It's Hard Out Here, Where Is My Milk and Honey?
This is the text for my sermon for our mid-week Lenten services. We are focusing on the examples of faith as listed in Hebrews 11. Specifically, this week's text was Hebrews 11.1; 29-40.
Has anyone watched the Bible
mini-series?
If you have, or if you haven’t,
but listened to the reading I just did from the letter to the Hebrews, there is
one thing that is clear; being a part of the church has never been a picnic.
I have watched both episodes of
“The Bible” so far, I got into a hotel in St. Paul just in time for it to
start. I have some problems with the series, over what stories they chose to
show and which ones they didn’t. But overall, I hope they are achieving their
goal of wanting people to enter into the Bible narrative by actually entering
into the Bible. That means picking it up, opening it up, sitting down and
reading it.
But the stories they have shown,
especially last Sunday’s episode which covers the people and events that are in
today’s text, they show what a struggle it was for the people of Israel to
claim the land that God had promised to them
For the
Israelites, they had to wonder, when do we get the milk and honey? They had
been rescued from slavery by God, and led by Moses. But in their exodus, they
tried to rely on themselves and make demands of God, so God kept them on the
road to the Promised Land. God just sent them by the forty year scenic route.
When
they finally got to the Promised Land, they must have thought, finally, now we
can have peace. But they had to fight to claim the land, and they had to fight
to keep it. Everyday was a struggle; where is the milk and honey?
The
story of their time in the Promised Land is a mix of good and bad. They have
times of great success, led by strong leaders, like Samson, David and Solomon.
They have times of great struggle, led by flawed leaders, like Samson, David
and Solomon. There were times to celebrate and time to weep and mourn. Everyday
was a struggle; where is the milk and honey?
This letter
was written to the newly converted Hebrew-Christians who were dealing with
struggles of their own. While they treasured the love of God they felt and the
fellowship of their fellow converts, they were also persecuted for their new
found beliefs. They were challenged, abused, arrested, mistreated, imprisoned,
beaten and martyred for refusing to renounce their faith. Everyday was a
struggle; where is the milk and honey?
We feel
that way as well. When is it gonna stop? When are things going to go MY way?
When do I get a chance to be on top? When is it going to be easy? Everyday is a
struggle; where is the milk and honey?
It is
like that for the Church and various church bodies. The leaders of the Roman
Catholic church just elected a new pope, Pope Francis. I stopped in Hudson on
the drive back when I got a message there was white smoke at the Vatican, and
watched him be presented while I was having lunch. Already, there are
complaints that he is too liberal, not liberal enough, outside of the
mainstream, has his own agenda and too friendly with other traditions.
There
are troubles closer to home. Our synod will be electing a bishop at the Synod
Assembly this June. There is uncertainty about who may be the candidates, what
their agendas may be, how they will shape our common mission.
Luther
Seminary, the largest seminary in the ELCA and where I just spent the past 3
days, lost millions of dollars last year, and is undergoing a massive
restructuring. The staff, faculty and students are facing an uncertain future,
and they are worried.
Many of the churches around us here are in a time of
crisis and discernment. Pastors are leaving their calls, which is creating uncertainty. Other churches are having budget problems. It seems like
everyday is a struggle; where is the milk and honey?
It isn’t
going to be easy, because life isn’t easy. Life is a challenge day after day,
hour after hour. The land of milk and honey sounds good, but getting milk and
honey are hard work. To get honey, you must put up with challenging a hive of
bees. And I don’t have to tell you how hard getting milk is … the lines at Kwik
Trip can be quite long. (to explain this joke - thereby nullifying it - my churches are in a dairy producing area, and I grew up in a large urban area and have no expertise on the dairy business.)
Our
blessings that come from God are not guarantees that life will be easy; they
are guarantees that this life is not the end, but the beginning. Our faith, our
belief, our trust is in God. We have faith that God loves us and cares for us.
A well
known Jewish scholar of the late 20th century, Rabbi Abraham Heschel talked about faith and
the role of prayer. He said: The primary purpose of prayer is
not to make requests. The primary purpose of prayer is to praise, … Prayer may not
save us, but prayer may make us worthy of being saved.
Our
faith is trusting that our God, the God of Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and David and Moses and Joshua and Rahab and Gideon and Samson and Samuel and
David and Solomon and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Malachi and Habakkuk loves us and
will always be with us, no matter how long it rains or snows.
P Now faith
is the assurance of things hoped for,
C and the conviction of things not seen.
Comments