Grace is God’s attitude towards sinners. This is what God’s people had mistaken in the desert.
If your people participate in Lenten fasting, they are really going to connect with our Old Testament lesson for today. Why? Because God’s people are complaining about their forced fasting in the wilderness on the way to the promised land. Here, we will meditate on the fact that God is providing for ungrateful people not only in our text but, maybe, also for us as well.
Israel has only just left the promised land, and God has already delivered them by many signs and wonders. No matter how loudly they are complaining, their journey is not a famine. God has fed them manna and sweetened the deal with good water from a spring along the way but now they are complaining about the lack water again. In fact, they go as far as to accuse God of actually dragging them out into the wilderness to die.
Honestly, God could and maybe should just abandon this project with His people and move on. Instead, God’s attitude toward them is one of “Mercy.” This is an important theological concept to develop. Grace is not a substance like food and water. Grace is God’s attitude towards sinners. This is what God’s people had mistaken in the desert. They thought the provision was the grace, but it has always and only been God’s attitude towards sinners which has saved us. It is His mercy that saved them in the wilderness, not the quantity of H₂O.
But God’s attitude is mercy, and He even still provides the water from the rock. What a gracious God we have! God commands Moses to strike the rock and water comes forth. Notice how God does not wait until they get themselves right before He provides for them. He is gracious and gives when they were not acting right (Romans 5:8). In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul says this rock is Christ (spiritually), which leads to our Gospel Lesson with Jesus and the Samaritan woman from John 4. Here, we see the truth of it. Jesus is the source, the well, the spring of eternal life. She believes this so much that she even leaves her jar in order to tell everyone what she has found in Christ, something that becomes more and more apparent as you follow Him. Follow Him to the cross and there you will see the blood and water flow from His side (John 19:34). It was John, again, who says there are three that testify to our salvation: The spirit, the water, and the blood (1 John 5:7-8). If you are in need during the season of Lent and run down with Lenten fasting, come to Jesus and you will never run dry because the split rock of the empty tomb of our risen Savior is a never-ending source of eternal life.
But God’s attitude is mercy, and He even still provides the water from the rock.
Since we are keeping water at the center of this sermon, it would be best to use the Central Image Structure to organize our thoughts as we preach this text.
“This sermon structure uses a single image throughout the sermon and fosters devotional contemplation of an image.
In the opening of the sermon, the preacher describes the image for the hearers. The preacher then uses that image as a source for continuing devotional contemplation throughout the sermon. The image serves as a lens through which one views the textual exposition, the theological confession, the evangelical proclamation, and the hearer interpretation of the sermon. Having a single image lends coherence to the sermon.
As the preacher returns to the image periodically throughout the sermon, he may approach it in one of two ways: Through a single focus or a multiple focus.
With a single focus, the image remains the same throughout the sermon. The preacher may approach that image from one perspective (for example, viewing the image from the perspective of the artist who created it) or the preacher may approach the image from a variety of perspectives (for example, viewing the same image from the perspective of different people who come into contact with it), but the image itself remains the same.
If approaching the image from one perspective, the sermon can reinforce a single theme in a variety of situations. For example, the first encounter with the image can establish a theme and then, as the preacher uses the image again in the sermon, it can locate that theme in relation to the text and then, later, in relation to the hearers.
If approaching the image from a variety of perspectives, the sermon can develop or unfold the theme. For example, the first encounter with the image could evoke an interpretation which will later be expanded or even corrected in the sermon. By changing how the image is seen, the hearers can track the basic development of a larger theme in the sermon. Each stage of development (like moving from a misconception to a clearer vision, moving from application in terms of one’s relationship to God to application in terms of one’s relationship to others, or moving from repentance to forgiveness and finally to restoration) is captured by preaching the image through a different perspective.
With a multiple focus, each time the preacher returns to the image, he focuses on a different aspect of that image. The preacher may begin by looking at the whole image and then focus on one detail and then another. Or he may look at smaller details and, at the conclusion of the sermon, consider the image as a whole. If the image is displayed, the preacher may crop the image so only a small detail is revealed, helping the hearers focus on a particular aspect at that point in the sermon. In terms of the progression of the sermon, the image itself serves as a map of the ideas of the sermon, each portion meditated upon at different points in the sermon. For example, the preacher may use an artistic representation of a biblical event to walk the hearers through the text, slowing down the progression of the story to meditate on various individuals and their experience of the event.”[1]
------
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Exodus 17:1–7.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Exodus 17:1–7.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/imagistic-structures/central-image/
