Grace Gushes Forth :: Exodus 17:1-7
And YHWH said to Moses, pass over in front of the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel. And in your hand (take) your staff which you used to strike the Nile, and go. Behold, I will be standing before you there upon the rock on Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will come out of it, and the people will drink. So Moses did this in the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah on account of the strife of the sons of Israel, and because they tested YHWH by saying, “Is YHWH in our midst or not?” (vv 5-7)
That’s the question before us. Is the Lord in our midst or not?
This is an all too familiar question for us. Today, we’ve entered a new period in the church year ... the season we could call Pre-Lent. New eras often bring with uncertainty to our lives. Over the past month or so, we had gained confidence in God’s word. We saw the light of the world so to speak. It gave us comfort. We heard a Word of God that was transforming us, making us whole. And we learned we should listen to him. We felt pretty good about how to answer the question, Is the Lord in our midst or not?
As we exit Epiphany, suddenly there is a shift taking place in our readings ... a shift from the power of God’s word to the uncertainty of God’s grace. We find certainty in God’s Word. But grace ... grace is different. God’s grace is undeserved; it is passively received; it is not easily understood. And today all of our readings reflect undeserved grace. It leaves us wondering, is the Lord really with us? Or not?
5.
Our Old Testament reading is part of a series of amazing and recurring events during the Exodus of Israel ... An Exodus out of the bondage of sin and death and into the paradise of milk and honey. It is a new era. God has begun calling on his people to trust him that he will take care of you always ... even unto the end of the age. He loves to do this for you.
For months the Israelites knew they had certainty. They had been witnessing the powerful hand of God at work in their lives every single day. After bearing witness to the ten plagues (Ex 7:14-12:32), they were chased down by the Egyptian army, and they lived to tell about it. The Lord protected them, staying with them constantly in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:21). The Israelites witnessed his presence with them as he led them through the Red Sea on dry ground with walls of water towering on their right and left hands (Ex 14:19). Then they watched the Lord drown the Egyptian army with that same water (Ex 14:28). They sang their jubilant song of praise for the first time that the Lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation (Ex 15:2). They rejoiced in his presence.
But like all of us, the Israelites were sinners. Their wilderness wanderings left them feeling uncertain ... unsure ... even as the Lord began providing them with daily sustenance ... daily miracles, daily signs, and daily wonders ... proving all the more that, Behold, I am with you always ... that I am still taking care of you ... that I am still nourishing you. He turned bitter water sweet (Ex 15:25). He gave them their fill of manna in the morning (Ex 16:4), and quail in the evening (Ex 16:13). He did this day after day after day. The manna kept appearing. The quail kept returning. They ate and they ate and they ate. They didn't deserve any of it, but God cared for all of his people ... a million of them ... in the desert. They always had plenty.
Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin to journey, [being led by the Word of the Lord] ... And they camped at Rephidim (v. 1).
When they didn’t find any water there, they then grumbled and complained again ... and demanded to know ... Is the Lord among us or not?
4.
We often ask the same question. Intellectually, we know the Lord is among us.
But here is the difficulty: Too often we’re looking for the wrong evidence to answer the question. Too often we look for it in what we can see and feel ... we look for it in our health, our wealth, and our prosperity. We look for it in our good fortunes. We look for it in ourselves. We look for God in all the wrong places. When things go right, we don’t worry if the Lord is among us. When they go wrong, we start questioning again.
We do this because we are lovers of ourselves and lovers of money. We are proud and arrogant and abusive. We are ungrateful and unholy. We are adulterers and rebels. We think we are special people. So we abuse each other. We think more highly of ourselves. We create more problems for ourselves: quarreling, grumbling, complaining, and testing the Lord.
It is a terrible mistake.
3.
Moses named that place quite well: Massah meaning testing and Meribah meaning contention, strife, or grumbling. He did so because instead of turning to God, their Rock and their Redeemer ... the one who has set them free ... the Israelites attacked the messenger. They tested the Lord, even as he showered them with undeserved grace.
They shook their fists at Moses, crying out, Is the Lord with us? Or not? Here we are ... once again ... thirsty people, they cried. We want more! We need more! Why don’t we have more? When are you going to provide more? Why can’t we have our old traditions? What was wrong with those? Can't we just go back to bondage?
It is shocking to realize how ungrateful and ungraceful ... that we, the people of God ... really are sometimes. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need repentance ... that is, contrition for our sin and faith in Christ.
Is the Lord among us or not?
You know the answer to the question. It is not found in the circumstances of life.
2.
The answer to the question is found in the gushing water of life! ... The gushing water of life named Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Spiritual Rock who follows us and showers us by grace. He is the rock who calls to us and nourishes us. The Lord is indeed among us. He is always among us. He is the one who provides the water and his Word that gushes forth for you again today. He provides the water and his Word that flows forth in the holy baptism that he continues to pour out upon you, a water rich in grace and mercy ... a water of new life that refreshes and reinvigorates. He provides the water that gushes forth with God’s holy word that continues to declare to you that your sins are forgiven on account of Christ.
He provides the means for you to repent. His water and Word give you faith in Christ ... the certainty that he is with you.
This is why he came to us to begin with. You didn't deserve his love, but he gave it to you anyway. You didn't deserve his light, but he shined it upon you anyway. Your Lord Jesus Christ was stricken and smitten for you. He knew no sin yet became sin for you so that he could redeem you and lead you out of the wilderness of your own sin into the paradise of life in his name. He bled and died for you. He was buried for you so that your sin won’t be heard from again. He rose from the grave for you. He has promised to give you eternal life now too.
He not only does that but he continues to provide you with his bread of heaven. His life-giving body and blood flows forth in the holy sacrament of the altar. The Lord’s feast of forgiveness, a feast that has no end. He longs to deliver to you this means of grace to you every day too, not just twice a month. All of the company of heaven rejoices everytime we feast.
Is the Lord among us? You know it is true.
1.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can be sure and certain that the God of steadfast love and mercy won’t stop leading you and following you and guiding you through this wilderness of sin until you reach paradise. You can be sure and certain he will constantly come to you, call to you, and lead us back to his mountain ... his holy place ... this sanctuary from the world. Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer will never stop delivering these gifts to you.
As Paul told the Corinthians, I need to remind you that all of our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all into Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea. And all ate the same spiritual food, and they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they continued to drink out of the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was Christ. (1 Cor 10:1-4)
THOUGH YOU ARE STRICKEN BY SIN AND SUFFERINGS, THE LORD IS STILL WITH YOU, CLEANSING YOU, NOURISHING YOU, AND DELIVERING YOU
The evidence is right here in word and sacrament. You can rest easy now.