Wilderness Water
Rev. Dr. Michael Stotts
Exodus 17:1-7
Matthew 21:23-32
Today we rejoined the Jews in the wilderness. Remember? They escaped their long period of captivity at the hands of the Egyptians as God parted the Red Sea. Then last week, having escaped we saw them in the desert wilderness, already complaining because they had no food. Now this week, though God had fed them with the Manna--here they are complaining again, asking Moses, why did you lead us out of Egypt only to kill us with thirst.
In retrospect, it's easy for us to condemn the people here for losing their faith so quickly, and yet I think, if we're honest, we'll have to admit that when faced with what seem to be wilderness-like situations in our own lives, we too, may all too quickly at times, lose our faith in God, and give in to despair.
How then can we turn around that despair and worry when faced with wilderness situations in our world today. As the economic crisis continued this week, we may think that we are in a kind of wilderness time these days. That's especially the case with all kinds of seeming threats out there in our world over which we may think we have no control. But I wonder if that's true--that we have no control. Indeed, perhaps the threatening economic conditions, and the wars we've had to face in recent years can be for us a wake up call--telling us we can make a difference, if we're willing to change--telling us that as a people we have in the past been too comfortable, and perhaps that we our-selves have helped to make today's wilderness. But if we've helped to make it so, then isn't it possible that we could do the reverse, and begin to work as a people who want to create not wildernesses, but a harmonious, garden-like world?
After all, think about what a wilderness is. It's a time and place that's seemingly wild, of course--out of control--where we are at the mercy of seemingly evil forces--and come face to face with danger--our own mortality. And surely, one of the characteristics of an out of control wilderness, would be a place without values--no rules, just kill or be killed, and look out for yourself, first of all. How tragic it is that we as human beings over and over have descended to such wilderness ways, instead of facing the world with faith in God, and in the loving, accepting, forgiving ways of Jesus Christ. With those values, we would know how to face the world when all seems to be spinning out of control--as in a wilderness.
In the passage from Exodus, once the people begin to despair, God provides water for them in the wilderness, and calms their fears at least for awhile. And indeed through Jesus Christ God has shown us what Jesus called living water, and the waters of baptism--bringing refreshing new life to us. And certainly one part of our faith as baptized Christians, is a calling to a life of Christ-like values. Just as water refreshes, makes us new, our baptism called us into being as a new persons--a people with different, life-affirming values, rather than selfish "just for me" values. In our own world today, was it not the non-Christian values of greed that brought on today's economic crisis; while instead a caring Christian value of loving neighbor, and living for God and all God's people, not just for ourselves--such Christian values could change our seeming wilderness world of the moment to a more harmonious, hope-giving world.
A few years ago there was a great public service spot on TV that ran for awhile where a caring father is with his son in several situations giving him guidance and advice--he tells the son to give up his seat for the pregnant woman on the bus. Then, in another scene, he tells the boy to slow down on the stairs, so as not to run into other people. And finally, the spot shows the son by himself, being tempted by his peers to take some drugs, and the end tag line is--how will he know to say no, if you don't tell him. So too our faith, if we will learn from it's values and pass them on to our children and others--our faith teaches us how to face the wilderness. But sometimes even as adults we forget those values, don't we? It's too easy, when the wilderness world seems to be saying to us, stick up for yourself and to heck with the other guy, it's too easy to give into that. What we fail to realize, however, is that an everyone for themselves world is what leads to chaos--yes, to wilderness situations,
When enemies approach, we think--a call to arms! -- instead of using God's gifts of reason, and love and caring for our world -- to avoid making enemies in the first place.
When we're told over and over by commercials, and by what our neighbors have, and by the market place that we need more and more material possessions, as if that were the reason for living--we too often forget our Christian values, that showed us the way of giving of oneself lovingly, for others, and serving others, as God's greatest source of fulfillment. And isn't the world much less of a wilderness, when we become a sharing people, instead of a selfish people.
When fear strikes, or illness or death, we too often despair. For our world all too frequently tells us it's a greater value--more important to be protective and defensive, than to have faith in the Lord. Yet our faith clearly has shown us that the end always includes a new beginning too, in God's world, that hard times --even wilderness times lead to a promised land, and even death itself leads to resurrection.
Yes, our faith, if we will learn from it's values, teaches us how to face the wilderness-- this often seemingly wild, out of control world in which we live, and thus instead gives us some control, for living with those values, opens us, with faith, to the help of the Lord as, well, the one who made the world and is in charge of this world--the one with the living water, to refresh and bring new life.
But then, not only did Moses followers need a change in values there in the wilderness, as do we in our wilderness situations, but also clearly they needed a stronger faith. Over and over God had rescued them, had brought them to new life--but still they didn't expect new life, but rather, here they were-- complainers again, looking only at what was wrong in their lives. If only they'd looked to God with faith earlier, God could have shown them that there was wilderness water for them. In fact, in that very spot, under the rocks, was a natural spring. To survive in wilderness times you see, we need to learn to have faith, and look for the new life----even in the most unlikely of places--water from a rock--the wilderness water--that God always provides for us, if only we'll ask God for it, and look for it--we'll find it, often right under our feet.
What about you? Are you one who looks for the new life that God is always providing for us, or are you more like those complainers in the wilderness, who only see the bad news, and then complain to God.
When I was a teenager years ago, my family and I were privileged to visit the beach that lies at the very southern tip of the country of India--Cape Cormorin, it's called. It is a gorgeous site, for whether you look to the East or the West or the south--there is nothing but ocean in sight--as far as the eye can see. And with that vast expanse of ocean, it is said that some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the world can be witnessed in that spot. We witnessed one, in fact, while were there. But you know, it's a curious thing, as my memory of that time fades a bit, I can't recall whether it was a sunrise or sunset that we saw. Most of my memory now comes from our pictures of that event--and looking at the pictures--well some people when we've shown them, see a sunrise, while others are determined to see a sunset.
So what about yourself? Are you mostly a sunset person--do you focus mostly on what's wrong, or do you look for the new life God is bringing with each new day--out across the water. God is ready to provide water for us in whatever wilderness we might be facing, if only we'll look for it, but if we only despair at the sun going down, then in our despair, our worry, or even complaining in the wilderness--all we do, you see, is make the wilderness worse. Look for the new life God has for us--the rising sun-- water even from a rock that God wants to provide for us. If only we will learn to look with faith, the water will be there for us--new life, even in the wilderness.
But then one more thing is needed in the wilderness, and that is a guide--like Moses, when 'God had given him that important leadership role for the Jews. Without a guide, it's easy to get lost in the wilderness isn't it. In today's chaotic world, that so seems wilderness like, far too, often, we need a guide, desperately, don't we . We were reminded by our reading from Philippians in our call to worship--reminded as Christians-- that indeed we do have a guide to help us through whatever wilderness situations our lives throw at us, who is of course--Jesus Christ himself -- God, not only showing us new life whenever we need it, but also God with us, in Christ, giving us a guide to follow whenever we find ourselves in wilderness situations.
Do you ever find yourself in a time where your life has seemed to be falling apart. Have you ever wondered what course of action to take when faced with a moral dilemma. As the economic crisis continues in our world and too many threats seemingly calling us to an all-the-time war footing, have you despaired over where we've gone wrong in the world. Well in any of those cases where we begin to feel lost in the wilderness, with our water running out, as Christians we need to remember that God came to be with us in Christ, to show us the way. He called us to a life of faith and hope and love--showed us a path to follow. Gave us hope for times when life seems to be falling to pieces-showed us forgiving love for times of failure and resurrection even beyond the cross, and he also showed us a way of self-giving-- a new way to live to replace our selfish ways. He showed us a way of love that could help us build a more peaceful, less wilderness-like world. Our trouble is that it too often seems safer to be defensive rather than loving, when threatened by the world. To build up goods for ourselves materially, rather than learning to share, in order to be sure everyone has enough in the world. And it seems too easy just to try to rely on ourselves sometimes, rather than looking with faith for the help that God could give us.
How foolish we are--for after all, who made this world? So if we want to know how to live in it in a way that does not make a wilderness of our world, shouldn't we follow God's ways, as shown to us in Jesus Christ? It's like we're trying to take a trip, without looking at directions or a map drawn by someone who knew the way. Or it's like trying to make structural renovations to a house, without first looking at the blueprints of the one who built it in the first place.
I'm reminded of my brother-in-law Bob-///Peggy's sister's husband. I've shared from time to time some of his do it yourself antics? He's always occupied it seems with some do-it-yourself project underway, but never quite finished because he gets into some problem or can't figure out quite how to do something halfway through each project.
Well, one project in particular I recall not long ago, when we were making our annual visit to Peg's sister and family. We found that Bob had been having trouble with his sit-down lawnmower. So being a dedicated do it yourselfer, he'd begun by taking apart the lawn mower, but because he had no set of directions, or a schematic, nor a lawn mower repair specialist handy to ask, he was unable to remember how the pieces all fit back together again, so for several days while we were there, he stewed over the problem, tried valiantly to do it himself, but finally in disgust loaded the lawn-mower and its various parts into his truck and took them to the repair shop.
Well my friends, trying to live in our wilderness world, without the one who was sent by God to show us the way, is very much like that. It gives us no direction on how to put the scattered pieces of our lives together, it gives us no expert on all of life to whom we can turn when the world's ways pull us away from faith. It gives us no model to follow, when we don't have Christ to be our guide, and so we wind up with a life of scattered pieces that just seem not to fit together, or go in any one direction We need our Christian faith in our wilder-ness world, desperately, you see, to help us all orient our scattered lives.
So in what ways does your life seem like a wilderness today. In what ways have we made our world a wilderness. We need not despair. We can instead seek to remember to live by our Christian values, so we don't create even more a wilderness by "wild" behavior, rather than Christian ways. We can look for the refreshing water, the new life God is always ready to hold out there for us, if we'll only we'll have faith and look for God's new life. And we can seek to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, to let him be our guide as we put the broken pieces of our lives and our world back together. If we will, then guess what? The world won't seem so much like a dry wilderness after all, but rather a world of life-giving water-- the world of faith, hope and love that God made this world to be. Amen.