Today, we are going to look at religious community and its relationship with its leadership. Let us start with Numbers 11.4. The King James Version has it read, “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting….” The New Revised reads, “The rabble among them had a strong craving.” The Hebrews left Egypt. Folks who were not Hebrew got swept up with them on their exodus. They are called the ‘mixed multitude’ or rabble and even riffraff in some translations. It was the grumbling, grousing non-Hebrew rabble that was complaining about the poor food provisions in the wilderness who started stirring up the people and got them complaining, too. Just like a little spark can get a fire going, so can negative, complaining grumblers. Negativity is a dangerous virus. It is deadly and spreads quickly.

Hear the Word of the Lord beginning with Number 11:4.

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-17, 24-25

⁴ The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” ¹⁰Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased.¹¹So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹²Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? ¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me.¹⁵If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”

¹⁶So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting and have them take their place there with you. ¹⁷I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.

²⁴So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people and placed them all around the tent. ²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.^[1]

The old Church campfire song reminds us it only takes a spark to get the fire going. It takes just a small group of people to set a whole community on fire with gossip, grousing, and complaining. Our Story chock-full with grumbling. We have the rabble along with the Hebrews complaining to Moses about the quality of their provisions. Then we have Moses hitting the proverbial wall. He complains to God for making him the leader of the twelve tribes of Jacob. Moses declares to the Lord, “C’mon, God, gimme a break! I can’t carry these people all by myself; I need some help!”

Today’s Story from Numbers is a story about leadership and its relationship with the faith community. Pastor and former editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, Jill Duffield, reminds us that by the time we meet Moses and the Hebrews in the wilderness, they are no longer pursued by Pharaoh and his army. Moses and the Hebrews are free from Egyptian threats. The Egyptians are no longer a threat to the Hebrews. Now, it’s God’s own chosen ones who are posing the greatest obstacles in reaching the promised land!^[2]. Let us first look at the issues of a community of faith and then we will look at its leadership.

As we look at the faith community, we read they were throwing up obstacles. These obstacles hindered reaching God’s goal of the promised land.

First, we hear in Numbers 11 a nostalgic longing for the way things used to be. The problem is, nostalgia has this propensity to forget the facts of what yesterday was really like. The people in verse 4 cry out, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt that cost nothing. We remember the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.” The longing for the fleshpots of Egypt. Is their memory really that short? Have they forgotten they were slaves who worked under the whip? Have they forgotten their food was free because they were conscripted labor for Pharaoh’s army and building projects? The people have painted this vision of a yesterday that never really was. This is the problem with nostalgia. It filters out all the unpleasantness.

Church is one place nostalgia is alive and well and it is not helpful. A nostalgic church creates for itself unnecessary obstacles that inhibit its progress. Nostalgia inhibits a faith community’s progress and growth because it is always looking backward comparing itself to yesterday’s wonder years.

“I remember when…” 

“Well, we used to do such and such like…” 

“We’ve never done it that way before!”

“We used to have packed pews on Sundays…” 

Churches are guilty of this spiritual nostalgia. 

Friends, looking backwards to celebrate past successes is fine. Looking backwards to learn from mistakes is fine. Looking backward with nostalgic romanticism is counterproductive. Imagine yourself out walking in a nearby woods. You must get from point A to point B. You decide to walk it facing backwards. You are looking at where you started. How do you think that will work for you? Can you see the tree blocking your way that you’re about to fall over? What about that steep embankment you’re about to tumble into? People do not walk into the future facing backwards because they will fall. 

A colleague of mine expressed it another way. He gave me an old key with a note attached. It read, “Old keys will not open new doors.” Nostalgia is when a church still believes this notion. It commits itself to the idea that old keys will turn the locks on the new doors of ministry today. 

“I remember when we had packed pews.” But do you also remember the dissension among the members in the church pews and parking lot?

“I remember when we gave $XYZ to missions.” But do you remember that a few wealthy families carried the budget, so you did not have to give as much?

I remember when the youth group was packed! But do you remember that back then, the pressures on young people were not as great as they are today? The demands of all the extracurricular activates, volunteer hours needed to graduate, homework, family time…it is tough to be a kid these days.

A second obstacle inhibiting the community to move ahead is that current troubles often overshadow the blessings. The community has already received these blessings. Present troubles often overshadow the blessings a community has already received. The Hebrews have forgotten they prayed for and received deliverance from bondage and slavery. They have forgotten how God parted the Red Sea as they escaped on dry land while an army pursued them. They developed amnesia about how God made water gush out of the rocks so the people quench their thirst. They have forgotten how when they were hungry. God provided manna, bread from heaven, to feed them on their journey. Beloved, when the going gets tough, what are the blessings we forget? Perhaps during hardship and rough times we should stop where we are. We should reflect on how God has provided for our need when we needed it. There is a difference between nostalgic longing and grateful remembrance.

I am currently having the Session read a book entitled, We Aren’t Broke. It reminds the church of the resources we do have. It helps avoid focusing on what we do not. It calls the church to shift from a mindset of scarcity (we don’t have). The goal is to adopt one of abundance (look at what God has blessed us with that we do have).

The third obstacle inhibiting the community to reach the promised land are negative attitudes that underlay their questions. We are not to fault the Hebrews for asking, “Hey God, what’s up?” We cannot fault Moses looking heavenward and demanding to God, “Hey, Lord! Gimme a break!”  What we can fault them for is the attitude that. They think, “If I (personally) cannot see an obvious solution, there is no solution possible.”^[3]  A negative, fatalistic attitude has the power to limit the scope of our vision and narrow possibilities. Negative attitudes move us to binary thinking. We see outcomes as either yes or no, this or that. It’s black or it’s white. It’s right or it’s wrong. Binary attitudes limit our scope and ability to see God’s visions. Either/or thinking limits; expanding to both/and thinking creates new ways ahead.

Nostalgia, forgetfulness, and negative binary thinking were obstacles for the Hebrews; they are for any church today. Moses is tired and needed help. So, because God is a God who answers prayers, God provides a solution. 

So, what is the solution? The solution is that God had Moses call out seventy elders or officers from the midst of the people. God would take some of the spirit that was in Moses. He would distribute it to these elders and officers. They too shall bear the burden and weight of responsibility of the people. Moses will stay at point. But, Moses is not alone anymore. Leadership is now shared.

This morning, you the members of this faith community will confirm God’s Spirit moving out over our people. You will choose the next group of church officers. They are presented to you, not because they are popular. They are not presented to you because they are rich. They are not presented to you because they are spiritual giants. No, they are people like you. They are chosen by God through your voice. They help carry the burden of leadership for this community. They are women and men who have said Yes! to answering the call of leadership. 

But friends, as you confirm their leadership, I am asking you to make a promise. I am asking you to promise not to place obstacles that hinder their leadership abilities. A promise that will not hinder their leadership as they guide our community with distorted nostalgia. Remember the many blessings we have. Refrain from negative, binary thinking. Church, can you do that?

And what does the people of God say? The people of God say, Amen.

© 2024 by Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 400 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls. They shall not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

^[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

^[2] Connections: Year B, Volume 3 (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) (Kindle Location 10305). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

^[3] Connections: Year B, Volume 3 (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) (p. 337). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.