Sermon -- 10th Sunday after Pentecost (July 28, 2024)

EXODUS 16:1-15

THE LORD KEEPS HIS PEOPLE FOCUSED AND FED.

In the name + of Jesus.

      The Israelites were at their wits’ end.  They had been brutally oppressed by the Egyptians and saw no hope of rescue.  They cried out bitterly, and the Lord provided relief.  He issued the plague on the firstborn in Egypt, but delivered the firstborn of Israel.  Each household slaughtered a lamb whose blood they had smeared on their doorposts.  When the angel of the Lord saw the blood of the lamb, he passed over the home of the Israelites.  But he brought death to every house among the Egyptians.  The Egyptians were eager to see the Israelites leave.  The Israelites departed as victors.

     The Israelites made their way to the Red Sea, and again they were at their wits’ end.  Pharaoh regretted letting the free labor of hundreds of thousands of Israelites go away.  His army marched out and pinned them down at the shore of the Red Sea.  Again, the Israelites cried out bitterly: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? … It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11-12).  Again, the Lord provided deliverance.  He split the waters of the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry ground to safety.  Those same waters came back together to drown the pursuing Egyptian army.  The Israelites celebrated as victors.

     Again, the Israelites were at their wits’ end.  They had traveled into the wilderness, and whatever resources they had for food had run out.  They cried out bitterly: “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).  They preferred being enslaved in Egypt to being saved by the Lord.  Once again, God graciously provided deliverance.  He kept his people fed with bread from heaven.  All this took place in about a period of about a month.

     If you want to make the case that the Israelites’ griping was justified, I suppose you can.  They did not like being oppressed in Egypt.  They did not want to be slaughtered at the Red Sea.  They did not want to starve to death in the wilderness.  In each case, it was the Lord who orchestrated these crises.  Each crisis proved just how helpless Israel was on their own.  The Lord wanted to keep them focused on what truly mattered—trusting in his word for life and salvation.

     Consider the complaint of the Israelites in the wilderness.  “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full…” (Exodus 16:3).  The people of Israel craved full bellies.  In fact, they fondly remembered “the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).  It is as if they were saying, “We would gladly return to Egypt as long as we are well fed.  God’s way is too hard, no matter what his promises are or what his track record as been.”

     Hard times make us forget good promises.  The people of Israel either did not think of God’s promises or did not believe them.  While one is worse than the other, both are bad.  They had the promise—in fact, an oath that God had sworn by his own name!—that he would bring Israel into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  If the Lord failed to keep that promise, he would renounce his status as God.  It is not possible for God to dethrone himself or break his word.  Another word of God that was quickly forgotten had been spoken just before this.  Israel was gathered at an oasis, but the water was bitter.  They were at their wits’ end.  How could they sustain their families and their flocks with bad water? 

     Once again, God provided deliverance.  God graciously made the bitter water sweet.  “There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, ‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer’” (Exodus 15:25-26).  The Lord tested them to keep his people focused on his promises.  Would they trust him only when times were good?  Could they trust him when times were hard, when the cross pressed heavily upon them? 

     The Lord still acts to keep his people focused.  He removes from us what we thought was trustworthy—money, reputation, friends, loved ones, health, and so on.  Although they are blessings from God, they are not God.  All these blessings will be taken away from you, either in the tragedies of life or in the finality of death.  They will not endure, and they cannot save.  The Lord is the only one who can and will provide what endures forever.  All crises and hard times are sent to test us and to keep us focused on God’s promises.  Unfortunately, hard times make us forget good promises.

     It is like a mother taking a stuffed animal away from a toddler.  She knows that the stuffed animal has gotten filthy.  Its loose buttons have become a choking hazard.  It needs to be thrown out.  The child only knows his favorite toy has been taken away.  He screams and rants.  He may hit his mother in anger.  He thinks his mother is mean and hates him.  For the moment, he hates her, anyway.  He does not understand that his mom is doing what is best for him.  She does not want him to gnaw on a germy stuffed bunny or choke on a button that popped off. 

     When the Lord withdraws blessings from us, our tantrum may sound more grown up, but it is no different.  We want a healthy savings account.  We strive for bodies that move without pain or disability.  We want people to like us and to speak well of us.  We cherish the bonds of family and friends.  We want to live in times of peace and prosperity.  These are the things we think are best for us because we like them.  If our goal in life is to have these blessings, then we are like the Israelites who only wanted happy bellies.  If we lose these blessings, the tantrums come.  We think God is mean and hates us.  For the moment, we hate God because he has taken from us what is good. 

     But the Lord truly does know what is best for us.  Our Lord’s goal is that we dwell with him in heavenly glory forever.  He wants to bring us to the Promised Land of heaven.  Our Lord is always focused on that goal, and he works to keep us focused on it, too.  If our goal is eternal pleasures at God’s right hand rather than momentary pleasures in this world, then we will respond to the cross that God lays upon us differently.  We will still cry out to God, acknowledging our pain and sorrow.  We will call upon him for strength and hope.  We will cling to his promises and pray to him to uphold them.  Rather than hard times causing us to forget good promises, they are designed to make us lean on God’s promises.  The Lord keeps his people focused on his promises, and that may mean removing blessings to sharpen our focus.  Maybe we will even be reduced to having nothing but God’s promises, but that is enough for hope, for peace, for forgiveness, and for salvation.

     God’s goal for his people remained constant.  Even when they complained and ranted, the Lord still called them “his people.”  They were his chosen, his redeemed, his beloved.  The Lord was faithful to his promises, and he was devoted to their ultimate good.  Therefore, he was not going to abandon them or let them die in the wilderness.  Instead, he let them see his glory.  Aaron was told: “‘Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, “‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’  And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.  The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel.  Say to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God”’” (Exodus 16:9-12). 

     The Lord revealed his glory to Israel.  It was not just an awesome vision.  The Lord’s glory is made known by his salvation.  So, the Lord who delivered his people from slavery and death now delivered them from starvation.  The Lord kept his people focused and fed.  Each day, the Lord provided what was needed for his people.  Each day, the Lord proved himself to be their deliverer.

     The Lord keeps his people focused and fed.  He keeps you focused on his promises and reveals his glory to you.  The glory of the Lord is seen in his act of deliverance, that is, through the Savior who suffers and dies for you.  Jesus Christ has delivered you from the wrath you deserve for ranting against God for your hardships.  You and I rant despite God’s goodness.  Jesus suffered in silence despite the injustice of his death.  His silent suffering atones for our criticisms and complaints.  You and I despise the cross the Lord lays on us, but Jesus willingly took up his cross for us.  The cross Jesus bore was not for his good, but for ours.  Jesus has taken away your sins by his death.  Jesus has opened up heaven by his resurrection.  Jesus has made you God’s people through holy baptism.  And Jesus sustains you on our journey to the heavenly Promised Land by feeding you the bread from heaven. 

     The Lord keeps his people focused and fed.  He has not promised you an easy journey through life to the heavenly kingdom, but he has promised to be with you, to strengthen you, and to preserve you through the hardships of this life.  Each day, he supplies what you need, even if it is not much.  Each Divine Service, he feeds you the body and blood which strengthen and keep you in the true faith.  Each Divine Service, he gives you his word to sharpen your focus on the heavenly goal.  This is where the Lord reveals his glory to you; for this is where he acts to deliver you from sin, death, and the devil.

     If you are at your wits’ end because you have lost money, reputation, health, etc., understand that God may not restore those to you.  That’s not the promise.  The promise is that you will have what you need for eternal life and endless glory.  That does not come from money, reputation, health etc., so God may take those away to prove it to you.  But he does not remove his promises.  He does not suspend his mercy.  He does not renege on his forgiveness and salvation.  He continues to call you “his people;” for you are his redeemed, his beloved, and his chosen.  The Lord keeps his people focused and fed.  He keeps you focused so you remember your goal.  And he keeps you fed to bring you safely there.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.