The Good Old Days
“They don’t make things like they used to. “ It’s one of those phrases that you can hear my family say just about every time something breaks. “They just don’t make things like they used to.” There’s some truth in that phrase. Things today are often made with different materials and in a different process than they were 30 years ago. Things literally aren’t made like they used to be. But when we say that phrase, we’re not so much commenting on the construction of the particular item, it’s more an expression of frustration or disappointment that the item in question is no longer functioning properly.
That phrase carries with it an implied value judgment. Usually when we say, “they just don’t make things like they used to” what we really mean is, “they just don’t make things as well as they used to.” We mean that things aren’t made to last anymore, that they aren’t sturdy or durable. We imply that this new product is inferior to the old product, in part simply because it is new and different.
But sometimes older things really are made better than new ones. Take cars for instance. It used to be that cars were made out of sturdy metal, not plastic that broke or bent or crumpled at the slightest bump. And they were less complicated without so many electronic and computer parts. When something broke you could pop the hood, pull out the broken piece and put in a new piece. You didn’t have to take to a dealer or mechanic and have them hook it up to a computer just to figure out what was wrong with it. They just don’t make cars like that anymore.
But then again these same cars didn't have child safety locks, airbags, seatbelts, anti-lock brakes or many of the other safety features that modern cars have today. All things, old and new have advantages and disadvantages to them. Old cars were simpler, easier to maintain and fix yourself, but they had less safety features and burned way more gas than a typical car today.
Yet often when we think back to the way things used to be made or the way things used to be, we often don’t focus on the advancements that have been made or see things with clear objectivity. We remember things the way we want to remember them, often emphasizing the good and downplaying the negative. We can hear our tendency to do this in many of the phrases we say. We say “things just aren’t like they used to be,” “they just don’t make things like they used to,” “I remember when…,” or sometimes we even say, “back in the good old days…” Each phrase carries with it the implicit value judgment that things used to be easier, simpler, clearer or better and the phrase carries with it a sort of longing for days long past.
It’s a tendency we all have, so perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising for us to hear the same sort of comments from the Israelites in today’s scripture reading. In this passage, we find the Israelites wandering through the wilderness and they camp at a place where there is no water. Immediately, they make their dissatisfaction known to Moses. Moses chastises the Israelites for their lack of trust in God and they respond by saying “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and our livestock die of thirst?” Those are awfully strong words. And it’s definitely not the first time that Israelites have complained about their journey through the wilderness. They complained before the Red Sea was parted, they complained afterwards that there was nothing to eat, and now they complain again about the lack of water.
Certainly, all of those things are needed. A way to escape the pursuing Egyptian Army was need, daily food is needed, water is needed, especially in a desert. Each time God provides for the Israelites needs but each time the Israelites complaint begins with, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt…” each of the complaints has an implicit or even overtly stated message that life in Egypt was better than life here in the wilderness. The Israelites even after having witnessed the amazing miracles of God over and over again in their midst have had enough of this wilderness life. They long for the good old days back in Egypt when they could eat as much as they wanted and they always had water. They long for the safety of their life in Egypt where they could rely on things being the same and they knew they could count on particular things.
But the Israelites seem to have forgotten that life in Egypt was slavery. It was full of hard grueling labor, with oppressive guards and taskmasters. The Israelites were treated as commodities not as people. And for years they cried out to God for deliverance and freedom. God heard and responded to their cries, acting to bring about the Israelite’s liberation and freedom. God even paints for them this incredible vision of what life outside of slavery looks like, a promised land flowing with milk and honey.
In spite of all that, the Israelites continue to say, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Despite their new freedom, the Israelites would rather be back in slavery. It seems that the Israelites are tired of this land in between. They’re tired of this state of flux, where they’ve been liberated from the oppressive rule of pharaoh but are not yet in the promised land. And in this land in between, it’s easier than ever to look back on their time in Egypt with rose colored glasses. It’s easier than ever to remember all the good things about the way things used to be and to minimize all the negative aspects of slavery. The Israelites seem to think that the known, even if it is slavery, is better than the unknown, better than living in the tension and discomfort of their current reality in this land in between.
The land in between, I think in many ways that’s a good description of life here at Calvary. We certainly live in the tension and discomfort of being a growing church and yet not having all the infrastructures in place to support that growth. Just like the Israelites, we have a vision of where we’re trying to go. We feel like God has called us to make a concerted effort to reach out to those in our community. We feel like God has called us to invite them to experience a life lived in community and in relationship with God. We know that we don’t get to put limits on how many people respond to God’s call to be in relationship, we don’t get to put limits on how many people come to be a part of the body of Christ, we know we don’t get to put limits on how many people can be a part of Calvary church. So we’ve sought to organize our time, energy, and effort around reaching out to those in our community. As a result of us following the call God has placed on us, we are a growing congregation!
We are a growing congregation and like all growing congregations, we at Calvary often experience growing pains. We experience the tension of living in this land in between, we experience life as a growing congregation whose building and parking lot and staff size hasn’t grown at the same rate. We have more ministries than we have space for, and even more ministries on the way. We are bursting at the seams in just about every direction imaginable. Such growth is a wonderful thing but bursting at the seams is often as uncomfortable as wear jeans two sizes too small!
Just like the Israelites we have a tendency to grumble about our discomfort. There are very few Sundays that go by that the staff here at Calvary doesn't hear comments about trouble finding a parking space, greeters not being in place, groups meeting in "my" room, or there being too many people here to get to know everyone. And just like the Israelite’s complaints, these are things that we need. We need parking, we need greeters, we need places for groups to meet, and we need to foster a sense of community and belonging here at Calvary.
As we experience these growing pains, the discomfort of this land in between, it’s easy for us to look back on years past and to long for simpler days. It’s easy to long for the “good old days” when we knew everyone by name, when parking was abundant, and meeting spaces were plentiful. In this land in between, it’s easy to forget that the whole reason we’re in this place is because God is leading us somewhere.
God is leading us into new places and new life. I’m not saying that the way things used to be was slavery and all bad. I’m not saying that at all. But I do think it’s clear that God is the one who is leading us into new territory. Just like today’s scripture passages tells us the Israelites traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded, we also are traveling from place to place as God leads us. God is the one who’s calling us to grow and stretch and reach out. God is the one who’s leading us. Often the path God leads us on is uncomfortable, it stretches us to grow and change, and it pushed us to rely on God to provide what we need. But as uncomfortable as the journey can be, staying where we were would be to deny the call God has placed on us.
God has led us here to this land in between, and just like God provided water for the Israelites in the desert, so too God will provide for our needs. It won’t always be comfortable and we won’t always have everything we want. We often have to make do with less than ideal situations as we continue to grow. But we are moving and growing and God won’t abandon us in this land in between. We can trust that the Lord is present with us even in the land in between. We can trust that the Lord is standing before us directing which way we should go and pointing out which rocks to strike to find water.
We are in the land in between. Discomfort is part of the reality of this place, and some grumblings are going to happen. God has led us to this place in between and even now God stands before us pointing the way. Even now God stands before us, leading us ever forward towards the Promised Land. The Lord is present even in this land in between!
Thanks be to God! Amen.
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