Scripture Text (NRSV)
11:4 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites
also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat!
11:5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the
cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
11:6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but
this manna to look at."
11:10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at
the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and
Moses was displeased.
11:11 So 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?
11:12 Did 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?
11:13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come
weeping to me and say, 'Give us meat to eat!'
11:14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too
heavy for me.
11:15 If 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."
11:16 So 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.
11:24 So 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.
11:25 Then 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.
11:26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other
named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those
registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they
prophesied in the camp.
11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are
prophesying in the camp."
11:28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen
men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!"
11:29 But Moses said to him, "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!"
Comments:
notes: Walter Brueggemann describes the task of prophetic ministry as
a ministry which nurtures, nourishes and evokes a consciousness and
perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the
dominant culture around us.
How are these two men doing just that and who are they?
Eldad and Medad: literally one who is beloved and one loved by God
The EVERYMAN? just a thought... Michele in PA
What constitutes legitimate need and legitimate leadership is the
focus of this reading. God provides sustenance as manna to the people
in the desert, yet the people crave meat. What is truly needful? God
bestows the spirit on seventy elders in order to provide leadership
for the people, yet complaints are heard when two men not designated
as leaders prophesy in the power of God's spirit. What constitutes
real leadership?
Just a few thoughts...The "murmuring" in this text also seems to speak
to our rejection of God's providence and nourishment, our desire to
have God on our own terms. I am struck by the idea that the rabble
grew so weary of the wilderness that they longed for and romanticized
their enslavement in Egypt. How often do we also long to return to
familiar patterns, even destructive and enslaving ones, rather than
allowing God to provide for us in God's own way and time?
Leanne in AL
Speaking as someone who's feeling a little burned out these days, I
can relate to Moses lament "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?" Sometimes it's tough being the
rector. Sometimes I don't feel I can do it all. This passage is a
reminder that I'm not SUPPOSED to do it all. No one can. Not even
Moses. "I am not able to carry all this people alone."
Parishes need help recognizing sometimes that just because someone is
a lay person doesn't mean they aren't also ministers. A parish can't
sit back and watch the priest do ministry FOR them, because that's
what s/he's paid to do. All are called to some ministry or another;
all must share the burden and the rewards of ministry in God's name.
They mix up their baptismal vows with my ordination vows. They too
were given the Spirit.
Rev Steph in MD
Long ago I decided the members of the Church could be the ones who
went to visit the shut-ins in their homes for friendly visits that did
not require the presence of clergy. I visit in the hospital like
clockwork. I visit in the Nursing Homes on a pretty regular basis. I
visit the homebound who are ill. But I only go for friendly visits of
healthy homebounds a few times a year. The rest of the time the church
can love its own. Guess what? The church doesn't do it and grumbling
erupts that the Pastor doesn't do the work of the Pastor. They have
not claimed this ministry as their own, but as the work they want to
see done.
Sunday Liturgists. That was tried until the few who agreed to do it
got tired of being the only ones who did it. Hardly daunting work, but
still more than they want to do.
I crack up with this passage. How many times have we as pastors felt
the same thing that Moses is expressing here? When the people are
murmuring, "Give me this, give me that. . . and no one satisfied with
what they have. When they complain that the old pastor did it this
way, even though when you came they were complaining about what he
didn't do. . . It is then that we say, " Why do you treat your servant
this way. . . their weight is too heavy on me. . . If this is the way
you are going to treat me then, just take me out in the back yard and
shoot me now! Yes, PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY!" I am seeing a play being
written! Don't know if I could ever preach it to the congregation
though!
Susan in Wa.
Don't you just love Moses' chutzpah? Would any of us today talk to God
this way? We don't even dare speak to our congregations this way.
Wonder if God was surprised at Moses' tirade? It got results, though.
He didn't have to run the whole show himself, and he seemed glad to be
unburdened.
Sometimes we are just silent martyrs, carrying the full load whether
we really want to or not. This goes not just for clergy, but also for
mothers, bosses, chairmen of committees, whatever. We are afraid to
speak up, because we're not boat-rockers, but still, we boil inside
that nobody cares we are doing the work of 10 people. Finally we just
erupt in anger, and finally, somebody listens. They may be surprised
at our explosion, but if things go well, they will get the message
that we need help. Often, that's what it takes to get an Associate
Pastor on board. Or a secretary hired. Or just some rest. The
requirements are that we let people know our needs and that somebody
cares about us enough to respond appropriately.
KHC
Oops. I did not mean to imply that we should throw temper tantrums to
get what we want. What I was trying to say was that BEFORE things get
to the boiling point, we need to let people know our needs and
expectations. That way they are not responding to our slamming doors,
but rather to our honest conversations about our limitations and hopes
for their cooperation.
KHC
