Third Sunday in Lent, 2008
Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier
Exodus 17:1-7
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
We hear these words from our Old Testament text, “And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7 ESV)
The Hebrew word Massah means testing and the Hebrew word Meribah means quarreling. Could you imagine? He named the place testing and quarreling. Instead of White Rock and Los Alamos, the names of these cities could be “Grumbling” and “Complaining.” Could you imagine picking a name like that for a Church? Instead of being known as Redeemer Lutheran Church, we could be known as Lack of Hope Lutheran Church, No Faith Lutheran Church, All Sinners Lutheran Church, or even Disgruntled Lutherans’ Church. Thanks be to God that we named this congregation Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church so that we could focus on what Jesus has done for us. He is our Redeemer who has redeemed us from death, sin, and the devil. Through faith in Him we are the redeemed.
Let us continue to trust in our Redeemer and not be like those who failed to trust in the LORD after He had redeemed them from bondage under Pharaoh. Under Pharaoh they were oppressed and afflicted. They were weighed down with heavy burdens. Their male infants were taken away from them and murdered. They cried out to God for delivery and He heard their plea for help. They saw the plagues that the LORD sent upon the Egyptians. They were passed over when all the firstborn of the land were struck down. God took them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. They saw Pharaoh and his army defeated at the Red Sea. They were rescued, they walked on dry land, and they rejoiced in their salvation.
However, from the Red Sea they went into the wilderness and after three days they found no water. They came to Marah and found some water that was bitter. They grumbled and complained to Moses. Moses prayed to the LORD and the LORD showed him a log and he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. Then they traveled to Elim where there were twelve springs with water. Then they left Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin. Again they complained and grumbled to Moses. Now they were hungry. Moses prayed to the LORD and God gave them manna, the bread from heaven and quail to eat. Then they moved on to Rephidim and again they found no water, became thirsty, and complained and grumbled to Moses. As our Old Testament text says, “but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” (Exodus 17:1-2 ESV) Moses prayed to God, and the LORD told him to strike a rock with his staff and water gushed out of it. This was the place called Massah and Meribah. This is the place where they said, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7 ESV)
When things are going well, we rejoice and say God has blessed us richly. But, as soon as things get difficult, sour, or trying we are quick to question and say, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7 ESV)
In St. Paul first letter to the Corinthians, he assures in chapter ten that such passages as today’s Old Testament text were written so that we do not lose hope, lack faith, complain, and grumble like the Israelites of old. They saw the wonders and miracles that the LORD had down, but yet they question if He was for them or against them. They wondered whether He was rescuing them or not. They set their eyes on their own bellies and took their eyes off of the heavenly prize. They soon forgot how horrible the slavery to Pharaoh really was. They began to glorify those days saying to themselves, “Back under Pharaoh, things were much better. There was plenty to eat and plenty to drink.”
God did not deliver them to fill their bellies. He delivered them to fill their souls. Likewise, Jesus did not come so that we would have plenty to eat and drink here on earth. The Kingdom of heaven is not about eating and drinking. His Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom, but a Heavenly Kingdom. We already have earthly kingdoms in which we receive food and drink.
It is the Word of God that creates the thirst and hunger in the soul and it alone can satisfy the soul. In our Gospel text we hear these words, “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”” (John 4:13-15 ESV)Here Jesus is offering her eternal life and all she can think of is this temporal life that we live in. It is so easy to get caught up in the cares and worries of this life such as what we shall eat or what we shall wear. But we are continuing to learn to seek the Kingdom first and all these other things will be added.
From our Old Testament text, we learn that when the sinful emotions of complaining and grumbling spring up we should do as Moses did and pray to God and then listen to God’s Word. We should rightly see trouble in our lives as an opportunity to pray and call out to God who promises to hear us in the day of our trouble for the sake of Jesus. The Holy Scriptures have been written down for us so that we can hear God’s voice and be certain of His will.
Our Epistle lesson teaches us to trust in God in the midst of our trouble and tribulation knowing that He gives peace to us through Christ. It states, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 ESV)The promise of the Gospel is that we have peace even when it feels like there is none to be found.
The Lord wants us to be certain so that we don’t have to question like the Israelites who were brought out of Egypt saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7 ESV)We know that God is among us in Jesus Christ. We cling to the name given to Jesus by the angel Gabriel who declared to Joseph, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:23 ESV) Jesus is with us as He has promised at the end of the Gospel according to St. Matthew when He said, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 ESV) God’s promise to us is not that we will have an easier life with no suffering. Instead He assures us that we will have sufferings and trials and then He strengthens and teaches us to rejoice in them. Our Epistle lesson puts it this way, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)God is at work in us in our sufferings.
The Holy Spirit uses this word of comfort to comfort us in our lives. He opens our eyes to see how much the Lord truly loves us. He assures us by saying that, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV) God has not forsaken us. It was Jesus who suffered for us and it was Jesus who cried out to the Father, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” He was forsaken in our behalf so that we would not be forsaken by God and could be sure that cross of Jesus has appeased the Father’s wrath because of our sin.
As Moses struck the rock and water gushed out, Jesus was pierced for us and the water flowed out that springs us to eternal life in us. As Moses gave bread from heaven, Jesus is the Bread from Heaven that gave up His flesh for the life of the world. As Moses put the wood log in the bitter water to make the water sweet, the wood cross of Jesus makes the bitterness of our lives sweet. Jesus assures us in John chapter six, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV) Christ has over come the world so we know that in Him we are more than conquerors. Jesus is our beloved Immanuel. He is God among us. Amen.
