Sermon for 4th Sunday in Lent

The Lord feeds His People

Exodus 16:4  ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to 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 they will walk in my law or not.

This moment in the wilderness was a situation of testing for the people of God.

I’m told the Sinai Desert is like the surface of the moon or Mars. There’s no water, no vegetation, just rocks, lots of rocks. Little rocks and big rocks. It sounds like that’s what it was like back then, also. A nice place to visit, maybe, but you wouldn’t want to live there. Also, you wouldn’t want to spend 40 years walking around out there.

That place and climate made the lesson God was teaching very clear, a couple of million people camping out in a wilderness like this – within a week or two they will be completely helpless to find food or water, shelter or safety. They would have nowhere to turn for help and rescue. Nowhere but from heaven. That was their test.

The long story of the Old Testament teaches that testing is good, contrary to what we might expect. It’s good to just get a pass, an easy A, It’s nice when you can just move right along. But the truth is, it’s better for your character and for your faith, to be tested now and again.

It was good for the ancient people of Israel, that God fed them. It was also good for them to get hungry. The Lord let them get hungry that they would call out to Him and know that He is the Lord, that they would believe that He in His good mercy fed them.

Exodus 16:16-19 Moses said:  ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer,^[a] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”

If you’re following along with the daily Bible readings we list in the monthly church newsletter, you’re just getting into this book of Exodus. When you read Exodus, admittedly, it can be tedious. There is so much detail, so many instructions that are exact, precise, and detailed. So think of it this way, the Lord with these meticulous instructions is training His people. He’s teaching them how to listen to His words. He said “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”

Exodus 16:20 ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

So they learned an unpleasant lesson. When the Lord speaks, it’s good to listen to Him. When He speaks there is misfortune and curses for those who will not listen to Him. There is promises and blessings for those who hear His word and keep it. Each of the commandments of God have these curses and blessings attached to them. Take the third commandment for example, Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Those who hear it and keep it are given the blessings that flow from worshipping God, hearing His word, receiving His sacrament, strengthening their faith, directing their lives for the week ahead. Those who do not listen to this commandment are left outside of the Lord’s means of grace and in danger of being left outside of His kingdom. Or take the 6^th Commandment, you shall not commit adultery. This world in which we live is hurting under the misfortune and curse of not hearing and obeying this commandment. When  marriage and the family is disrespected everything else about society and life suffer. But when Husbands love their wives and the home is filled with love and peace and joy, the family, the community, society is blessed.

Exodus 16:21 ²¹ Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat;

The Lord gave. The people ate and lived.

Many years later, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. . . Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:54).

Jesus makes a connection between bread and eternal life. If we truly understand our daily bread, If we are truly thankful for every morsel, our Lord provides, we will come to understand and believe in His gift of life everlasting.

A good prayer before meals is this verse from the Psalms: 

Psalm 145:15-16 ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶ You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

 

You can picture the living things that are daily satisfied by the Lord’s hand, feeding them. The bird in the nest, for whom the Lord provides good parents who bring the worm and bug. The lamb or calf for whom the Lord provides the nursing ewe or cow. The hungry beggar, and the Lord provides for him or her a good neighbor.

Food and faith go together. We trust the Lord to give us our daily bread, and all things we need. We trust the Lord to give us the forgiveness of our sins, salvation and eternal life. Amen.