Laboring and Complaining

Exodus 16:2-3, 9-15

2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 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 pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites: ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 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. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “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.’ ”

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 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. 15 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.

Philippians 1:21-30

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me.

27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel 28 and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. 29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The Israelites found themselves in the wilderness, having been led by God under Moses’ leadership, out of Egypt and through the Red Sea to freedom.  Only freedom turned out to mean having nothing to eat.  They wondered aloud just why God would deliver them out of Egypt only for them to all starve.  What is the point?  Not for the last time, God’s people face the possibility that God has changed his mind, isn’t keeping his promises - or maybe that he’s not capable - or maybe we only fooled ourselves that God brought us here.   They’re basically saying, if God is responsible for the situation, then God needs to take responsibility getting us out of it.  And this is hardly an unreasonable or impious concern.  If anything that God said is going to come true - if God isn’t going to embarrass himself - then they need to eat.  Otherwise it would’ve been better to remain slaves in Egypt, where at least they got their daily bread.  

God heard their complaint and, rather than chastising them for their lack of faith (there are times when that happens!), God responds as if this indeed a reasonable demand and promises to send them quails and bread.   The next morning, after the dew had dissipated, there remained a flaky layer of substance on the ground.  The people, confused, asked “What is it?” Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

And eat they did.  You can imagine that if you were starving in the desert that this would be the most welcome of miracles, bread from heaven.  It’s quite common nowadays to identify the naturally occurring phenomenon described here, but we might consider that this does nothing to diminish the nature of the event.  God has provided.  And the the people receive this gratefully, joyfully - at least initially.  It wasn’t too long before they were grumbling about having to eat this same boring stuff day after day.  

The wilderness wandering has long provided an allegory for Christian life: We have been delivered from bondage into a new life and we await our eventual arrival in the Promised Land, but in the meantime life isn’t so easy.  We can recall the events that set us free, but they can feel every more distant, and doubts begin to creep in about God’s faithfulness, or God’s ability to follow through, or if God is still present or even ever was at all.   Even if you’ve got all your needs provided (and more), but it’s hard not to think that it really ought to better than this?  Why mere subsistence when God could do abundance?  Why this crusty stuff when we could have milk and honey?  

In the wilderness the Israelites - and we, as well - face a choice.  Do we give thanks for what God has provided, do we see it as a foretaste of the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises, do we consider that we have everything we actually need - and that maybe we even need to be here, that God is preparing us for something?  Or do we only see what is lacking, convinced that if God is who God claims to be then the whole situation ought to be a lot better?   

In the Gospel passage Jesus tells us story of a different group of complainers.  The landowner - obviously the God character - goes out to invite laborers into his vineyard.  The initial group agrees to a wage and goes to work, then he returns periodically to invite others to work as well.  When the days is over he calls them forth to receive payment, starting with the last, who receive the wage agreed to by the first group.  Those who have worked the whole day protest at receiving the same as those who worked only the final hour.  This strikes them, understandably, as an obvious injustice.  If I did this to my children, the one who worked more would surely complain that it wasn’t fair.  

The landowner’s action offends our sense of fairness; surely the ones who worked more deserved more.  Is there no correlation between the work and the reward?  Why bother working the whole day if you’re going to get the same thing regardless?  Often this parable is interpreted as addressing the fact that both people who have been Christians their whole lives and those who come to faith late in life both receive the same salvation, but then this isn’t really a point that needs making: who actually begrudges the late convert?  Much more compelling is that Jesus is addressing Jews who would object to the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s promises, having come late in the game and done none of the work.  

In any case, the landowner violates any conception of merit.  His comment, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” can sound as if God is flexing his sovereign prerogative to do whatever he wants.  But, of course, the landowner does’t stiff any of the workers in this parable.  He has not given anyone less than they deserve, though he has given many more than they deserve.  And, in fact, the point is probably that the “wage” God gives is actually more than all the workers deserve.  It has not been earned by any of them.  God only has one wage to give, and it is of infinite value.  Usually people want grace for themselves but justice for others, but if we think we have earned it where others have not, we deceive ourselves. 

The lesson of these passages is not that we should avoid complaining to God.  There are lots of things worth complaining about, and - as the psalms teach us - it’s hardly impious to bring those complaints to God.  If we take the Exodus passage as a guide, God just might hear those complaints and do something about it.  In fact, wherever real needs are going unmet, we ought to say something, we ought to cry out to God, even if God doesn’t seem to be listening.  

One of the main obstacles to belief in God (never mind loving obedience to God) is that many people look at the world and see needs going unmet, who see injustice everywhere.  This is a real theological problem to address, but it’s probably not a coincidence that this attitude arises primarily in the most affluent, least corrupt places.  It is those with the least to complain about who find God most at fault.  The usual story is that greater enlightenment eliminates the need for God, but it might just be that our material comfort and security not only blinds us to all the ways that God provides, but renders us 

incapable of comprehending what makes life good - incapable of recognizing what life, what existence, even is.   The imagination of folks like us goes straight to how unbearable it would be to eat the same crud everyday, to have no fixed home, to literally be wandering about.  And yet, we might consider that they not only had their needs met, they were witness, at least on occasion, to the glory of God, and they could hope that they were bound for the home God had made for them.  And then we might also consider who had it better, us or them?  

In a way, the wilderness wandering is not merely a parable for Christian life, but of existence itself. Do we believe that God has brought us here with a purpose, and that, despite our hardships, God will bring us home?   This is difficult point to make because it’s so simple, but do we really believe that life is good?  

It’s interesting too that, although the landowner gives all the laborers the same reward, that reward comes only to those who, at some point, answered the call to labor in God’s vineyard.   I don’t want to push the parable too far, but the connection here between labor and reward is hard to miss.  It is those who help build the kingdom, however meager their efforts, who will enter the kingdom.  Faithfulness requires hard work; it is a struggle, but one of which Paul wrote, “he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well.”  

The ones who entered the vineyard first and worked the heat of the day might’ve felt like it was all for naught, that they would’ve been better off waiting until the eleventh hour like the others, but then they miss the point of what life is all about, that for which they exist.  There is no better place to be than in the garden of the Lord planting the seeds that will bear eternal fruit. That is its own reward, and they might as well get work immediately.