We needn't bear it alone Proper 21B

 In our reading from Numbers, the Israelites are whining, Moses is complaining, and God, well God problem-solves. The Israelites are tired of wandering and the lure of the Promised Land has lost it’s luster while the tribulations of captivity in Egypt don't seem so bad anymore. Besides that, they’re sick and tired of manna, longing for meat, fish, onions and garlic. They’re fed up. And Moses is overwhelmed saying: “I can’t bear this people on my own. They’re too heavy for me.”
They’re too heavy for me, God. Gimme a hand. But, instead of taking the burden on God’s own shoulders, God asks Moses to bring in 70 elders of the community upon whom God will place the power of prophecy.
In other words, God delegates.
God realizes that what makes this whole faith thing work well is community. Especially, communities of faith committed to each other and God through acts of kindness, charity, and love.
      I think, in our own communities of faith, we can forget this responsibility to and for one another. As Christians of the Episcopal type in this region of the world,  we have responsibilities and duties, promises to make, and to keep.
First and foremost, of course, is to love our God with all our heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbor as we are ourselves loved. We all want this, right? But the thing is, this isn’t a simple arrangement between each of us individually and God. As God taught Moses in our first reading this morning, God is not interested in being the singular source of Love for everyone. Now hear me clearly---God Loves each and everyone of us fully and without exception…. but what God teaches us is that God’s Love grows, strengthens, expands, and intensifies when it is shared among us.
God, inspires, encourages, enables and emboldens each and every one of us to be a conduit of that Love.
To be God’s instrument of Love to all whom we encounter.
Obviously, God’s love in and of itself is strong. But what we learn, when we’re active members of the Body of Christ, is that this Love becomes stronger, this Love becomes more vibrant, this Love becomes MORE when it’s embraced, cherished and shared.
God tells us:
 Feeling my Love? Share it.
Longing for my Love? Receive it from another.
Can’t feel it? Can’t find it? Trust that someone else is carrying it for you, that someone else is holding it until such a time as you can receive; until such a time you can feel it until such a time you can carry it.
God’s Love needs us.
And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, communities of faith with grand traditions alone and with new traditions forming through our initiative, what do we do? How do we strengthen God’s Love?
Feed the hungry? Sure, that’s always a good idea.
Clothe the naked? You betcha.
Stand against injustice and respect the dignity of every single human being? Absolutely.
But….before we do any of these things, before we embark on our collective work  we must first and foremost remember to love one another. And the absolute best way to live out this love?
Pray for each other.
What I’ve learned is fundamental to the health of every community of faith is: Prayer.
Intentional prayer for one another, it’s life giving and it’s the work of God. So please, Pray for each other in your congregations and in the other congregations of the GRI. For when we pray for each other, we remember that we’re not alone, that we needn’t carry the load alone. [ you’ ll find the cycle of prayer in your bulletins]. I firmly believe that if we are intentional about this prayer, our love for each other will strengthen and grow.
Moses called the 70 elders, Jesus sent out the 72.
Let us send each other out, enveloped in prayerful love.
Whatever struggles you’re facing in Medina, Holley, Albion, Attica, Warsaw, Perry, Stafford, Leroy or Batavia, let’s carry them together, by doing that, we’re doing God’s will.

Amen.