Exodus 16: 2--4, 9--15

           

·        In the wilderness, the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. (2)  “[Y]ou have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.” (3c)

 

Recall the setting: the Israelites had, less than a week ago, come through the parted waters of the Re[e]d Sea, witnessed the inundation of Pharaoh's army and rejoiced in their deliverance, singing and dancing to Miriam's psalm[1].  And, just a day or two before, YHWH had sweetened the waters of Marah for them.  But then they had been grumbling for decades in bondage, and they grumbled, even with their bellies full from the Passover feast, all the way to the Re[e]d Sea.  Indeed, one could reasonably argue that YHWH sent the Egyptian army after them, or else the people might not have crossed over, but gone back into slavery.

 

Recall also that, in the Bible, the Israelites are a simile for the Church.

 

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community: Advance toward the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.  And as Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there, in a cloud, appeared the Presence of the LORD.” (9-10)

 

When you first believed in Christ Jesus, God saved you; that is, God set you free from bondage to sin.  I repeat: God set you free[2] from bondage to sin.  Sin is dead; it was nailed to the cross and, in the flesh of Jesus, perished once for all.  Thus did God resolve our sin problem.  The law of sin and death has been repealed and annulled, since sin itself has been executed, put to death, killed, annihilated, obliterated, eradicated, done away with, inundated, crucified.  In Christ the fangs of Pharaoh have lost their grisly grip on you completely and forever, and you are totally liberated, Absolutely Free![3].

           

Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ has broken the chains and loosed the bonds that held you prisoner.  But it has not delivered you into the Promised Land.  Instead, your baptism into Christ Jesus has led you into the wilderness, where you will wander for "forty years" (an adult lifetime), loved, watched over, guided, nurtured and tested by God.  Recall, Christian, that one "generation" of the saved will die in the wilderness; another "generation" will cross through the parted waters of the Jordan.

 

So here you are in the wilderness, weary, hungry and thirsty.  Are you tired of the constant routine, fed up with the endless journeying, camping here and there, always en route but never (as it seems) getting anywhere?  Then, good Christian, listen to Moses: turn toward the wilderness, the Sahara of your tedious existence.  Turn toward (repent) the wilderness where, if you will but open your eyes and heart, you will see there, in a cloud, ...the Presence of the LORD.

 

Psalm 78: 23--29

           

The Psalmist, unlike the lectionary "pickers", we’re not afraid to confront and deal with the truth about themselves and their people.  Therefore you may wish to read more of this Psalm, especially these verses, which amplify and confirm the Exodus reading.

 

·        They had not yet wearied of what they craved,

                the food was still in their mouths

                when God=s anger flared up at them.

            [The LORD] slew their sturdiest,

                struck down the youth of Israel.

            Nonetheless, they went on sinning

                and had no faith in [YHWH's] wonders. (30-32)

 

            They remembered that God was their rock,

                God Most High, their Redeemer.

            Yet they deceived Him with their speech,

                lied to [Her] with their words;

                their hearts were inconstant toward [the LORD];

                they were untrue to [God's] covenant. (35-37)

 

            How often did they defy [the LORD] in the wilderness,

                did they grieve [YHWH] in the wasteland!

            Again and again they tested God,

                vexed the Holy One of Israel.

            They did not remember His strength,

                or the day [She] redeemed them from the foe;

                how [the LORD] displayed His signs in Egypt,

                [Her] wonders in the plain of Zoan. (40-43)

 

Recall, Christian, that this text is about the saved.  It is not about "them"; it is about the Church: us.

 

·        Nonetheless, they went on sinning

                and had no faith in [YHWH's] wonders.

How can this be?  Delivered from "Egypt", freed from sin, they went on sinning?  Look to the next line.  Here the Psalmist reveals what "sin" is on this side of the Re[e]d Sea: it is to have no faith in [YHWH's] wonders.  Christians who persist in cataloguing and chastising about other Christians' "sins"-- especially concerning behaviors of which they disapprove-- are, according to the Bible, the ones who go on sinning, for they demonstrate that they do not believe what God our Redeemer has accomplished on our behalf that Friday afternoon some 1,970 years ago.

 

Eph. 4: 1--16

           

·        With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love.  Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. (2-3)

           

On each one of us God’s favour has been bestowed in whatever way Christ allotted it. (7)

 

There are many in the Church who need to read and accept the Apostle's teaching.  God has not delivered you from your bondage to sin so that you may criticize others.  This is YHWH's purpose: to knit God’s holy people together for the work of service to build up the Body of Christ, until we all reach unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God (12-13a).

 

If and when we decide to pursue the Lord's agenda instead of our own (or that of our leaders), Then we shall no longer be children, or tossed one way and another, and carried hither and thither by every new gust of teaching, at the mercy of all the tricks [church][4] people play and their unscrupulousness in deliberate deception.  If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow completely into Christ (14-15a,b).

 

John 6: 24--35

           

“Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the [Christ] will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.  Then they said to him, What must we do if we are to carry out God’s work?”  Jesus gave them this answer, “This is carrying out God’s work: you must believe in the one he has sent.” (27-29)

 

Christian, are you absolutely free from sin?  Or do you deny the efficacy of God's work on the cross and continue to sin?