Learning to Live Inside Out — a Lenten journey with Jesus…
toward the cross…
toward the death of sin and self
We are fasting alongside of Jesus in the wilderness…
but the fast we choose is that of God…to nurture righteousness in our hearts.
The word for righteousness is the word for justice is the word for piety.
δικαιοσύνη: righteousness,
what is right,
justice,
the act of doing what is in agreement with God's standards,
the state of being in proper relationship with God
We live in a world full of injustice…unrighteousness…impiety…
And we participate in it: more than we realize
We cannot help it…we were born into a world of injustice—it’s all most people know.
But WE KNOW of another way…
the Kin-dom…
the life of being a disciple of Jesus Christ…
An eternal life with God that starts here and now.
So…we fast to align more with that better way.
We are walking the path of the better way by the leading of the Holy Spirit…
We fall down…a lot…but we follow the one who does not fall.
We are constantly seeking the opportunity to move from the familiar and comfortable in pursuit of the life God is calling us to in our world.
At least…that’s the hope.
But we come to our passages today confronting stories of thirst versus
quenching of thirst.
Need vs. provision of God.
In Exodus 17 we find the Israelites freshly freed from the restrictive life of oppression and restriction in Egypt.
They are traversing the wilderness…a massive body of people moving together…through a dry place.
They’ve run out of water…again—and God is put on trial
Just a couple of chapters prior they were thirsty but couldn’t drink the bitter water.
They complained against Moses—the man who just led them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea!!
We may judge them for such a quick assault against their gratitude and allegiance, but let’s remember…water is important.
We can live for a week & a half without food, but we cannot live 3 days without water.
They were wandering in the wilderness…a huge body of people…with no water.
Parents, grandparents, spouses, and siblings…thirsty…vulnerable…and scared.
Did Moses even have a plan?!
Have we been led out here to die?!
God instructed Moses and the bitter water was made potable.
But two chapters later…we’re back in the predicament of thirst…and this time, they amp up their assault on Moses as a leader.
They bring charges against him as their leader.
They are ready to turn their backs on him.
Moses gets mad. He is frustrated at the people and he lets them know it.
He tells them that charging him is the same as charging God.
Then Moses goes to God and seeks help.
God displays an act of great humility by “I will stand before you.”
The people are always the ones to stand before God…in God’s awesome and sovereign presence.
But…this time…God stands before Moses.
God shows an act of compassion and mercy toward one crying out…
the same one who didn’t show compassion toward the crowd crying out against him.
The people receive water and have their thirst quenched.
But won’t they thirst again?
At most they can go three days.
The 40 years was more than providing for the physical needs of the people on their journey.
They were learning to TRUST God…
to place their FAITH in God alone.
If they could…their deeper thirst would be quenched.
If they can no longer depend upon their own understanding of how things work…
If they can unlearn the ways of chaos in Egypt…
If they can KNOW in their hearts that God provides what they truly need…
they’ll experience a deeper quenching than that of their lips.
Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman.
Jesus is tired and thirsty — another act of humility by our God…to enter into the depth of our human need and sit before us feeling the same thirsts we do.
He breaks all of the social rules of the day—talking with the Samaritan woman and asking to drink from her water.
They enter into some playful banter in a way that mocks the social order.