Why Pick on Us?

Anton DeWet

Exodus 19:1-8 (The Five Books of Moses)

Have you ever thought of the kind of pressure you’re under if a booming voice comes from the heavens saying: “I’ve picked you—you are my chosen people or my chosen one”?

I mean, here you are, going about your business, tending to your sheep or your fields, and all of sudden you have all this pressure.

I think my first reaction would be “Why me Lord? Can’t you pick on someone else?”

But the stories of our faith, which are ancient stories told and retold over centuries, are stories told in a way that ordinary people could identify with them in their time.

So, if you were a little Israelite boy or girl in Palestine your elders would tell you these stories in a manner so you would know you belonged to a people God favors. God’s, in those times, were tribal. Every tribe had their own gods.

One way to tell these stories was to suggest that God’s love for the people is somewhat like a marriage. Remember the New Testament stories of Jesus. The idea that Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride. These are beautiful metaphors that express a relationship.

Well, if we imagine Israel as the bride, eloping from Egypt with God, the groom, then the honeymoon soon came to an end.

When the hardships of the wilderness sunk home, freedom no longer felt so good. The uncertainty soon led to squabbles. Just like a new couple just setting up house together. The little things begin to creep into the relationship.

“Didn’t your mother teach you to put the toilet seat down?”

The carefree spirit of your beloved now begins to make him or her look like a slob when you wake up with their clothes spattered all over the room.

“Do you really need 27 pairs of shoes after all, you only have two feet?”

And so it goes. For the ordinary people of Israel it was the same. They soon began to wonder whether God was such a good idea after all. The memories of the fleshpots of Egypt overwhelmed the memories of their slavery in Egypt and they wondered.

So Moses stopped the bunch near a high mountain, climbed to the top and had a nervous breakdown—only joking—sought out inspiration. Remember their world view was of a three tiered universe. The underworld beneath the earth where the dead “lived”. The earth, which was flat, of course. And the heavens where God lived. So, it was just natural to climb the highest mountain to get closer to God.

And on this mountain Moses gains the inspiration he sought. He climbs down and he says to the people:

“Remember how God saved us like a powerful eagle that sweeps in under a falling chick and carries the chick to safety? Well, that same God is with us and will continue to lead us to safety, but there is a condition. Only if we are willing to listen to God’s voice.

“And if we listen”, Moses says, “then God will honor God’s promise and we will become a special people among all the nations and we will be a holy nation of priests.”

The key word here is “LISTEN”.

Are these words applicable to us today? Of course they are. Jesus broke away the last vestiges of nationalism and tribalism within this religious experience of the Jews and invited all of the people of the world into this understanding of God. Remember his last words in Matthew: “Go now and make disciples of all the people in the other parts of the world.”

Perhaps we feel somewhat like these traumatized people of Israel today. They had been on a forced march through the wilderness to escape the Egyptians. They barely made it and soon were confronted with an entirely new challenge for survival in a place they did not know. It was all new terrain for them with their old culture and their old practices just not working for them anymore.

We find ourselves in world that has never seen so much change in such a short time in the entire history of humanity.

Our lives are changing before our eyes. Our culture is changing. What offered us a sense of security only a few years ago is gone. We don’t trust our financial institutions. We barely trust our political leaders. We find that with the commercialization of everything you cannot trust the products in the store to do what the advertisement claims it will do for us.

And when we enter into such times of uncertainty and challenge there is a kind of an involuntary reaction we go through—we pull back into our shell. We clam up. We stop trusting. We even become cynical and bitter at times. We are suspicious.

These are survival techniques that have served us well in the process of evolution. But these are techniques that lead us into loneliness and alienation. These are techniques we must respect but constantly adjust.

I too, suffer from these reactions. My family and I have lost much in our lives. Its hard to trust in a future when you have twice lost the land that you have loved and been launched into a new culture and country.

We all run the risk of over compensating for the uncertainty of these times and for the pain these circumstances bring.

Just yesterday I listened briefly to some of the GM dealership owners talking about how hard it was to receive a letter from GM telling them that their dealerships are to be closed.

For some it’s the end of a dream. Life long plans have just been destroyed. Dreams are being shattered.

On Friday I spoke with Myrtle van Dyke’s daughter and I heard the sorrow in her voice as she spoke of the death of her mother. Yes, her mother had lived a full life and died at a ripe age—but sorrow is sorrow.

How easy it is for us to loose our focus in life and lose our way and draw back and become lonely and sorrowful and pained.

God says: “if you listen to my voice…”

Are we still listening for God’s voice? No. I don’t mean that voice we hear of in the jokes we make. I am talking of listening with more than our ears. By opening ourselves up to the love of God. By letting go of the baggage of all the things that clutter our minds including our sorrow, our sense of failure in things we had wished to accomplish, our anger at the collapse of our savings, our resentment toward the politics of the day, our fears of being lonely, our disappointment in others, and the uncertainty of our times…we can still find a place where we know that we are in the midst of the sacred.

I visited people on Friday and watched them and listened carefully to what they where saying and I saw two people who loved one another and treated each other with such respect and gentleness. I heard of lives lived through hard times tempered by love. I knew that in the ordinariness of our conversation and friendship there was something sacred and beautiful to be celebrated and I went home in awe of the experience thinking how fortunate I am to know such people and call them my friends.

In the midst of the noise of this world and the uncertainty of our times what matters more than to have people around you to love and who love you back? We have enough to eat. This land will always offer us enough to eat. We have a safe place to sleep. No one here does not have a safe place to sleep that I am aware of. We have access to wonderful hospitals. Even if you don’t have money you will be treated. We have police officers making sure everyone can live safely. We have roads that are well kept. How immeasurably fortunate we are.

And all God asks of us is to “listen to God’s voice…”

Yes, we too are called by God. That includes you. Its no use asking “why pick on me, God?” You are part of the team.

What do you hear God saying to you today?

I hear God saying; “Stop trying to fix the world and your life by worrying. Stop worrying about your 401 K. You will survive much better than you think.

Stop trying to save the world all in one gulp and start loving at least 1 stranger this week through the way you talk to them. Approach the cashier at the till with a kind word; reach out to a neighbor and let them know you appreciate them, even though you may be feeling anxious or sad or lost. It is in the act of being human to others that we discover that this is the sacred pleasure of life. This is being God to others. And we will find that in expending the effort we in turn are rejuvenated. We in turn experience God’s presence.

I hear God calling this church to look beyond the challenges of paying the utilities and figuring out the future. Imagine the bags of rice and beans being delivered in our names in the years to come. Imagine the child soaping herself down with the soap you placed in the RCS basket. Look at the small child in the pre school hearing that they are beautiful and precious and countering the voice of an abusive parent who yells at them. Receive that vision of co creating a space where all of God’s people are welcome—all of them. See the elderly person dying surrounded by people they care about, and with someone from Faith there as a witness to the love and acre of this congregation.

We have achieved so much over the past 50 years. I truly believe God is constantly calling us to new challenges. But one thing I believe with all my heart and that is that God’s call is filled with the deepest love for you and me. The deepest wish for our well being. The deepest desire to see us as fulfilled people despite our painful experiences, ongoing and past.

You and I, dear Friend, we are part of this wonderful world with its beauty and hope. There are many challenges. But let’s remember how you eat an elephant…one bite at a time. Let’s begin to understand that God’s call to us is not a booming voice but a variety of experiences and realities pushing us to be the incredible people we are designed to be. Forget about the fleshpots of Egypt, let’s be off on our sacred safari into God’s wonderful wilderness. Amen.

Sermon based on:

Exodus 19:1-8 (The Five Books of Moses)
On the third New-Moon after the going-out of the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt,
on that very day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai
They followed the route from Rephidim, arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai,
and set up camp. Israel camped there facing the mountain.
Now Moses went up to meet God.
God called down to him from the mountain:
“Speak to the House of Jacob.
Tell the Children of Israel:
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt
and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me.
So now,
if you will listen yes, listen to My voice
and keep my covenant,
you shall be to me a special treasure from among all peoples.
Indeed, all the earth is mine,
but you shall be to me
a kingdom of priests,
a holy nation.’
These are the words that you are to speak to them.
This is what I want you to tell the Children of Israel.”
Moses came back and called the elders of Israel together and set before them all these words which God had commanded him.
And all the people answered together,
They said, “All that God has spoken, we will do.”
And Moses reported the words of the people to God.