1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we conclude our Lenten Midweek Series, “Set Free: The Gospel in Exodus,” is taken from Exodus 16:1-18, and verse 35, it’s entitled, “The Good News of a God Who Sustains Us on Our Journey,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The Lord has heard his people’s cries and answered them. He has sent them a deliverer, freed them from slavery, and brought them through the waters into a new life of freedom in his care. God’s people have been redeemed.
3. But having begun this new life in great joy, the people soon grow weary. Although they’re no longer enslaved, life in the desert isn’t easy. It can be tiring. They find themselves feeling thirsty and hungry. They start taking for granted all that the Lord has done for them and begin to question why he doesn’t seem to be doing more now. At times, a disturbing question comes its way into their thoughts: Am I really any better off in this life with the Lord?
4. So, who are these people I’ve just described? You identified them right away as the people of Israel at the time of the exodus. What we might not see so easily, though, is that these words also sadly paint an accurate picture of us, the people of God today.
5. As we’ve heard these last few weeks, God had graciously rescued Israel from a prison of slavery in Egypt and had wondrously delivered them into a new life of freedom through the parted waters of the Red Sea. With the Lord’s promise that he would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, and with Moses as their divinely appointed leader, the future could not have looked brighter! But just weeks later, everything seemed to have changed. Life in the desert was wearing them down. In a dry and barren land, they were growing hungry, thirsty, and weak. The Lord’s promises for the future now seemed unbelievable, and the difficulties of the present seemed so large in their thoughts that the suffering of the past seemed to disappear from their memories. They grumbled that the Lord wasn’t providing for them, and they found themselves longing for the meat and bread of Egypt.
6. Looking back, we might shake our heads in disbelief, wondering how the Israelites could have been so ungrateful for the Lord’s amazing grace to them. So blind as not to see the Lord’s faithfulness and put their trust in his promises, so foolish as to put worldly pleasures above the abundant life and joy awaiting them in the land the Lord had promised them. But looking within, are we really any different?
7. In his great mercy, the Lord has saved us from sin, death, and the devil—enemies we were powerless to overcome. In his saving grace, he has brought us through the waters of Holy Baptism into a whole new life of freedom in Christ Jesus. And in his steadfast love, he has promised to lead us to a glorious home he has prepared for us. With such great promises, our future could not be any brighter! But along the way, our journey is not easy. Life in the desert of this world can be wearying; at times, we may feel that we don’t have the strength to keep going.
8. Contentment is hard to come by, as we hunger and thirst for something we hope will give us a greater sense of satisfaction. During the more difficult stretches, when the desert feels especially hot and dry, we might find ourselves questioning whether the Lord is caring for us as he should—and whether we can really count on him. The problems we perceive can seem so large that they block our view of the blessings we’ve received. And all the while, this world beckons with the promise that it has something better to offer.
9. Now, imagine for a moment that you were in God’s place. After all that you have done for these people, and after the unimaginable good that you have prepared for them and promised them, this is how they respond? Ingratitude. Complaints. Distrust. What would you do?
10. Whatever your answer to that question might be, it’s likely not the same as the Lord’s answer. His grace is not conditional on our gratitude, and his mercy is not based on our merit. Our faith may be fickle, but the Lord’s love remains steadfast. So what does the Lord do? He shows compassion. He patiently pardons and provides.
11. To the people of Israel starving in the sun-scorched desert of the Sinai Peninsula, God sent manna—bread from heaven—to nourish and strengthen them for their journey. And to the people of God struggling in the sin-scorched desert of this fallen world, God sends Jesus Christ, the living bread that came down from heaven to give life to the world.
12. When the Israelites gathered the manna each day, they found that the supply never fell short. And in Jesus, the bread of life, we have an unending supply of rest, refreshment, and renewal. When we’re weak, he strengthens us. When we feel empty, he fills us. When we find that we’ve been forgetting him and his benefits, he feeds us with his forgiveness. With this bread, we lack nothing.
13. In God’s grace, this bread is given to us at no charge. But that does not mean that it comes at no cost. It is free to us because the Lord himself paid the price. For while we so often hunger for all the wrong things—for food that does not satisfy—Christ hungered and thirsted for our salvation. So he came down from heaven to the desert of this fallen world to make a way for us from slavery to freedom, and from famine to the feast of salvation. He redeemed us with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. He gave himself into death for us to be the bread of life for us. And he arose to lead us and freely feed us.
14. After their exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel still had a long journey ahead of them. And those years in the desert were not easy. But through it all, the Lord provided for them. For forty years, the Lord rained down manna each morning to strengthen and sustain them. And ultimately, he did bring them into the good and abundant land he had promised to give them.
15. So also, having been redeemed by Christ, we still have a pilgrimage ahead of us—and the path is not always smooth. But as we walk on, we will not be on our own. Never will the Lord leave us or forsake us, and never will he fail to provide for us. Through his Word and his Holy Supper, he feeds us with the very bread of life, and the supply will never run out. In these means, he continues without fail to forgive us—every new sin, every time we fail. And every time we hear his Word, live and in-person in our ears, and receive Christ’s body and blood, placed on our tongues and received into our own bodies, he is reminding us that he is with us every day of this journey. Whoever eats of this bread, Christ Jesus himself, will never truly hunger, and the Lord will bring us to the heavenly land he has promised us and prepared for us, for In Christ, God Provides All That We Need for Our Journey Through This Life and into Eternity.
16. Having reached our destination, never again shall we hunger or thirst. The Lord will welcome us to his table, we will take our places at the seats he has prepared for us, and the great banquet we have been waiting for will begin.
17. This is the great story of the Gospel in Exodus—and it is the great story of God’s Good News to us! For coming to our rescue and setting us free, for feeding us and sustaining us on our journey, and for the glory that awaits us, all glory, honor, and praise be to Christ Jesus, our great Redeemer, now and forevermore. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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