Sermons by Bishop Paul V. Marshall
At The Institution of Daniel Hinkle as Rector of St. Barnabas, Kutztown
October 9, 1998
Numbers 11:16-17,25-25a
Bishop Paul V. MarshallI am expected to say that it is a joy to be here -- and the fact is, it is a joy. Parish and priest, with separate histories, blend themselves to form a new story. To make this happen, members of St. Barnabas have extended themselves in faith, and I have been very happy to join the effort because we all believe that something wonderful, something longed-for yet unpredictable is to happen at St. Barnabas and in the community it serves. More than we can ask or imagine. But it is also work that lies ahead, so I have to say a little more than that.
The first lesson is an unfortunate example of the humorlessness of lectionary makers, who have trimmed a story from the wild side into something a shade too neat and tidy. In its context Numbers chapter 11 is another of those stories that is many layers deep and absolutely soaked with irony. It starts with the people being tired of miraculous manna -- there is a whole sermon right there. In any event, they are sick of the miracle and remember the pizzas, salt, ice cream, and Chardonnay back in the ghetto in Egypt. Sure, they may have been slaves, but they had all the basic food groups.
Moses is caught completely off guard by this concern popping up when they are finally getting on track with their mission, and we see him here overwhelmed, losing his vision. So he kvetches to God for most of the chapter, ending up with:
{12} Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which you swore to give their fathers?' {13} Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' {14} I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me. {15} If are going to deal with me this way, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness."
YOU gave me this rabble, this motley crew -- all of a sudden he forgets he is part of "them." I've been there; you've been there, everybody in this room who cares about the church has been there in one way or another. And for some who serve the church, if the truth were told, there are brief moments when death looks like a pretty good way out, and the number of clergy who maintain suicidal habits is by no means small. Moses speaks for many.
God and Moses, I suppose, could have debated theology and ministry for hours, and then moved on to discussion of Moses' inner child. But God doesn't argue back, and simply goes to work on Moses' near-burnout condition, dealing only with Moses' inner adult.
And the great surprise is, God's answer to the kind of burnout that only the very gifted, the driven, experience is colleagues, community, lots of company on the journey. Moses' prayer for a quick death is not only ignored, he is plunged headlong into what we might call a redemptive total ministry scenario, but let's just say: All of a sudden he has 70 co-workers, burden-sharing, perspective-maintaining colleagues who no doubt had active listening skills as well. And those people had been there all the time.
But the interesting thing is that this isn't a clergy-support committee. They "prophesied," we're told. Now that's an interesting word, because only much later in Israel's history did "prophet" come to mean unattractive speech-maker. In the period of our story it means being full of the spirit, being in ecstasy, shouting, dancing, speaking words from the Lord in a totally unrestrained state. In short, although the 70 shared in Moses' spirit and helped bear his burdens, they were more than his briefcase-carriers: they were outside his control. A few verses later somebody immersed in control issues comes up to Moses all upset that although Eldad and Medad (the Old Testament Blues Brothers) - although Eldad and Medad hadn't been up on the Mountain to be commissioned, they were prophesying anyway, right there in public, shouting, singing, dancing, and generally scaring the Episcopalians. Oh, my goodness!
And Moses gets the point at last. He replies that it would be great if all of God's people prophesied. Think about that, if all the people were so totally possessed by God that they were out of anyone's control as they reveled in God and sang God's words. On a good day, the most I can really feel about that situation, deep down, is, well, I suppose I can at least rise to ambivalence about it. And I need to do something about that, as do most of us.
And, oh yes, God did provide the food the people wanted. It turns out that Moses had nothing to worry about in the first place -- he just handled anxiety by complaining and wishing he was dead. However, God used Moses' moment of anxiety to get a great deal done.
I happen to believe that stories like this one were saved precisely because of the comic, ironic and slightly embarrassing light they shed on great and small figures in the life of God's people. If we can chuckle at them, it's probably safe to take a closer look at ourselves.
First of all, let's all of us remember the manna, the miracles around us that have brought us this far. It's a long pilgrimage, and it pays to remember not only the goal, but how far we have come, and how God has gotten us here. Let's encourage each other not to get bored with the miracles of word and sacrament, faith and community, with which God nourishes us regularly. God' doesn't always entertain, but God does always wonderfully sustain.
I think there is a special word we all want to say to your new rector today. In this service celebrating the new ministry you share, I wish there were some way, after we heap all those gifts that are symbolic of the heavy responsibilities we rightly place on him today, to also say some other things, perhaps before he says Jeremy Taylor's wonderful prayer.
Perhaps a vestry member might say, "Daniel, take this parish directory and remember that we are all in this together, be among us as a partner and playfellow; we will continue to work to find and share our spiritual gifts."
Perhaps a big strong John Wayne type might be recruited to say, "Daniel, take this towel: be free to be vulnerable among us - you'll live a longer and happier life, and we'll learn from that, too."
Perhaps the oldest or most dignified-looking person here might say, "Daniel, take this rubber chicken: never take us or yourself so seriously that you forget that God smiles on his people, that there is laughter in heaven, and that how this all comes out is not our problem."
I didn't wake up this morning with a burning need to break them up in Kutztown. I do believe that because there is so much important work to do here, so much hard work that God is going to bless, so many people whose lives this parish will touch, that we need to insulate ourselves against any self-inflicted oppression -- we need to see ourselves in all the characters of this story about Moses. We need to keep our perspective.
The simple yet all-encompassing truth is that the God who led people from captivity is the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and is the God feeds, upholds, and directs us still. And is the God who never takes away the joy of salvation. There is solid lay leadership here and they have received an energetic and committed priest -- joy cannot but continue to grow.
I believe that the people and priest of St. Barnabas will be blessings to each other. Like Barnabas, whose name means "Son of Encouragement" -- the cheerleader -- I ask you all to keep on encouraging each other, and watching for the next miracle. And the next. And the next.
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