Worship 10/16/2020
Call to worship:
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
Let us make a joyful nose to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to God with songs of praise!
Opening Prayer
Magnificent and Holy One, we long to know You better.
As we make our way in this world,
we search for signs that You are with us.
Give us a glimpse of Your glorious presence,
and show us Your ways.
Turn our hearts to you.
May our lives ring out the marvelous message
of Your compassion, Your grace, and Your abundant love. Amen.
Psalm 145: 1-8
1I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
2Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever.
3Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness.
7They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Exodus 16:2-15
2The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” 8And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but” against the Lord. 9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“ 10And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“
13In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
Reflection
Every time I dive into the Exodus story I am rapidly reminded of how whiney the Israelite people tended to be. Time and time again God had answered their every need and been gracious beyond measure and yet they whine. In this five verse section alone they complain seven times about their hunger in the wilderness. With that much complaining in five verses it easily comes across that the people are whining. —or maybe I jump to whiners because it resembles a road trip with the whole family which normally involves a million requests for stops along the way and the endless question of “how much longer”.
The truth is that while I jump to seeing the Israelites as whiners, God does not seem to respond to the people in the same way. There is no snippy answer back or short tempered response coming from the front seat (or in my world from my husband to me in the passengers seat, because I am generally the biggest whiner on long road trips…I hate road trips!). No, God seems to understand the real worries and concerns that the people are voicing, and God responds with grace, compassion, and even abundance.
God knows the hearts of God’s people before they even complain. God understand that their whole way of life has been turned upside down, everything they have ever know is gone, left behind in the only homeland they had ever known. They have been wandering in the wilderness with no known destination, no known time of time of arrival, and no real idea of what was to come. For over a month they have been wondering in the wilderness of unknowing. And God does not judge them as whiners or complainer as they cry out yet again.
One thing I love about this this story is that we can see clearly a part of God character—compassion and grace. God bestows upon them undeserved grace. Grace and kindness rain down on the people of Israel from a kind and gracious God. God grants them this grace despite their own actions. The people do not go to God directly to ask for the help they are seeking. They do not trust God to provide for them despite all that they have already seen. Even though they question God’s love and provision for them, God graciously intervenes and answers their cries with abundance. God provided their fill of food…bread by morning and quails to cover the ground at night. Grace and compassion beyond measure.
I would like to think that I am not as whiney as the Israelites, however I doubt that is true. Let’s remember that I am the whiniest traveler in my family.
I would like to think that I don’t question God too much or complain about life’s situation all that often.
But we all have our moments.
In all honesty, when times of frustration have arisen in my life, I have bemoaned the difficulty. When my path went left instead of right, I occasionally questioned the meaning of it, the purpose of the unexpected direction. While my life is pretty safe and comfortable by all measures, I am human, and I have questioned and complained to God on more than one occasion.
I give thanks that God responds with grace and compassion to God’s people, even the whiney ones.
I find comfort in the fact the God answered the whining of the Israelites with compassion, grace and abundance. It is a reminder that God treats all the children of God with such care. In this time of uncertainty and questioning, God can handle our whining. God is big enough to listen to us moan when we wonder in the wilderness of life. God is gracious enough to handle our uncertainty when our journey leads us to moments of discontent. God understands the difficulties that we face in life; the isolation, the fear, the hurt, the pain, the suffering. Before we even bring our complaint to God, God is ready to act with compassion, grace and abundance. Thanks be to God.
Activity
In the Exodus story this morning God provided manna each morning for the Israelite people. The closest thing we have to manna today is bread. So…
Let’s make some bread!
Here is a link to a great bread recipe: https://www.crazyforcrust.com/easy-white-bread/
As you make this bread (OR if you aren’t up to making the bread, each time you eat bread today), think of all the ways that God has provided for you.
A roof over your head
Friends
Family
Loved ones
Food on your table
A bed to sleep in
—When the bread is finished, you will have 2 loaves. Think of someone you could share the bread with. Perhaps you can be the manna they need this day!
Closing Prayer
God of compassion, grace and abundance,
you know our concerns, fears, and worries before we ever put breath to them.
Calm our nerves and strengthen our faith
that we may put our trust into your care.
As we wonder into the wildernesses of our own lives,
help us to trust more deeply in your
grace and your abundance,
trusting in your compassion for your people
for you are a faithful God.
We are yours
now and always.
Amen
Benediction
Go out into the world, trusting in God’s grace and resting in God’s care!
Let all God’s people say,
AMEN
