My father was born and raised in Berlin, Ohio, the heart of one of the largest Amish/Mennonite settlements in the world.  Dad was one of three boys born into a Mennonite family.  The "Plain People" have a saying about three boys when it comes to getting the chores done.  "One boy," they say, "is a boy.  Two boys is half a boy.  And three boys is no boy at all."  More may be merrier as far as the boys are concerned, but it is not nearly so productive as far as Pop is concerned.

You may be wondering why I am not a Mennonite.  Well, the Mennonites are more or less pacifist, and in Berlin they are definitely more so.  When World War Two came along my Dad joined the Navy and started drinking martinis.  That was pretty much it as far as the Mennonites were concerned.  My dad was a moderate imbiber, limiting himself to one martini a day, although my mother now tells me there were a couple of memorable occasions where excess entered the picture.  As Dad used to say of martinis, "One is okay.  Two is too many.  And three is not enough."

The title of our message is, "When Too Much is Not Enough."  That should sound vaguely familiar because a couple weeks ago our message was entitled, "When Too Little is More than Enough," based upon the text involving Jesus’ multiplication of five loaves and two fishes until they were more than enough to feed over 10,000 people.  Our message for the following Sunday was to be the second sermon in a two-sermon series, but then Gay, Katelyn and Gabby Yonkers offered a liturgical dance routine that was too good to pass up, so I adjusted our sermon title & text for last week to bring the Bible to bear upon a God whose self-appointed name is "I Am."

Today I would like to return to the sermon originally scheduled for the latter Sunday.  We will find that bread is a common ingredient in both messages: Jesus multiplying bread for the multitudes and God raining down bread from heaven for the Israelites to eat which they called "manna" (translated literally: "What is this?").  I suppose I have bread on the mind because Daryl Koning and I will be leading a day retreat on September 23rd which will focus upon the biblical images of bread and involve us in making and using fresh bread.

But where a few weeks ago we considered "When Too Little Is More than Enough," today we will consider the obverse: "When Too Much Is Not Enough."  The Bible recognizes that there are often two ways to err in any given situation.  Sometimes we err on the side of too much, and some times we err on the side of two little, leading King Solomon to write: …give me neither poverty nor riches; but only give me my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God (Proverbs 30:8-9).

The correct path is often the one between two extremes, what Aristotle called, "The doctrine of the mean," and Confucius called "The Golden Mean," and what Buddha taught as "The Middle Way."  Today we are cautioned about seeking too much for ourselves.  Sometimes, as Solomon has just pointed out, we can have so much that we forget about God and our dependence upon him.  This invariably leads to disaster and, as one who was the richest man in the world at the time, Solomon speaks from the voice of experience.

Having already learned from the Bible about when "Too Little is More Than Enough," let us see what our text can teach us about when "Too Much is Not Enough."  The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.  In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.  The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death" (Verses 1-3).

Just a couple months prior to this the Israelites were groaning under the burden of their bondage in Egypt.  God had heard their groaning and raised up Moses to lead them out of the land of oppression and on to the Land of Promise.  But on the way through the wilderness their food supplies began to run low and they began to wonder where they were going to get their next meal.  Never mind that God had demonstrated his miraculous wonder-working power in separating the Red Sea, never mind that he had destroyed the pursuing Egyptians, never mind that he had led them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  That was then.  The Israelites wanted to know, as Janet Jackson proclaimed in one of her songs: "What Have You Done for Me Lately?"

So the Israelites grumbled against Moses because they were hungry, and the "Back to Egypt Committee" began pining away for "The Good Old Days" (which were not very good at all, but this is the kind of thing grumbling people do when their security is at stake).  God sees a teaching moment in this situation, and an opportunity to test whether or not the Israelites will trust him to protect and provide for them in his time and way.  Further, God wants to see whether or not the Israelites will obey his instructions, because not even God can help those who will not let him.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.  In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.  On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days" (Verses 4-5).  What was this bread from heaven?  We do not know, although there has been much speculation about it.  What we do know is that when the morning dew evaporated, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor (Verse 14).

These flakes could be ground up, rehydrated and fashioned into dough that could be baked like bread or boiled like bagels.  What is more, the finished product was sweet to the taste and very nutritious.  Each person was to gather an omer (about two quarts) before the sun rose and melted it away.  On average, an omer would be enough to feed one person for one day.  The Israelites were not to gather more than an omer per person except on sixth day, when they were to gather two omers per person.  Why?  Because, as Moses told the people, "This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.  So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil.  Save whatever is left and keep it until morning" (Verse 23).

Interestingly enough, this is the first mention of the term "Sabbath" in the Bible.  The Israelites have not yet made it to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the fourth of which officially establishes the Sabbath Day as a day of rest.  The Sabbath was, however, grounded in the ordinances of creation where God rested from his work on the seventh day and blessed it and made it holy.  Therefore the Israelites were permitted to collect extra manna on the 6^th day so they had something to eat on the Sabbath day of rest.

However the Israelites were not content with limits placed upon how much they could gather.  What if God forgot to send it one day?  Maybe they ought to bend the rules and secretly store up a little extra for a "rainy day."  So instead of collecting and consuming their daily bread in keeping with God’s command spoken through Moses, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell . So Moses was angry with them (Verse 20).

Interestingly enough when the Israelites collected a two-day supply on the 6^th day, it did not spoil and become infested with maggots—only when they disobeyed God’s instructions and collected and kept extra on the other days of the week did it do so.  And so it goes for us when we hoard up worldly resources contrary to God’s will for us.  I just came across a book entitled: The Family Fortune: Blessing or Curse?: How to Educate and Empower Your Heirs So Your Money Doesn’t Ruin Their Lives, by Stan Hutchinson.

Two examples of when "Too Much is Not Enough."  Two examples of hoarded wealth spoiling like hoarded manna.  Two examples of an intended blessing becoming a family curse.  I am sure that there are many here who could add illustrations from their own families to this scenario.  If so, welcome to the human race because this happens much more often than most people imagine.  Again, as King Solomon, the richest man in the world, said: I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner (Ecclesiastes 5:13).

What is the solution to this "grievous evil?"  The answer is written on every coin in your pocket and every bill in your wallet.  "In God We Trust." We must trust that, as God has provided daily bread for us in the past, so he will provide daily bread for this day.  Further, he will provide our daily bread in succeeding days and on to our journey’s end.  We either trust in God’s promises or we do not.  If we do not, we will seek security by hook or by crook, and we will never be satisfied with what we have.  We will never be satisfied.  We will never be satisfied.  What a curse it is to be perpetually dissatisfied—perpetually discontented.

St. Paul has written, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:12-15).  What a blessing it is to be content in any and every situation because we trust in God’s promises to provide for each day’s need.  Trusting in God is rule number one for avoiding "When Too Much is Not Enough."

Rule number two is to obey God’s instructions.  Recall that God saw a teaching moment in our text.  He said, In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions (Verse 4).  You will notice that God is not against storing up worldly resources.  Quite the contrary, he commanded the Israelites to store up manna on the sixth day in preparation for the Sabbath Day of rest.  But God is against storing up worldly resources beyond measure.  God wants us to have a balanced portfolio.  He wants us to store up treasure in heaven and not just on earth.

How do we do that?  Paul gives the answer to his young protégé Timothy: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (I Timothy 6:17-19).