Is the Lord Among Us or Not?
Sermon
Show-and-Tell
First Lesson Cycle A Sermons for Lent and Easter
Object:
When most folks first come to seminary they enter with very high expectations of participating in a grand and glorious spiritual high. No doubts. No despair. Just higher and higher peaks of power and wonder. No valleys. No problems. Life together should be like belonging to a fabulous family filled with good feelings. No murmuring. No quarreling. Just happiness. Most students and their accompanying families have left behind real jobs that paid real money. They have left homes, friends, and relatives. They have left caring, supporting, compassionate congregations. Something old and familiar has ended. Now they are expecting something new and fabulous to begin. The last thing they expected was to find themselves wandering in an uncomfortable and confusing wilderness filled with more questions than answers. Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us right now!
When people first join a congregation many enter with similar expectations. They anticipate becoming part of a stable, intimate, continually joy-filled community. At least two-thirds of new parishioners have experienced significant life changes during the previous year. These include changes in location, occupation, family situation, income, school, friends, neighborhood, and congregation. The familiar has ended. Wilderness wandering has begun. The last thing they expect from their new congregations is more confusion and discomfort. No wilderness! No way! Please! Not now! Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
Well, we all know from our own experience that throughout history God's people have faced times of pain and doubt, broken dreams and unmet expectations, times of internal bickering and external fights, and times when their leaders and even their God seemed to be incompetent and untrustworthy. We have all experienced times when the freely flowing waters in our hearts seemed to become buried by the dry dust of our sins... times when we too have questioned: Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
In today's text, an enslaved Hebrew people had left their comfortable routines and the familiar food and shelter in Egypt with a grand, glorious, miraculous march through the sea. Onward to freedom! Onward to the promised land flowing with milk and honey! Onward following the Lord and his servant Moses with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Onward in a state of awesome spiritual wonder! No more problems! No more slavery! We'll be in the promised land before you know it! God is with us and all is right in our world!
However, in reality, the journey was anything but quick and easy. It was full of continued, aimless, and endless wandering within a hostile and barren wilderness. Their food was not the familiar meat and vegetables flavored with Egyptian spices. Their wilderness food was a flaky residue left over from nightly insect activity on the leaves of plants. This new food was called, "What is it?" or in Hebrew "manna" (Exodus 16:14). When they weren't gathering manna, they were looking for water. When they weren't reminiscing about the good times they enjoyed back in Egypt, they were complaining to the Lord and blaming Moses about the miserable times they were experiencing here in the wilderness.
For example, even before they left Egypt, the Hebrew slaves blamed Moses when Pharaoh forced them to make bricks without straw (Exodus 5:15-20). Then when they saw the Egyptians pursuing them, the Hebrews complained and blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. You can almost hear their whining "I-told-you-so."
What have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, "Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?" For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
-- Exodus 14:11-12
Then, right after the Lord provided a miraculous escape by parting the waters of the sea, the Hebrews complained about the food.
If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt where we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
-- Exodus 16:2-3
Wilderness journeys aren't for sissies. They are tough. Moving from one way of life to another is always filled with unexpected obstacles and difficult challenges. No matter how wonderful the destination is; no matter how clearly the promised vision is described, getting there is tougher than expected. The more difficult and distant the destination seems, the easier it is to be diverted and discouraged along the way. The more remote the future dream appears, the easier it is to focus only on the discomforts of the present and to yearn for the pleasures of the past. Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
In our text today, the folks had had enough... again. They were thirsty... again. They complained to Moses... again. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3). In Numbers 20:5 they called their present location a "wretched place... no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates" like they had back in Egypt.
Finally a frustrated Moses cried out to the Lord: "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me" (Exodus 17:4).
Here are God's people -- God's chosen people -- in the wilderness murmuring and moaning, complaining and blaming, quarreling and testing. Can you believe this ungrateful behavior after all that God had done for them? After all that God is still doing for them? After all that God has promised them?
Before we evaluate their wilderness behavior too harshly, consider what it's like for you in your own wilderness. What is it like to be discouraged and depressed? What is it like to have a dream dashed to pieces on the rocks of disappointment? What is it like to have your hopes raised high only to plummet into the depths of despair? To be misunderstood by friends and family? To be blamed for something you didn't do by your teacher at school or your boss at work? Does it ever seem like no matter how hard you try to adjust to a new situation the same problems arise and the same mistakes persist? How do you handle times of doubt and drought, spiritual dryness and thirst? How do you cope with the complaints of other wilderness travelers and being blamed then for their own dusty spirits and depleted energy? Is the Lord in your place or not?
Pay careful attention here. God did not give Moses a website full of effective methods for managing conflict. Neither did God provide Moses with a list of snappy replies that will stifle complaining and eliminate blaming. Instead, God gave Moses directions for how to find water.
Where's the water supply in your wilderness right now? What guidance is God giving to you? Look again at the fifth and sixth verses in our text. Here God's guidance to Moses and to you are similar. Go for a walk with some wise and trusted Christian elders. Bring with you a sign, a memory, a symbol of how God's presence was your guide through previous difficulties. And when you do this, God tells both Moses and you, "I will be standing there in front of you."
It is in these dry wilderness times that God leads us to see flowing water. God leads us to the solid rock of ages, Jesus Christ, from whom all blessings flow. God stands in front of us at the baptismal font reminding us of God's own life-giving, life-changing love that leads us through any wilderness with a love that never lets us go thirsty.
Here in your congregation and in your own lives there will be wilderness times of doubting and despairing, complaining and blaming, moaning and murmuring, grumbling and groaning. That's normal. That's even biblical. As the Hebrews did, you will often lose sight of God's presence with you and God's promise to you and for you. You will search desperately for a quick fix for your most recent and troublesome problems.
That too is normal and biblical. In fact, Moses even gave names to the very place where this happened. He called the place Massah [test] and Meribah [quarreling] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord saying, "Is the Lord in this place or not?" (Exodus 17:7).
So, is the Lord in this place, your place, or not? If people bicker and blame does that mean God is not there? If there is pain and despair, hunger and thirst, does that mean that God is absent? If there is violence and oppression or disease and depression does that mean that God does not care?
Is the Lord in this place or not?
Yes, indeed. The Lord is in this place, all right! The Lord Jesus entered the dark abyss of the world. He suffered, bled, and died in this world for you and for all human kind. Where bodies are broken, Christ is there. Where blood is poured out, Christ is there. Where souls are splashed with flowing water, Christ is there. Where God's word is spoken, Christ is there. Where God's people gather, Christ is there.
Is the Lord in this place or not? Look around. God is showing you. Listen up, God is telling you. And all God's people say, "Amen!"
When people first join a congregation many enter with similar expectations. They anticipate becoming part of a stable, intimate, continually joy-filled community. At least two-thirds of new parishioners have experienced significant life changes during the previous year. These include changes in location, occupation, family situation, income, school, friends, neighborhood, and congregation. The familiar has ended. Wilderness wandering has begun. The last thing they expect from their new congregations is more confusion and discomfort. No wilderness! No way! Please! Not now! Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
Well, we all know from our own experience that throughout history God's people have faced times of pain and doubt, broken dreams and unmet expectations, times of internal bickering and external fights, and times when their leaders and even their God seemed to be incompetent and untrustworthy. We have all experienced times when the freely flowing waters in our hearts seemed to become buried by the dry dust of our sins... times when we too have questioned: Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
In today's text, an enslaved Hebrew people had left their comfortable routines and the familiar food and shelter in Egypt with a grand, glorious, miraculous march through the sea. Onward to freedom! Onward to the promised land flowing with milk and honey! Onward following the Lord and his servant Moses with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Onward in a state of awesome spiritual wonder! No more problems! No more slavery! We'll be in the promised land before you know it! God is with us and all is right in our world!
However, in reality, the journey was anything but quick and easy. It was full of continued, aimless, and endless wandering within a hostile and barren wilderness. Their food was not the familiar meat and vegetables flavored with Egyptian spices. Their wilderness food was a flaky residue left over from nightly insect activity on the leaves of plants. This new food was called, "What is it?" or in Hebrew "manna" (Exodus 16:14). When they weren't gathering manna, they were looking for water. When they weren't reminiscing about the good times they enjoyed back in Egypt, they were complaining to the Lord and blaming Moses about the miserable times they were experiencing here in the wilderness.
For example, even before they left Egypt, the Hebrew slaves blamed Moses when Pharaoh forced them to make bricks without straw (Exodus 5:15-20). Then when they saw the Egyptians pursuing them, the Hebrews complained and blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. You can almost hear their whining "I-told-you-so."
What have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, "Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?" For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
-- Exodus 14:11-12
Then, right after the Lord provided a miraculous escape by parting the waters of the sea, the Hebrews complained about the food.
If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt where we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
-- Exodus 16:2-3
Wilderness journeys aren't for sissies. They are tough. Moving from one way of life to another is always filled with unexpected obstacles and difficult challenges. No matter how wonderful the destination is; no matter how clearly the promised vision is described, getting there is tougher than expected. The more difficult and distant the destination seems, the easier it is to be diverted and discouraged along the way. The more remote the future dream appears, the easier it is to focus only on the discomforts of the present and to yearn for the pleasures of the past. Is the Lord among us or not? Tell us! Show us! Right now!
In our text today, the folks had had enough... again. They were thirsty... again. They complained to Moses... again. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3). In Numbers 20:5 they called their present location a "wretched place... no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates" like they had back in Egypt.
Finally a frustrated Moses cried out to the Lord: "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me" (Exodus 17:4).
Here are God's people -- God's chosen people -- in the wilderness murmuring and moaning, complaining and blaming, quarreling and testing. Can you believe this ungrateful behavior after all that God had done for them? After all that God is still doing for them? After all that God has promised them?
Before we evaluate their wilderness behavior too harshly, consider what it's like for you in your own wilderness. What is it like to be discouraged and depressed? What is it like to have a dream dashed to pieces on the rocks of disappointment? What is it like to have your hopes raised high only to plummet into the depths of despair? To be misunderstood by friends and family? To be blamed for something you didn't do by your teacher at school or your boss at work? Does it ever seem like no matter how hard you try to adjust to a new situation the same problems arise and the same mistakes persist? How do you handle times of doubt and drought, spiritual dryness and thirst? How do you cope with the complaints of other wilderness travelers and being blamed then for their own dusty spirits and depleted energy? Is the Lord in your place or not?
Pay careful attention here. God did not give Moses a website full of effective methods for managing conflict. Neither did God provide Moses with a list of snappy replies that will stifle complaining and eliminate blaming. Instead, God gave Moses directions for how to find water.
Where's the water supply in your wilderness right now? What guidance is God giving to you? Look again at the fifth and sixth verses in our text. Here God's guidance to Moses and to you are similar. Go for a walk with some wise and trusted Christian elders. Bring with you a sign, a memory, a symbol of how God's presence was your guide through previous difficulties. And when you do this, God tells both Moses and you, "I will be standing there in front of you."
It is in these dry wilderness times that God leads us to see flowing water. God leads us to the solid rock of ages, Jesus Christ, from whom all blessings flow. God stands in front of us at the baptismal font reminding us of God's own life-giving, life-changing love that leads us through any wilderness with a love that never lets us go thirsty.
Here in your congregation and in your own lives there will be wilderness times of doubting and despairing, complaining and blaming, moaning and murmuring, grumbling and groaning. That's normal. That's even biblical. As the Hebrews did, you will often lose sight of God's presence with you and God's promise to you and for you. You will search desperately for a quick fix for your most recent and troublesome problems.
That too is normal and biblical. In fact, Moses even gave names to the very place where this happened. He called the place Massah [test] and Meribah [quarreling] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord saying, "Is the Lord in this place or not?" (Exodus 17:7).
So, is the Lord in this place, your place, or not? If people bicker and blame does that mean God is not there? If there is pain and despair, hunger and thirst, does that mean that God is absent? If there is violence and oppression or disease and depression does that mean that God does not care?
Is the Lord in this place or not?
Yes, indeed. The Lord is in this place, all right! The Lord Jesus entered the dark abyss of the world. He suffered, bled, and died in this world for you and for all human kind. Where bodies are broken, Christ is there. Where blood is poured out, Christ is there. Where souls are splashed with flowing water, Christ is there. Where God's word is spoken, Christ is there. Where God's people gather, Christ is there.
Is the Lord in this place or not? Look around. God is showing you. Listen up, God is telling you. And all God's people say, "Amen!"
