Journey to Promise: Bittersweet (Exodus 15:22-27)

 

[Title Slide] Journey to Promise: Bittersweet (Exodus 15:22-27)

 

Moses and the Hebrew people crossed the Red Sea and walked three days into the wilderness. Now when I hear three days, I know that God is up to something. And God is good, so whatever God is up to it’s going to be good for the world.

 

[Slide] They got to a place with water, but the water was bitter. They were thirsty but they could not drink the water. So, they complained.

 

[Slide] Psychology Today states that people have negative thoughts more frequently than positive, at a 5:1 ratio. Our tendency toward negative thinking is related to our survival instincts. As hunter-gatherers we needed to think fast to avoid dangerous predators. Snap judgements don’t always serve us well. Complaining has its rewards: protection, and self-validation. We seem to enjoy complaining because it serves as a form of self-validation. When we vent to others, we give ourselves the reward of being heard. But when I complain, alone in my car, about other drivers, I’m stroking my own ego, elevating myself above others.

 

[Slide] Complaining is something, I hear myself doing a lot. Poor Michele has to listen to me moan and groan! I joke, “It’s not fair!” “Why does everything have to be so hard!” Complaining vents frustration but solves nothing. And if you are in the habit of complaining, you can get stuck, emotionally and spiritually.

 

It’s interesting to note some of the meanings behind the words in our story today. [Slide] The Hebrew word for wilderness can mean mouth. We complain with our mouths. [Slide] The desert was called Shur which means wall. Walls act as barriers. Walls keep us inside ourselves and shut others out.

 

The Hebrews grumbled to Moses about their thirst. [Slide] The Hebrew word translated as grumbled is more often translated as “to lodge,” “stay over,” “pass the night” or remain.

The Hebrews were unable to move forward because they were emotionally and spiritually camped out in complaint.

 

[Slide] How often do you find yourself stuck with a heart full of grumbling. It’s not pleasant, but we sure do a lot of it. We are quick to complain unless we train ourselves to do otherwise. The Hebrews are camped out in a wilderness of their complaining mouths and walled off from God!

 

They complained to Moses, “What are we to drink?” [Slide] Moses turned to the Lord and cried out for help. The Lord met their need by showing Moses a tree. Now the Hebrew can also be read as wood, stick or branch. I doubt Moses threw an entire tree into the bitter water at Marah. It’s more likely he picked up a branch. When he did so, the water turned sweet. It was now safe to drink. The wood purified the bitter water.

 

[Slide] What makes bitterness sweet? We add sugar or honey to make bitter and bland foods taste sweet. Miraculin is an African berry that makes bitterness taste sweet. It binds the taste receptors in our tongues to produce the effect of sweetness. Apparently, this wood that Moses threw into the water had a miraculous effect. The water was made sweet and the people could drink it.  

 

But notice what happens. The text does not say that the Hebrews quenched their thirst, nor does it say they stopped complaining. God takes center stage and tells Moses there is a reason for their trials in the wilderness. It is to test Israel to see if they will learn to obey God.

 

[Slide] “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

 

I, Yahweh, am your healer, Rapha-Yehovah. In other words, God will purge from His people defects of character so that they will stop acting like slaves. [Slide] The Hebrews were free of Egyptian slavery, but they still thought and acted like slaves. They mourned Egypt. At least, there they had a ready supply of water to drink. Out in the wilderness they went days without a water source. The harsh environment of the desert was hard for them to endure. In their suffering they complained. In their complaining, they were stuck/enslaved, unable to move forward.

 

Have you ever asked yourself what has you stuck and unable to move forward? One of the biggest things that keeps us stuck is comfort. [Slide] We don’t like the uncomfortable feelings of the unknown. When we are walking into new territory in life, fear and frustration can cause us to put on the brakes. Our bodies want to turn around and run back to what feels comfortable.

 

Take for instance the Great Commission Jesus gave His Church. [Slide] He called the church to make disciples of all nations. There are some professionals out there evangelizing, but most of us don’t invite others to church. Thom Rainer, in his book The Unchurched Next Door, revealed that 8 out of ten people are somewhat likely to accept an invitation to church from someone they know and trust. Only 20% of Christians have ever invited anyone. 98% of those invited already have a church home. Only 2% have ever invited an unchurched person. What does that say about us? It says we are uncomfortable making friends with people who are not church goers.

 

Think about the people in your life. How many of your friends don’t worship God in a church? How many of your relatives? How about the people with whom you associate in social groups or community interest groups, or philanthropic organizations like Job’s Daughters or Kiawnis? Which of your neighbors don’t have a church home? Do you even know?

 

[Slide] Each of us should develop a Fran Plan. List your friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors who do not attend worship with any regularity. Make a plan to pray for them by name. Ask God to lead you to the 4 or 5 people on your list to give an invitation to worship. Chances are they will not commit on the first invitation. Keep praying for them, ask God to open their hearts, and keep inviting. Offer to pick them up and drive them to worship and grab lunch together afterward.

 

Now if you’re feeling uncomfortable, perhaps comfort is keeping you stuck. At what level does your personal comfort have your enslaved?

 

[Slide] You might even like to complain because the message today makes you feel uncomfortable. Instead of complaining, thank God for the opportunity to break away from the enslavement of comfort and join Jesus in the mission of making disciples, beginning with inviting people to worship.

 

Here is a certitude. If you don’t invite, nothing here will change. We will continue to decline in membership until there is no one left. It’s happening all over America. Unless we reimagine the future and pursue the mission, we will be left stuck in the wilderness of a surrounding culture that has left the church for other endeavors. Leave the shackles of comfort and join the mission to make disciples.

 

Besides comfort there’s another piece that keeps churches stuck. [Slide] Let’s call it the blame game. We blame everyone else for our problems, rather than take personal ownership for them. The Hebrews blamed Moses for their problems in the desert. He was the prophet who led them out of Egypt away from what they knew, and into a barren wilderness.

 

We blame the conference or the pastor, or the music. We blame each other. We blame our neighbors for not caring about the church. God is inviting us out of the convenience of blame. Blaming doesn’t help. It is not a constructive activity.

Through off the shackles of the blame game and follow Jesus into the ministry of making strangers into friends, friends into family and family into disciples who change the world.

 

[Slide] Today, you see a bowl of water and a bag of wood chips. Like Moses made the bitterness of the waters of Marah sweet by tossing the branch into the water, so today you have the opportunity to make your bitterness sweet, to be purified by the Spirit of Jesus.

 

For the wood represents hope in the Messiah. The Messiah is known as the branch of Jesse, the shoot of Jesse. Jeremiah calls the messiah the righteous branch of David. God showed Moses a tree, and for me that tree is the cross of Jesus. [Slide] For through the cross, He has set us free. Free of sinful attachments to comfort or unhealthy habits of blaming and complaining. Christ invites us to live free of such things.

 

Whatever bitterness you carry,

whether it be a personal grudge against someone who’s hurt you, whether it be a habit to complain or blame,

whether it be that you find life to be bitter right now,

come to the water, come to Christ, the righteous branch who will purify your soul. Come to The Lord who heals you.

 As Gaye sings for us a special piece, come forward as you are led. Take a piece of wood, a representation of Jesus Christ, and drop it into the water of your bitterness so that you can walk forward in freedom.

Addendum:

From Marah, the Hebrews traveled to the desert oasis of Elim where there were 12 springs of fresh water and 70 palm trees. The 12 springs represent Israel and its 12 tribes. God called Israel as His own possession, His Chosen nation, for the sake of blessing the rest of the world with the knowledge of God that comes through Israel. The 70 palm tress represent the rest of the nations of the world. Here is a picture of God's mission with Israel. God is refreshing the world through springs of divine hope.