With One Voice
Proper 21B-24
Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago
Moses has finally had enough. He has confronted Pharoah, eluded the Egyptian army, crossed the Red Sea, come face to face with God at Mt. Sinai, delivered the Ten Commandments (not once but twice) but now he’s at the end of his rope. ‘Just kill me now,’ he says to God.
What’s put Moses over the edge? The complaint seems like such small potatoes. The people cried out that they preferred their life as slaves in Egypt because they were sick of the freedom food God provided them in the desert. They couldn’t even look at it. Manna, literally ‘what’s it?’ The people are literally weeping at the door of their tents because they don’t have any meat. In response, God will ultimately provide quail in addition to water and manna. (Numbers 11:31-35). But the story underscores just how difficult it can be for us to change, even when that change is manifestly good.
I think of Cypher in The Matrix who strikes a bargain with the slave-masters because he is sick of the Malt-O-Meal like ooze the free people of Zion eat every day. It was not for 30 pieces of silver, but a fake steak, that he betrayed his crew and all humankind. Cypher said to his Overlords, “You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious.” But it’s not real. Cypher preferred a big juicy lie to the hard plain truth. Do we sometimes fall into the same trap? Little problems nag us until we lose sight of the big picture, and strike a bad bargain?
I shake my head at my ancestors in faith and at characters like Cypher, but I must acknowledge I have mostly failed to eat less meat as I have planned to do in response to the climate crisis. Changing habits is not easy. Remember that eating manna wasn’t just about eating tasteless food. It also meant participating in an economy of just-enough-ness. The manna economy God imposed prevented anyone from storing up extra manna for tomorrow. Each person could take only what they needed for the day. That meant no one could make a buck selling it or controlling it. Leftover manna quickly spoiled and became rotten. Eating what was provided required trust in God’s providence for their daily bread.
I wonder, what it would be like to live with just-enough? How much would I have to sacrifice to live in balance with what the planet can provide equally for everyone? Would I, like my ancestors in the desert, be willing to sacrifice my freedom to sustain my standard of living? This is exactly the bargain people in countries like China are making today –at least—it is the bargain the ruling party has offered them to keep the peace.
Change is difficult even when it is demonstrably good. Moses and the Israelites were learning how to adjust to their newfound freedom. Another challenge was the shift to shared leadership. Again, this change was good. Moses was burned out. He had become a one-man bottleneck addressing the disputes and attending to the needs of the people. So, God distributed a small share of the spirit placed upon Moses among 70 leaders in the camp. Of course, no sooner had they done so when two of the newly appointed and anointed leaders, Eldad and Medad, were accused of not properly following orders. But Moses said to [them], “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29).
Shared leadership meant surrendering control. The disciples also demanded Jesus stop someone doing the Lord’s work because he was operating outside their franchise beyond their control. Notice, the disciples want Jesus to prevent someone from doing what they have failed to do (just a few chapters before). They complain that ‘…he [is] not following us” (Mark 9:38-39). They did not say he is not following you, Lord Christ.
“Envy and jealousy are near-sighted sins. They limit our vision and focus our attention on ourselves and our status” (Culpepper, p. 323). Western religions tend to teach that we are punished for our sins. Yet could it be rather that we are punished by our sins? Through water and the word, through bread and wine, Jesus said, you are salted with fire and purified by grace for the flourishing of the whole world. The antidote to sin and the resistance to positive change is salt. The Holy Spirit transforms our bitterness and the things that spoil community. A little salt might have been all Cypher needed.
Jesus says salt is a good metaphor for how grace is working in us now. I may be stubbornly resistant to change, even to changes that are manifestly good, but God’s grace working in me helps me open to what is good and true –even when it may be hard or require sacrifice.
What can salt do? Salt lowers the melting point of ice and raises the boiling point of water. The salt of grace opens hearts and deepens compassion to help us avoid conflicts that would otherwise boil over in us and among us. Can the salt of grace help us prevail in the Middle East, in Sudan, and in Ukraine to bring lasting peace?
Salt blends flavors together to make them complementary. Any good chef knows spice can add flavor on the outside, but salt changes the texture and flavor of food from the inside out. Salt welcomes diversity. Dwelling in the presence and promises of God makes us salty. Jesus said, ‘by their fruits you shall know them,’ (Matthew 7:20). We pray for the salt of grace overcome religious division and prejudice so all people of faith may with one voice sing praises to God.
It was Martin Luther who taught us to recognize the Christian gospel anywhere and everywhere at work in the world. Luther said, ‘whatever preaches Christ is the pure and salty gospel, even if Judas Iscariot said it. Conversely, whatever doesn’t preach Christ is not the gospel, even if Saints Peter or Paul said it.’ It is the salty heart of faith that recognizes the truth about our siblings in Christ –even when we disagree, even when we play for opposing teams, even though we belong to different religious tribes.
God can use whatever flavor you bring to season the world. As we deepen unity with God, we become more fully ourselves, unique and distinct. With the salt of grace, God has prepared a banquet from the meager stuff of our lives. Bring me who you are. Bring me your weaknesses. I will strengthen them. Bring me your doubts. I will quiet them. Bring me your shortcomings and your limitations. I will season them. Like salt that is poured out from the saltshaker we are cast into the world. Let us follow Christ Jesus on the way of the cross. Let us be salty so that the whole world may know of God’s grace.
