Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · August 02, 2009

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Gracious God, we praise your name and thank you for your bountiful love. We call on you today to ask you to help us understand life. We ask that you help us to relax and be at peace, so we can trust you and believe in you for our future needs. Help us to open our minds to your inner presence and our souls to the refreshing and calming winds of your Spirit. In Christ’s name.  Amen.

Scripture

Exodus 16:2-15

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him – what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites, say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

Message

What Are You Looking For?

Larry Gallamore

Have you ever asked why life feels so hectic? Why are we always in such a mad rush? What are we searching for? Historically, it hasn’t always been like this. In frontier days, if someone missed a stagecoach, they would simply settle down and wait for the next one. Stagecoaches ran every six months. No one was in a hurry. Today, if we miss one section in a revolving door, we get upset.

Why is it we think everything has to be instantaneous? Why do all of our decisions need to be made immediately?

We live such confused lives we are often upset, out of sorts, cantankerous. We have no time to reflect, to go deeper within where noise has no value, where we can consult the Creator. Our souls, our minds, our very conscience is searching for something. What is it we are looking for? So many are driven, unable to relax, unable to find satisfaction for more than a few moments at a time.

I want to share an old Chinese fable with you. In this parable, the main character is a stonecutter who keeps searching for something. Tasuku was a poor man who cuts blocks of stone from the foot of a mountain. One day he saw a well-dressed prince parade by. Tasuku envied the prince and wished that he could have that kind of wealth. The Great Spirit heard Tasuku, and he was made a prince.

Tasuku was happy with his silk clothes and his powerful armies until he saw the sun wilt the flowers in his royal garden. He wished for such power as the sun had, and his wish was granted. He became the sun with power to parch fields and humble people with thirst.

Tasuku was happy to be the sun until he saw the mountain remain in spite of his storm. So Tasuku demanded to be the mountain. The Spirit obeyed. Tasuku became the mountain, and he was more powerful than the prince, the sun, or the cloud. He was happy until he felt a chisel chipping at his feet. It was a stonecutter working away cutting blocks to sell to make his daily living.

The majority of people in our world are constantly driven, looking, searching for something. They can’t enjoy the present because they are forever searching. They can’t relax. They work, they play, they join clubs, and they go to parties looking for something that will satisfy.

We are so much like the ancient Israelites. In our Scripture for today, they were never satisfied. God gave them quail (meat) to eat. God gave them manna (bread) from heaven. They were still hungry. They complained to Moses. They complained to God. They were pretty good at complaining, but their complaining just made matters worse.

They prayed to God, and God answered them, but God’s answer wasn’t what they wanted. God was really trying to put their minds and souls to rest. God wanted to give them what they really needed, but they would need to stop complaining. They simply thought God didn’t care. God granted all their needs, but they were not satisfied. God took care of them by day and by night. God freed them from oppression, but none of this was enough. Day after day they kept thinking, “We’re never going to find what we’re looking for.” Every day it was the same scene: manna from heaven, quail for meat all around. They sat around the campfire saying, “Pass me some more of that quail,” and complaining about the wilderness. They were constantly on edge. 

Sounds familiar; doesn’t it? They were always living on the edge, always uptight. They couldn’t get along with Moses and Aaron, couldn’t get along with God, and couldn’t get along with each other.

We’ve seen this same scenario repeated again and again. Throughout history, God’s people have a hard time finding peace and satisfaction. Let me illustrate. 

During the Depression, a man living in the Appalachian area went to Knoxville for the first time to transact some business. While there, he saw a refrigerator that made ice. Since it was summertime, he thought it was a miracle of God.

When he returned to his hometown in the mountains, his church was in the midst of a revival worship service. He arrived at the service during the time when people were giving testimonies. He told of the miracle of seeing ice made in the middle of the summer.

Well, a dispute broke out. Many claimed there was no such thing. Others wanted to believe him. It resulted in a spit within the church. Many left the church to form a new church. Its name, to this very day, is, “No Ice in the Summer Southern Baptist Church.”

We Christians are so much like ancient Israel.

Many years ago, an elderly minister told about a church he had pastored. Two groups in the church got into a major fight over which group worked the hardest. Here’s how it all went down. This church had a wood stove in the center of the sanctuary that heated the building. Two groups that didn’t get along with each other took turns stoking the fire and keeping it lit.

However, one group claimed they were working harder than the other group to provide the wood. As a result, both groups provided the wood but put it in separate piles.

One child, while reading the Scripture one Sunday, used his own version of the well-known text from Ephesians 4:5: “One faith, one Lord, one baptism, and two wood piles.”

Why am I telling these crazy stories? So you will avoid getting in crazy struggles like these. Christians who find what they are looking for find peace of mind. They know how to avoid these little power struggles. They know how to relax. They know they can trust God. They know that a deep faith and a belief in God will calm a troubled mind. They know God’s peace is always accessible. They will work things out with a brother or sister when there is a disagreement. They trust God every day. They know that the person who hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be satisfied. They’ve found what people are looking for – peace of mind. They have allowed God to renew their minds with knowledge and understanding. They have found real life. Peace of mind is the key to real life.

Everyone is looking for life. The problem is we’re looking in all the wrong places. To experience real life is to live in God’s kingdom. Remember what Jesus said: “The kingdom of God is within.” The kingdom of God is to be found within. You’ll never find the kingdom outside yourself. Many have tried, and they’ve all failed.

Look at the story of the prodigal son. He thought the real life was to be found in his outer world. He spent all his inheritance looking for life. He ended up broke and lifeless. The Bible says when he came to himself, when he started looking inside his own mind, he started talking to himself. He says, “My father’s employees have bread to eat, and here I am dying of hunger.”

You know the story. He found what he was looking for when he started looking within. He had to change his way of thinking to clean up his act. He started thinking of new and wholesome ideas of life. He incorporated them into the substratum of his mind and acted upon them. His thoughts were no longer of what his money could buy or what pleasures could bring. He got rid of his fears, worries, anger, jealousy, and, in his mind, he started that remarkable healing process. The Bible is clear on this. It says, “But when he came to himself” (Luke 15:17), he realized the way he was living and the way he was thinking was getting him nowhere.

I am, no doubt, talking to someone here this morning. You’ve tried it your way. Maybe it is time to try things God’s way. Just remember Israel was in an awful condition until she realized God was trying to show her people how to find what they were looking for: bread that satisfied, peace of mind, and prosperity. God was trying to show Israel that the Spirit of Truth would lead them into all good. Once they began to trust God and started to think like God, they were transformed. They would never have triumphed over the old problems if they had persisted in their old mental attitudes. When Israel returned to God, she beheld a new heaven and a new earth, not in some far-off place, but in the here and now.

Today is the day that some of you will find what you’ve been looking for. Everything in your world will start to change. Didn’t God say, “On the day you call upon me, I will answer”?

What you are going to discover is you’ll find a deeper realization of life and a grander concept of being. The more you rely upon God, the greater things you will do. Trust in God has quenched the thirst of many a soul. Belief in the Lord has filled many a hungry heart and mind.

There is a greater world, a greater reality than the physical world we live in. This reality and this world are within.

We are connected to this greater reality. We are linked to it because God wants it to be so for us. So right now, in your mind, believe that there is more. Believe that God is offering you freely everything you need to be happy. Believe that you have found what you’ve been looking for. You have found peace of mind, satisfaction, and prosperity. You have found life, a life that is satisfying, and a life you will want to share with others.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Thank you for the call to come to you in our every need and praise. In your loving arms we find the affirmation of whose we are and the energy that comes from hope and encouragement. In your embrace, we have everything we are looking for. On this Sabbath, and at all times, let us rest in your love. Amen.