Sermon for 3/19/23: Fourth Sunday in Lent

 CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

Faith in Times of Need

Exodus 16:2-21

 

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

While we Lutherans talk a lot about faith, we often do not define it very well. There is this idea that faith is a private thing that goes on inside you. We act and sometimes speak as though faith is a personal opinion. We pretend that someone can be a Christian when their lives give no evidence of faith. We like to act as though we can be faithful without our unbelieving friends discovering that we believe. All of these silly notions are false, dangerous, and unworthy of a Christian.

To teach us this lesson of faith, we see in the Old Testament reading the children of Israel confronted by the reality of God and His good will toward them. They had certain promises. All they really needed to do was believe. Having been through a remarkable time in human history, they found themselves free on the other side of the Red Sea, obviously blessed by God. They witnessed the love of God for them and His mighty power to do anything that they might need. How did they respond? They grumbled.

God is good. He didn’t destroy them in anger; instead He blessed them miraculously and richly. He brought birds in abundance in the evening that they might have meat, and in the morning He delivered manna, bread from heaven. Manna came with a set of directions. “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My Law or not.” Sadly, they failed. They were commanded to gather only for the day and to keep nothing overnight, but some of them did. God caused it to rot and breed worms. Keeping it overnight was not just a failure to obey; it was failure of trust in God to feed them adequately day by day. Four verses after our reading ends, some of the people ignored the directive to keep the Sabbath day’s manna. They went out to find food on the Sabbath, but they found none. Hunger was then their reward for unbelief.

The lesson in faith is highlighted by their lack of faith. They saw God’s goodness. They witnessed His abundance, but they did not trust Him to continue. He promised, but they did not trust Him to keep His promises tomorrow, even in the face of the miracle of today’s faithfulness. But don’t feel superior. We are not all that different. We enjoy the blessings of God daily, but we still find reasons to complain about our lot, personally and as a congregation. We don’t know what God has planned for our immediate future here, and so we worry and complain. No matter how long God takes care of us, we imagine that He won’t, that He doesn’t want to, that life is going to slip out of control. We fail to expect God to be good. We fail to trust God to provide. We imagine dangers that are not real. We show this lack of faith both as individuals and as a congregation when we expect to fail, when we fear the future. We stop being faithful. We stop doing what is right and good in favor of what seems practical or pragmatic. We worry where there is no cause and no benefit from worrying.

But being less than faithful is not a winning strategy. You cannot lose by doing what is right and good and faithful, and you cannot accomplish by unfaithfulness what God wants to give you through your faithfulness. You can not earn anything faster than God can take it away. You cannot grow by unfaithfulness nearly as well or as strongly as what God can grow. You are His. This congregation is His. We are called to be faithful. Faithfulness means doing what is right, even when it isn’t popular.

God has a plan, and that plan is so deep and so wonderful that it included the birth of God as a man, and Jesus dying for your sins and the sins of the whole world. The cross is the emblem and sign of the love of God for you! Look there and see how much God loves you. He has claimed you as His own and called you by name in Baptism. He has guarded you and guided you and kept you to this very moment. He has blessed you with long life and riches. God loves you deeply—outwardly, inwardly, physically and spiritually. He has claimed you for eternity with Him.

So how can we grumble and worry as if we have never seen the goodness of the Lord? Troubles are not fun, but God can and does handle them. Sickness is no joy, but God creates health and wellness. You cannot run so far that God cannot find you or bless you. Trust God and pray, and do what is right and faithful. Don’t be afraid to witness to Him. Don’t be reluctant to trust Him. Act and speak as those who have God’s blessing. He will meet your every need.

We have the Word of God. Like ancient Israel, all we need to do is take God at His Word and be patient. Israel’s unbelief and unfaithfulness was met by God’s faithfulness and blessing. He didn’t do it because He likes unbelief. He did it because it is His nature to be good. Look and see; hear and believe. Trust God! He is endlessly good, and He promises to be with you for the needs of your body and for the needs of your soul. 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.