Curmudgeons

Do you know any curmudgeons?  You know, those bad-tempered, difficult people who seem to always be in your ear?  I've met a few.

Our family decided that each Sunday we are going to sit down together and watch The Bible, the docu-series that is airing on Discovery Channel now until Easter.  It's a Story we have heard before, but in the weeks leading up to Easter, it is my hope that this powerful Story unfolds in new ways before our eyes.

The "Big God Story" has taken on new depth, meaning and importance for me in the past several years.  Now it is being retold in a new way for a new generation and I thought that I would try to share some things that stick out to me each week.  This past Sunday, as we watched the first episode of Creation to Joshua, it was the curmudgeon that stuck out to me.

I'm sure you have heard the story of Moses (if you haven't, it is recorded in the book of Exodus).  This well loved Bible story tells of a baby being put into a basket, sent down the Nile river and found by the Pharaoh's daughter. This Hebrew baby is raised as a prince, while his people are slaves.  One day as he watches one of his Hebrew people being beaten to death, anger stirs within him and he kills the Egyptian who is inflicting the lashings.  Fearing his own life, Moses runs away - thus beginning the events that will change the future of the Israelites.  After several encounters with God, Moses comes back to Egypt to free his people.

You would think that Moses' biggest obstacle would be Pharaoh.  Of course this man, who views himself as God, is not going to want to release the very people who provide the labor for his mighty empire - just because God says so.  And although it does take much time and many plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go - I think that the old curmedgeon would have been just as tough to deal with.

The show depicts one man as always being in Moses' ear, questioning him and telling him that he's not good enough.  Even at the very beginning he scoffs, "God sent you?  Pharaoh is the only God we have to fear."  "You're demented," he says.  As they stand beside the Nile, he whispers to Moses, "If Pharaoh didn't listen to you when he was six feet away, why would he listen to you now?" and yet Moses' staff turns the Nile to blood.  After all the plagues and all the ways in which God shows up and helps Moses, the curmudgeon stands beside the Red Sea and says, "Give up Moses before it's too late!  Were there not enough graves in Egypt that you brought us here to die?  Where is your God now?"  On and on, he tries to tear Moses down.

Moses showed more grace and more patience than I'm sure I would have.  He just kept moving forward, telling the people to trust God.  He never gave up and he never gave in.  The Bible tells us that going into the whole thing Moses tried to convince God to pick someone else for this task.  He was "slow of speech" which may have meant he stuttered.  His brother Aaron became his spokesperson.  Knowing this, I would have to assume that Moses had self-confidence issues from the start but he followed God out of Egypt, led the people through the wilderness and right up to the Promised Land.  Curmudgeons and all.

Do you have those people in your life?  Those people who are in your ear telling you that you're not good enough, that your plans will fail, that you are demented?  Sometimes the voice is our own self-doubt.  Sadly enough, even in ministry, I come up against a lot of curmudgeons.  And I'm not sure why one person's negative words can so dramatically outweigh five peoples praises, but it is true.  It is a constant battle to not let the curmudgeons win and take over.  "That (whatever) was good, but it would have been better if..." or "why don't we do things like (this church)?"  The negative comes through loud and clear. Then I remember a soft voice of an 11-year-old boy who gave me a note just days ago: "Thank you for making the lock-in possible...thank you for getting pizza and Capri Suns...thanks for getting almost front row seats...I liked learning about the three different kinds of love - eros, philo and agape...I've been trying to show more philo to my brothers...you have lots of good ideas."  Oh yeah...that's who I've been called to serve.

And God whispers: "You be you and you be mine."

May we all have the strength of Moses to persevere, to keep going even when curmudgeons tell us that we can't.  May we follow the voice of God, the call of our Savior, and walk in His light.