Exodus 17:1-7, March 27, 2011

First Cong. Church of Pasadena, Season of Lent

Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy

There is a particular challenge to being in a middle management position. Especially during difficult times like we are in with our economy, a middle manager has the unenviable position of having to lay people off; you also have to report to your boss and explain why profits are down and the bills keep comin’. You feel like you are getting squeezed from both sides when times are tough. Now, conversely, being a middle manager can have its advantages when things are going well – you receive accolades from the head honcho, and you get to give people raises and celebrate their successes with them. It’s a win-win when things are going well. I think about this when I think about Moses leading the people in the wilderness long ago. He has led a group of people out of their hellish lives in Egypt with great fanfare, and now the pressures of his mid-management position are beginning to show. The people are thirsty and beginning to grumble because the big boss has led them out into the middle of nowhere with no assurances of sustaining them and they are frightened. They blame Moses for their suffering and finally confront him with the accusatory question, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt just to kill us and our children?”

 Uh.  Moses knows that he’s not really the big boss. He is only following orders and when things aren’t going well, he as to rely on the boss to resolve things. So, he turns to his boss, who happens to be God, and says, “Hey, what shall I do? These people are ready to stone me to death!” Little help here!!!” Now, before we get to God’s answer, let’s consider what is happening here.  This group of people was living an extremely difficult life of servitude in Egypt under a harsh Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not only cruel, but there was no dignity or freedom in their lives; and yet there was plenty of food and drink at the end of the day. The endless oppression of the Hebrews was intolerable to them and they escaped this cruel life to wander into the desert under the leadership of Moses. They now find themselves dying of thirst. They have freedom and a new start, but all of a sudden they desire the fleshpots of Egypt, when their lives were marked by food and drink. They are seemingly willing to trade their freedom and dignity for the material comforts they remember.

One of the issues we discover in this passage is that these Hebrew people were held together by their common desire to be free from slavery (p. 75). But you do not build a faith with people by what you are running away from.Yes, it took great courage to step out and leave their life in Egypt. But you eventually need something more substantive to build a community of faith around. I recall my Old Testament professor saying years ago in seminary that the Hebrew people evolved into the Israelites through their experience in the wilderness. They left Egypt as Hebrews and they arrived in the Promised Land as the Israelites. During their wilderness period they received the Ten Commandments and carved out their identity as people of faith in covenant with their God. But today we just hear their grumbling and moaning. There is no trust; no clarity; no faith in their God to meet their needs. Today we simply hear that their needs are not being met and they are tired of it.  As the origin of a people it is striking that their early history was described as being defined by weakness and failure! How honest of them to write about their history in this way and to present it not in terms of human achievement, but instead conscious of God’s searching standards!!!

Returning to our story, when Moses questions God about his people’s concerns, the response from God is clear. In fact, one can almost imagine God’s face – if God were human; with a deep sigh, God is coming to understand how far these people need to come in order to be a depthful, trusting, faith-filled group. But right now, they are a fledgling group with little trust. So the response of God is a clear command and a promise. God tells Moses to take some of his elders and his staff/walking stick and go to a rock in Horeb and they will find God waiting for you there.  God tells him, “Strike that rock and water will pour out of it for your people.: We learn thatcommand and promise is how God works.  Through this testing, these people are learning to trust God and to listen to God instead of their own fears and desires.  It must have been a turning point in their history because Moses names the places “test” and “quarrel” as reminders of when they did not believe that God was really in their midst. 

 It doesn’t take faith in something to run away from a situation. It may take something else – like great courage or determination or even fear, but it does not require you to believe in something specifically. It does take faith to dig in with people when times are tough and when the challenges are apparent. This is when you learn what you are made of and why you are really committed to something. Are we just playing “we are the people of God” or do we really intend to listen and follow the guidance of our God we are asked during difficult times.

 I read an article this week which talked about the current situation in Japanand how the Japanese have historically dealt with adversity. It talked about how Japan handled the bombing of World War II when 60 cities had been flattened by bombs, half a million people were dead, 10 million were homeless and a ¼ of the national wealth had been destroyed. And yet history has shown that within 4 decades “the country had transformed itself into the second biggest economy on earth.”  ”They pulled together and rebuilt in a quite spectacular way,” says John Dower who wrote Embracing Defeat, an account of Japan’s recovery (Christian Science Monitor, March 28, 2011, p. 27).  When looking for a reason for their recovery, Dower speaks of the Japanese spirit of gamen, which means “toughing it out and enduring what comes to you.” There has been very little wallowing and much more mobilization in the face of this current disaster say folks who have been inJapan to witness the aftermath of the recent earthquake. (Ibid, 28)  In the wake of this recent disaster, almost 10,000 people have died and about 1 million people have been displaced from their homes. Almost a million are without electricity and more than 1 million are without water.  Near the earth quake zone, “food is short and gasoline nearly unobtainable.” (p. 28) And yet, when relief efforts have been plagued with problems or glitches, few complain. “Instead they wait patiently in orderly lines for water, food, gas, blankets, or whatever is offered.”  Foreign journalists are surprised that there have been no reports of looting though many shops and homes sit unguarded (Ibid). While the Japanese have enormous challenges in front of them with an earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear emergency, the fact that they deeply respect group interests over individual desires and they have a deep respect for the order of things, is reflected in their response to a crisis of this magnitude. One of the richest countries in the world, Japan has developed one the best-educated and most talented workforces in the world; and many believe that they have the tenacity to start over because they know who they are and have qualities that sustain them during adversity.

In the Book of Exodus the ancient Israelites are just at the beginning of determining who they will be as a people and what shall define their faith. History will show us that Moses was an extraordinary leader who interpreted God’s commands to them and reassured them of God’s promises to them.

 Under his leadership they received the 10 Commandments.

Under his leadership they learned that a God who was previously understood as transcendent becomes an immanent God,  who breaks into history and makes crystal clear God’s desire for the oppressed and exploited to be set free;

Under Moses’ leadership we learn that there are dramatic miracles and shifts and powers that move behind the scenes as divine forces in our world;

Under his leadership he molds them into a group where faith and trust in God is a requirement and wholeheartedly committing themselves to a covenant relationship with this God is the standard.

 If we look at the 10 Commandments which were given to Moses by God and then to the people, we see that most of the commands, 8 out of the 10, are actually prohibitions. Within the shall-nots, there are two shalls:  you shall honor your mother and father, and you shall keep the Sabbath holy. Now, some have interpreted this to mean that early biblical faith is defined by negative constraints and what we are not allowed to do. But let me suggest what scholar Bernard Anderson’s says instead – that the intent was to stake out general limitations of the relationship, but within those limits there was wide latitude for freedom of action, of interpretation and obligation to God and to one’s fellow human beings. Eventually these 10 commands will be reduced to just two – love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? and love your neighbor as yourself. Whether we have 10 guidelines or just 2,  we are asked to define ourselves by our covenant relationship with our God. (Anderson’s Understanding the Old Testament, p. 88)

 So, in this story we hear not only the beginnings of a faith community, but we hear the response of God to them. The response comes in the form of a command and a promise. We are commanded to do certain things and God has promised to also be there for us. When we turn the story to apply it to our own lives, where are we this Lenten season? Are we wandering, directionless or are we clear about our path? Are we angry and grouchy because one of our very basic needs is not being met, or can we see how God is faithful to us? Are we loving God and one another with our heart, mind, soul and strength or are we just phoning it in and worshipping our lesser gods? The lessons of faith apply to us just as certainly as they applied to the early Israelites.  Both the demands of faith and the assurances of faith are part of our covenant relationship with our God. What are you feeling today? More of the demands or the assurances? If one overshadows the other, make a shift in your understanding, for our journey with God is marked by both.

 Thanks be to the writers of our early biblical history for their honesty in recording how tumultuous the path of faith can be, and yet persisting despite the challenges to be formed into the people of God. Amen.