Challenging Order
Notes
Transcript
The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’ ” As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
The Lord spoke to Moses, “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” They didn’t know what it was.
Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion, he sent them into his vineyard.
“Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing. He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.’ And they went.
“Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’
“ ‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied.
“He responded, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’ When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’
“But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”
I typically do not use an Old Testament and New Testament text for the same sermon, especially text that is as long as these two. But, this week is different because I think when we look at the two together and use the Old Testament text as a map for the Gospel text, the Gospel text’s meaning is deeper. You may ask how that is possible so let us dive into what the texts are talking about and then look at the meaning within our lives today.
It only makes sense for us to start by looking at the text in Exodus first. This text finds the Israelites in the wilderness after escaping the Egyptians. The Israelites are in the wilderness for 40 years before the get to go into the Promised Land. The Israelites had lived under Egyptian rule for some time and they had forgotten what it was like to live own their own. The Egyptians had provided them with a place to live and food to eat. While their life was not that good as they were slaves for the Egyptians, they did not have to worry about finding food or shelter.
While in the wilderness they did not have those things provided for them. There was no ready shelter to take cover from weather. There was no place for protection from wild animals. There was no place where food was offered. They we far enough in the country that McDonalds had not found its way out to that location. Life was not easy and the Israelites are upset.
Let me say this, God could have made their journey short and easy if God had wanted to but it was neither a short or easy journey. God could have taken the Israelites the short easy route to the Promised Land. But, what good would that have been. If the journey to the Promised Land had been easy the Israelites would have felt like they were back in Egypt and would have followed God quickly but their love for God would be shallow. This shallow faith would mean that when they struggled they would have turned from God. So, God takes them the long way so that their faith would grow and be deep and strong.
The Israelites complain about their hunger and God provides. He provides all the same thing and the same amount. While some ate more they ate till they were full and could not save more than anyone else. This is because the food would spoil before morning if it were saved for later. The way the Israelites were fed while in the wilderness put everyone on the same level.
The ability to purchase better food, separated the Israelites on class or finances prior to the wilderness journey. But, the wilderness changed that. The wilderness feeding was a way of challenging the order of society. The least was fed at the same time as the “most” important member of the community.
Then the parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 20 challenges order too. Many might look at this text as an example of socialism since it talks about everyone getting the same amount of pay but that is why we have to look at this in context with the Exodus text. What both of these texts do is challenge the order that we understand. Like Exodus, Matthew changes the order of how people get paid. The importance is not on how much they work or how much they produce but on the agreement that they made.
What does these texts tells us today? How does the scriptures today challenge the orders that we understand? This is the challenge as our society is different than the one Jesus or the Israelites are in but it is very similar. While we do not receive the same pay for working less hours we do have classes based on financial status. Those who are secure and do not have to worry about where their next meal will come from. Then we have those who wonder when they will get their next meal.
The challenge for us, based on the text, is this should not be the case. We should not allow this to happen. We should be willing to take care of those who don’t have and challenge the order of society as it is known.