Is the Lord among us or not? Great question. Have you asked that question before? Is the Lord among us or not?
What has made you ask that question? What prompted that question by Israel. It was because God had sent Moses to free Israel from slavery in Egypt and to lead them to a new land – their own land – a land flowing with milk and honey – a land which will be known as The Promised Land. But the journey was not what they expected from a God who was supposed to be loving and caring for their needs. They are hungry and thirsty so they reminisce back to the days in Egypt when even their horrid and cruel slavedrivers at least made sure they had enough to eat and drink. They were starting to think that their cruel slave drivers cared more for them than God.
When have you asked that question of God – is the Lord with me or not. Have you thought that perhaps the world has more concern for you than God? Maybe that’s why many focus more energy on their careers, their sports and their leisure. It sometimes seems that people much less faithful seem to get more breaks than I do. It seems that even those who reject and mock God have easy comfortable lives. How is it fair that God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the good and the evil. What benefit is there to being a Christian?
The benefit is not in the joy that earthly pleasures offer but the eternal blessings the world cannot give. Earthly pleasures last for a moment compared to the eternal life that God gives to us. Hunger and thirst soon return after a full stomach. Like the Israelites sometimes we are led to believe God is unfair and that others would have treated us much better. And so we ask – Is the Lord among us or not.
Israel looked backwards rather than to the promise of God – what did God promise – to lead them to the promised land.
What has God promised us? God promised that his Son whom he sent to us would be called “Immanuel” which means God is with us. When Jesus had completed his earthly ministry after his death and resurrection he ascended to Heaven with the same promise – I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS TILL THE END OF THE AGE. So there is never any doubt whether God is with us or not because God has promised to do so. The real question is why, if God is with us, are our lives not perfect. A lot of the times it’s to do with our lack of trust in God. That was Israel’s problem – they looked back rather than trust what God had promised. There was no way that God was going to let Israel die of thirst or starvation. But their expectation of what
they believe God should be doing didn’t match how God was looking after them.
There’s an interesting passage in Deuteronomy 29 where Moses says to Irael. Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”
That’s really interesting that God did not allow their clothes or shoes to wear out while walking the wilderness for 40 years.
If God was able to do that then wouldn’t God be able to suppress their hunger and thirst and not let them die of hunger or thirst. Surely God was more concerned for them than their clothes and shoes. But they were so used to filling their stomachs that they looked back to their past in Egypt. Now compare that with what we read about Jesus in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross.
So, Jesus did NOT look back on his former glory but trusted in God even when he had not eaten for 40 days and was tempted by Satan to turn rocks into bread. And even though that trust would lead to his humiliating suffering and death – he humbled himself and trusted God. And as a result of that trust, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Paul says – Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. God IS with you. In your Baptism Jesus promised – I am with you always. In Holy Communion Jesus promises – this IS my body – this IS my blood.
What we are to learn from this for our own lives, is that God is with us even when we don’t feel it. And the way we can be sure of that is not because of our prosperity, or lack thereof, but because of God’s unchanging word of promise. God’s presence is not about feelings but about promises. Our world is of great concern to so many people. With cost of living, Covid, climate change, sickness, aging, death. While these may weary us they are also opportunities to support and uphold each other as Paul points out: Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
If you ever have any doubts about whether God is with you or not then look to what God has done for you and promised you. God sent Jesus to die for you. Paul really sums it up in Romans chapter 8: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
As Christians, the good news is that these experiences are limited to this lifetime. In Heaven there will be no more suffering or death, no more hunger or thirst. And so for Israel, rather than looking to the past they should have been looking to God who had promised to lead them to their promised land. And if God was taking them there then surely he wouldn’t have let them die of hunger or thirst. Likewise, we are being led on a journey to our Promised Land. And yes the journey can be tough but the worst that the world can do to us is what they did to Jesus. And remember what Paul said last week – to die is gain – because we achieve eternal life and reach our eternal home, our Promised Land..
