fixed, let’s head back home.”  Steve convinced him to keep going but when they finally got to the lake their friends were no where to be found.  “I can’t believe our day,” Chris grumbled.  “We came all this way for nothing!”  Just then they heard two voices crying for help.  The cries for help came from two little boys who drowning in the lake.   Because Chris and Steve were certified lifeguards who knew CPR they immediately dove into the lake and rescued the boys.  Later Steve said with a trembling voice, “Do you understand what went down here. Chris?”  Chris answered, ”I do. If we hadn’t gotten to the park at precisely the time we did…those kids would be dead.”

Our problems won’t be solved by complaining.  Our problems will only be solved by turning to the God who gave the children of Israel quail in the evening and manna from heaven in the morning.  Our problems will only be solved by turning to the God whose love is from everlasting to everlasting. That’s why there’s a lot of truth in the little poem that goes like this:

            I got up early, early one morning and rushed right into the day.

            I had so much to accomplish I didn’t have time to pray.

            Troubles just tumbled about me and heavier came each task.

            I wondered why isn’t God here to help me.  He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

The choice is simple.  We can complain and turn ON each other or we can turn TO God and be saved.   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

September 18, 2011