"Bread of Life" - A Sermon on Exodus 16:2-15

Preached September 21, 2014

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Gerald, TX

Listen to the full sermon audio here

Pray with me.

            God our Creator and Sustainer

            As we reflect on your Word this morning

            May we have ears to hear and eyes to see

            May we open ourselves to all that You are

            And may the words of my mouth

            And the meditations of my heart

            Be good and pleasing to You

            Amen.

It is good to be back with you

I have missed you

And remember you in my prayers often

Today I will be preaching from Exodus 16.

You will recall the story of the Hebrew people

            Enslaved by Egypt.

                        They had grown so numerous

That Pharaoh ordered

Genocide against the baby boys

            But Moses’ mother protected him,

                        And like so many mothers

                                    She made a way out of no way

                                                To provide for her child

           

As it turns out,

            Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house

But when Moses saw an Egyptian attack a Hebrew slave,

            He killed that slave master,

                        Revealing his true loyalty

To the Hebrews over the Egyptians

                                                And it was time for him to go.

Even then, God was up to something bigger

            Moses would not just deliver that one man

From his slave master.

            Moses would deliver the entire Hebrew people

From slavery.

You know how the story goes.

            Moses hears God’s call,

                        And leads the people out of Egypt.

Even as it seems they are trapped by the Red Sea,

            God parts the waters,

Allowing the mixed multitude to pass through

And drowning their persecutors.

They have just come through the Red Sea

            And now they are on the other side

                        Wondering “Now what?”

Here is where our passage joins the story.

It dawns on them

            That they are now out in the middle of nowhere

                        With no food

                                    And no sense of direction

                                                And afraid.

Before, the biggest threat facing the people of the covenant

Was barren women

                        Now it is barren land

The people cry out to God for water,

            And God leads them to Elim

                        Where they find 12 streams of water

                                    And 70 palm trees

This is God’s answer to their cries.

            And it is a profound answer.

           

No doubt the 12 streams reminded them

Of the covenant,

                                    That they were God’s chosen people,

           

And that just as God had provided for them before,

                        God would provide for them now.

And no doubt that the 70 palm trees

            Told them that they were in a healthy place,

                        With rich soil that brings forth life,

                                    That the fullness of God’s provision

Would be with them.

Even here,

            In the middle of nowhere.

But as is typical in the Old Testament,

            As soon as one issue is resolved,

                        The Israelites have found a new concern

To cry out to God about.

They have water,

            But they need food.

                        And not in small amounts.

This is the first in a series of episodes

Where the people complain to God,

And it gets more and more pronounced

            Until they end up crafting for themselves

An image of gold.

In this moment,

            They have forgotten that they cried out to God

To be delivered from slavery,

           

That God called Moses to deliver them,

                        That God parted the Red Sea for them,

           

And that God brought them

To a healthy land with streams and palm trees.

They have forgotten so much

            That they actually say that

                        Maybe it would have been better to stay a slave

                                    Because at least then, they had food.

At least slavery came with a meal plan.

            We could have survived in Egypt

                        Making bricks without straw wasn’t that bad

                                   

The plagues were but an inconvenience

                        We want to go back

                                    Because we have no shot here.

Think back to Hagar,

            The handmaiden of Sarah and Abraham,

                        Who takes her son and runs away

From her captors

                                   

And who God sends back to captivity

                        Because it is their best shot at survival.

But this time, God is not sending them back.

            God has freed the people from slavery

For a big purpose,

                                    And they are to press on.

So, God tells Moses that bread will rain from heaven.

           

God tells Moses that they will wake up in the morning

            And find that God’s provision is made new,

                        That they will be surrounded

By bread from heaven.

The people will have what they need for that day.

            They can eat until they’ve had their fill,

                        But they are not to hoard for the next day

            The text says that God is testing them,

                        Can they follow instructions?

                                    Will they trust God?

Moses tells the people what God has said,

            That there will be newness and vitality with the morning

                        That God has heard their cries

                                    And has answered them.

            That they will wake up and find bread from God,

                        That they may eat as much as they want

                                    Of this bread of life.

Moses and Aaron challenge the people to draw near to God

            To linger near to God.

                        Just as our children cling to our sides

In moments of uncertainty,

                                                The people were to cling

To God.

And as the people looked toward the wilderness

            They saw the glory of the Lord in a cloud.

                       

This is the first time in the text that we see

God’s presence in the cloud.

We know that this anticipates the Tabernacle,

            Where the glory of the Lord dwells with the people

                        In the wilderness.

God with them.

            God with us.

Not only will God provide bread in the morning,

            But God will also provide meat in the evening.

                        And sure enough, that evening,

Quails came over the camp,

                                                And they feasted on the meat.

In the morning, there was a dew of flaky bread.

            Bread had rained from heaven,

                        God’s divine favor was upon them,

                                   

And God would faithfully provide for them,

                        Just as God had faithfully provided before,

                                   

And they would be the people of the covenant.

            God will protect them and provide for them

                        And sustain them with the bread of life,

                                    Because I am that I am is faithful

This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

And just as the Israelites worried that they would not have

Enough food to eat,

Let us look ahead to the gospel of John,

            When Jesus’ disciples also worried

That they would not have enough.

In John Chapter 6,

Jesus was teaching near the Sea of Galilee,

Just before Passover,

            (Our passage takes place

Just after Passover).

The disciples see a large multitude coming toward them

And wonder how they are supposed to feed

All of these people

Who have come to hear Jesus.

They are worried, but Jesus is not.

In the beginning was the word,

            And the word was with God,

                        And the word was God,

And Jesus, who is the Word,

Knew full well that

Just as the Deliverer of the Israelites

           

Told the multitude that God would provide bread

To feed them,

Jesus, the Deliverer of Humanity,

Would tell this multitude that God would provide

            The bread of life,

                        To save them.

You know this story too, I’m certain.

            A small boy has five loaves and two fish,

                        And after Jesus blesses the food,

                                    It feeds the entire multitude,

            With twelve baskets left over,

                        That perfect sign of the covenant,

                                    Jesus has provided the people

As much as they care to eat.

Later he tells them,

            Don’t focus on the food that perishes.

                        Focus on what sustains for all of time.

            They remember about the manna in the wilderness.

                        This bread that gives life to the world.

            The disciples ask Jesus to bring back the manna!

                        They say, “Let us eat this bread from heaven!”

But Jesus says to them, “I am the bread of life.

            Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,

                        And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

I am that I am is the bread of life.

Do you see it?

            Just as God sent manna from heaven

                        To feed the Israelites,

                                    To sustain them in the wilderness,

            Jesus is the bread of life,

                        To save humanity,

                                    And all who eat of this bread

Will never be hungry again.

I don’t know the road you traveled

To enter this sanctuary this morning.

Some of you came the way of health and happiness 

            And supportive relationships.

Some of you may have come down the road of sickness,

            And it took all you had to get here today.

Some of you are carrying so much grief and sorrow

            That at any moment you might bow over

From the weight of it.

Some of you feel like you are held in slavery,

            Held down by someone or something,

                        Crying out for God to deliver you.

Some of you may have taken a road

Where the people you trust have lied to you

And battered you

                        And tried to justify it with the Bible,

                                    And your heart is so broken

                                   

That you don’t even know

                        How to cry out to God to save you.

Do you know those moments?

When you feel yourself slowly drowning

In your circumstances,

           

And you don’t even know what you need,

                       

And when you try to pray, no words come out,

            And the best that you can muster

                        Are the groans that words cannot express…

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

I assure you today

            That God has heard your cry

                        Today and every day.

You have cried out,

            And God has sent you manna and quail,

                        The bread of life,

           

And all who eat of this

Will never be hungry again.

                                               

Morning by morning, new mercies we see.

God does deliver us from suffering,

            In one way or another,

                        And even though it seems like

When it’s all said and done,

All that’s left are scraps of bread,

            God somehow speaks abundance out of nothingness,

                        Speaks life out of death,

                                   

And uses the delivered to deliver others.

Church,

           

Let us be as those who seek that which sustains us for all time.

            Let us not seek food for the moment,

                        Settling for a quick sugar high,

           

When we can feast on the meat and bread of the Word of God.

Let us be people who cry out to God,

            Who know in our bones that God hears us,

                        That God has always provided for us

                                    And is not about to stop now.

Let us be people who when we face a difficult circumstance,

            Immediately remember that

Our God has brought the Hebrews

Out of slavery,

           

Has parted the Red Sea,

                        Has sent manna and quail,

           

Has led God’s people into and out of the wilderness,

                        Into and out of the exile,

                                    And toward and beyond the cross.

            Let us be people who draw near to God,

                        Who proclaim all that God has done,

                                    Who never lose sight

Of who and whose we are.

Let us remember every time that we eat,

            That it is God who sustains us and provides for us,

                        That just as we enjoy what is before us

In that moment,

                                   

We enjoy relationship with God for eternity.

I am that I am hears our cries,

            I am that I am answers our prayers,

                        I am that I am provides for us,

                                    I am that I am is faithful to us.

                                                I am that I am is Immanuel,

God with us.

I am that I am will be our God,

            And we will be Yahweh’s people,

                        And nothing can threaten that relationship.

Neither barrenness nor overabundance,

            Neither slavery nor freedom,

                        Neither thirst nor hunger

                                    Can separate us from our God.

I am that I am has delivered us,

            And continues to liberate the oppressed through us.

I am that I am has fed us,

            And continues to feed the hungry through us.

                                               

And just as God’s mercy is new every morning,

            God’s manna rains down every morning,

                        Providing for each one, as much as they need.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!