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Exodus 17:1-7

¹ The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
       Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
    ³ But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
    ⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 

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There is a phenomenon among human beings that we’ve probably all seen in action if we’ve been paying attention even a little bit… (There’s probably even a psychological name for it, but I don’t know what it is!)  Politicians count on it, as do many celebrities… and most leaders are at times driven to make decisions because of it, even against their better judgment. 

Have you guessed this riddle?  I’m talking about the short memory of our society. Our focus tends to be centered very much in the NOW, so much so that the past is quickly forgotten (for better or worse), and the future is frequently … postponed? At least, trying to do anything about it. [That’s as close as I’ll come to a political statement from this pulpit, by the way!] 

Let’s call it the ‘short memory syndrome’! We have it bad! I’m a sports fan, and you really see this in sports. Team managers and coaches face the negative side of this ‘syndrome’ all the time. If you win, you’re a genius. But if you lose, the past is forgotten, past success becomes meaningless, and your ability to coach is suddenly questioned. If you lose for any long term (like, one entire season or two) then you are an idiot, and should be fired. I’m speaking hypothetically here, right? 

This syndrome is summed up by a saying that we’ve all heard, if not actually used (the title of today’s message): “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”   It’s a rare person who will actually come right out and ask that question, but I think the sentiment, because of our society’s pre-occupation with the here and now, is actually rather prevalent. “Yeah, yeah, you came through last year… but what have you done for me lately?” 

It’s a human condition, and knowing that this account that we just read from Exodus 17, about Moses and the people of Israel out in the Sinai Desert refers to a period of time something like 4,000 years ago, apparently, it’s not anything new, either.  “Great, Moses… the plagues were spectacular, and yeah, you overcame the strongest army on earth with just a stick, and the whole pillar of fire and the smoke leading the way has been pretty cool… and yeah, yeah, the manna every morning is convenient (but to be honest, we’re getting kind of tired of that by now)… sure, Moses, it’s all been great:  but doggone it! We’re thirsty! Right now!” 

“And we’re starting to wonder why you apparently planned all along to bring us out here to the desert so that we can just shrivel up and die of thirst along with all our livestock and children!  What were you thinking? Why would you do that to us?” 

Now, we read that and we think: “What a bunch of ungrateful wretches!” What would possibly make them think that God (because this was clearly about God, not Moses) – who had done so much to bring them to this point – was going to suddenly lose interest in them, and abandon them to chance? Over something as trivial and simple as a drink of water, which he surely knew they needed? 

The answer to that question is obvious: why would they think that God had abandoned them? Because they were thirsty! And as their thirst grew, their focus became more and more on themselves, more on the now, it became easier and easier for them to lose their perspective… easier to forget how they got there… easier to forget who they were, and (more so) easier to forget Who was with them. They were thirsty. 

The wisdom of the Scripture is deep and profound. It tells us that the essence of our misery, our ‘unrest’– i.e., as humans - (and by contrast the essence of finding peace through a relationship with God) can all be boiled down to what is at the center of our being. 

If it is “I” (me) then I am lost. If, by God’s grace that “I” changes to “you” (i.e., to God, to God’s presence in the Holy Spirit, and God’s will as the driving force of our lives) then we are ‘found’. We are saved. 

That’s the message of Jesus. Jesus said: “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.[1]” Paul put it like this, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me[2].”  That’s what it is really about. 

And here in this little vignette from out in a desert some 4,000 years ago we see played out a scenario that happens quite often. And maybe, maybe, it could be happening right here, today. I had a conversation with another pastor recently who said to me, “I don’t know what it is, but I just am feeling sad and overwhelmed all the time these days.” I said, “I know exactly what you mean.” 

I came into the office the other day and announced to anybody who cared to listen, “I need to hear some happy news, because I don’t think I can stand hearing any more sad stories today.” Now, it was only 9 am! And, in fact, I heard three or four more sad stories before lunch. And I’m not exaggerating, either. We wake up to news that the stock market is tanking, that jobs are in jeopardy… we see gas prices going up and investments going down. We hear constant reports about wars, terrorism, the collapse of this and that… we hear political ads all blaming others, and attacking each other… 

I was talking to a friend the other day and said that it has occurred to me that I picked a bad year to try and be forward looking, by increasing my personal contribution to my retirement account from 6 – 10 % of my salary. Because I lost all of that, and quite a bit more. Now, that’s a future thing for me, and I know there are many people who have serious concerns not about a distant retirement but about today. 

These general stresses, as they do, have translated for some into destructive internal pressures for lots of people. We’re showing signs of getting seriously ‘frayed’. David Maines, a Christian writer, said something very wise a number of years ago: referring to the fault lines out in California, and how we know where they are, and how smart people know not to build on them. But he made an analogy to humans: “When pressures come in life, we tend to crack at our fault lines, so we should become very aware of where they are.” 

These pressures bring out the worst in us, and it’s happening all around us: marriages are being rocked, and children are feeling insecure, self –destructive ways of coping are on the rise, and faith is being questioned. See, there is a lot of people yelling out to God right now: “What have to done for me lately?” 

Because we’re really getting thirsty. 

Now, the point of this message is not to label people as ‘ungrateful wretches’ (as I kind of did to the ancient Hebrews… well, not ‘kind of’!)   But I want to point out that God understood their question. And God understood their need. When Moses went before God, with his complaint about the people’s complaint, God’s response to him was pretty interesting. 

Basically, he told Moses what he needed to do: get some elders and your staff, and go before this rock, and strike it. Water will come out. And everybody will drink. Then name this place “Massah and Meribah” which means, “testing and quarrelling”. So let’s remember how you tested me here, and how you all quarreled… but let’s also remember: I gave you water when you needed it. 

See, I think the point of this story – at least to me – was that the people realized out here in Rephidim that God was with them. That God was watching over them. And they started to understand that… at least until the next time that they got really thirsty! And maybe we can say this too: the people grumbled because in their needs, (which although real, were nonetheless temporary) they took their eyes off of the Eternal. On focusing on fleeting things, they forgot what they always had.

I was thinking about this and a New Testament passage came to my mind. Luke 10. It’s the account of Jesus sending out the seventy-two witnesses. Remember, they went out two by two to proclaim the Kingdom of God. And when they returned, they were jubilant. They were really fired up.  Listen to a couple of verses from Luke 10 

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."  He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." 

So these guys come back all excited over the spiritual power that they were given in Christ; they came back thrilled over the stuff that they were able to accomplish. And Jesus acknowledged that there was some pretty important behind the scenes things going on. “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”  He’s not denying this source of their joy. 

But then he says something very remarkable: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” I.e., Don’t find your ultimate joy in what you can do, find it in who you are!  A child of God! 

Jesus consistently demonstrated that this was the best way...

Remember the story in Mark 2 of the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof in front of Jesus? Jesus, ‘saw the faith of this man’s friends, and says to him, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’. Now the Pharisees and other leaders were very offended by that, because they rightly recognized that only God could forgive sins. 

So Jesus continues, and asks them, “which is easier: to say to this man ‘your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘pick up your mat and walk?”  Now let’s stop here, and think about this. The conventional wisdom is that it is easier to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ than to say ‘pick up your mat and walk’. We can all say the first one, but we’d be found out pretty quick if we tried the latter. 

And Jesus knew that, so in fact, he says to this man, “Pick up your mat and walk”, and he does. And we’re told that Jesus said that, “so that they [everybody there] will believe that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” 

But which really was easier to say?  Only God could forgive sins… and for Jesus to make that statement he had to have begun to anticipate the price of the Cross which lay ahead of him. 

What we can easily miss, though, in our focus on Jesus’ ‘proof’ of who he was, is the fact that in response to this man’s need, in response to his friend’s faith, in the light of all his critics and fledgling disciples who were packed into that house… the first gift that Jesus gave this young man was forgiveness of his sins. 

It stands to reason that it was given first because it was the most valuable gift; it was given first because it was the most important thing, the thing most needed. It’s interesting to consider whether Jesus would have even healed this man’s body had there not been the grumbling.  Because there were clearly two agendas going on here: Jesus gave the man what he needed; the healing was to prove that he had the right or the authority to do that. 

“Don’t rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” There are more important things than the obvious ones. That doesn’t mean that we need to disassociate ourselves from this world, or pretend that ‘it’s all good’, or it doesn’t really matter, and let’s just hang on until heaven! For our ‘names to be written in heaven’ means that we have a connection with God – right NOW -  it means that we are included in the family of God, we are God’s children – not just ‘someday, pie in the sky bye and bye’ – but right now, right here. Today. Always! Rejoice that your names are written in heaven! 

Jesus says, “That’s the true source of joy.” That’s what will last. Not our circumstances. Not our thirst. Not our temporary needs. Those things are important, and God has promised to walk with us through whatever we face in this life. But he also is, I believe, gently trying to help us look up and see the ‘bigger picture’.  To know fully.  To taste and see that he is God.  To know that we are loved with what G. K. Chesterton called ‘the furious love of God’.  That unrelenting love that never ends, that never gives up on us. To experience God’s care which is eternal. To be part of this great family that will stand with us, even in the deepest darkness…with a sure hope of better things to come. These are God’s promises to us. And they’re true. 

Even if we’re very thirsty.

What have you done for me lately? He’s written your name in the Book of Life.