Sermon:  "Are You Thirsty?"
Date:   September 25, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Susan Bjork

Lesson: Exodus 17:1-7

God of our forebears in faith, we know that you have been with your people from the beginning.  Remind us that you are here with us now on this phase of our journey.  Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to feel your presence and help us to share your love boldly, here in this church and beyond.  In the name of Jesus Christ, our companion and guide, we pray.  Amen.

There have been a handful of times in my life when I’ve literally felt like I was wandering around in the wilderness, not knowing exactly where the journey would take me or how long it would take to get there.

One summer when I was in high school, my church youth group went for a weekend backpacking trip in the mountains of southern Colorado.  When we started out on the trail early on the first day, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, we were full of energy and we were excited about a fun weekend together.

Several hours later, fatigue was beginning to set in.  We had been climbing uphill for awhile, and that’s when all the comments and questions began, such as “Nicole (that was my youth group leader), how much further is it to the campsite?”  “Nicole, I’m so tired, can we please stop again?”  “Nicole, I’m almost out of water.”  “Nicole, I think I’m getting a blister.”

I remember Nicole being quite patient with us during that whole trip.  We took plenty of breaks.  She made sure everyone had enough water and fueled up on trail mix.  And she said, “Our campsite is not too far away.  I think it’s around the next bend.”

Well, as we were climbing up a set of steep and exposed switchbacks, a thundershower rolled in.  First it began to sprinkle, so we put on our ponchos and covered our packs with garbage bags.  Then it began to rain a little harder.  Then it began to pour.  Then it began to hail.  And it continued to hail hard for several minutes; hard enough that the hailstones stung our bare legs and left a few welts.

“Nicole, how much farther is it?”  “I’m soaked!”  “Not too far.  I think it’s around the next bend.”  “You said that last time!”

This went on for awhile. 

Eventually, several bends later, we reached our campsite.  And it was beautiful…nestled in ponderosa forest by a high mountain lake.  By then the storm had passed over, the sun came back out and we’d dried up.  And after that trip, “it’s just around the next bend” became a lasting joke in our youth group.

Throughout our lives, I think most human beings have had those moments where we’ve felt physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually worn out.  Perhaps we’ve felt uncertain and wondered where the next steps on our journey would take us.  Maybe we’ve left a job or a relationship.  Maybe we’ve experienced an illness or the loss of someone dear to us.  Even positive life transitions like graduating from high school or college, beginning a new job, a new relationship, a new child bring with them certain levels of anxiety and uncertainty.

So I think we can relate to the way the Israelites felt as they followed Moses into the wilderness, into an unknown future, even if we haven’t found ourselves in their particular situation.

If you get nothing else from my sermon this morning, remember these two things: 1) the epic story of the Exodus is a central and formative theological work which helped shape the Judeo-Christian religious tradition in which we find ourselves.  And 2) the story of the Israelites’ journey of faith can be a lens for us to examine our own personal journey of faith as well as the collective journey we are on as a community which seeks to be the Body of Christ in the world.

On a literal level, Exodus is the story of the Israelite people who were led out of Egypt by Moses (a somewhat unlikely leader, unsure of himself and imperfect at times) who nevertheless was called by God to guide the community out of slavery into freedom. 

On an even broader, more metaphorical level, it is a timeless story of the movement from bondage to liberation; from what we might call a Pharaoh-centered way of life to God-centered way of life; a story of breaking free from old burdens and forging ahead into a wild unknown in hopes that we’ll one day experience the promised land that flows with milk and honey.  I once heard Hebrew Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann call it a story about moving from scarcity to abundance.

Each movement of this epic story is highly symbolic in its telling and as this formative story unfolds, it asks important theological questions…questions that have helped shape Jewish and Christian understandings of the nature and character of God. 

And this is the question today’s portion of the story asks: Is God with us on this journey?

This is a question that people have asked for millennia.

In today’s story, we find Moses and the Israelites continuing their long and arduous trip through the wilderness.  It has been awhile since the dramatic exit from Egypt and we get a sense that this wilderness wandering thing they are doing is starting to get pretty tedious, tempers are rising, and people are getting a little testy with one another and with Moses.

When they stop to camp, there is no water to be found.  So the people immediately jump on Moses, demanding water, asking yet again (for the third time since they left) why he brought them out of Egypt and wondering if this whole ordeal was just going to lead to death for all of them by starvation and dehydration.

Perhaps Moses is just as tired and irritable.  At any rate, he cries out to God in exasperation and even fear, “What should I do with these people?  They’re ready to kill me!”

Now, the people’s concerns are not really unreasonable.  They were articulating a real, physical thirst for a real, physical need: water, the basic need of all living things. 

But they were also articulating that theological question I just mentioned.  The people were thirsty… not only for water, but for God’s presence.  They had their doubts.  They wanted reassurance that God was on this journey with them, that they weren’t alone wandering aimlessly in the dry and barren desert, that this whole ordeal was leading them somewhere other than the grave, and that this trip with God was turning into something better and more meaningful than Pharaoh’s Egypt.

I can understand that thirst.  I’ve experienced that kind of thirst before; how about you?

But I can also understand Moses’ frustration with the crowd.  After all, they seem to show a remarkable lack of memory, already falling back into doubt when they have already seen so many divine wonders take place…not only the dramatic showdown and exit from Egypt, but in the wilderness they have seen bitter water turned sweet to quench their thirst and have been given manna and quail to satisfy their hunger.

Amy Erickson of Illiff School of Theology makes an important observation about the Exodus story.  She points out that in this maturing relationship that is being forged in the wilderness between God and God’s people, both parties engage in a lot of testing of the faithfulness of the other, but that is not a bad thing because it ultimately leads to a deeper relationship and a more articulate understanding of the journey of faith. 

In the Exodus God tests the faithfulness of the people by having them follow Moses out of Egypt and into the precarious and uninhabitable wilderness.  Do the people trust God enough to follow and to know that their needs will be met, even when the situation seems dire?

The people test God’s faithfulness by calling on God (usually through Moses) to meet their needs by satisfying their hunger and thirst.  Will this God give them life, hope, and a future?  Will this God be different than Pharaoh?

Now, the people’s testing may seem a little presumptuous to us.  It does to Moses.  After all, he named the place where all this happened, Massah and Meribah, which literally means quarrelling and testing. 

But Moses ends up being the harsher critic of the people’s complaining than God is.  Moses challenges the people and asks them why they must test God. 

Moses’ voice is important to pay attention to, but so is God’s action.  God simply responds to the people’s doubts with mercy, offering to them the water they need.

This inherent tension in the text and this back and forth between doubt and trust is an important part of this journey of growing faith.  And in the context of the story this testing of God ultimately ends up demonstrating God’s faithfulness. 

Eventually, centuries and now even millennia later, testimony of God’s faithfulness in the wilderness is what has been repeated over and over again for generations.

And we ought to pay attention to how God’s faithfulness is demonstrated because it teaches us about the understanding of God which has shaped our faith tradition: 

First, God calls on Moses to help make this happen.  God not only responds the needs of the people, but God also responds to Moses’ doubts about his own leadership capability (which probably still linger beneath the surface) by working through him and instructing him to use his staff (an important symbol of his leadership and God’s action) to strike the rock and bring forth water. 

And the message is this:  You are called, each in your own way, to help lead the community to a taste of grace; keep going even when it’s hard and know that you are not acting on your own.  None of you are alone on this journey; God is present and is acting through you to bring liberation to all.

Second, the rock itself is an important symbol.  God brings forth water from a rock; renewal and growth from something ancient and fixed; fluidity and movement from the dry and dormant; life from something we assume is dead. 

And the message is this: Not only is God’s love present in times of need, but God’s grace is transformative and has the power and potential to bring new life, even in the harsh desert, even in seemingly impossible situations.

You know, trust is hard sometimes.  Doubt is real.  And there is no shortage for things we thirst for on this journey: healing, compassion, wholeness, respect, justice, kindness, coexistence, love, energy, comfort, peace, fulfillment, creativity, meaning, community…the list goes on.

And still, even in the midst of doubt and thirst, day in and day out, week after week, we testify to the same God of Moses who meets us in the wilderness and makes water flow forth from a rock, bringing refreshment and new life for our parched and worn out spirits.

And still, even in the midst of doubt and thirst, day in and day out, week after week, we drink deeply of hope, we pray that we might more clearly see the streams of love and grace which flow forth from unexpected places, and we follow the One who calls us out of bondage and into liberation; out of scarcity and into abundance.  Amen.