The Grass is Always Greener (On the Other Side of the Sea)
Exodus 15:22-16:9; 16:35; 17:1-7
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but some people are just never happy! No matter what you do – it’s just not right. These people can always find something to complain about! When I waited tables, I was always amazed at what people could complain about! We had one couple who came in to the restaurant on the same night of the week, every week. They ordered the same food, and it was NEVER right. Some weeks it was over cooked, some weeks it was under cooked. Some weeks the sun was too bright shining on the table and some weeks the lights weren’t bright enough. No matter what we did to try and please them, they could always find something to complain about! Have you met anyone like this?
I have certainly met people like this in life and even in the scriptures! Take the Israelites, for instance. It seems like no matter what God (or Moses) did, the Israelites could always find some reason to complain and to long for the good old days when they were slaves in Egypt.
Last week in our scripture reading from Exodus chapter 2, we read, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and God remembered them.” (Exodus 2:23-25) The life in Egypt was so bad, that the Israelites GROANED and complained and cried out to God for help - (and as we all know, the human condition is such that it usually takes us a LONG time before we remember to cry out to God for help!)
But finally the Israelites cried out to God, remembering the covenant and the promise that had been made between God and Abraham. They knew that the land on the other side of the Sea (out of reach of Pharaoh) meant freedom. They knew that the Promised Land was a land of milk and honey – and they couldn’t wait to get there! So God heard their cries and put into place all the workings to redeem and rescue the Israelites from their bondage. God worked a series of miracles before the eyes of the Israelites and the Egyptians. These miracles – from the Nile turning to blood to the death of the firstborn of all Egyptians to the parting of the Red Sea – all led to the joyful celebration of the Israelites on the far side of the Red Sea. The side that meant - freedom!
The Israelites celebrated, danced and sang their praises to God who through his miraculous might had brought them safely to the greener grass of the other side of the sea. But their joy was short lived.
Three days after crossing the Red Sea and praising God for all God’s miracles, the Israelites began grumbling. They cried out (not to God, but to Moses) “There’s no water! What shall we drink?” Moses cried out to God and once again, God provided. God heard their cries and sweetened the water so they and their animals could drink it. And the Israelites were happy…for a time.
But then God’s command came and they moved from that place. When their journeyed was just 2½ months old, Israelites again began grumbling against Moses and Aaron saying, “O that we had died by the hands of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! But you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”
Whoa! Hold your horses! Two months ago, you were complaining that you were in Egypt. Now God has rescued you by a series of miracles. He has provided for you sweet water to drink. And NOW you are wishing you were back in Egypt because there was meat and bread there? Now that you’ve been rescued you now want to return to the green grass on the other side of the sea again!
But, once again, Moses called out to God and God sent manna from heaven.
And the Israelites were happy… for a time.
In truth, we humans have a very short memory for God’s providence! We seem to forget all the times God provides for us in our times of need. And again as the Israelites continue on their journey they arrived where there seems to be no water and again they cried out – not to God - against Moses, complaining about their life and longing for the “good ol’ days of Egypt”. And again, Moses cried to God and God heard him and provided water from a rock.
And this interchange goes on for the entire wilderness wandering. The Israelite people complain and long for the good life as a slaves in Egypt. Moses prays to God. God answers prayer. The Israelites are happy – until the next trial. When they again complain to Moses and the cycle starts again.
So, what have we learned here? When the Israelites aren’t happy, who is the first person to whom they complain? They complain to each other and to Moses and Aaron. They never quite get the concept of going directly to God, although that is what brought them out of Egypt!
And the pattern continues to this day. God’s people continue to complain and to long for the “good ol’ days”. But we usually complain to each other. We forget to complain to the One who can really make a difference!
Perhaps that is because if we pray to God, then things might change and then we won’t have anything to complain about. The other night I saw a sound bite from one of the women on The View who said, “I have to vote or I’m not entitled to complain for the next year (of course then she was corrected that she couldn’t complain for the next four years).” We like to complain, but we don’t always like for God to do something about our situation, because then we have to find something new to complain about! But that’s usually not too difficult…
My friend, Stephanie, is a youth minister. She and I used to commiserate about the struggles of leading small youth groups. But where I prayed for God to make my small youth group the best it could be, Laurie prayed for God to increase her youth group – her goal and her prayer was to have 30 to 40 teens in her group. She wanted to be able to play all the neat games and do all the small break-out group activities that most curricula include. Well, a couple of years ago, God answered her prayers. And suddenly her youth group was “the” youth group in town. Youth from different churches began going to Laurie’s group on Wednesday evenings and she was so excited! But then one day at lunch she said to me, “You know, I really miss my small group. We were so close and it was so much easier to plan spontaneous events or to have them over to my house. I just feel like an administrator with all these kids!” Yep, we are never short of finding things to complain about! Even today, the grass is always greener on the other side of the sea!
Especially when the sea is behind us and the future is in front of us! It is always easier to revert to our “old” ways even though we didn’t like them – at least they are familiar! But to move forward into the unknown future is scary!
Did the Israelites really want to return to Egypt? I doubt it. What I think they really wanted was the security of a life they knew, albeit a life they didn’t like. For sometimes it’s easier to live in the misery that you know rather than to trust God and move into the unknown. But our scripture this morning teaches us that God doesn’t want us to live in misery!
God wants to provide for our needs. God wants to rescue us from bondage to worldly powers. God wants to give us a life in a land flowing with milk and honey. But we have to ask for it!
Why are so many people unhappy with their life? Because they are not asking God to change their lives. They may be complaining to one another. They may be saying they want to change, but they are not going to the source of transforming power – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When the Israelites complained to Moses. Nothing happened. When Moses went to God – miracles happened. You can expect the same for your life! Complaining to your friends or family or total strangers will not change your life. Voicing your concerns to God and then faithfully expecting results will change your life. Through faith you can trust God to provide for all your needs, even in the midst of wandering in a spiritual, emotional or physical desert.
When your life is changed by the hand of God, you will cross through the proverbial sea! You will come out to safety on the other side. But your journey doesn’t end there. There will always be the pull of your “old life”. There will always be days when you want to cross back over the sea to live in the unhappy security of what “used to be.” But you have to trust God for your future. You have to believe that God will provide for your needs. And you have to daily seek God’s help.
God is always willing to hear and answer our cries for help. It is us who are unwilling to ask.
This table set before us is a reminder of God’s continuing providence and grace. It reminds us of all that Christ has done for us in the past and his promises for the future. This table reminds us that we never have to be complacent in life –we never have to “just accept things for how they are” because through the power of God we have the ability to change our lives and the lives of those around us.
Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side of the sea. But not the sea that is already behind us. God is leading us into the future to the greener pastures, beside the still waters, that lie ahead of us. Let us journey in faith toward the land of promise that God has provided.
Amen
