Lent 4 – Laetare March 10, 2024
Exodus 16:2-21
“Remembering the Good Ol’ Days”
v.2-3 “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
Beloved, it’s a scene repeated in many countless coffee shops day after day. It’s a scene repeated in our homes, schools, businesses, and cars. We’ve all said and done it at one time or another. You know how the story goes, don’t you? A couple of people sit down and have a discussion—inevitably the conversation turns to some current problem faced by society, such as, the changing views toward gender and marriage. Eventually, one looks at the other, then leans back in his or her chair with hands folded, eyes looking a little wistfully toward the heavens, and says, “Well, I remember, back in the good ol’ days...”
Ah, yes. Back in the good ol’ days—when churches were filled, children were respectful and silent until spoken to—when all the world was good, etc. Yes, we often like to remember the past quite favourably when weighed against our current problems and state of affairs. However, I’ve always wondered, if things were so good back then, how come the people at that time would also lean back and reminisce about the “good ol’ days” too? Perhaps things weren’t quite as good as we like to remember, sometimes.
Well, in our text for this morning something very similar occurred with the Jews in the wilderness. They had only left Egypt between 4 and 6 weeks previously. Now, as they wander around in the arid and sandy waste of the Desert of Sin, they begin to grumble about their current situation.
To be fair, after this amount of time, most of their grain stores would have been used up and the people were becoming increasingly hungry. Numbering approximately 2 million in number, they were far too large a group to try to live off the land. But this was the third time in less than a month that the people grumbled against God. And in their hunger, they began to reminisce fondly about their captivity in the land of Egypt where they had been slaves.
How quickly people are wont to forget the troubles of the past, when faced with present concerns. They just put aside the horrific working conditions, the long hours, and dangerous work that they were expected to do in Egypt. In fact, it almost seems as though they are hallucinating (perhaps they had been out in the blazing sun too long) since they seem to remember being able to sit beside and eat large cauldrons or pots filled with meat. This was something that never would have happened. Slaves barely got enough to eat and to drink to begin with, let alone, given meat to eat—that would have been a rare luxury indeed!
And what about their own not too distant past? Did not the Pharaoh at the time Moses was a baby gather up all the Israelites’ children and throw them into the Nile River to be killed? Oh, yes, happy memories, indeed! Did they just forget about how they cried out unto the Lord to deliver them from the hands of the Egyptians, and now that He has, all that they can do is complain?! It seems absolutely ludicrous.
Yet such is our story also. Rather than be content with the gifts and blessings God has bestowed upon us, we always seek out more. And what’s more, in doing so, we often reject the most precious blessings that He has given us—freedom from sin and death! We grumble against Him, questioning His ways, thinking we could do much better. Just think how the Israelites longed to return to their bondage—so that they could feed on the sins of the flesh. Despite the fact that God had over and over again, miraculously brought them out of the land of Egypt (even plundering it from the Egyptians themselves!), yet they yearn to go back? It seems insane.
Yet do we not do the same? We have many gifts and blessings from the Lord—house, home, spouse, children, work, goods, and many more—yet we still grumble and complain that the Lord hasn’t blessed us enough, and what’s worse is that we forget the greater gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation our loving God has bestowed upon us in Word and Sacraments. You see the natural, sinful man always rejects God’s gifts in Christ and longs to go back to its former sinful ways, with a gusto. We see evidence of this in our own lives as we scorn the gifts God gives us in Word and Sacrament. We’d much rather stay at home, sleep in, go play a game, rather than partake and receive God’s mercies in Word and Sacrament at His Divine Service.
The natural man hates God and His Word—rejects the very notion of the Gospel and instead longs to run full tilt back to the slavery of sin. We see this all too often, in the church, don’t we? Those who have been raised in Christ’s house, fed His precious and life-giving Gospel, washed in the blood of the Lamb in Baptism, and partaken of the Holy Supper, sometimes, just drift away. The allure and temptations and desires of this life become too much--the life of a Christian, too “restrictive and severe” – they long for the “good ol’ days” and so they spurn the mercies of God and go back to living their lives as they used to, slaves to sin and eventual receivers of death and damnation—and loving every minute of it.
And in our fondness for the good ol’ days of the flesh, when we lavished in our sin, we too have grumbled against God. Wishing that He would do things our way. Indeed we, sinful human beings, would rather that God be guided by our humanity and its own opinions and expectations, rather than vice versa. This murmuring and grumbling of the Israelites was no simple complaining session. This is an attitude of the whole man, which scorns God and His gifts, incurring guilt and the wrath of God, which must be meted out.
This grumbling wasn’t really against Moses and Aaron, they were just incidental. No, they were murmuring against the Lord, and it was evidence of their lack of faith in His presence (despite the big pillar of cloud/fire that followed them around in the desert!). Indeed, it was a deep seated unbelief—a stubborn refusal to believe God’s Word of promise and accept His miraculous works.
Later on, in the New Testament, the Israelites would do the same thing to Jesus. They would reject His Word of promise and His present mercies as not good enough—grumbling and murmuring they would seek something different, would seek to make Him into their own image, bend Him to their will. Do we not do the same? God’s mercies are clearly evident in Word and Sacrament—His very presence is real and yet we ask for something else. We ask for something other than mere water and words, bread and wine, and more words—we want something bigger, something grand, something spectacular.
But what does God give us as the ultimate sign of His love and presence? A battered, broken, bloodied, Jewish carpenter, hung on a cross to die, like a common criminal. Pierced with thorns, nails, and spear, in weakness and in shame, the ugliness of Christ’s death is God’s proof of the beauty of His love.
What an amazing thing! Though we grumble and murmur, reminisce and complain, yet God acts not in wrath toward us as we most certainly deserve. Instead, He acts with mercy and grace. He continues to richly bestow blessing upon blessing upon blessing, on we His sinful people. Rather than reign down curses upon our heads because of our grumbling, He speaks to us Words of peace and reconciliation—granted freely on account of the cross of Christ.
Though we often foolishly and sinfully stand in judgement upon God, something we must never do as His created people, yet rather than stand in judgement upon us, as we deserve, He condemned His own beloved Son on our behalf. He showers His gracious gifts upon us, His unworthy, and, more often than not, His ungrateful people.
Indeed, Jesus went to the cross without a single word of complaint. Even though it would cost Him not only His own life, but the eternal sufferings of hell for all peoples’ sins—He went without a single murmur. He went to that cross out of love—for me—for you—for everyone. Yes, He cried out in agony, in distress, in pain and torment—as He suffered and bled—but not one harsh word escaped His lips. Quite to the contrary He continued to speak blessings and forgiveness upon His accusers and tormentors—praying God to forgive them in their ignorance.
As He continues to speak to each of you this day. He gently speaks His Word of promise and peace upon you. Through the lips of this unworthy servant Jesus speaks. He speaks to restore you and forgive you. He speaks to heal you and uplift you. He speaks, despite all your harsh words against Him, in love and charity. And what He says and promises—this is what He does and what He has accomplished. In Jesus, the living bread of heaven, you have received the full remission of all your sins. It is done. It is yours. With a wonderful Word of peace—the blessings of eternal life—belong to you. Indeed, as we look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the really good days haven't even begun yet. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Exodus 16:2-21
“Remembering the Good Ol’ Days”
v.2-3 “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
Beloved, it’s a scene repeated in many countless coffee shops day after day. It’s a scene repeated in our homes, schools, businesses, and cars. We’ve all said and done it at one time or another. You know how the story goes, don’t you? A couple of people sit down and have a discussion—inevitably the conversation turns to some current problem faced by society, such as, the changing views toward gender and marriage. Eventually, one looks at the other, then leans back in his or her chair with hands folded, eyes looking a little wistfully toward the heavens, and says, “Well, I remember, back in the good ol’ days...”
Ah, yes. Back in the good ol’ days—when churches were filled, children were respectful and silent until spoken to—when all the world was good, etc. Yes, we often like to remember the past quite favourably when weighed against our current problems and state of affairs. However, I’ve always wondered, if things were so good back then, how come the people at that time would also lean back and reminisce about the “good ol’ days” too? Perhaps things weren’t quite as good as we like to remember, sometimes.
Well, in our text for this morning something very similar occurred with the Jews in the wilderness. They had only left Egypt between 4 and 6 weeks previously. Now, as they wander around in the arid and sandy waste of the Desert of Sin, they begin to grumble about their current situation.
To be fair, after this amount of time, most of their grain stores would have been used up and the people were becoming increasingly hungry. Numbering approximately 2 million in number, they were far too large a group to try to live off the land. But this was the third time in less than a month that the people grumbled against God. And in their hunger, they began to reminisce fondly about their captivity in the land of Egypt where they had been slaves.
How quickly people are wont to forget the troubles of the past, when faced with present concerns. They just put aside the horrific working conditions, the long hours, and dangerous work that they were expected to do in Egypt. In fact, it almost seems as though they are hallucinating (perhaps they had been out in the blazing sun too long) since they seem to remember being able to sit beside and eat large cauldrons or pots filled with meat. This was something that never would have happened. Slaves barely got enough to eat and to drink to begin with, let alone, given meat to eat—that would have been a rare luxury indeed!
And what about their own not too distant past? Did not the Pharaoh at the time Moses was a baby gather up all the Israelites’ children and throw them into the Nile River to be killed? Oh, yes, happy memories, indeed! Did they just forget about how they cried out unto the Lord to deliver them from the hands of the Egyptians, and now that He has, all that they can do is complain?! It seems absolutely ludicrous.
Yet such is our story also. Rather than be content with the gifts and blessings God has bestowed upon us, we always seek out more. And what’s more, in doing so, we often reject the most precious blessings that He has given us—freedom from sin and death! We grumble against Him, questioning His ways, thinking we could do much better. Just think how the Israelites longed to return to their bondage—so that they could feed on the sins of the flesh. Despite the fact that God had over and over again, miraculously brought them out of the land of Egypt (even plundering it from the Egyptians themselves!), yet they yearn to go back? It seems insane.
Yet do we not do the same? We have many gifts and blessings from the Lord—house, home, spouse, children, work, goods, and many more—yet we still grumble and complain that the Lord hasn’t blessed us enough, and what’s worse is that we forget the greater gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation our loving God has bestowed upon us in Word and Sacraments. You see the natural, sinful man always rejects God’s gifts in Christ and longs to go back to its former sinful ways, with a gusto. We see evidence of this in our own lives as we scorn the gifts God gives us in Word and Sacrament. We’d much rather stay at home, sleep in, go play a game, rather than partake and receive God’s mercies in Word and Sacrament at His Divine Service.
The natural man hates God and His Word—rejects the very notion of the Gospel and instead longs to run full tilt back to the slavery of sin. We see this all too often, in the church, don’t we? Those who have been raised in Christ’s house, fed His precious and life-giving Gospel, washed in the blood of the Lamb in Baptism, and partaken of the Holy Supper, sometimes, just drift away. The allure and temptations and desires of this life become too much--the life of a Christian, too “restrictive and severe” – they long for the “good ol’ days” and so they spurn the mercies of God and go back to living their lives as they used to, slaves to sin and eventual receivers of death and damnation—and loving every minute of it.
And in our fondness for the good ol’ days of the flesh, when we lavished in our sin, we too have grumbled against God. Wishing that He would do things our way. Indeed we, sinful human beings, would rather that God be guided by our humanity and its own opinions and expectations, rather than vice versa. This murmuring and grumbling of the Israelites was no simple complaining session. This is an attitude of the whole man, which scorns God and His gifts, incurring guilt and the wrath of God, which must be meted out.
This grumbling wasn’t really against Moses and Aaron, they were just incidental. No, they were murmuring against the Lord, and it was evidence of their lack of faith in His presence (despite the big pillar of cloud/fire that followed them around in the desert!). Indeed, it was a deep seated unbelief—a stubborn refusal to believe God’s Word of promise and accept His miraculous works.
Later on, in the New Testament, the Israelites would do the same thing to Jesus. They would reject His Word of promise and His present mercies as not good enough—grumbling and murmuring they would seek something different, would seek to make Him into their own image, bend Him to their will. Do we not do the same? God’s mercies are clearly evident in Word and Sacrament—His very presence is real and yet we ask for something else. We ask for something other than mere water and words, bread and wine, and more words—we want something bigger, something grand, something spectacular.
But what does God give us as the ultimate sign of His love and presence? A battered, broken, bloodied, Jewish carpenter, hung on a cross to die, like a common criminal. Pierced with thorns, nails, and spear, in weakness and in shame, the ugliness of Christ’s death is God’s proof of the beauty of His love.
What an amazing thing! Though we grumble and murmur, reminisce and complain, yet God acts not in wrath toward us as we most certainly deserve. Instead, He acts with mercy and grace. He continues to richly bestow blessing upon blessing upon blessing, on we His sinful people. Rather than reign down curses upon our heads because of our grumbling, He speaks to us Words of peace and reconciliation—granted freely on account of the cross of Christ.
Though we often foolishly and sinfully stand in judgement upon God, something we must never do as His created people, yet rather than stand in judgement upon us, as we deserve, He condemned His own beloved Son on our behalf. He showers His gracious gifts upon us, His unworthy, and, more often than not, His ungrateful people.
Indeed, Jesus went to the cross without a single word of complaint. Even though it would cost Him not only His own life, but the eternal sufferings of hell for all peoples’ sins—He went without a single murmur. He went to that cross out of love—for me—for you—for everyone. Yes, He cried out in agony, in distress, in pain and torment—as He suffered and bled—but not one harsh word escaped His lips. Quite to the contrary He continued to speak blessings and forgiveness upon His accusers and tormentors—praying God to forgive them in their ignorance.
As He continues to speak to each of you this day. He gently speaks His Word of promise and peace upon you. Through the lips of this unworthy servant Jesus speaks. He speaks to restore you and forgive you. He speaks to heal you and uplift you. He speaks, despite all your harsh words against Him, in love and charity. And what He says and promises—this is what He does and what He has accomplished. In Jesus, the living bread of heaven, you have received the full remission of all your sins. It is done. It is yours. With a wonderful Word of peace—the blessings of eternal life—belong to you. Indeed, as we look forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the really good days haven't even begun yet. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.