Exodus 3:4 "...And Moses said, 'Here I am.'"

Prime Timers, a St. Martin's Adult Christian Education (A.C.E.) group, also known as an A.B.F. (Adult Bible Fellowship), is for people in the Prime of Life, age 50 and beyond. Class meets in the Parlor near the Church Offices each Sunday from 10:15 am to 11:00. We are following a course of study from the United Council of Churches titled Call Sealed with a Promise. You are invited to join our group as we begin a new unit titled "Called Out of Egypt" and spend some time with us studying the Old Testament.

St. Martin's Episcopal Church

Today's lesson is about people grumbling to Moses. Here is the famous representation of Moses by Michelangelo, 1515, San Pietro in Vincoli basilica, Rome.

Prime Timers Celebrate Good News!

We celebrate our members Good News at Prime Timers with a $1 contribution to Henny Penny, our Good News chicken. Periodically Henny donates the money she collects to a charity, currently the Amistad Mission in Bolivia.  Sue gave thanks for a friend with cancer. Sue was worried that the friend would be too sick to go to a long planned dinner, but she got better and they had a wonderful time. Carol mentioned the Health Fair, where over one hundred volunteers from St. Martin's participated.

People Grumble

Carol Hartland led the Prime Timers this morning in a reminder that it is human nature to complain, God knows about it, and in the Old Testament there can be consequences! We began by reading Psalm 142:

   ¹ I cry aloud to the LORD;
      I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

   ² I pour out my complaint before him;
      before him I tell my trouble.

   ³ When my spirit grows faint within me,
      it is you who know my way.
      In the path where I walk
      men have hidden a snare for me.

   ⁴ Look to my right and see;
      no one is concerned for me.
      I have no refuge;
      no one cares for my life.

   ⁵ I cry to you, O LORD;
      I say, "You are my refuge,
      my portion in the land of the living."

   ⁶ Listen to my cry,
      for I am in desperate need;
      rescue me from those who pursue me,
      for they are too strong for me.

   ⁷ Set me free from my prison,
      that I may praise your name.
      Then the righteous will gather about me
      because of your goodness to me.

In our reading today the Israelites are complaining about their hardships in the desert, specifically the manna God provided for them to eat. Manna yesterday, manna today, manna tomorrow, where is the meat, the melons and the fish we ate in Egypt? God provides this manna for forty years while the Israelites are in the desert, ending it with the first Passover in the Promised Land (Joshua 5:12). The narrator in Numbers blames "the rabble" for the grumbling, and the Hebrew word used for their complaining indicates an action repeated over and over. While they are complaining about the food, Moses complains to God about the people who are complaining!

God's answer is for Moses to gather seventy of the elders for a meeting. Here God tells them that they will have meat beyond their wildest dreams! Moses wonders where the meat will come from, and gets an answer in Numbers 11:23 "The LORD answered Moses, 'Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.'" A shift of wind then brings quail into the camp, in amazing abundance, about "two cubits" or about thirty-six inches deep of quail!!

Carol asked how we can find the positive when so much bad news swirls about us. Just turn on the TV, read a paper, or Google some news and there is no shortage of problems. Someone brought up Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers, who sued God. Mr. Chambers was trying to make a point about some legislation that would restrict frivolous lawsuits, apparently he is all for them (!) and so he brings suit and "accuses God of causing 'fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like.'” This was in September of 2007. Over a year later a judge threw out Mr. Chambers case because God could not be properly served since He doesn't have a listed address!

 "District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.

'Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice,' Polk wrote." (AP via CBS News, Oct. 15, 2008)

It is hard to come up with examples of yourself complaining! Carol thanked the Lord for her husband Larry, who is constantly thanking the Lord throughout the day! It is a reminder to her to count her blessings. She is also amazed how some of the people she sees in her hospital visits to the organ transplant floor, people in desperate medical shape, will ask for prayers for other people, not themselves.

As far as finding a positive in the bad news, Marty suggested that our new national administration, its emphasis on a Post Modern agenda with it's moral equivalences and now wild spending excesses is positive in that for years now these people were in the enviable position of being able to complain and have all the answers without having to deal with the consequences of their actions, and now everyone gets to see the consequences and the expense.

George mentioned how the German's during World War II were so structured in the obeying of orders that when their commanding officer would get shot they were paralyzed, not knowing how to proceed, while the Americans would find someone down in the ranks to take over and lead.

George was also concerned about how different we are as a people, compared to our founding fathers. He told us how they met in Philadelphia, locked in a hot building in the summer so no word would leak out as they hammered out a new nation. This was at great personal expense, and in many cases loss of their lives as the British pursued them as rebels. Lynn brought up a series on John Adams. There is a recent HBO series, and also a TV Mini-Series from 1976, "The Adams Chronicles" and both describe a very different time when our country was making the decisions that led to the Revolution and our method of government.

Elizabeth gave us some wonderful details of the efforts of her thirteen year old grandson, who is their "three day chef." This boy is putting his heart and soul into making the meals for the family, he won't even let Elizabeth take the plates off the table or do the dishes! She also described some interesting messes in the kitchen, and I think she said Raspberry Chocolate pancakes! Three cheers for this kid!

Carol concluded class with this benediction:  "We hear your call, O God, and ask that you send us forth empowered by your Spirit to live and serve as your covenant people."

The Lesson for Sunday, August 9th,  is "People Rebel"

Key Verse:  Numbers 14:3

Focus of the Lesson: When dissatisfaction grows great, people may rebel against their leaders and benefactors. What causes people to rebel against leadership and authority? The deprivation of the Israelites and the threats of destruction at the hand of others led the Israelites to seek new leadership and a return to Egypt.

The reading is Numbers 14:1-12. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

   ¹That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ²All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! ³Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" ⁴And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

   ⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. ⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. ⁸If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

   ¹⁰But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? ¹²I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

NIV