Sermon 1st October 2023 – 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Exodus 17:1-7 –
Is the Lord among us or not?
Is the Lord among us or
not? Great question. Have you asked that question before? Is the Lord among us
or not?
What has made you ask
that question? What prompted that question by Israel. It was because God had
sent Moses to free Israel from slavery in Egypt and to lead them to a new land
– their own land – a land flowing with milk and honey – a land which will be
known as The Promised Land. But the journey was not what they expected from a
God who was supposed to be loving and caring for their needs. They are hungry
and thirsty so they reminisce back to the days in Egypt when even their horrid
and cruel slavedrivers at least made sure they had enough to eat and drink. They
were starting to think that their cruel slave drivers cared more for them than
God.
When have you asked
that question of God – is the Lord with me or not. Have you thought that
perhaps the world has more concern for you than God? Maybe that’s why many
focus more energy on their careers, their sports and their leisure. It
sometimes seems that people much less faithful seem to get more breaks than I
do. It seems that even those who reject and mock God have easy comfortable
lives. How is it fair that God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on
the good and the evil. What benefit is there to being a Christian?
The benefit is not in
the joy that earthly pleasures offer but the eternal blessings the world cannot
give. Earthly pleasures last for a moment compared to the eternal life that God
gives to us. Hunger and thirst soon return after a full stomach. Like the
Israelites sometimes we are led to believe God is unfair and that others would
have treated us much better. And so we ask - Is the Lord among us or not.
Israel looked backwards
rather than to the promise of God – what did God promise – to lead them to the
promised land.
What has God promised
us? God promised that his Son whom he sent to us would be called “Immanuel”
which means God is with us. When Jesus had completed his earthly ministry after
his death and resurrection he ascended to Heaven with the same promise – I AM
WITH YOU ALWAYS TILL THE END OF THE AGE. So there is never any doubt whether
God is with us or not because God has promised to do so. The real question is
why, if God is with us, are our lives not perfect. A lot of the times it’s to
do with our lack of trust in God. That was Israel’s problem – they looked back
rather than trust what God had promised. There was no way that God was going to
let Israel die of thirst or starvation. But their expectation of what
they believe God should
be doing didn’t match how God was looking after them.
There’s an interesting
passage in Deuteronomy 29 where Moses says to Irael. Your eyes have seen all
that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his
land. With your own eyes you saw those
great trials, those signs and great wonders. “During the forty years that I led
you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals
on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I
did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”
That’s really
interesting that God did not allow their clothes or shoes to wear out while
walking the wilderness for 40 years.
If God was able to do
that then wouldn’t God be able to suppress their hunger and thirst and not let
them die of hunger or thirst. Surely God was more concerned for them than their
clothes and shoes. But they were so used to filling their stomachs that they
looked back to their past in Egypt. Now compare that with what we read about
Jesus in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Though Jesus was in the form of God, he did
not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in
human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even
death on a cross.
So, Jesus did NOT look
back on his former glory but trusted in God even when he had not eaten for 40
days and was tempted by Satan to turn rocks into bread. And even though that
trust would lead to his humiliating suffering and death – he humbled himself
and trusted God. And as a result of that trust, God highly exalted him and gave
him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Paul
says - Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. God IS with you. In
your Baptism Jesus promised – I am with you always. In Holy Communion Jesus
promises – this IS my body – this IS my blood.
What we are to learn
from this for our own lives, is that God is with us even when we don’t feel it.
And the way we can be sure of that is not because of our prosperity, or lack
thereof, but because of God’s unchanging word of promise. God’s presence is not
about feelings but about promises. Our world is of great concern to so many
people. With cost of living, Covid, climate change, sickness, aging, death. While
these may weary us they are also opportunities to support and uphold each other
as Paul points out: Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the
interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
If you ever have any
doubts about whether God is with you or not then look to what God has done for
you and promised you. God sent Jesus to die for you. Paul really sums it up in
Romans chapter 8: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare
his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things? Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us.
As Christians, the good
news is that these experiences are limited to this lifetime. In Heaven there
will be no more suffering or death, no more hunger or thirst. And so for
Israel, rather than looking to the past they should have been looking to God
who had promised to lead them to their promised land. And if God was taking
them there then surely he wouldn’t have let them die of hunger or thirst. Likewise,
we are being led on a journey to our Promised Land. And yes the journey can be
tough but the worst that the world can do to us is what they did to Jesus. And
remember what Paul said last week – to die is gain – because we achieve eternal
life and reach our eternal home, our Promised Land..
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