3rd Sunday in Lent (A)
Exodus 17:1-17
March 8, 2025
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The text I have chosen for this morning’s sermon is the OT reading from Genesis.
It’s been said that life is a journey. For me that journey has meant that I’ve moved states seven times. I’ve had three careers and very large number of jobs. My journey has taken me from legal analyst to a brief foray into computers to twenty years as a pastor. Along the way, I got married, had a daughter, and left my childhood far behind. Even if you’ve never physically moved very far, we all go through different life stages, have changes in our perspectives and opinions, and are confronted by death, our own or someone else’s.
There are great stops on our journeys: marriage, grandchildren, graduations, and retirement. There are also stops along the way that we would rather have not taken: divorce, death, unemployment, rejection, and health problems. The journey can be great, it can be so-so, it can be horrible, but we all know that it’s never easy.
The book of Exodus starts with Israel’s escape from Egypt, and right off the bat, we see an ugly side of the people. Through a series of plagues, culminating in the death of the Egyptians’ first born sons, Israel has been freed, they’ve plundered the Egyptians, and they’re on the road to the Promised Land. It starts great, but the people soon find that journey harder than they’d like. They’re thirsty so God gives them something to drink. Then they whine about their hunger, so God gives them manna and quail, and that’s when we get to today’s events. Once again, they’re thirsty and once again they take it out on Moses. They also though blame God, testing His provision. As Psalm 95 says that Israel “put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” They knew what He could do, they saw it with their very own eyes and yet they whine and complain. At one point God tells Israel: “From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.” After the Golden Calf episode, God told Moses: “Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven.” No wonder God was so angry. After all that He had done for them, the Israelites remained a bunch of ingrates!
It’s easy to look down on the Israelites, it’s a whole lot harder to look down on them when you look into a mirror. Think of what He’s done for you: life, spouse, children, school, church, hospitals, home, job. Not everyone has a spouse or a child, but all of us have food and shelter. He provides doctors for our care, police for our safety, teachers for our children. He also provides heavenly gifts which are never in short supply: baptism, the Lord’s Supper, His Word, your church, your Christian friends.
The Lord has done great things for us in our lives and most of all, delivering us from sin, death, and satan. But then, when the time of testing comes, don’t we still grumble and doubt as Israel did? How much of our conversation is complaining? My job stinks. The house needs to be remodeled. The aching hip. The past was better. The future has to be better. Each complaint we make tells anyone in earshot we’re not content with life as the Lord has given. So, what do we do? Repent! Take Israel as a warning! Do not put the Lord to the test as they did. Trust in the goodness of the Lord which has been our constant companion. Israel asked if God was with them. We know that God is with us!
Despite their whining and ungratefulness, God miraculously provided water, just as He had provided manna and quail. Moses struck a rock that was part of Mount Sinai and water poured out from God’s holy mountain. Jesus, the greater Servant of the Lord, went up Mount Calvary and died for you. Then, as He hung dead on the cross, His side was struck with a spear, and water and blood came out, a water which satisfies the soul and the thirst for God. His water and blood pour down from the cross. It brings to mind that great Good Friday hymn Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain. In it we sing: “Come to Calvary’s holy mountain, Sinners, ruined by the fall; Here a pure and healing fountain Flows for you, for me, for all, In a full, perpetual tide, Opened when our Savior died.” Those gifts come down through all the ages, and right into the font where you are baptized, right into the cup where you are given His blood to drink. Christ is our rock, and He gives the Water of Life. Remember what Jesus offered the Samaritan woman at the well? Living Water which satisfies our spiritual thirst, and He does the same thing for us!
Come to Christ, our Rock, and get the water of life. When you listen to the sermon, hear the readings, watch a baby being baptized, hear the absolution, and kneel for Holy Communion, imagine yourself standing by the Rock that was struck, for your heart is being filled with the water of life. This fountain from the Rock of Ages forgives all your sins, all your grumbling, all your whining, every complaint about the Lord’s provision. The Israelites ask if the Lord was with them or not. He was of course, and He even was when they weren’t happy with what they had be given. He is with you as well. He is still with you even when you’re the ingrate. The water of life that Christ gives you assures you that He is still with you, even when you test Him!
Now is asking God for something a sign of ungratefulness? Not necessarily. Did Israel need water? Yes. Would it have been better to plead to God than to whine and complain. Definitely! We can be thankful for our job or our Social Security check but still need more income to pay our bills. We may be thankful that it’s only our hip that hurts, but we still pray that it feels better. In these situations, we approach God humbly as children approach their fathers, while believing that God will hear our prayers and answer them to the greatest benefit to us.
It’s been said that some men and women are self-made success stories. They overcame their hard lives and survived the journey because they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, they toughened up and worked hard. Is this true? Did they make themselves what they are? Well, yes and no, right? Yes, they worked hard and made sacrifices to succeed, but the blessings still come from God. He’s the one who granted success. We can work hard, which is a good thing, but everything we have is given to us by God’s grace alone, for which it is our duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. We show our gratitude by giving our offerings, dedicating ourselves and our children to Him, telling others about Him, and continually worshiping.
This world is a wilderness, and we are on a journey through it. We could never make it on our own. We are tested and tempted every step of the way. But the Lord is present with us and for us. We will not always have what we want, but instead of ingratitude let’s focus on what God has given us. Our homes, families, jobs, and whatever else you can think of. Most especially do we thank God for giving His Son for us, for which we are eternally grateful. As King David says, “Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.” So in thanksgiving we say, “Let us bless the Lord!” and all God’s people say, “Thanks be to God”.
Amen
Now the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen