This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa as part of our annual Thankoffering Worship Services. It’s based on Exodus 17:1-7. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson/. If you’re interested in planning a Thankoffering service, here is a terrific resource from Women of the ELCA: https://www.womenoftheelca.org/thankofferings.
Exodus 17:1-7
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Moses called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Moses called the place Massah (Testing) and Meribah (Quarreling).
He could have named the place Miracle. He could have named the place Providence. He could have named the place Water to Quench Our Thirst. He could have named the place God Listens. He could have named the place God Responds. He could have named the place Yes, the Lord Is Among Us.
But instead, Moses names the place Testing and Quarreling, marks this place not by way of what God did there, but by way of what the people did there. They tested God. They quarreled. They complained. They doubted. They thought they would have been better off remaining slaves in Egypt than being brought out into this wilderness to die of thirst. They grew angry. They grew violent. They were close to stoning Moses and giving up on God. They were done.
Why name a place after the worst possible experience? Why remember, forever, how desperate you were?
Is Moses sticking it to the people? Shaming them? Forcing them to remember how ridiculous they were to doubt God?
Or is he, perhaps, inviting them to see clearly, to remember honestly, how God’s faithfulness didn’t depend one bit on their faithfulness. They tested God. They quarreled. And still, God provided. Still, God responded. Still, God made water flow from a rock to quench their thirst.
At Grace Institute last week, a program of spiritual formation in which I’m participating, we were invited to consider both those things from the day that had blessed us and those things that had troubled us. And in the recollection of both, we were invited to see God at work.
Thirsting in the desert is troubling. Grieving the death of a beloved one is troubling. Listening to the news is troubling. How is God at work in the troubling moments of our lives? Is God working the miracle for which we thirst? Or is God responding in ways that are harder to see? Harder to understand? Is God showing up in flowing water from the most unexpected places? Or are you still thirsting, still weary, still wondering: Is the Lord among us or not?
In my life, as much as I would rather it be any other way, it has been those times that have been most troubling that have also brought the deepest awareness of God’s presence with me.
So, perhaps, we would do well to name those places and moments in our lives as Moses did. We name the place Grief. We name the place Anger. We name the place Sorrow and Suffering. And when we come to that place, we look for God to be there. We anticipate God will provide. We believe water will flow, from the driest of rocks, at God’s command.
A few years ago, I wrote this piece in response to this text from Exodus. In closing, I’d like to share it with you again now.
Like water from a rock
God provides
When you least expect it
When you can’t believe it
When you’ve given up on miracles
God provides
Like water from a rock
Like purpose from pain
Like hope from hurt
God provides
When you’re wandering in the desert
When your thirst cannot be quenched
When you’re tired, weak and weary
God provides
Like water from a rock
Like compassion from grief
Like witness from worry
God provides
When every word you utter turns to quarreling and complaint
When the freedom that you longed for is enough to make you faint
When you wonder whether God is near enough to hear your cries
God provides
There’s a school in the wilderness of grief and hurt and pain
Where you’re marked and moved and molded
Where you learn the truth you’ve known
When your spirit’s close to broken
When your heart feels dull and dead
Love comes poured out for you
Life splashing on your head
Like water from a rock
Gushing, flowing, filling font
Forehead marked, forever signed
The cross a story of love divine
Encouragement and sharing
Compassion and sympathy
Miracles in the making
Joy eternally
Like water from a rock
God provides
O, my heart, behold your Savior
O, my spirit, drink your fill
O, my voice, rise up rejoicing
God provides
Tell the story to your neighbor
Live the good news as you go
Like water from a rock
God provides