What’s There to Celebrate?

19th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/29/24 Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 What’s There to Celebrate? I. When your service is despised? II. When your calling is a failure? III. When the Lord finally responds? If you look hard enough, I’m sure you can find someone celebrating something for some reason at some time somewhere. For instance, I’m sure there’s a local merchant celebrating an anniversary this week and you have an open invitation to celebrate it with them, meaning, come and buy some of their stuff. Perhaps this week you’ll have an opportunity to celebrate a birthday or wedding anniversary. If it’s not your own, you might be invited to celebrate one with a friend, relative, neighbor, or co-worker. And did you know that today in the USA we’re actually celebrating four things? Imagine that! September 29 is National Wildlife Refuge Day, VFW Day, Coffee Day, and Gold Star Mother’s and Family Day. So, there. If you didn’t have a reason to celebrate something today, you do now. And our natural inclination is to enjoy celebrations. They’re fun. They’re exciting. They’re a departure from the daily grind. They’re an opportunity to gather with loved ones and friends. Celebrations by definition are enjoyable! Until they aren’t. Until they become a lot of work. Until they become an intrusion into what you were planning and hoping to do that day. Until they become an interruption in what would have been a great day to just sit in your favorite chair and do nothing. Or, worst of all, when the celebration turns into a disaster. It gets ugly. It blows up. Those celebrating get hurt, emotionally or even physically. Today’s worship theme reminds us that we have the precious opportunity to celebrate serving the Lord. It reminds us to be thrilled when others join us in serving the Lord. It reminds us that true Christian discipleship is not about being served, but serving, just as Jesus did. Christians serving others is a cause for celebration. Until it isn’t. Until things start going south. Until the negativity comes rolling in and obliterates the celebration. Do you know what that’s like? I’m sure you do. So did Moses, the leader of God’s people. So did the Lord, the Maker and Savior of God’s people. We have an account of that very thing here in Numbers 11. Our worship theme encourages us to celebrate, but, when your experience in serving others is similar to what happened here, what’s there to celebrate? What’s there to celebrate? Let’s ask that question and see what answer this portion of God’s word provides. I. This morning’s sermon text begins with a rather peculiar phrase: “the rabble.” That doesn’t sound like a complimentary term. And you’re right, it isn’t. Things start ominously with that term and proceed to get worse by the end of the opening verse. Just what’s going on here? The rabble were Egyptians who had mingled into the nation of the Israelites. Perhaps they had married Jewish people. At any rate, they were on this journey with God’s people from Egypt to the Promised Land. In fact, that journey had just begun. They had barely left Egypt and here’s what occurred, “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!’ Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents.” It's as if they recalled their 400 years in Egypt fondly. You would think by their recollection that they had left some posh, all-inclusive Egyptian resort situated by the sea with palm trees overhead and umbrella drinks in their hands—every day! But the food or the environment or their daily trek weren’t at the heart of their complaints. Their complaints were actually directed at Moses. They blamed him for their unhappiness. They didn’t appreciate all that he had done and was doing for them. They conveniently forgot what a faithful leader he was. In short, they despised Moses and his authority. But their complaints went deeper than that. At the root of their problem with Moses was their rebellion against the Lord. The Lord hadn’t decided to lead them out of slavery in Egypt because the Children of Israel were so wonderful. Just the opposite. He decided to lead them out of slavery in Egypt in spite of the fact that the Children of Israel were terrible, and this is another incident of it. So, here they are, God’s people heading to the Promised Land—a joyful event! Miraculous, when you consider it. It should have been celebrated. But what’s there to celebrate when your service is despised, like the Children of Isreal despised the service of Moses and the Lord? II. And we’re not surprised by the reaction of Moses. From a human standpoint he served well. The Lord even commended him for his humble service and revealed himself to Moses in ways no other human has experienced. But there was nothing for Moses to celebrate here. That’s because he felt like a failure. Listen again to his words, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” Did you hear it?! Moses was so bold as to blame the Lord for the “unsuccess” of his service. At first that might sound like a sinfully foolish thing to do. But then we ponder his situation. Moses didn’t ask to be the leader of God’s people; God chose him for it. In fact, Moses objected to doing so, but the Lord compelled him. You can hear Mooses thinking, “I didn’t ask for this, Lord. You made me do it. And now look at the mess I’m in. If only you had left me alone.” But the Lord never asks us to do something for which he hasn’t equipped us. When he asks us to serve, he always gives us what we need to do so. He did so for Moses. He promised to do so for Moses. Moses simply failed to trust him for it. And his failure to trust the Lord landed him in despair. Did you hear it? He asked the Lord to kill him. “Please go ahead and kill me.” Yikes! He preferred death rather than continuing to serve as the greatest leader of the Children of Israel. Have you ever been there? Probably so. I hope not to the point of preferring death over serving the Lord, but close enough. We face a little difficulty in doing what we know pleases the Lord and we easily slip and fall headlong into depression and even despair. I know what that’s like. Those are dark days in my life, in your life. But don’t miss the major point of this account. III. There was a delay here. The Lord didn’t immediately come to Moses’ rescue the moment the difficulties arose. In fact, he could have prevented the difficulties from arising in the first place. But he didn’t. Why not? If he had, we probably wouldn’t be focusing on this event this morning. If serving the Lord was all peaches and cream, we’d be out there serving him, not in here having him serve us with word and sacrament. Delay occurred. A time for Moses to exercise his faith, put it to use by trusting in the Lord’s promises to him. There was contention here. The Children of Israel were wailing at the doors of their tents, ready to overthrow their current leader and head back to slavery in Egypt. But, at just the right time, the Lord acted. Only after Moses realized how much help he needed did the Lord provide it. He directed Moses to appoint 70 leaders to assist him in leading the people. The service to the people would be multiplied by a factor of 70. Incredible! Just what Moses and the people needed—more of God’s people serving God’s people! And when a moment of jealousy arose—two elders who had been absent from the appointment ceremony at the tabernacle, still received the gifts to assist Moses—Moses didn’t see it as an unwanted grab at his authority. On the contrary, he saw it as another reason to celebrate. He celebrated because the Lord had finally responded in a way that went beyond Moses’ expectations. What’s there to celebrate when the Lord finally responds? Well, quite a bit, actually. And let’s not forget it. Bottom line…things go well when you and I serve the Lord. Things go well when you and I decide to sacrifice a little and do what will help someone else. Things go well when we realize that we’re not here to be served, but to serve, as Jesus did. And when I say, “Things go well,” I don’t mean from your point of view, I mean from the Lord’s point of view. Sin is bound to occur when we serve the Lord. That’s because the last thing Satan and our sinful nature want is for us to serve in selfless love for others. But there’s where the love of Jesus comes into your life once again. Jesus is not about condemning you; he’s all about forgiving you, saving you, and motivating you to be the person he has made you by faith in him. A Christian. His dear child. Serve encourage others to serve along with you. And when they do, celebrate with them. Celebrate the truth that Jesus lives in you and empowers you to live for him. Celebrate it! Celebrate it very day of your Christian life! Amen.