Proper 20
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Object:
"Give us this day our daily bread." This text from Exodus forms the background of that petition in the Lord's Prayer. The Israelites have been delivered from slavery in Egypt and are trekking through the wilderness, with all of its dangers, toward the promised land. When they cry out for bread and meat, God sends quails and manna for their food. But only one day's provision of manna is given at a time, except on the sixth day, when there is a double supply to last through the sabbath, a day of rest. Not too much is given for each day and not too little. And if the Israelites try to store up the manna during five days of the week instead of gathering it every day, it rots.
The text tells us that 45 days have passed since the deliverance at the Reed Sea. The people have been encamped at the oasis of Elim, with its copious water and palm trees (15:27), but now they must travel on through the Wilderness of Sin on the way to Mount Sinai. The exact location of both Elim and Sinai cannot be specified, but the Exodus emphasizes that the people move on from place to place "according to the commandment of the Lord" (17:1). They are following an itinerary given them by God.
God is the furthest thought from their minds, however. They are not starving to death, but like so many who prefer comfort to freedom, they long for the "fleshpots" and "bread aplenty" of Egypt (v. 3) -- undoubtedly a selective memory (cf. Numbers 11:4-5), especially since meat was a rare delicacy in the Ancient New East. They therefore accuse Moses of wishing to kill them with hunger. They have no real need, but they are greedy. And above all, they have forgotten completely that they are on God's journey, as you and I forget that. The Israelites are testing Moses' leadership and ultimately, God's. But the Israelites -- and we -- are the ones who are really being tested. Do they and we trust God?
Amazingly, God does not respond to his people's greed and forgetfulness of him with anger. How gracious the Lord always is! Instead, God sends his people both meat and the bread of manna for their daily fare. While the quail meat is mentioned only in verse 13, the story concentrates on the gift of the manna.
"What is it?" the people wonder (v. 15), and from that question comes its name. "Manna" is man hu in the Hebrew, something the people have never seen before. A number of commentators wish to equate manna with a natural substance, emphasizing that God's grace is given even through ordinary things (Terence Fretheim). "The tamarisk bush," writes Kyle McCarter (Harper's Bible Commentary, p. 147), "which grows in part of the Sinai Peninsula, is infested with scale insects that suck its sap, some of which is excreted in the form of globules that crystallize in the sun ... This sticky substance is rich in carbohydrates and sugars and can support the life of a starving wanderer. It is still called mann by the modern inhabitants of the Sinai, who regard it as a gift from God."
If we let the scriptures interpret the scriptures, however, it is clear that manna is not a natural substance. It is described as white, like coriander seed, and as a wafer with a taste of honey (v. 31). It miraculously supplies just enough for each day and doubles in quantity on the sixth day, and it is stored without rotting in the future temple, along with the tablets of the law, through centuries (vv. 32-34). Psalm 78:24-25 calls it "the grain of heaven" and "the bread of angels." Paul terms it "supernatural food" (1 Corinthians 10:3), and Jesus compares himself to it as the bread of life come down from heaven (John 6: 48-49). In short, the manna with which God feeds the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35) is a supernatural gift of grace.
The manna is given for two reasons, according to our text. First, it is used as a test of the Israelite's trust in God (v. 4). Will they follow God's command and gather only one day's supply of the manna during the week, or will they ignore God's word and try to hoard the food? Do they trust God to supply their lives every day? Do we? Do we trust that he will fulfill our needs, or are we anxious about the morrow, wondering what we shall eat and what we shall put on (Matthew 6:25)? Are our physical necessities what we concentrate on? Certainly it would seem so from the evidence in our materialistic world.
Second, the manna is given, according to our text, in order that the Israelites may know that "I am the Lord your God" (v. 12). The manna is graciously given by God, though the Israelites do not deserve it, to remind them that they are on God's journey as God's people. They have become "the congregation of the people of Israel" (v. 1) -- an unusual phrase in Exodus. They are no longer like every other group of wandering nomads, eating the produce of the desert. Now they are God's special people, dependent always on the Lord their God and sustained in their new life of freedom by his free grace (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3). And so are we. You and I are special people now, good Christians. We are no longer like every other soul, wandering through this wilderness of our world. Now we are God's people, journeying according to his command, toward the promised goal of his kingdom. And at every step along the way, God supplies us through his Holy Spirit with his sustenance and strength, his guidance and free mercy.
That's what the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," finally means in our Lord's Prayer -- not only our material bread, but also our spiritual food. We can't store it up; we are dependent on it every hour and every day. But God gives it to us in his love. And especially does he supply us with that spiritual food when we celebrate together the Lord's Supper. There we feast on the true bread of life come down from heaven in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is able not only to sustain our bodies and minds and spirits now, but who pours out his power upon us to give us eternal life. We have only to make two responses, dear congregation of God -- to receive and to trust!
Lutheran Option: Jonah 3:10--4:11
The humorous little book of Jonah is really not about a big fish (never called a whale) or about a disobedient prophet (Jonah is never called a prophet). Instead, it is about the free mercy and love of God.
Jonah initially disobeys God's command to go to Nineveh and to preach repentance, because he does not think Nineveh, the capital of the evil Assyrian Empire, should be forgiven.
Certainly that empire was hated throughout the ancient Near East of the eighth century B.C., because it had the cruel policy of destroying tiny nations, of deporting their populations, and of replacing them with foreigners. That is what Assyria did to the ten northern tribes of Israel in 721 B.C. Those ten tribes disappeared from history and were replaced by the hated Samaritans in the northern portion of Israel.
After Jonah is rescued from drowning, however, he does go to Nineveh and preach. And miraculously, that evil nation repents, even down to the last beast in the field. The repentance does not automatically bring God's forgiveness (v. 9), but God does grant it nevertheless in his free mercy (v. 10). And that infuriates Jonah, because for him, that means that there is no structure of justice in the world. To Jonah's way of thinking, the evil should be punished and the good rewarded. But if that doesn't happen, Jonah just wants to die (4:3); life is not worth living if there is no strict justice -- and Jonah angrily tells God so (4:1-3). In fact, Jonah sits down east of Nineveh and watches to see if perhaps God will follow his advice after all (4:5).
Amazingly, the God who is rich in mercy, does not chastise his angry prophet. Instead, God just lets Jonah experience a little grace, in the form of a plant shading his head, and a little judgment, in the forms of a worm that eats the plant, and in the form of discomfort caused by the hot sirocco out of the desert (vv. 6-8). And then, God points out to his angry prophet that Jonah's discomfort and faintness were only a hint of judgment and not at all comparable to the judgment that Jonah wanted for Nineveh. Could Jonah, then, not find a little mercy in his heart at least for the children and beasts in Nineveh, and could he not wish for them a little of the grace that God had shown to him? After all, Jonah had been delivered from death and shielded simply out of God's mercy. Could Jonah not wish that also for his fellow human beings?
Those are the questions that we are left with in this little story of Jonah. Given the free grace that God has daily poured out on us sinners like Jonah, who incidentally never does repent, can't we find in our hearts a little wish for mercy toward our fellow sinners -- for all those folk whom we judge to be evil and for whom we just wish God's judgment? Can't we?
The text tells us that 45 days have passed since the deliverance at the Reed Sea. The people have been encamped at the oasis of Elim, with its copious water and palm trees (15:27), but now they must travel on through the Wilderness of Sin on the way to Mount Sinai. The exact location of both Elim and Sinai cannot be specified, but the Exodus emphasizes that the people move on from place to place "according to the commandment of the Lord" (17:1). They are following an itinerary given them by God.
God is the furthest thought from their minds, however. They are not starving to death, but like so many who prefer comfort to freedom, they long for the "fleshpots" and "bread aplenty" of Egypt (v. 3) -- undoubtedly a selective memory (cf. Numbers 11:4-5), especially since meat was a rare delicacy in the Ancient New East. They therefore accuse Moses of wishing to kill them with hunger. They have no real need, but they are greedy. And above all, they have forgotten completely that they are on God's journey, as you and I forget that. The Israelites are testing Moses' leadership and ultimately, God's. But the Israelites -- and we -- are the ones who are really being tested. Do they and we trust God?
Amazingly, God does not respond to his people's greed and forgetfulness of him with anger. How gracious the Lord always is! Instead, God sends his people both meat and the bread of manna for their daily fare. While the quail meat is mentioned only in verse 13, the story concentrates on the gift of the manna.
"What is it?" the people wonder (v. 15), and from that question comes its name. "Manna" is man hu in the Hebrew, something the people have never seen before. A number of commentators wish to equate manna with a natural substance, emphasizing that God's grace is given even through ordinary things (Terence Fretheim). "The tamarisk bush," writes Kyle McCarter (Harper's Bible Commentary, p. 147), "which grows in part of the Sinai Peninsula, is infested with scale insects that suck its sap, some of which is excreted in the form of globules that crystallize in the sun ... This sticky substance is rich in carbohydrates and sugars and can support the life of a starving wanderer. It is still called mann by the modern inhabitants of the Sinai, who regard it as a gift from God."
If we let the scriptures interpret the scriptures, however, it is clear that manna is not a natural substance. It is described as white, like coriander seed, and as a wafer with a taste of honey (v. 31). It miraculously supplies just enough for each day and doubles in quantity on the sixth day, and it is stored without rotting in the future temple, along with the tablets of the law, through centuries (vv. 32-34). Psalm 78:24-25 calls it "the grain of heaven" and "the bread of angels." Paul terms it "supernatural food" (1 Corinthians 10:3), and Jesus compares himself to it as the bread of life come down from heaven (John 6: 48-49). In short, the manna with which God feeds the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35) is a supernatural gift of grace.
The manna is given for two reasons, according to our text. First, it is used as a test of the Israelite's trust in God (v. 4). Will they follow God's command and gather only one day's supply of the manna during the week, or will they ignore God's word and try to hoard the food? Do they trust God to supply their lives every day? Do we? Do we trust that he will fulfill our needs, or are we anxious about the morrow, wondering what we shall eat and what we shall put on (Matthew 6:25)? Are our physical necessities what we concentrate on? Certainly it would seem so from the evidence in our materialistic world.
Second, the manna is given, according to our text, in order that the Israelites may know that "I am the Lord your God" (v. 12). The manna is graciously given by God, though the Israelites do not deserve it, to remind them that they are on God's journey as God's people. They have become "the congregation of the people of Israel" (v. 1) -- an unusual phrase in Exodus. They are no longer like every other group of wandering nomads, eating the produce of the desert. Now they are God's special people, dependent always on the Lord their God and sustained in their new life of freedom by his free grace (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3). And so are we. You and I are special people now, good Christians. We are no longer like every other soul, wandering through this wilderness of our world. Now we are God's people, journeying according to his command, toward the promised goal of his kingdom. And at every step along the way, God supplies us through his Holy Spirit with his sustenance and strength, his guidance and free mercy.
That's what the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," finally means in our Lord's Prayer -- not only our material bread, but also our spiritual food. We can't store it up; we are dependent on it every hour and every day. But God gives it to us in his love. And especially does he supply us with that spiritual food when we celebrate together the Lord's Supper. There we feast on the true bread of life come down from heaven in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is able not only to sustain our bodies and minds and spirits now, but who pours out his power upon us to give us eternal life. We have only to make two responses, dear congregation of God -- to receive and to trust!
Lutheran Option: Jonah 3:10--4:11
The humorous little book of Jonah is really not about a big fish (never called a whale) or about a disobedient prophet (Jonah is never called a prophet). Instead, it is about the free mercy and love of God.
Jonah initially disobeys God's command to go to Nineveh and to preach repentance, because he does not think Nineveh, the capital of the evil Assyrian Empire, should be forgiven.
Certainly that empire was hated throughout the ancient Near East of the eighth century B.C., because it had the cruel policy of destroying tiny nations, of deporting their populations, and of replacing them with foreigners. That is what Assyria did to the ten northern tribes of Israel in 721 B.C. Those ten tribes disappeared from history and were replaced by the hated Samaritans in the northern portion of Israel.
After Jonah is rescued from drowning, however, he does go to Nineveh and preach. And miraculously, that evil nation repents, even down to the last beast in the field. The repentance does not automatically bring God's forgiveness (v. 9), but God does grant it nevertheless in his free mercy (v. 10). And that infuriates Jonah, because for him, that means that there is no structure of justice in the world. To Jonah's way of thinking, the evil should be punished and the good rewarded. But if that doesn't happen, Jonah just wants to die (4:3); life is not worth living if there is no strict justice -- and Jonah angrily tells God so (4:1-3). In fact, Jonah sits down east of Nineveh and watches to see if perhaps God will follow his advice after all (4:5).
Amazingly, the God who is rich in mercy, does not chastise his angry prophet. Instead, God just lets Jonah experience a little grace, in the form of a plant shading his head, and a little judgment, in the forms of a worm that eats the plant, and in the form of discomfort caused by the hot sirocco out of the desert (vv. 6-8). And then, God points out to his angry prophet that Jonah's discomfort and faintness were only a hint of judgment and not at all comparable to the judgment that Jonah wanted for Nineveh. Could Jonah, then, not find a little mercy in his heart at least for the children and beasts in Nineveh, and could he not wish for them a little of the grace that God had shown to him? After all, Jonah had been delivered from death and shielded simply out of God's mercy. Could Jonah not wish that also for his fellow human beings?
Those are the questions that we are left with in this little story of Jonah. Given the free grace that God has daily poured out on us sinners like Jonah, who incidentally never does repent, can't we find in our hearts a little wish for mercy toward our fellow sinners -- for all those folk whom we judge to be evil and for whom we just wish God's judgment? Can't we?
