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May 11, 2008
Numbers 11:24-30Rev. Dr. David A. Davis
“Eldad and Medad”
I wonder who among us this morning hasn’t made this mistake: someone in your house has made dinner. Maybe they didn’t work at it for hours, but they did think about what to have and they cooked it, and they are about to serve it. It’s dinner time in your house. And you have just arrived: in from practice, or from work, you have just come from the train, or from a piano lesson, or from a math tutor, dinner is on the table and as you come in door and look at the table you make the mistake, you can’t help yourself, you should have stopped yourself: “are we having meat loaf again? Fill in the blank, chicken, pasta, salmon, taco salad, whatever. It was mistake. The complaining part. It was a mistake.
The scripture lesson for this morning is a story of complaint; complaint against food, complaint against God, and it is a story of biblical proportion. Moses was leading the people of Israel through the wilderness. The people were complaining because all they had to eat was that manna from heaven. God provided the manna for their journey through the wilderness and now they were getting tired of it. They had had enough manna. The people had a craving, as it says in the Old Testament, “If only we had meat to eat.” They complained to God and to Moses and to anyone who would listen. “Give us meat.” Moses complained to God, “Where am I going to get meat to feed all these people?....I can’t carry these people alone, all by myself, they’re too heavy for me?”
The Lord’s response to Moses about meat, the Lord’s response concerning the people’s complaint about what’s for dinner; that is the beginning of this scripture lesson from Numbers 11:16.
Chapter 11 goes on to describe an abundance of quail brought in by the wind from the sea. So many quail fell from the sky that they were piling up knee high on the ground. It took the people two or three days just to gather them in. You have to eat a whole lot of quail to make it come out your nose. The story ends with a plague from God being sent against those who “had the craving.” They died while the meat was still stuck between their teeth. So be careful the next time you make that mistake of complaining about what’s for dinner.
There is another common, if not universal response described here in the story; one that we all can recognize. It’s when Joshua comes on the scene. Joshua, the Son of Nun; Joshua who brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down; Joshua the right hand man to Moses and the future leader of God’s people. Joshua heard the report that Eldad and Medad were prophesying back in the camp. They weren’t where they were supposed to be out at the tent; which by the way is where Joshua was always in charge. He was the attendant, the keeper of the tent of meeting. They weren’t playing by the rules. They weren’t with the in crowd. Eldad and Medad, they weren’t doing it right when it came to prophecy and spirit and marching to the same drumbeat of the seventy some other elders. So Joshua, runs up to Moses. “My lord, Moses, stop them!” We can’t do that. That’s not how it works. They’re not with us. That’s not how it is supposed to be! Moses, stop them. I bet he stomped his feet, too! Stop…..them.
Eldad and Medad. Those are some names worth remembering. Not because they sound like characters in The Hobbit or Harry Potter. No the names are worth remembering every time you think you can predict where the Spirit of God is going to blow, every time you think you can define what the Spirit of God is going to do, every time you think you can control the Spirit of God and where the Spirit rests.
Eldad and Medad; for whatever reason the two of them remained in the camp when all the others went out to the tent. They separated themselves from the group, or they were on the fringe, or they were just late, they didn’t get the memo, they forgot their homework, they skipped class. Who knows? But the prophesy, the religious experience, their own encounter with God, it happened right there in the camp, away from all the others, away from the tent, away from Moses, away from Joshua.
Remember those names when you find yourself in a conversation where some folks think they can just decide who is in, who is out, who is cool, who is not, who belongs, who doesn’t, who fits in, who stands out, who can sit at this table at lunch, who lives in the right neighborhood, who deserves a place, who can stay and who can’t, who has the right clothes or the right cell or the right car, who can’t be ordained, who gets to pick the hymns, who is an immigrant or an alien or a refugee, who gets the Spirit and who doesn’t. Eldad and Medad. You ought to remember those names.
The Spirit rested on them when no one would have expected it. Rested. Not anointed. Not inspired. The Spirit didn’t fall upon them or overwhelm them or transform them. The Spirit rested on them. The Hebrew verb is nuah, to rest. To the ear it sounds a lot like the word for Spirit and wind….ruah. The word “to rest” isn’t all that common when it comes to describing the action of the Spirit of God. In II Kings when the mantle of the prophet Elijah has been passed to Elisha, the whole company of prophets saw Elisha at a distance and they said, “The Spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” Nuah. In Isaiah the 11th chapter, familiar words about the Messiah: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him. Nuah. Eldad and Medad and the prophets out by the tent of meeting, their time to prophesy would come and go, their moment of religious fervor would pass, but the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon them, not just for a moment, not just a speech, not just for a prayer complete with hands, but forever and ever. The Spirit. Rest. On them. Nuah.
I was confirmed the summer after my ninth grade year. That ninth grade year, a few of the youth leaders back them were dabbling in the charismatic movement. Talking a lot about the Holy Spirit, and yearning for the miraculous in our midst, and sparking emotions. There was some Pentecostalism sneaking into the Presbyterian youth group. One Sunday night after fellowship, I was invited to stay for prayer with a couple of the youth leaders and some of the upper classmen in the group. We went into the sanctuary and came up the chancel. The room was dark but the chancel lights were on. We sang and we prayed. Then they told me that they were going to lay hands on me and pray for me to receive the gift of speaking in tongues. It is one of the gifts mentioned in scripture. In the Pentecostal movement, speaking in tongues is a kind of prayer language that is beyond words and understanding. I stood in the middle of a circle as they prayed for me for what seemed like an hour. Some were whispering. Others were shouting. They kept praying and praying for me. And nothing ever happened to me in terms of tongues or a particular gift of the Spirit. I failed them, I guess. Finally they gave up. We sang some more and went home. Not surprisingly, I can’t remember what those youth leaders said to me when they found out they couldn’t control the Spirit. They weren’t looking for the Spirit to rest on me, they were trying to throw it at me.
Eldad and Medad. Maybe it wasn’t Pentecost with the rush of a mighty wind, and with tongues of fire and many languages and all hearing like their own and 3,000 people being baptized. Eldad and Medad. Maybe it was more like Confirmation and the Spirit of the Lord resting on you forever.
That’s our prayer, isn’t it? Not the pastor’s prayer. Not the families’ prayer. It’s the church’s prayer. “Defend, O Lord, these your servants….” The Spirit of Lord resting on them. Yes, confirmation for some includes church membership, and a public affirmation of faith, and the laying of hands. For some it has been season of searching, a gathering of doubt, a time of frustration. Confirmation is not about correct faith statements or certainty in terms of God or having all the answers. Confirmation is a prayer and the prayer is bigger than one person, one class, one kneeling, one praying, the prayer stretches from the tent to the camp, the pray goes far beyond who is in and who is out, who is here and who is not, the prayer is that Spirit of God will rest on them and on us….forever and ever and ever.
Defend, O Lord, your servants with heavenly grace, that we may continue yours forever, and daily increase in your Spirit more and more, until we come into your everlasting kingdom.
Rest on us, Lord. Rest on us.
© 2008, Property of Nassau Presbyterian Church
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