Give us this day
Commentary
The signs of grace continue, in spite of the resumption of complaints. Though they take out their frustrations on Moses and Aaron, it is really God who is the object of their murmuring. But God is gracious. Though they do not deserve it, God provides for them. In last week's lesson it was a cloud. Now it is manna and quail, though the focus is on the former. Manna was a natural substance, the sticky product of a wood-louse that fell to the ground and crystallized. The miracle was in its quantity.
We see in this story another example of why the book of Exodus is so basic to the development of the idea of the Kingdom of God, the fullness of which is seen in the life of Christ. Here in the account of the manna is the seed that grew into important elements of the worship life of the people when they came together in tabernacle and temple, and which finally ripened fully in the work of Christ. When he taught his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," he was teaching them to live in trust. (A more likely translation, "Give us this day our bread for tomorrow" does not indicate lack of trust. A day laborer, praying such a petition at the end of the day, was asking to be free from anxiety for bread for the coming day.) The early church came to understand that the bread Jesus shared before his crucifixion and that they shared in the Eucharist was also a sign of God's full grace -- both physical and spiritual.
How difficult it is to trust God one day at a time! Yet, that difficult lesson, taught to the people of Israel at this important juncture as they were about to set out into the wilderness with all of its uncertainties -- that is the clue to life in the Kingdom. "Tomorrow will bring worries of its own," says Jesus (Matthew 6:24). So we are to trust for each day at a time.
My wife and I enjoy canoeing from our home to a village several miles away. Through lakes and rivers we must trust that if we follow the direction we know is right, it will bring us to our destination. Though at times we can see only a few yards ahead, we know that the river will take us to the village. We move on, one small segment of the trip at a time. And so it is with life. One day followed by another, and each with the promise that God is with us.
Philippians 1:21-30
If the Israelites are a complaining lot, grousing about their sorry state in life, Paul serves as their contrast. Though he had much about which to complain, he is ready for whatever comes -- death or life.
We should begin by noting that it is not an especially "Christian" virtue to face death valiantly. Atheists and hardened criminals are often calm and sanguine in their last hours. In some cultures one can find a sense of reckless abandon, based on the philosophy that one's time will come no sooner or later than fate has dictated. But for Paul it is not simply recognition of the inevitable, or resignation to fate. For him, life is bound up in an understanding that all of life, every day and every moment, is wrapped into his life in Christ.
In a series titled "Fourteen Consolations" Luther writes about the Christian understanding of death. Yes, death is the "last enemy." But, says Luther, for the believer there is also "the love of this blessing of death." How can that be? It is because death, oddly enough, is the means by which death is overcome. "Death is indeed the greatest blessing as it delivers us from these perils and cuts sin fully away from us." It is only through death that we can be free from sin. (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, pp. 149-150.) This is not so easy for us to accept, as Luther learned when his little daughter died. Yet, even in that tragedy he found hope in the Gospel promises. This is what distinguishes believer from unbeliever. Because the latter does not know the depth of sin, that person cannot appreciate that death can be a friend.
But Paul is not so drawn to death that he sees no reason to live. "To remain in the flesh is more necessary for you." It has been suggested that Paul is like the loving and faithful wife whose husband is abroad and asks her to come to him. She wants to go. But she is torn by her obligation to remain with her children.
Philippians 1:27-30 may indicate that there was some complaining and unrest among the Philippian believers. Like the Hebrew people, they are only setting out on their journey as Christians. They have probably already suffered for the faith. They wonder when it will be over. Paul is forthright. They must expect that it will be this way. In fact, they should consider it a favor that God has chosen them to suffer for the Gospel.
What should give them hope, however, is that they do not suffer alone. "You are having the same struggle that you saw I had," writes Paul. Though separated, they are one in their suffering for Christ.
Matthew 20:1-6
The parable is clearly not intended to be a thesis on economic policy! Those of us who worked our way through college and seminary can appreciate the anxiety of these day laborers who depend on minimum wages to survive. We can also understand the anger they felt toward what seemed to be an unjust system.
The first step in unraveling this odd parable is to link it with what Jesus has just said in 19:16-30. It then becomes clear that Jesus is not speaking to society at large, but to "insiders," to those who have agreed to follow him. He has just said to them that among the faithful "many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30). Those who "worked only one hour" stand on equal footing with those who toiled through "the burden of the day and the scorching heat."
We say we understand the point of the parable -- that everything is by grace and jealousy is not acceptable among Christians. But it is not easy. It has been my observation as a bishop -- and confirmed by those who work with congregations in a variety of settings -- that the most challenging pastoral calling is in those places where a long-established congregation is overtaken by a new community. It may be an urban congregation in a changing neighborhood, or a traditional church on the edge of a growing urban setting, or a congregation in a community where immigrants have suddenly settled. It is easy to say that we accept everyone, even welcome them. But when the minister puts forth special effort to welcome those newcomers, he or she can expect murmuring and opposition.
Jesus wants us to understand that we do not live as solitary individuals, each jealous for our own "fair share." We are to see ourselves as part of a community where God will be fair and just -- but also incredibly generous. That is God's prerogative. Once we get that idea into our heads, difficult thought it may be, we will begin to find genuine joy in the good fortune that comes to those who may not come into the kingdom until five in the afternoon.
Suggestions For Preaching
In visits to scores of countries and a broad variety of communities and churches in this country, I have always been impressed by the generosity of those who have so little. In places where I felt I should have emptied my pockets and taken the shirt off my back, I have received generous gifts from Christian brothers and sisters living in abject poverty. In contrast, I have been shocked again and again by the incredible stinginess I have seen in places of wealth and privilege. While there are exceptions, I have also learned that the poorest congregations in the West are by comparison unbelievably wealthy when compared to congregations in many places in India, Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
At this time of the year many congregations are preparing for stewardship emphasis, laying the groundwork for commitments for 1997. While we may employ a variety of tools to promote good stewardship, our best resource is in our preaching. Preaching forthrightly on the texts for this day is our most effective tool for reminding our people that we have little to complain about, that most are blessed beyond what they can imagine, and that it is out of contentment with who we are and what we have that we learn to be generous.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Exodus 16:2-15
Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a complaint and a prayer. It also may appear that the good Lord doesn't make much of a distinction, honoring the former as the latter.
It's tempting to come down on the Hebrews with both feet. They have benefited by a double intervention, the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea. Having entered the wilderness, they have also learned of Moses' way with water, sweetening a bitter well (vv. 22-25). If any people should have known God's willingness to provide, it should have been these newly freed slaves.
But instead of enumerating divine signs, the people of the exodus have begun to tally their complaints. Assured that they don't have to fear the diseases that fell upon the Egyptians (v. 26), they reply that they would almost rather -- at least in slavery, there was plenty to eat! "Now we're starved and there isn't a restaurant in this god-forsaken barrenness."
English includes a whole range of words prefixed by "re-": reply, return, repeat, regret, recrimination, and revenge. In each use, the prefix signals a circular movement in which a person or people come back to something left behind and begin to enclose it, moving round and round it, thinking and rethinking what has been left behind, given up, lost or forfeited. Having just moved into the wilderness, the people of Israel are already circling -- in their emotions if not yet in the land. So they complain, losing all sign of grace in remembrances of loss.
Luther used to say, "As you believe, so shall it be done to you." When we get so caught up in ourselves, start recycling past hurts, continue to imagine forms of retribution, return repeatedly to rehearsals of revenge, the good Lord may very well leave us in the circle.
But it is also possible that the God of the resurrection -- the ultimate re- prefix -- may break into the circle with a new beginning. So here, God takes Israel's complaint as a prayer, answering beyond all human possibility by coating the whole surrounding region with manna. There are even some quail, bobwhiting their way through the feed -- an implicit promise that where there's bread, there will soon also be meat.
How does a person know the difference? When does God leave a complaint at face value and when convert such griping to prayer? Maybe the difference is the reality of the need. The Hebrews couldn't go anywhere without bread. More likely, it is grace. He loves his enemies, even when we ourselves can't tell the difference between our prayers and our groans.
We see in this story another example of why the book of Exodus is so basic to the development of the idea of the Kingdom of God, the fullness of which is seen in the life of Christ. Here in the account of the manna is the seed that grew into important elements of the worship life of the people when they came together in tabernacle and temple, and which finally ripened fully in the work of Christ. When he taught his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," he was teaching them to live in trust. (A more likely translation, "Give us this day our bread for tomorrow" does not indicate lack of trust. A day laborer, praying such a petition at the end of the day, was asking to be free from anxiety for bread for the coming day.) The early church came to understand that the bread Jesus shared before his crucifixion and that they shared in the Eucharist was also a sign of God's full grace -- both physical and spiritual.
How difficult it is to trust God one day at a time! Yet, that difficult lesson, taught to the people of Israel at this important juncture as they were about to set out into the wilderness with all of its uncertainties -- that is the clue to life in the Kingdom. "Tomorrow will bring worries of its own," says Jesus (Matthew 6:24). So we are to trust for each day at a time.
My wife and I enjoy canoeing from our home to a village several miles away. Through lakes and rivers we must trust that if we follow the direction we know is right, it will bring us to our destination. Though at times we can see only a few yards ahead, we know that the river will take us to the village. We move on, one small segment of the trip at a time. And so it is with life. One day followed by another, and each with the promise that God is with us.
Philippians 1:21-30
If the Israelites are a complaining lot, grousing about their sorry state in life, Paul serves as their contrast. Though he had much about which to complain, he is ready for whatever comes -- death or life.
We should begin by noting that it is not an especially "Christian" virtue to face death valiantly. Atheists and hardened criminals are often calm and sanguine in their last hours. In some cultures one can find a sense of reckless abandon, based on the philosophy that one's time will come no sooner or later than fate has dictated. But for Paul it is not simply recognition of the inevitable, or resignation to fate. For him, life is bound up in an understanding that all of life, every day and every moment, is wrapped into his life in Christ.
In a series titled "Fourteen Consolations" Luther writes about the Christian understanding of death. Yes, death is the "last enemy." But, says Luther, for the believer there is also "the love of this blessing of death." How can that be? It is because death, oddly enough, is the means by which death is overcome. "Death is indeed the greatest blessing as it delivers us from these perils and cuts sin fully away from us." It is only through death that we can be free from sin. (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, pp. 149-150.) This is not so easy for us to accept, as Luther learned when his little daughter died. Yet, even in that tragedy he found hope in the Gospel promises. This is what distinguishes believer from unbeliever. Because the latter does not know the depth of sin, that person cannot appreciate that death can be a friend.
But Paul is not so drawn to death that he sees no reason to live. "To remain in the flesh is more necessary for you." It has been suggested that Paul is like the loving and faithful wife whose husband is abroad and asks her to come to him. She wants to go. But she is torn by her obligation to remain with her children.
Philippians 1:27-30 may indicate that there was some complaining and unrest among the Philippian believers. Like the Hebrew people, they are only setting out on their journey as Christians. They have probably already suffered for the faith. They wonder when it will be over. Paul is forthright. They must expect that it will be this way. In fact, they should consider it a favor that God has chosen them to suffer for the Gospel.
What should give them hope, however, is that they do not suffer alone. "You are having the same struggle that you saw I had," writes Paul. Though separated, they are one in their suffering for Christ.
Matthew 20:1-6
The parable is clearly not intended to be a thesis on economic policy! Those of us who worked our way through college and seminary can appreciate the anxiety of these day laborers who depend on minimum wages to survive. We can also understand the anger they felt toward what seemed to be an unjust system.
The first step in unraveling this odd parable is to link it with what Jesus has just said in 19:16-30. It then becomes clear that Jesus is not speaking to society at large, but to "insiders," to those who have agreed to follow him. He has just said to them that among the faithful "many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30). Those who "worked only one hour" stand on equal footing with those who toiled through "the burden of the day and the scorching heat."
We say we understand the point of the parable -- that everything is by grace and jealousy is not acceptable among Christians. But it is not easy. It has been my observation as a bishop -- and confirmed by those who work with congregations in a variety of settings -- that the most challenging pastoral calling is in those places where a long-established congregation is overtaken by a new community. It may be an urban congregation in a changing neighborhood, or a traditional church on the edge of a growing urban setting, or a congregation in a community where immigrants have suddenly settled. It is easy to say that we accept everyone, even welcome them. But when the minister puts forth special effort to welcome those newcomers, he or she can expect murmuring and opposition.
Jesus wants us to understand that we do not live as solitary individuals, each jealous for our own "fair share." We are to see ourselves as part of a community where God will be fair and just -- but also incredibly generous. That is God's prerogative. Once we get that idea into our heads, difficult thought it may be, we will begin to find genuine joy in the good fortune that comes to those who may not come into the kingdom until five in the afternoon.
Suggestions For Preaching
In visits to scores of countries and a broad variety of communities and churches in this country, I have always been impressed by the generosity of those who have so little. In places where I felt I should have emptied my pockets and taken the shirt off my back, I have received generous gifts from Christian brothers and sisters living in abject poverty. In contrast, I have been shocked again and again by the incredible stinginess I have seen in places of wealth and privilege. While there are exceptions, I have also learned that the poorest congregations in the West are by comparison unbelievably wealthy when compared to congregations in many places in India, Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
At this time of the year many congregations are preparing for stewardship emphasis, laying the groundwork for commitments for 1997. While we may employ a variety of tools to promote good stewardship, our best resource is in our preaching. Preaching forthrightly on the texts for this day is our most effective tool for reminding our people that we have little to complain about, that most are blessed beyond what they can imagine, and that it is out of contentment with who we are and what we have that we learn to be generous.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Exodus 16:2-15
Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a complaint and a prayer. It also may appear that the good Lord doesn't make much of a distinction, honoring the former as the latter.
It's tempting to come down on the Hebrews with both feet. They have benefited by a double intervention, the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea. Having entered the wilderness, they have also learned of Moses' way with water, sweetening a bitter well (vv. 22-25). If any people should have known God's willingness to provide, it should have been these newly freed slaves.
But instead of enumerating divine signs, the people of the exodus have begun to tally their complaints. Assured that they don't have to fear the diseases that fell upon the Egyptians (v. 26), they reply that they would almost rather -- at least in slavery, there was plenty to eat! "Now we're starved and there isn't a restaurant in this god-forsaken barrenness."
English includes a whole range of words prefixed by "re-": reply, return, repeat, regret, recrimination, and revenge. In each use, the prefix signals a circular movement in which a person or people come back to something left behind and begin to enclose it, moving round and round it, thinking and rethinking what has been left behind, given up, lost or forfeited. Having just moved into the wilderness, the people of Israel are already circling -- in their emotions if not yet in the land. So they complain, losing all sign of grace in remembrances of loss.
Luther used to say, "As you believe, so shall it be done to you." When we get so caught up in ourselves, start recycling past hurts, continue to imagine forms of retribution, return repeatedly to rehearsals of revenge, the good Lord may very well leave us in the circle.
But it is also possible that the God of the resurrection -- the ultimate re- prefix -- may break into the circle with a new beginning. So here, God takes Israel's complaint as a prayer, answering beyond all human possibility by coating the whole surrounding region with manna. There are even some quail, bobwhiting their way through the feed -- an implicit promise that where there's bread, there will soon also be meat.
How does a person know the difference? When does God leave a complaint at face value and when convert such griping to prayer? Maybe the difference is the reality of the need. The Hebrews couldn't go anywhere without bread. More likely, it is grace. He loves his enemies, even when we ourselves can't tell the difference between our prayers and our groans.
