BELIEVING AND DOING
A sermon by George R. Pasley
Exodus 17:1-7; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
Boy, am I thirsty…
BOY, am I ever thirsty!
Man, that was a hard hike today…I sure could use a drink.
I’m about as thirsty as a horse…I could drink a 55 gallon drum FULL of iced tea!
You know what- I don’t think I can stand going a night without water- what in the world does Moses think he’s doing?
Didn’t he used to be a shepherd? I better he never made the sheep bed down for the night without leading them to some water. Why in the world are we camped here on this rock?
Does Moses have any idea what he’s doing? Doesn’t he know we’re thirsty? Isn’t HE thirsty? Heck, I’ll bet he’s got his own secret jug hidden away somewhere in that tent…
I thought God was with us when we left
Moses! HEY, MOSES!
Give us some water! What are you trying to do- kill us?
***
No doubt Moses was having a really hard time that day. But I have to tell the truth- I have an easier time identifying with the grumbling Israelites than with Moses.
You see, I’ve never for once doubted that God was with me, but there have been more than a few times when I wasn’t sure I liked God’s plan, and there have been plenty of other times when following God was so agonizing that I really wished I could see the whole plan, or at least SOME of the road ahead, so I could find enough courage to take the next step.
You see, it’s awful hard to DO, if you don’t believe. That was the problem the priests and the elders were having- believing that the Jesus way of living and talking was God’s way.
This story tells of an event that occurred on the day after Palm Sunday.
It was also the day after Jesus kicked the money changers out of the temple.
This was a day after he had received loud shouts praise, praise of a particular type that was linked to the Messiah.
This was the day after he dared to say the religious had forgotten the purpose of the
And before?
Before, he healed blind men.
Before, taught about forgiveness…in a variety of ways.
Before, he offered interpretations of scripture that were in some ways more demanding than what the priests and elders were willing to follow- but also more merciful.
And he never had his credentials checked by them.
One might say it was a matter of pride, but I’ll give them more credit than that.
I think they simply found it hard to believe that God would pick such an ordinary man- or any man- to be the Messiah.
I think they found it hard to believe that God was all that merciful, or would so easily forgive, or that God was really with all the tax collectors and prostitutes that were following after Jesus.
Last week we talked about a phrase- “The last will be first in the Kingdom of heaven.”
I have to tell you, I think any place in the
That made it really hard for the priests and the elders to believe that the Jesus plan was God’s plan. So they couldn’t follow what they didn’t believe.
Well, God had a plan for water at Rephidim, and that plan was to bring water out of the rock. But I think the grumbling and the quarrelling were part of God’s plan, too.
Not that God MADE them grumble and quarrel, but God for sure knows human nature and God knew they would and God let it happen.
I know God lets us make lots of mistakes, and I know God uses those mistakes for God’s own purposes, and a good many of those purposes are good for us.
That’s what I know.
But I also know God has a long term view in mind, and if the long way around is good for the long term view, that’s the way God will take and that way might just go through some pretty dry country where the living sometimes gets pretty hard.
But God uses that too.
Maybe some of you went to the wearable art show last winter.
If you did, you saw something new.
People were called up from the audience and put in teams.
Each team was given a strange collection of articles, and given these instructions:
Using what we’ve just given you, make some wearable art.
They had to use everything they were given.
That’s what God does.
Everything that happens to us is used by God.
God uses some of it to build our faith and our character.
God uses some of it to give evidence of our faith to those around us.
God uses some of it to make our relationship with God stronger.
God uses it all, for something.
Now, here’s something you can take to the bank:
Jesus believed all of that.
If he hadn’t believed it, he couldn’t have done it.
Though he was in the form of God,
He did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, But emptied himself,
Taking the form of a slave,
Being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
He humbled himself
And became obedient to the point of death—
Even death on a cross.
You see, God used everything- all of our hatred and cruelty and meanness, every ounce of sin that the human race could muster, and led it right into death, there on the cross.
It was a very hard place for Jesus to go, so hard that even he grumbled from the cross, “Why have you forsaken me?”
But God had a plan, and Jesus believed it and Jesus did it.
That plan raised Jesus from the dead.
That plan is life for us.
Now, maybe you’re worried about the here & now.
Maybe you’ve come to a dry place in the dessert.
Maybe you’re wondering about God’s plan,
Feeling pretty darned thirsty.
I can’t guarantee it won’t get worse.
I can’t guarantee it won’t last long.
But I can guarantee two things:
Whatever it is, God will use it and is using it.
More important, I can guarantee this:
God is with you. If you can’t see, just look at the cross.
Jesus is there, in plain view.
So here’s a plan you can rely on:
If you’re in the dessert and you’re feeling thirsty,
Reach out for God
And hold on.
The water you get might be just a trickle,
But watch that trickle grow
And see what you can do.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
