Sermon: "THEN You Will Know ..."

[What follows is Allison's "The Story" kickoff sermon (on Ex 16:2-15) given at Frankfort Church on Sun, Sept 21, 2014.]  

Introduction  

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about how God’s people, called the Israelites, ended up as slaves to the Egyptian Pharaoh. And when they cried out to God to save them, God sent them Moses to lead them out of slavery.

When Pharaoh refused to let them go, God sent some plagues to help pharaoh change his mind--the frogs, the gnats, the darkness, the cattle diseases, the itchy sores on their bodies. Nothing worked.

Finally, God created the Passover and the Israelites were saved by the blood of a lamb just as we Christians are saved by the blood of THE Lamb, Jesus Christ. The awfulness of that last plagued convinced Pharaoh to let Moses lead the people out of slavery.

But that fickle Pharaoh changed his mind AGAIN and sent his army chasing after the Israelites. And God opened the sea for them to cross safely to the other side, away from Pharaoh forever.

So, you’d think after all these pretty miraculous things, the Israelites would trust God whenever life started to go in an unexpected and difficult direction.

Before when life was difficult, they cried out to God and he answered their cry. But now that they were free from that last difficult situation, they somehow managed to find OTHER things to complain about.

They forgot everything God had done for them in the past, all the ways he showed his love for them. 

They forgot about the big picture and only focused on their own little problems.

This morning, we’ll be reading about one of their little problems that was causing them so much grief starting at verse 2 of Exodus chapter 16.  

SCRIPTURE  Exodus 16:2-15 (NIRV)

     2 In the desert the whole community of the Israelites told Moses and Aaron they weren’t happy with them. 3 The Israelites said to them, “We wish the Lord had put us to death in Egypt. There we sat around pots of meat. We ate all of the food we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert. You must want this entire community to die of hunger.”

     4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people must go out each day. Have them gather enough bread for that day. Here is how I will put them to the test. I will see if they will follow my directions.

     5 “On the sixth day they must prepare what they bring in. On that day they must gather twice as much as on the other days.”

     6 So Moses and Aaron spoke to all of the people of Israel. They said, “In the evening you will know that the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord. He has heard you say you aren’t happy with him. Who are we? Why are you telling us you aren’t happy with us?”

     8 Moses also said, “You will know that the Lord has heard you speak against him. He will give you meat to eat in the evening. He’ll give you all of the bread you want in the morning. But who are we? You aren’t speaking against us. You are speaking against the Lord.”

     9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Talk to the whole community of Israel. Say to them, ‘Come to the Lord. He has heard you speak against him.’”

     10 While Aaron was talking to the whole community of Israel, they looked toward the desert. There was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud!

     11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the people of Israel talking about how unhappy they are. Tell them, ‘When the sun goes down, you will eat meat. In the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

     

     13 That evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning the ground around the camp was covered with dew. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes appeared on the desert floor. They looked like frost on the ground. 15 The people of Israel saw the flakes. They asked each other, “What’s that?” They didn’t know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It’s the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.

Food Crisis = Faith Crisis 

The Israelites have forgotten the big picture of all that God has done for them and instead are focusing on their own little problems. It’s what usually happens when life gets a little crazy and overwhelming and difficult—things get blurry and difficult to understand.   

Life is a little blurry for the Israelites right now. They are finally free from slavery and were probably assuming that life would automatically be sunshine and roses from now on. But it’s not. And it never is.  

So because life is blurry and hard to understand for them, all they can focus on is that they have no food and no water. And it seems like they just keep walking and walking and walking with no end in sight. They are tired. And hungry. And thirsty.

And they begin to think back over their time as slaves in Egypt. And they remember that they “sat around pots of meat” and they “ate all of the food they wanted.” And they begin to long for the good, ole days of slavery. Which is just crazy.

Again, they’re a little blurry—there’s no way food was as abundant as they remember it being; slaves were not well-fed or well-cared for. And the harder Moses pressed the Pharaoh to let his people go, the worse he treated the Israelites.  

The desperation of their current circumstances is clouding the memory of their past. Of all that God has done for them in their history.

They have lost faith in Aaron. And Moses. And they have maybe even lost faith in God.

Their food crisis has created a faith crisis for them. (1)   

When they were this desperate before, they cried out to God to ask for rescue. But they must have forgotten the big picture and how God had saved them before … because instead of crying out for rescue again, all they really do is complain against anybody and everybody.

THEN you will know ...   

In the middle of all the stuff going on in this story, I want you to see that there are two parts in this story: there is the Israelites’ story and there is God’s story.

The Israelites’ story, let’s call it the “Lower Story,” is about a regular, old group of people, who have their good moments and their bad moments. Sometimes they get it right and obey God … and other times they completely miss the mark and do dumb things that do not please God. Life is usually a little chaotic and a little messy in the “lower story” but, for the most part, the people there are trying their best to live a life that is pleasing to God.

(Ummm, can anybody besides me identify with that description?)

In God’s story, which we’re going to call the “Upper Story,” we hear all about God’s big plan for his people. Though he may be tempted to leave their whiny little butts stuck out in the desert, that’s not what a loving God would do. Instead, he’s going to do everything he possibly can to win them back to his side, showing them that no matter how whiny or sinful they get, he will always love them. 

No matter what.

So, in the “lower story,” the Israelites’ food crisis has led to a faith crisis in God’s “upper story.” Because their stomachs are empty, their hearts have become empty of faith as well. So how will God respond to this crisis?

Rather than raining down wrath on them for being so forgetful and ungrateful, God remains faithful to his “upper story” and chooses instead to rain down manna, bread from heaven. Because that’s what they really needed right now.

And why does he do that?  At the end of verse 12, God says this, “Then you will know that I am

the Lord your God.” All of this stuff that the Israelites are going through—the hunger and the wandering and the whining—God uses these circumstances to show his amazing love for his people and his plans, as Jeremiah says, to prosper them, to give them hope and a future.

Your Story  

It’s not just the Israelites or the people in the Bible who are a part of God’s story; we are too! We are all characters in the “lower story,” part of that motley crew who seem to have more bad moments than good moments; part of that group who like the Israelites sometimes get so focused on the difficulties of our own little lives that we lose track of God’s big “upper story” plan to prosper us, giving us hope and a future.

For the Israelites, a food crisis in their “lower story” led to a faith crisis in God’s “upper story.”

I wonder what sort of crisis you might have had in your “lower story” that led to a faith crisis in God’s “upper story.” How did the lack of something in your life lead to a lack of faith in God?

Chances are, this kind of crisis has happened to you. We've probably all gone through it or will eventually. No one gets through life unscarred, though some scars are deeper than others.

And chances are because you've gone through this kind of crisis, you've got a story to tell of how God reached down into your “lower story” and pulled you up into his “upper story.” How did he use your circumstances to say to you like he said to the Israelites, “Then you will KNOW that I am the Lord your God”?

• Maybe you already know exactly how God reached down into your “lower story” and pulled you up in to his “upper story.”
• Or maybe you’ll have to think about this idea for a while before you understand and recognize your story. 
• Or, maybe right now you’re stuck in your “lower story” and are praying desperately that God would reach down right now and lift you up.

You don’t have to tell us about it now, but I hope that you’ll ponder in your heart what your story is. Or what it might be.

In the “lower story,” it doesn't always FEEL like God’s plan is to prosper us, giving us hope and a future. And that’s why we need to keep our eyes and our minds focused on God’s “upper story,” so we never forget that even when life gets a little blurry.

Conclusion

Friends, as we read through "The Story," we will see how, from the beginning of time, God has shown that he will relentlessly pursue us in order to bring us back to his side. That’s what the “upper story” is all about.

And when our choices or our whining in the “lower story” leads us to turn our backs on God or to forget about God, like the Israelites did in the desert wilderness, God will continue to pursue us anyway.

From the first page to the last, “The Story” is full of God showing us just how much he loves us …sometimes in big, unexpected, extraordinary ways—like parting the waters of the Red Sea … but sometimes in small, everyday, common ways—like giving us our daily bread.

God wants to be with you. God wants to personally be with you, to draw you up into his “upper story.”

At great cost to God—the price of sacrificing his very own Son, Jesus who died so you might receive forgiveness for your sins—God has done everything possible to get you back because you are valuable to him. 

Even with the whining. 

And the complaining. 

And the forgetting all the things he has done for you in the past.  

You are valuable to God. And in the darkest, most difficult moments of your “lower story,” God WILL answer your cry for help.

And then ... THEN ... you will know that he is the Lord your God.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen


(1) Fretheim, "Exodus." Interpretation, p. 181.