Thank you for joining us here at Resurrection Parish for the seventh week of our summer message series, “Moses: Lifelong Journey of Faith.” Both for Moses, and for us, this journey is nearing its end. We just have this week and next, but the example of Moses’ life still has a few things to teach us.

First a story. I am sure that most of us could tell a similar story. When I was a child, my family decided to celebrate Thanksgiving one year with my Uncle John and his family. They lived not far from Boston. I don’t remember exactly what kind of truck my father had at the time, but it had a “supercab” so us kids could sit behind mom and dad. But it would have been crowded and I am sure my folks would have heard one of the banes of long family drives “stop touching me.” Fortunately, Dad also had a small camper cap which basically just had two benches which could also serve as beds. One of my sisters and I decided we would ride in the camper. It was smart thinking in terms of having plenty of room, but we had not considered another factor: it gets really cold in Massachusetts in late November, and the camper had no heat. After hours bundled under blankets and sleeping bags, my sister and I started knocking on the sliding window between the camper and the cabin asking the other bane of long family drives, “Are we there yet?”

This week we find Moses in a similar situation. Recall from last week, that a little over a year since being freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Kadesh Barnea, which was just outside of the Promise Land. From there they sent 12 spies to scout out the land. When the spies returned they confirmed that the land was indeed good. Two of them – Caleb and Joshua – urged the people to invade, that with God’s help they would succeed. However, the other 10 spies focused on the difficulties, and convinced the people that they would not be able to succeed. For their lack of faith, God said that none of the people who had been freed from Egypt – with the exception of Caleb, Joshua, and presumably Moses – would get to enter the Promise Land, so for the next 39 years (total of 40 counting the year they spent at Mt. Sinai) the Israelites would wander the desert until that whole generation had died. 

Our message this week is about taking a look under at what's going on inside of us down in our hearts. When it comes to introspection and self-reflection and self-examination, we just don't want to do it. However, it is wise every once in a while to take a look at what's going on inside of us. When it comes to our hearts there is a principle we can learn, and we can learn it the easy way or the hard way. Because when it comes to living, when it comes to taking care of our hearts, this one principle can make all the difference in the world. And the story that we're going to look at in the life of Moses today illustrates that principle perfectly. So, let's take a look at the Scripture together, and we will be looking at the Book of Numbers, chapter 20.

So the Israelites have been wandering in the desert, seemingly aimlessly, for many years. Most of the generation that had been slaves in Egypt have died, but their children and grandchildren we not all that different from them. They liked to grumble, so Moses heard a lot of “are we there yet?” Add to this, Moses’ sister, Miriam has just died, so of the first generation there are only Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua still alive, and Aaron knows that his time is short; after making the Golden Calf, he knows that he is not going to make it to the Promise Land.

We read, “Since the community had no water, they held an assembly against Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses, exclaiming, ‘Would that we had perished when our kindred perished before the LORD! Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place for grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates! And there is no water to drink!’” (Nu 20:2–5). 

Just like their parents and grandparents, the next generation of Israelites are grumbling to Moses, but really against God, who has provided for them all these years in the desert. Moses and Aaron go to the Tent of Meeting and pray to the Lord. They do not know what to do with all the Israelites. Sometimes all there's left to do is just fall down before God to cry out to God. 

God answered Moses, “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and in their presence command the rock to yield its waters. Thereby you will bring forth water from the rock for them, and supply the community and their livestock with water. So Moses took the staff from its place before the LORD, as he was ordered. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, where he said to them, ‘Just listen, you rebels! Are we to produce water for you out of this rock?’Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, and water came out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank” (Nu 20:8–11). 

So basically Moses blows a gasket. He gets upset and you see the resentment of 40 years come spilling out. All of his frustration comes out in an instant and he starts yelling and screaming at all the people. He then strikes the rock with his staff like he did so many years ago for their ancestors shortly after they escaped from Egypt. The people and livestock are happy to now have water. 

However, God is not happy with Moses because God never told him to strike the rock, and he kind of made it sound like he was doing it, not God. He says, “Because you did not have confidence in me, to acknowledge my holiness before the Israelites, therefore you shall not lead this assembly into the land I have given them. (Nu 20:12). After 40 years of leadership, we see that Moses too is now not allowed into the Promised Land. In his anger, he disobeys God and he misses out on that part of the adventure. A sad ending I think. But isn't it all so true that in our anger we do things that we don't want to do, that in our anger we do things that we regret, and even that dishonor God?

This brings us to the principle of the heart which is our lesson for this week. The principle is this, that just like whatever goes up, must come down, whatever goes in must come out. Whatever goes into our hearts eventually, must come out. That is what happened to Moses, all that frustration and anger he had about the Israelites bickering and complaining, came out and it cost him dearly.

We have to be careful about what we let into our hearts. Bad stuff like resentment and frustration, like anger and jealousy and greed and envy, all these bad things can take root in our hearts and eventually they're going to come out. Proverbs 4:23 says, “With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.”

My question for us is, what's our hearts full of these days? What's being stored up in our hearts? Are we holding on to anything in our hearts right now? Are we angry with anyone? Is there someone we need to forgive? Have we had any imaginary conversations in our heads recently? Are we jealous of anyone? Is there someone we're resentful of or bitter towards? Did somebody hurt us? Are we tired? Are we exhausted? As we take time to reflect, as we look into our hearts and examine what might be going on, whatever we discover, there are solutions to these things. I mean, if we find anger, then we try to forgive. If we find jealousy, then we look for opportunities to praise. If we find greed, then we look for opportunities to give. Whatever we might find is going on in our hearts, there's something that we can do about it. There's solutions for it.