Sunday, October 1, 2017

Bread and Water

Scripture Reading  Exodus 17:1-7    (CEB)  


17 The whole Israelite community broke camp and set out from the Sin desert to continue their journey, as the Lord commanded. They set up their camp at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people argued with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses said to them, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
But the people were very thirsty for water there, and they complained to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with this people? They are getting ready to stone me.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of Israel’s elders with you. Take in your hand the shepherd’s rod that you used to strike the Nile River, and go. I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Hit the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will be able to drink.” Moses did so while Israel’s elders watched. He called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites argued with and tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord really with us or not?”

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It’s October!  Stewardship Month!  Our theme for the month is “Journey to Generosity.”  All month we will be talking about stewardship and giving - of money and of time and talents.  At the end of the month we will ask you to bring in your pledges - cards on which you have indicated how  you will contribute to this church and our ministries, whether money or time or talents or some combination of the three.

This week we are collecting a special offering for the Disciples Pro-Reconciliation and Anti-racism mission imperative.

AND today there is also a special offering request for Bread for the World, so that we can help feed people around the world.

All of these things relate to each other . . .   They are all about asking for money

Today is also world communion Sunday.

When we add that to the mix, it changes everything.  Now, all of these things are about loving the neighbor.  

In today’s scripture reading Moses was not feeling the love.  He “cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with this people? They are getting ready to stone me.”    They had moved from one camping place to another and there was no water at the new place.  Lack of water is a  major problem because it wasn’t just a whole lot of people traveling together.  There were herds and flocks to be cared for, which also required water - a lot of water.   And they were worried.  They were pretty sure they were going to die of thirst in the wilderness, and obviously it was all Moses’ fault.

These people were pretty good at forgetting.  In Chapter 16 of Exodus they had complained to Moses that they were going to starve to death and it was his fault for bringing them out of Egypt where, they claimed, there was always plenty of food to eat.  And God responded by providing manna in the morning and quails at night - every morning, and every night.  That didn’t stop when they  moved.  That outpouring of food and love from the Lord would continue throughout they entire journey, the whole forty years they spent on their way. 

But now they are out of water.  And once again they wished they were back in Egypt, where, they claimed, there was always plenty of water to drink.   And God responds by having Moses strike a rock with his staff, and caused sweet water to flow out of the rock.   He did this in front of witnesses - the elders and leaders of all the tribes of Israel, men who were trusted by the people - so there could be no question but that God provided the water, using Moses and his staff as tools to make the miracle happen.  God had made pretty good use of that staff.  It turned into a snake while Moses was confronting the Pharaoh.  It was the tool God used to make the path through the sea so the people could safely cross.  To the people of Israel, Moses’ staff was a symbol of God’s presence and power.   

Every time things got a little rough along the way, the people forgot what God had already done for them.  They mis-remembered their past as being soft and comfortable.  They forgot about their slavery.  They forgot about the time when their baby boys had been killed.  They forgot about the Pharaoh forcing them to to make bricks while withholding the materials they needed.  And if they didn’t get the bricks made, they didn’t get paid, they didn’t get food, they didn’t get water.   They forgot all those things.  And they forgot what God had done for them. They forgot about where the manna and the quails came from every single day.  They lacked faith that God would continue to provide for them, no matter how much proof they had.

And we can sort of excuse them, maybe.  After all, they had sort of fallen away from an understanding of God over the 400 or so years they had been in Egypt.   They weren’t used to living by the Law that Moses brought down from the mountain.  It didn’t yet have centuries of tradition behind it the way it would by the time of Jesus.  They weren’t used to having a steadfast, faithful and loving God in their lives.  They were used to the gods of Egypt, who had to be placated constantly and whose love had to be purchased repeatedly.   They were used to gods who asked their worshippers, “So, what have you done for me lately?” not one who would pour blessings upon them for no reason other than because they were God’s own beloved children.   This was just such a foreign concept to them - that this God they didn’t know well at all would pour out abundant bread and water in the midst of the wilderness, in the midst of a place where no bread and no water could be found.  And that God would require nothing of them in return for that abundance, except to care for one another in accordance with the Laws that Moses had brought to them.  This was all very new to them.  So maybe we can sort of understand why they had so much trouble trusting God to continue to provide for them. 

This isn’t new to us, however.  We should know these things.  We shouldn’t have any trouble having faith that God will provide all of our needs.  We should be well aware that nothing is impossible with God.  If God wills it, it will happen, one way or another.  That does not mean, however, that everything we need to do the work this congregation - or any congregation - does will simply fall into our laps.  God did expect the Israelites to go and collect the manna to make into bread, to out and catch the quails to cook for their dinners. God put the opportunities in front of them and anticipated that they would do what was necessary to make best use of those opportunities.  God expects that, in gratitude for all the blessings received, God’s people will care for one another - that the able bodied would take care of those less able, that adults would care for children, that adult children would care for their aging parents, that each person would watch over her neighbor to make sure they were ok.   Or, as the prophet Micah reminds us, God expects us to do justice and to love kindness, and to be humble in our walk with God.

Bread and water.  Regardless of what some dietitians might say, these are the two things that we absolutely need to live.   We receive these things in abundance, as did the people of Israel in their journey to the promised land.  And we share these things that we have in abundance, because that is what God requires of us.  

Some of us have enough money that we can share it with others.  We might be pretty comfortable and don’t worry about making donations of 10% or more of what we have, or we might not have a lot to give.  We might find 10% is challenge, or even a hardship.  But every little bit given to a cause that matters to you helps.  One Dollar helps.  If you give One Dollar to the Reconciliation Offering, or Bread for the World, or Week of Compassion - that One Dollar will be added to lots of other One Dollars and together they will make a huge difference in someone’s life.   If you put One Dollar in the offering plate here every week, that’s $52.  That’s like 3 cases of copy paper!  One Dollar.  It’s a big deal.

Some are blessed with gifts - beautiful voices, the ability to dance, great talent at playing instruments, the gift of prayer or teaching or speaking, or of being an administrator, or of building and repairing things, or of coming up with brilliant crazy ideas - gifts of this nature are a blessing to share with one another in the congregation.  Some of us are blessed with an abundance of time that we can spend helping where ever we are needed - at the food pantry or Christian Cafe or doing things that are needed around the church or in some other way that makes your heart sing.   Giving of ourselves, of our gifts and talents and time, is a blessing to everyone.  

On this particular Sunday, we come together with all other Christians to share in the Lord’s Supper. On this particular Sunday, every year, no matter what our differences might be, all Christians come together around the communion table.  In some traditions there will be Elders presiding, in others only an ordained minister of that particular denomination may preside.  In some traditions they will serve wine, in others juice, in still others a choice between wine and juice. The breads will be different from country to country and congregation to congregation.  But in every congregation, today we will gather around this table, and give thanks to the Lord our God for the gift of his son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ.  In every congregation today, we will gather around this table to remember that Last Supper he shared, and share it in remembrance of his life, and his death, and his resurrection.  Regardless of our differences, today we will celebrate the gift of Our Lord’s life, together.

Before we gather around this Table, let us take time to remember the gifts of God’s grace with which we are so richly blessed . Let us take time to remember where all the gifts of resources, time and talents come from.  Let us dedicate ourselves to giving back what we have been so freely and lovingly given.  Let us pledge our lives and all that we are, to the Lord our God, from whom all things come. 






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