I Wonder as I Wander
Where is God now? The
Israelites in the wilderness wondered if they had been brought out of
Egypt to die. The wilderness wanderings were filled with
complaining and longing for what they now perceived as a better
day. Doubt was blowing through the dessert. Will God keep
his promises to us?
We wonder as we wander. We
ask, “Where is God?” when we suffer or experience crisis. We
consider the possibility of being abandoned and mislead with hope only
to be crushed in the midst of the “real world.” We complain of
scarcity even when surrounded by abundance. We perceive the grass
to be greener on any side other than the one we are on.
I have always loved the Christmas
folk tune, “I Wonder as I Wander.” I am intrigued by the
mysterious tune, as it is almost haunting in its melody. It has
had a lingering presence with me year round since I was child.
The words of the first verse provide content for a lifetime of
meditation.
I wonder as I
wander out under the sky
How Jesus our
Savior did come for to die
For poor ordn’ry
people like you and like I
I wonder as I
wander out under the sky
This simple verse gives voice to
the depth of the Paschal Mystery. The confession of our faith,
“Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is pure gift
even for “people like you and like I.” Wow! The work of the
Spirit in our life is the transformation toward wandering in
wonder. We are people whose days are marked not so much by doubt
and complaint but wonder in the presence of God and God’s faithfulness
in providing for us in joy, sorrow, faith and fear. The Good News
sets us wandering in wonder.
Link to the First Reading
In our first lesson we enter the
wilderness, a place where we see the miracles of God affect both the
physical and the spiritual. We enter a place where both belly and
the soul are satisfied. It is in the wilderness where we see some
of the most basic miracles of God.
The Exodus story leads us to the
wilderness. The wilderness we enter at one level is the
wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land. God has set the
Israelites free from the hand of Egyptian slavery and is slowly leading
the people, through the leadership of Moses and Aaron, to the Promised
Land. God has promised a new life, a new creation for God’s
people, and this new creation is more than a spiritual matter. It
is a comprehensive reality, effecting change in every nook and cranny
of the world’s life, including the everyday needs of the people.
This new creation is made complete in Jesus Christ.
It is clear that the Israelites
were wondering during their wanderings where they would be seeing
God. They didn’t realize where God was in their wanderings.
As is often the case with faith, they grew impatient rather quickly and
the miracles of the recent past seemed a distant memory.
Maybe you have had the experience
of looking back at a situation and seeing only the good when it in fact
was one of the toughest times in your life. Such is the case with
the Israelites. The Israelites wish they had stayed in
Egypt. They are feeling that if finally they are being left with
choices of places to die, it is better to be satisfied with a full
belly though oppressed, holding to an idealized and selective memory
then starvation with freedom. The miraculous events of their
freeing from bondage no longer holds the Israelites in good
faith. The Israelites who experienced the plagues and the parting
of the Red Sea are in crisis of faith because they are hungry.
The Israelites are having a common experience, common even to some of
us. Through facing a crisis, whether of daily need or physical
suffering a physical crisis will often lead to a crisis of faith.
In the Israelites case the lack of food had caused them to panic and
doubt what God had promised to do for them. They doubted whether
they would ever make it out of the wilderness into the Promised Land.
Even through the doubt that exists in
the wilderness, God provides. We are told that, “In the evening
quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a
layer of dew around the camp.” When the layer of dew lifted,
there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance as
fine as frost on the ground. And Moses tells them, “It is the
bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” The gifts leave the
Israelites wandering in wonder.
Link to the Second Reading
This wonderful passage in
Ephesians reminds us of the wonderment of Christ’s death and
resurrection and how Christ continues to equip the saints. We are
equipped for the building up of the body of Christ. The warning
comes in that we need to be mature enough not to be “blown about by
every wind of doctrine.” When all things are working together
everything benefits.
This warning seems appropriate for
all of us. As we observe Christian churches, Lutheran and
otherwise, we realize that we don’t agree on all doctrine. It is
difficult to know which voices to trust. We may wonder as we grow
and wander in years which voice we should listen too? Paul says
in this letter, “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole
body joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is
equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth
in building itself up in love.” Love does seem to be the key word
here. What promotes love to people in your life, people of the
same faith and people of other faith? The very contemplation of
the question will promote growth.
Link to the Gospel Reading
In our wanderings, we all search
for signs to lead us in faith. Jesus says, “I am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever
believes in me will never be thirst. It is our God through Christ
Jesus who meets us both in our physical need of daily bread and drink,
as well as our spiritual need of sitting in the presence of God.
The trouble is we don’t always realize it.
God’s gifts that touch our very
spirit come in and through that which is quite natural, physical and
ordinary, bread and wine. That is the point of course, God comes
to us through the ordinary and as we open our eyes we come to see the
miracle in the ordinary. Maybe if we can see that the grace of
God begins with food and love shared unconditionally, maybe then we
will be more willing to se God in the miracles that occur everyday.
Questions for Discussion
1.What songs best represent the mystery of faith to you?
2. What promotes love to people of the same faith and people
of other faith?
3.What wanderings have challenged your faith or nurtured your
faith?
4. What does it mean to you that Jesus is the bread of life?
5. What people do you know that suffer from pangs of hunger
either spiritually or physically? What gifts do you have to alleviate
that hunger for others?
This WORDLINK prepared by:
Beth M.D. Jarrett
Pastor, St. Mark Lutheran Church
Spokane, Washington
|
