August 11, 2012

See the Glory of the Lord!

11th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/12/12
Exodus 16:2-15


See the Glory of the Lord!
I. In his burning desire to feed his people
II. In his burning desire to keep his people


When trials, tribulations and difficulties arise, there are basically two responses. You can fall into self-pity or despair and respond, “Woe is me!” coming to the conclusion that there’s nothing you can do about it. Or, you can look for something positive to come out of the situation. You can meet it head on. You can take the approach that states, “What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger.”

What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Perhaps that’s a rather appropriate way of viewing the glory of the Lord.

What comes to mind when you hear the term “the glory of the Lord?” Perhaps you picture brightness or gleaming white such as occurred when Jesus was transfigured on the mount. Or perhaps you think of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that the Lord used to lead the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. That glory was meant to protect and save God’s people. His glory called for them to trust in him.

But it was also at times terrifying. There was a time when Aaron’s sons were making sacrifices that were not in keeping with God’s expressed commands, and the Bible tells us that fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

In today’s sermon text from Exodus 16 we again meet the glory of the Lord, this time in connection with the people’s grumbling for food. The Children of Israel had left Egypt two and half months earlier. They were making their way to Mt. Sinai. First, they complained that there was no water, so the Lord miraculously provided some. And now it was food. It was in short supply. And some of the people came to some rather rebellious conclusions about what to do. So the Lord revealed his glory to them. Luckily for them, it wasn’t to kill them but to make them stronger.

Let’s take a look at that glory this morning and receive the strength our Lord gives us through it. See the glory of the Lord!

Part I.

I don’t think I’m wrong when I state that we consider ourselves to be generous people, especially when it comes to our loved ones. We like to show them how much we care about them by giving things to them and doing things for them. But have you ever felt like stopping your acts of goodness and generosity towards them? I’m sure you have. That happens when they give you the impression that they don’t appreciate or like what you have given them or what you have done for them. They are unimpressed with your acts of kindness and love. So you decide that there will be no more. That’s it. You’re done.

It wouldn’t surprise us if the Lord had come to that point with the Children of Israel. Just 75 days earlier he had brought the plague of death on every house of the Egyptians, causing them to tell the Israelites to leave at once. And the Lord led them out with a mighty hand. Recall how he parted the waters of the Red Sea and led the Israelites through it and then caused those walls of water to crash down on Pharaoh and the Egyptian army right before the eyes of the Israelites. Impressive, to say the least!

And as I mentioned just moments ago, he had just miraculously provided them with water. Even though the people grumbled and complained, he gave them what they wanted and needed.

But their memories were short. Their trust in the Lord was fickle at best. The Lord led them into the wilderness and right away we read, “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’” Even though their words were directed to Moses and Aaron, they were really bashing the Lord, a fact Moses later pointed out to them. The people had forgotten the Lord’s almighty power and his loving care. They lied about their previous situation. They make their lives in Egypt sound as if they lived in paradise when, in reality, it was a time of cruel slavery and oppression. Worse yet, they level charges against the Lord. They conclude that they’re on a death march, not a journey to life in the Promised Land.

It sounds like it’s time to stand back and watch the glory of the Lord consume them in his anger. But the Lord’s glory this time does just the opposite. Our text tells us, “The whole Israelite community…looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud. The LORD said to Moses, ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.”’”

That evening the Lord sent them quail. Imagine sending enough quail to feed about 2 million people. It was a staggering amount, all from the almighty hand of God.

And in the morning there was manna. It covered the ground all over the camp of the Israelites. It became their staple food for the next 40 years. God’s people were in need and the Lord provided. And he did so in order that they would know that he was the Lord their God. He would never fail to keep any of his promises to them. In spite of their unfaithfulness to him, he would remain faithful to them. That’s the glory of the Lord.

See the glory of the Lord in his burning desire to feed his people.

We could easily conclude that the last thing the Israelites deserved was for the Lord to feed them with a miracle. They deserved swift punishment, not life-saving, gracious gifts. But doesn’t that sound familiar? We may not complain to the Lord out loud, but our inward groaning about our lot in life, our incessant discontent, and our occasional stance that we deserve better are evidence that we too easily forget what we deserve from our God, which is his wrath, and what we receive from our God, which is his gracious care, protection, our very salvation. And the reason for it? Because of who he is and not because of who we are. That’s God’s glory. And the greatest symbol of his glory is the cross of his Son. There our God did the unthinkable when he took upon himself the punishment that we deserved and won for us an eternal life with him. And if that weren’t enough, in spite of our moments of ungratefulness and discontent, he gives us more, much more than we truly need for our lives here on earth. See the glory of the Lord in his burning desire to feed his people.

Part II.

As we’ve said previously, it wouldn’t have surprised us if the Lord had decided on an entirely opposite course of action in this event. If he had told Moses, “Tell the people, ‘I’m done with you! You’re on your own. Don’t bother me anymore!’” we wouldn’t be surprised.

But the Lord had a bigger plan for these grumblers and complainers. Recall what that plan was. This was his special nation he had formed for himself. He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would make their descendants into a great nation and that’s exactly what he did. The descendants of the patriarchs had indeed become as numerous as the stars in the sky.

That plan included a very definite purpose. He had told Abraham that all nations on earth would be blessed through him. That was the promise of the Savior. The Lord would use this nation, as wayward at times as it was, to bring the greatest blessing ever into the world, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s God’s glory—his burning desire to carry out his plan to send a Savior into the world.

And in that plan, God shows his concern for you. You see, you are part of that plan. God’s plan wasn’t limited to a Savior; it also included the individuals he would save, the people who would come to faith in Jesus. That’s you. God’s plan included bringing you to faith in Jesus as your Savior. He chose you from eternity to be his own. He knew you by name before the creation of the world. It was his burning desire to save you that caused him to make sure that, when you came into this world, he connected you to him through his word and sacraments. That’s his glory!

And now his burning desire for you is to keep you as his own so that he can bless you forever. Think about that for a moment. Our God’s highest will is to bless you forever. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? That makes so many of our concerns about this life rather petty, doesn’t it?

See the glory of the Lord in his burning desire to keep his people so that he can bless them forever.

If that’s your God’s burning desire, what’s yours? Shouldn’t it be to share that desire? And of course we do. That’s one of the reasons we’re here this morning. We want to be blessed by God forever through faith in Jesus Christ. But how brightly does that desire burn as you go through your week? How often do your other pursuits in life get in the way of that desire or even replace it? How often does it happen that we go for a few days without giving our eternal relationship with our Lord a thought? But there’s God’s glory. We may fail him, but he never fails us. He always forgives, always restores, always shares his grace with us. That’s his way of keeping us as his people. So go and continue to see the glory of the Lord and take the time to determine how you will see it more and more as you stay in greater touch with him through his word and sacrament. Amen.