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July 18, 2010
“Lessons From a Forty Year Camping Trip”
Matthew 4: 1- 4/Deuteronomy 8: 1 – 9: 3
Sunday, July 18, 2010
This weekend the congregation of Faith Church is worshipping in two groups and at two different times. This is the weekend of the Faith Church camping trip. Those who like to camp are worshipping on Saturday evening. Those who do not like camping or who find that life in the woods is a little too demanding for their current age and physical status are worshipping on Sunday morning. Those who worship on Sunday will be worshiping in our air conditioned sanctuary. Those who worship on Saturday will be worshipping outside in the weather which God will give them.
But both groups will be worshipping the same triune God and both will be hearing a sermon based on this same passage, Deuteronomy 8:1 – 9:3. Some of you may recognize this passage as the first lesson from our outdoor service on July 4th. I selected it for that day because it reminds us not to forget God when our pursuits for freedom and wealth and security have born fruit. It reminds us that God is responsible for our success and is to be thanked and worshipped in all circumstances,
I chose this longer version of this passage as our second lesson on this weekend because it addresses some of the truths we might discover as we live out doors or think about those who are living outdoors.
As Moses spoke these words to Israel they were at the end of their time with him. They were at the end of their time in the wilderness. Only a few of them were older than 60. They had spent the last 40 years on a camping trip of great proportions. They had been living in tents. They had moved from place to place, sometimes remaining in a place for several months and maybe more than a year.
But now their time in the wilderness was coming to an end. Their time in tents was about over. Now you have to remember that many of them had spent there entire lives in the wilderness and the rest of them save two or three had spent 2/3 or more of their lives tenting in the wilderness.
So in his final sermon to them, Moses prepared them for their much different future by reminding them of what they should have learned in the wilderness.
For them it was in some ways not too much different than camping is for us. In the wilderness they learned to do without. In Egypt they had been fed a regular diet that included meat on a regular basis. In the wilderness they learned to do without meat on a regular basis. They learned to do their cooking outdoors in temporary firepits instead of the permanent facilities they had in Egypt.
In Egypt they had depended on their masters to feed them as they worked for them. In the wilderness, they had learned to depend on God. God had, for 40 years been feeding them their daily bread in the form of Manna. They received it for 6 days and were to gather in a double portion on the sixth day for the seventh or Sabbath day.
This taught them 2 things. First of all, it taught them to depend on God for their lives. By depending on God each day for their food for that day, they were reminded that God was in charge of their lives each day.
It also taught them that God wanted one day in seven to be different, to be dedicated to worship and rest.
Now it was never God’s intent to keep them literally dependant on him for each day’s portion of their food, but he did want them to remember that they really were dependant on God for the growth of their crops and the survival of their flocks.
Being in the wilderness had been a community building experience for the Israelites. For 40 years they had been in close contact with all the other Jews and their 12 tribes. Once they crossed the Jordan and began to live in the land, they would reside in different territories, and never see each other again, except for their annual pilgrimages to the Tabernacle. But their time together in the wilderness had made them aware that they were one nation, one people of God regardless of their tribal connections.
The Israelites in the wilderness also learned about God’s wrath. Moses is sometimes considered to be the first Prophet, but in one way he differed greatly from the rest of the prophets. He and they both announced God’s coming punishment for the transgressions of the Israelites. But for most of the prophets, the punishment would come in a few years or perhaps in many years and upon some future generations. But in Moses’ time and ministry, the judgments he announced took place in a few hours or immediately. Many were killed the night after they worshipped the golden calf. Many died while they were eating the quails God gave them after they had complained about not having meat to eat.
In the wilderness, God’s punishments were not delayed, they were swift so the people would learn to obey God. As we camp, we can be closer to God because we are much more dependant on his weather and his storms can affect us rather quickly. As some of us camped this weekend we were sitting outside and talking. We heard thunder. Three of us took out cell phones to check their weather channels to see if we would be getting a storm. If we had been indoors we probably would not have been so concerned about a storm
God has provided for us comfortable homes to return to after we camp or even if we never camp. But we need to be careful lest we use our homes to insulate us from God and his world and those people God wants us to be close to.
God warned them against this isolation and where it would lead the People of Israel. Moses instructed the Israelites not to forget God when they came to live the good life, when they were eating good food and living in comfortable homes. They were not to think that their crops and flocks and homes were the result of their hard work and wise planning. They were to remember that even and perhaps especially in their wealth and comfort they were dependant on God and they were therefore bound to continue to obey him. He also warned them that if in their wealth and comfort they did not continue to obey God, they would be removed from their land and their homes.
It is very easy to allow our comfort to enable us to slip from God. When Diane and I arrived at our camp site on Friday afternoon we noticed that it was not really level. We pitched our tent so as we slept our heads would be slightly uphill. I had a very comfortable air mattress. But it was made of a slippery plastic. The outer shell of the sleeping bag was made of an equally slippery nylon. My mattress kept me comfortable, but I kept slipping off of it. Sometimes our success at being comfortable insulates us from God and his people and it is easy for us to slip away from Him and them.
I hope you noticed that in our first lesson this morning Jesus quoted the last part of the third verse of Deuteronomy 8: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus understood that it was more important to obey God than to eat. That was what the Israelites were to have learned on their great camping trip. That is what we are to know from our Scriptures, but sometimes a close encounter with God’s natural world and the harsh realities in it will help us remember.
Some of the members of Faith Church are camping this weekend, some of us are not. I hope that those who are will be reminded by our natural world and the other Christians who are present that God the creator is our master and that the best way to enjoy all that he has given us is to obey Him.
For those who are not camping, I would remind you that this summer season gives most of us the opportunities to get out and observe God’s world. When you observe the beauty and severity of God’s creation, remember that you belong to Him just as much in your living rooms as you do when you are outside. Obeying God is more important for your survival and prosperity than eating.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at July 18, 2010 01:52 PM