Sermon for 2/5/23: Septuagesima

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Argue or Trust

Exodus 17:1-7

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

Israel had trouble believing God would do what He said He would do. They did not trust God; they forgot the promises, and they were extremely impatient. It did not look like God would do what He had promised. Then along came Moses, the man chosen by God to lead them. God called him and sent him and worked the ten plagues and brought them out of Egypt. God proved that He would do what He promised, despite their lack of trust.

Having been delivered from Egypt, the people of Israel found themselves in the desert. They had limited water with them, and they could not see where they are going to get more. They still had not learned; they still did not trust God. They could not imagine that God could do what they needed Him to do, and so they blamed the messenger of God. We know how it ends. God told Moses to strike a particular rock, and He made water gush out of the rock. If they had only trusted God…but they did not. They took to quarreling with Moses. Their problem was with God, and Moses pointed that out to them. He said, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

Now and again, whether as individuals or as a congregation, we have shown that we do not trust the Lord. “Why is our giving so dismal?” “Why is our attendance so low?” “Why am I sick?” “Why did the Lord take my loved one?” “Why is school so hard?” We don’t know what is happening; we don’t like the way things are going. So we don’t stop to exercise our faith in God. Instead we grumble. We quarrel with God.

Jesus once said, “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.” He spoke those words to His disciples, but they apply to every messenger that He calls and sends to speak His Word. When anyone quarrels with their pastor over the Word of God, our doctrine, or our practice based on the Word of God, the argument is not with the pastor, but with God. When someone attacks their pastor, they are attacking God first. As your pastor, I must say that have not faced much of that here, and I appreciate that. But it happens throughout the Church.

Now, if a congregation is talking about what color to paint the restrooms, all opinions are welcome; after all, the Word of God has nothing to say about the color of restroom walls. But if a congregation is dealing with doctrine and the practice that flows from the Word of God, the only recourse must be to the Word of God. If the preacher is not faithful to the Word, not only can you disagree with him; you must correct him. If he refuses to be corrected, you must either flee from him or drive him out. But if what he teaches is faithful to the Word, the argument is not with the preacher, but with God. And the cause of the argument is often the same as it was among ancient Israel. Too often people respond from how things seem or how they feel, rather than responding from the knowledge of God and trust in Him.

God dealt with the Old Testament Israel in a unique way, calling one man to make His offspring a nation. He deals with us in a unique way as well, choosing one man, His only-begotten Son Jesus, to carry our sins and die in our place on the cross. He has called us all together out of many nations to be His holy people, the holy Christian Church. He spoke our names in Baptism, and He has gathered us together into a family. We are the body of Christ in this place.

Just like on the Exodus, God continues to deal with us personally. He washes us in the water combined with His name. He speaks His Word into our ears. He comes among us in the body and blood of Jesus, given and shed for you in and under bread and wine to strengthen your faith. These gifts comfort us and prepare us to worship our Lord with holy lives lived out in the world.

Israel had trouble trusting God when confronted by the harsh and tangible realities of life. They couldn’t see how God could do what He had promised He would do. We often struggle with the same thing. Life is real and urgent. Trials and temptations rear up before us, demanding action, trying to tell us that there is no God, that there is no help, that there is no salvation for sinners who struggle to trust in the One who made us.

But we are called to believe. We are called by God to take Him at His Word, to follow Him where He leads, whether it is where we think we should go or not. It can be quite challenging to take God at His Word and trust Him. But God is good. He provided water in the desert for the people of Israel, giving them what they needed in a way they never could have believed possible. In the same way, He will provide for this congregation and His whole Church, as He has throughout our history, although it may be in a way that we didn’t expect. And He will provide for you and your family in ways beyond your ability to ask or imagine. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.