RVCC Pastor's Sermon

Sermon -September 28, 2008

“Are We Alone?”

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Exodus 17:1-7:9-14

And the Exodus story continues – for yet another Sunday. Consequently, we should probably conclude that this extended Old Testament narrative is a very important one for us. As we have discovered over the past two weeks, this tale is most certainly not just a story for Jewish people.

Rather, the essential truths of the Exodus story are our essential truths as well. What this story says about the relationship between God and the Hebrew people also says something about God’s love for us and our relationship with the Almighty One.

Last week you may remember that the pressing issue at hand for Moses and the Hebrew people was food. The long and short of it was that there really was not any viable and consistent source of meat and potatoes, and the Israelites resented that fact.

So God responded to their demands with a revolving menu of manna and quail – maybe not exactly what the Israelites were hoping for, but as it turned out, though a bit monotonous, not all that bad.

At the very least, it was nourishing and got them through the days and nights – and though they did not know it at the time, it would continue to do so for the 40 years they would spend as desert nomads before they reached the Promised Land.

This week the issue was even more critical because it centered on drinkable water. The little band of Hebrew families had wandered to Rephidim – an unknown place far, far into the desert, far, far into the wilderness.

Rephidim is not on any map. It is in the middle of nowhere. And for the Israelites, to make matters worse, it was the end of a long, hot day and time for this nomadic band to set up camp.

However, there was a problem, a significant problem. The women were tired, the children were cranky, the men were fed up – but that was not the issue. The insurmountable problem was that there was no bubbling spring, no oasis, in short, no source of water.

“Moses, give us water,” the people grumbled, and so the complaining started anew, like a broken record, but this time the volume was turned up even higher than before.

"Why are you arguing with me?" Moses asked with a touch of ire in his voice as well. "More to the point - why are you testing God? I know what you are really asking. What you really want to know is whether God is here among you and acting on your behalf. You are testing the one true God.”

“Testing God? Who’s testing God?” they retorted angrily. “All we want is water to wash our faces and quench our thirst. Is that so wrong?”

And before Moses knew what was happening, the situation turned on a dime from casual complaining to a full scale indictment of his leadership.

"For this you brought us out of Egypt?" they asked. "Was it part of your so-called plan to kill us and our children and our animals with thirst? Thanks a lot, Moses, and by the way, answer this one for us – is God among us or not?”

Liberation and freedom had turned from a blessing to a burden. As Alex Joyner wrote, “all of the promise and the possibility that Moses had spoken of in Egypt has turned into desolation and waste. They left for the Promised Land and ended up in Rephidim, wherever that is! They left a land whose very name meant "many waters" and now they found themselves in a land with no water.”

And so, once again, Moses turned to God, asking for some sacred - and practical - guidance. "What shall I do with these people?" he queried, raising his arms in the gesture of a question. "They are about ready to stone me to death!"

“Go down, Moses," God replied patiently. "Go down and on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders too. And that staff that you struck the Nile with -- do you remember that? Take it with you as well. And I will be there waiting for you on a rock at a place called Horeb….Strike that rock and water will come out and the people can drink." (Joyner)

And yet again Moses suspended what his rational mind was admonishing him and did as God told him. And, what is more, as Alex Joyner reminds us, “though the Bible doesn't tell us, we assume that God performed one more miracle with the people who refused to see. Water came from a rock.”

And when it did, that flowing spring of cool, clear, refreshing water emerged as a powerful symbol for all that God can do. If we know anything at all about the Exodus narrative, we know that this will not be the last time that the people of Israel will run into trouble and end up fearful and doubtful on their journey to the Promised Land.

Yet, each time of crisis leaves them no choice but to reaffirm their trust in God's presence.

Moses was a smart guy! Somehow he was able to see beyond the immediate dire circumstance and discern the real question on the lips of the Israelites. It was a question that at its core was a question of trust. “Is God among us or not?”

Whether they should really trust in God was what, deep down inside, the ancient Israelites wanted to know. Is there water in the desert? That’s a euphemism – a question that points to another, deeper query. Is there light in the wilderness? Same thing! Are we alone in all this – or not? Ah, now we are getting somewhere!

“Is God among us or not?” That is the question! And surely it is still a question that haunts even the most faithful among us when our lives become as dry and barren as a desert or as black and devoid of light as the deepest wilderness. “Is God among us or not?”

Surely we – you and I - know in our hearts that we are still in the wilderness or in the desert. After all, we live our lives wandering through a world grown arid by pain and loss, a world darkened by failure and just plain old emptiness.

It is indeed a thirsty world, a dark world, and, both as individuals and as churches, we search for water to bring it healing and wholeness, search for light to bring it hope and life itself.

However, the Exodus story suggests to us that, in the end, like the Israelites, what we are really searching for is God. Can we trust that God is there for us? Is God among us or not? Is there Something Else – or are we all alone?

And yet, as the Prophet Isaiah will assure us hundreds of years after this ancient incident of trust, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendents, and my blessing on your offspring.” (Isaiah 44:3)

Throughout all of Holy Scripture, by means of stories and parables, we are told over and over again that there will always be water in the desert – and light in the wilderness – for us. As Leonard Cohen wrote in a song, “there’s a crack in everything - that is how the light gets in.”

God is indeed among us – maybe not always bringing us what we think we want or exactly the way we want it. God did not give the Israelites fish and melons and cucumbers, but God provided nourishment. Nor did God give the those ancient Hebrews a grand oasis with shade trees and pools for the kids to cool off in, but God gave them water, so that they could survive.

It is like Wallace Hamilton mused: "I asked God for strength that I might achieve, I was made weak that I might learn to obey. I asked for help that I might do great things, I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy, I was given poverty that I might be wise. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.”

May each one of you walk through the desert and trust that you will find water, tramp through the wilderness and trust that you will find light, live each day of your life in hope and with abundant faith and trust that God is indeed among us.

Sermon -September 28, 2008

“Are We Alone?”

By Rev. Nancy Foran Exodus 17:1-7:9-14

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Exodus 17:1-7:9-14