water from the rock

"... Today’s reading - the story of the water coming from the rock in the wilderness - is a case in point. Taken only as a one-off literal event, it has very little to say to us. Once upon a time, several thousand years ago, the Israelite people got thirsty and disgruntled in the desert and, on instruction from God, Moses whacked a rock with a stick and fresh water came gushing out and the people lived happily ever after. So what? Often we have done nothing more with such stories than make them some kind of test of faith - do you believe that this miracle literally happened? Well, whether I do or whether I don’t, what difference will it make to the shape of my discipleship tomorrow? I’m willing to believe that it happened, but I’m not likely to be part of a thirsty tribe in the desert any time soon, and even if I am, there is no promise here that the same thing would happen again. So what are we to do with it?

Now this story from Exodus, this story of the water coming from the rock is using some symbols to make a similar point. The truths about God and us which are evident in this story continue to be true and evident in many situations, and that we can therefore see things here which hold true for us.

Is it not true that the Israelite people can symbolise us today in our tendency to point the finger at the community leaders as soon as we feel dry and undernourished? And isn’t it true that the wellsprings of spiritual nurture are bubbling away underneath us but we are often oblivious to them? And isn’t it true that God is always ready to provide more than enough to sustain us, but that often fail to either expect God to do anything or to ask God to do anything? Christ is the rock whose wounding becomes a source of life and spiritual hope for us, and that too is part of a pattern of the way God acts.

This story reminds us that even when everything seems hard and dry and inhospitable, those seeds or springs of love and grace are there, perhaps hidden beneath the surface, but ready to break through if we will prayerfully listen for the voice of God and discern which rock God is calling us to knock on and crack open."

http://www.laughingbird.net/SermonTexts/0429.html

no safe answers

As we continue with the same-sex marriage debate i wonder if this reflection has something to say to us about how we listen and discern??

"Jesus hammers them, and insults their self-righteous religiosity by telling them that the prostitutes are entering God’s Kingdom before them.

Oh, that must have gotten their goat.

I like to think that if they had given an honest answer—even the wrong answer—that Jesus would have had compassion on them. Perhaps he would have gently set them right.

But, to seek first a “safe” answer, and then do the safest thing they could—give no answer at all—is a clear demonstration of their willingness to put their own self-preservation ahead of their pursuit of God and the Truth.

At least the prostitutes were honest…

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for searching for the middle way. I’m all for looking for gray in the midst of a world that so much prefers black-and-white.

But, people who pursue the Kingdom of God and the way of Jesus aren’t called to blurt out safe answers. Expedient answers. Popular answers.

Preaching the Good News, and living the Good News, and seeking the Kingdom, means sticking your neck out. Searching for the truth. Being wrong, and turning back onto the Way that leads to Life. It’s fumbling in the dark—looking into the glass darkly—but always seeking out the kind of Truth that brings healing, hope, redemption, and reconciliation."

http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/974?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=proper20a-gospel

Is God with us or not???????

We are all in the desert of Sin with that question on our lips: is YHWH near us or not?

We Christians simply cannot stop asking this question, nor should we. Yet, our demands for some sort of sign of God's presence—a tortilla chip with the face of Jesus, an ancient cloth with a blood-stained portrait magically projected on it, a whirling sun in the former Yugoslavia, a crutched-filled grotto in rural France, a huge cathedral in Mexico on the site of an appearance of the Virgin Mary to a lucky peasant, and on and on—seem somehow pathetic. In our scientific age, where only conclusive proof will do, such experiences give in to the times. Books about proofs of heaven hit bestseller lists, but are little better than modern Lourdes, places that offer certainties that finally cannot be obtained. The answer to the question, "Is YHWH near us or not" is not yes or no. The answer is the question itself that I must continue to ask because I want to conform my living to the ancient truth that God is there, and that God still calls people to follow the narrow way. Any proof finally is in the pudding; when I see people offering themselves for others, when I witness acts of courage beyond anything I could ever perform, when I am able on those rare occasions to transcend what I would rather do for myself, then the question arises again: "Is YHWH near us or not?" Others may say, well, those acts of courage arise from a deep well of human longing, a rich humanity and need no divine explanation. I choose otherwise. For me, YHWH indeed is still near us, but I do not need some external signs of that presence to convince me.

http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Continual-Need-John-Holbert-03-14-2014?offset=1&max=1