Good News, Bad News
One of the worst lines to hear is, “What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?” Well, you already know that there is going to be bad news, so it doesn’t matter how good the good news is. Which is why I want to start with a recap of what we have been hearing in the sermon series about prayer. First, prayer is best when it is kept simple. No big words are necessary. They don’t impress God. No special time or place is required. We can pray all the time in fact the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, “Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need.” Secondly, keep it intimate. God doesn’t like to be kept at a distance and very few parents do either. God is good with being called mom or daddy. That is the kind of relationship God seeks. My grand kids call me poppy and that works fine too.
Third, it helps, if before you ask for something you say something about God or what you enjoy about this relationship you want to have with God. Think about borrowing something from a neighbour. Wouldn’t it be the first thing you usually say is something like: “having a nice day” or “I love your flowers” or “How about those Jays.” Something that says we are in a relationship. I know you and you know me. Only after you have made that connection is there an ask to borrow their truck or lawn mower or electric mixer. The ‘ask’ is the fourth thing in a prayer. Even at Thanksgiving when we celebrate the abundance of the land and of our lives there will always be something or someone missing that makes the celebration incomplete. So good news, bad news. We have lots to be thankful for but isn’t all gravy and there are great needs that ought to be attended to. The world, our country, our city and often our families and ourselves need some kind of help.
In the reading from the book of Number today we hear another good news, bad news story. The Israelites have escaped slavery in Egypt and have received the 10 commandments at Mount Sini. They have traveled through and survived the desert and are ready to go into the land they believe had been promised to them.
But first Moses sends 12 spies, one from each tribe, to get the lay of the land. They enter in and are thorough in their search. Finally, they come back with huge bunches of grapes, figs and pomegranates. Those three fruits, by the way, are considered a sign of abundance and of celebration. A thanksgiving feast wouldn’t be much without them, and it is a big step up from the manna they have been getting in the desert. So good news!
However, the spies also have made note of the number of tribes and their sizes who are already there. Some with fortified cities. And the fact that they have fortified cities would suggest that they are used to conflict. The Israelites who have been slaves for 300 years are not warriors are not happy about this development. Only Caleb from the tribe of Judah says, “With God’s help we can defeat those tribes.” This response can be compared to what I said last week. Anger is a response to the emotions of deep caring for something and the emotion of helplessness. In this case Caleb’s go to response to helplessness is violence.
The other 11 spies say, “not even with God could we conquer them.” The leaders, other than Moses and Arron, say it would be better to go back to Egypt as slaves than be annihilated by those tribes. So, the second easiest response to helplessness is hopelessness. Moses barely survives being lynched and Israel spends the next 40 years in the desert.
I have often heard people ask why it took 40 years for the people of Israel to get through the desert. Well, it didn’t. They crossed it within their first year of freedom. But it would take 40 more years for them to learn to trust God and become a nation that didn’t fear the tribes that already occupied the promised land. By the way, the history of the conquest of the promised land which can be found in the books of Joshua as well in 1st and 2nd Chronicles suggests that that in reality it wasn’t all attacking and killing. Particularly in Chronicles we hear much more about the making of treaties and working together to make the land a place of promise. A place of pomegranates for all and not just the people of Israel.
Which takes us back to the Max Lucado’s book “Before Amen.” Max would say that there is a third option to helplessness. And that third option is to take your helplessness to God. The story that he uses to explain this is the Wedding at Cana. Mary, Jesus’ mother, Jesus and the disciples are all invited. Now very early on at the wedding feast the wine runs out. Unlike today where a trip to the gas bar or convenience store would cure that, there is no place to get wine on such short notice. Mary sees the need of the wedding couple and takes their need to Jesus. Now this is not Mary’s problem. It’s not her party. She is there as a guest. But she sees the need, the helplessness of the wedding couple, and she believes that she can help. So, she takes their need to Jesus. Then tells the servant to trust what Jesus says and do what he asks. Then she walks away having done what she can do and leaving the rest to God.
That’s the third option when faced with helplessness. I can’t change the course of a hurricane or stop the bombs from falling in the war-torn hot spots nor can I take away illness and the fears it brings, but I can pray. I can give my worry and anxiety as well as the worry and anxiety of others over to God. Sometimes just getting it out of my head or off heart is all I can do but I have done something. It removes that sense of helplessness, and it builds my relationship with God because like my conversation with my good neighbour lends me stuff it reinforces that I know you and you know me better. Prayer is a mystical act that transforms even tragedy when the innocent suffers into a place of God’s peace and unexpected hope. Hopelessness and helplessness transformed right before our eyes. So, the good news is you can take the bad news to God who can make even that bad news good. Sadness is swallowed up in abundance. New life and new possibilities spring forth when we take our burdens to God. Amen
