Is The Lord Among Us

Preached at St. Luke’s: 03/12/23

“Is the LORD among us, or not?” That’s basically the question we’re left with after
today’s reading from Exodus. And at first glance, I think we need to empathize with
the Israelites. After all, they’re wandering without water in the desert, because that’s
where God has led them. Who wouldn’t question God’s purpose, or even His
presence at such a time and place? But then, on the other hand, we needn’t page back
very far in this particular book – specifically dedicated, mind you, to showing how
God both delivered and provided for His people – in order to get a larger perspective
and context for today’s reading. And so, if we turn back only one chapter from this
story of God’s people complaining about their thirst, we’ll find them complaining
about their hunger; grumbling that they would have done better to eat their fill and
die in Egypt, than to follow the One who delivered them from the chains of slavery
in that country. So, in the presence of this ingratitude for what He has already done,

what comes next? What does God do? How does He answer this grumbling for
food? Does He force them to fend for themselves? Does He allow them to starve?
No, quite the opposite! He sends them bread from heaven. He sends them manna; a
food so perfect, so supernatural that it provided the Israelites with everything that
was necessary for survival. A bread so divine, that it’s thought to have produced no
waste – think about that, 40 years is a long time between bowel movements. Manna:
the original Super-Food. But move over Jell-o, because even after God’s chosen
people have had their fill of the Bread of Angels, Lord knows there’s always room
for more grumbling. So next, come the quail. Not because they needed the meat – the
Manna already provided them all that was necessary to survive. He provides them
with quail not because they were in need, but because He is gracious. And so, if we
want to understand today’s reading from Exodus, we need to understand it in this
context. In the context of a people whose every need has been provided for, whose
every desire has been taken into account at every step they’ve begrudgingly taken
out of captivity. It is in this context, that God’s people now stand before Him and
grumble about their thirst. Not dehydration- they’re not actually dying of thirst as
the claim; because, again, the bread from heaven provided them with all that was
necessary for their survival. They don’t need water. Therefore, their complaint is
about discomfort – they’re thirsty, and demanding their thirst be quenched. And so,
once again, not only are their needs provided for, but their desires are also given
consideration, and they receive water from a rock. And once this miraculous water
has been given, what are we left with? That question… “Is the Lord among us, or
not?” Completely understandable, right? Because obviously, the jury’s still out on
that one.

So, the whole scene we have of God’s people from today’s reading of Exodus is, if
we can be honest, a little disappointing. But wait, there’s more! Why settle for a little
disappointing, when we can be completely disappointed in God’s people? And all
we have to do is be completely honest, by remembering that we – you and I – are
God’s people; and by realizing this scene from Exodus might as well be that one
awkward and embarrassing home movie which makes us truly thankful that no one
actually owns a VCR anymore. This isn’t a matter of “them, over there” it’s a matter
of “us, right here.” And once we come to that realization, then it becomes literally
impossible to “empathize” with “God’s people,” because we actually have another
term for that – it’s called self-pity. None of us would be foolish enough to come to
God in prayer, with nothing more than the rhetorical question “What have you done
for me lately?” And yet, like the Israelites, most of us live a good portion of our lives
in accordance with that exact sentiment. Taking for granted the countless blessings
that God has already bestowed upon us, while indignantly crying, “Hey, a little
help, here?” I know I do, and there’s really no reason to pretend otherwise; no
matter how distasteful I find that admission. But do you know what I find even
harder to stomach than our ingratitude? The utter lack of faith which feeds it. A
simple lack of faith in the one universal truth that we can say with the utmost surety.
The one thing that we can say we absolutely, positively know about the nature of
our Lord… is that He is gracious! Yes, our Lord is, above all else, is gracious. So,
what bothers me most about this reading is not that God’s people are complaining
about what we do and do not have, but that we lack the basic faith to know that we
will be provided for. As God rightly reminds the Psalmist, we do not know His
ways. Which means we do not know His grace. Like the child at the dinner table

with the only empty glass, we exclaim with disgust, “Why don’t I get any milk!?”
fully believing in our tiny hearts that we must suffer without. When all that God is
asking of us, is that we simply ask Him, “May I have something to drink?”, trusting
that we will receive whatever we need; whether that’s milk, water, or – sometimes –
nothing. Not because we are worthy of receiving what we need, but because we are
loved, and He is gracious. But instead, like the Israelites at the end of our first
reading, we wonder, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
A question which stands in stark contrast to the final thought from today’s Gospel,
“…we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” A jarring statement which
comes not from God’s chosen people. Not from the mouths of those whose every
need was provided for, whose cry of hunger was answered with bread from heaven,
whose very thirst was quenched by water from a rock, even as God personally led
them through the wilderness. Instead, it comes to us from the lips of the Samaritans,
the people with whom God’s people “do not share things in common.” In a word,
the “unclean.” Those, whom according to the people of God, have no reason to
expect a single blessing from the LORD God of Israel, are the ones who very clearly
recognize what God’s people have failed to see. So, if we’re hoping for an example of
the faith that might set us on a different path, we’ll need turn our gaze away from
ourselves, toward those thought to be outside of God’s grace. Amongst those who
cannot expect a Jew to converse with them, let alone stay with them. It is with the
woman who has had five husbands and is now “living in sin,” that we can glimpse
our hope; the one who dares to ask the living God for the living water, with no
possible reason to expect it. It is she, who must be our example. She is the one who
begins the process of evangelizing the Samaritans and, if we’re smart, us. And she

makes her beginning – and ours – if we choose – with a simple act that is easily
overlooked, or worse: chalked-up to mere excitement, or confusion, or forgetfulness.
Because what was she doing at the well in the first place? She came to draw water, of
course. And why did she come to draw water from the well? Because unlike the
grumblers in the wilderness, if she doesn’t get water she will die. And does she get
her water? No, she doesn’t. In fact, not only does she go home without her water,
she goes home without her water jar – which is to say, she runs off, leaving behind
the very means by which she obtains this most basic necessity of life. She cannot
count on water springing forth from a rock, like some elect ingrate. No, she must go
and get enough of it to get through the day. Day after day, she has to carry it from
the well to her home, and during the hottest part of that day, no less. Therefore, it’s
by this simple, and what I would call “deliberate act,” of leaving her jar at the well,
that she is witnessing to a faith that she will be provided for. Her only purpose for
being at the well is instantly cast aside by her budding faith – by a tangible, if tiny,
belief that her very real needs will be met, in spite of her very real sins. And it’s
because of her words and action that these Samaritans invite the Messiah, not only
into their homes, but into their lives; and because God is gracious, He accepts the
invitation. Not because they are worthy, but because He is God. Through this
invitation, these outsiders begin to understand that truth which God is continually
spoon-feeding His chosen people, even as we constantly and unceremoniously
continue to spit it up all over ourselves and Him, again and again. That yes, our
gracious LORD is among us!
So, in a matter of minutes, when we’re called, once again, to the fullness of the Lord’s
table; will we come to our food and drink, that true Bread of Heaven and Cup of

Salvation, unsatisfied, and unfaithful? Will we approach the spiritual sustenance
given for our redemption – body and soul – demanding, “Is the LORD among us, or
not?” Or, will we come with a quiet assurance; that despite all our shortcomings and
amid all the chaos which surrounds us… all that is necessary will be provided,
because God is gracious? Faithfully insisting, instead, “…we know that this is truly
the Savior of the world.”