Sunday, February 24, 2008

Lent 3A

Exodus 17:1-7

 

IS THE LORD AMONG US OR NOT?

 

No one can accuse the people of Israel of lacking chutzpah.  They were not unique in quarreling with their leader.  But in Exodus 17 they have the audacity to pick a fight with the Lord God, This is the God who created the heavens and the earth.  This is the God who had brought them out of slavery in the land of Egypt.

 

According to Exodus 16 they had just learned a lesson in what it means to trust in the Lord’s daily provision.  Wandering in the wilderness they had become so hungry, that they complained to Moses and Aaron: “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when 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.”  In response the Lord rained manna from heaven.  Exodus 16:31 describes manna as being “like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”  The people were instructed to gather just enough for each day.  The people ran into trouble only when they refused to trust that the Lord would provide and tried to store up the manna.  That which they stored bred worms and became foul.  They learned to trust that the Lord would provide daily bread.

 

In Exodus 17 the problem was a lack of water.  Now people have been quarreling over water for centuries in the Middle East.  When Paul Simon, the late senator from Illinois, spoke at the Holden Theological Conference several years ago, he stressed that water rights would be the toughest issue to resolve in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  In fact, he forecasted that access to clean water would be a central issue throughout the world in the 21^st century.

 

It is not surprising human beings would quarrel over something so basic as water.  What distinguishes the Israelites in Exodus 17 is that they quarrel with the Lord and put the Lord to the test.  They want to know: “Is the Lord among us or not?”  If the Lord is among us, they reason, then why are we not being provided with the water we need?

 

As might be expected, they take out their frustration on Moses, the Lord’s messenger.  They ask him, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”  In desperation Moses cries to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me.”

 

The Lord hears his cry and instructs him to strike the rock at Horeb, and water comes out for the people to drink.  In verse 7 we are told Moses called the place “Massah”—which means “test”—and “Meribah”—which means “quarrel”—because the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

In one form or another this question has been asked over and over again in the history of the people of God.  During Lenten Evening Prayer this Wednesday the meditation will focus on Psalm 22, one of the lament Psalms.  In lament Psalms the people of God express sorrow, fear, bitterness, frustration, and other similar emotions to God.  One common question in the midst of suffering is: “How long, O Lord?”  Listen to the words of Psalm 13:1-2: “How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”  This is the Psalmist’s way of asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

         

In the Affirmation program our Middle School youth are currently studying the Exile.  In 586 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, and the people of God were forced into exile in Babylon.  They struggled to understand why the Lord had allowed them to be removed from the Promised Land.  As their time in exile lengthened, they began to wonder if the Lord had abandoned them.  They asked, in effect, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

At the time of Jesus the Jewish community of faith in Palestine chafed under Roman occupation.  Many in the community longed for a Messiah who would restore Israel to its former glory as in the days of King David.  They wanted a sign of the Lord’s presence.  They wanted to know, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Even Jesus ends up asking a form of the question.  Remember how in deepest sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed to the Father: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”  Then as he hung on the cross, he asked the haunting question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  In other words, “Lord, are you among us or not?”

 

Surely early Christians, facing persecution and possible martyrdom, must have asked at times, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Through the centuries, especially in times of want and suffering, people of faith have continued to ask: “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

This question became especially pointed for victims of the Holocaust.  In the face of Nazi atrocities many concluded that God had abandoned them, that God was not among them.

 

People of faith afflicted with serious illness often struggle with question, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  I remember an Illinois woman in her late 30’s who had endured over 60 surgeries.  As a grade school girl, she had been afflicted with a childhood disease that impacted her whole system.  She explained that the organs in her body were aging more rapidly than normal.  This had caused numerous complications.  She had been confined to a wheelchair and was seldom without some form of pain or discomfort.  One Sunday she shared her story with the congregation.  She was very honest about her physical as well as her spiritual struggles.  It was clear that at times she wondered, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

President Bush concluded his Africa trip on Thursday with a stop in Liberia.  He described this trip to Africa as “one of the most exciting of his presidency.”  As reported in The Oregonian, Liberia remains“overrun with weapons, malnutrition is pervasive, half of the children are not in school, and many buildings are uninhabitable.  There is little running water or electricity and no sewage or landline phone system.”[1]  Nonetheless, most Liberians are just happy the 14 years of civil war are over.  Liberia is only one of many nations in Africa and around the world that have been devastated by civil war in recent years.  Even Kenya, relatively stable for so many years, has suffered in the last several months from civil strife.  In the midst of war and violent conflict people of faith cannot help but ask, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

How then does the Lord respond to this question?  It is instructive to return to Exodus 17.  It is striking that the people of Israel and Moses do not hesitate to voice their complaints to the Lord.  They pray to God with some chutzpah.

 

One might anticipate that the Lord would respond with anger.  Who do they think they are?  Instead, the Lord responds to their need and reassures them of his presence.

 

One could interpret the whole biblical testimony as the Lord’s response to the question: “Is the Lord among us or not?”  Over and over again, the Bible bears witness to God’s efforts to respond to the real needs of God’s people and to assure them of his presence.

 

In the Lenten Evening Prayer meditations the focus has been on the Psalms.  The Psalmists do not hesitate to share with God whatever is on their hearts and minds.  I am not advocating that we should try to pick fights with God.  However, we too are invited to share with God whatever is on our hearts and minds.  We too are invited to pray with some chutzpah.  God will not necessarily do whatever we want, but God will respond to our real needs and will reassure us of his presence.

 

In Exodus 17 God responds in a dramatic, miraculous way to Moses and the people of Israel.  Surely we need to be open to dramatic or miraculous ways God may act in our own time and place.  Most often, however, God will act in less dramatic but no less meaningful ways to respond to our needs and to reassure us of his presence.

 

Every week as we gather for worship to hear God’s word proclaimed and to receive the sacraments, we are reassured that God is indeed among us.  When the hungry are fed, the thirsty are given drink, the naked are clothed, the strangers are welcomed, and the sick and imprisoned are visited, we are reminded that God is indeed among us.

 

When people of faith are struggling with illness, they want to receive treatment that will help them recover.  Often, however, their biggest concern is to know that God is with them in their suffering.  That may explain why we can visit someone and hardly say a word and yet the visit will be so meaningful for the one who is visited.  The physical presence of a brother or sister in Christ becomes a sign of the Lord’s presence.

 

The season of Lent is a fitting time to raise the question, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  We remember that even Jesus wondered whether God had abandoned him.  During Lent, as we journey with Jesus toward the cross, we also anticipate Easter.  On Easter we will celebrate the resurrection.  By raising Jesus from the dead God said with chutzpah, “Yes, I am among you.”

 

In Jesus’ name, AMEN.