Churches all over the world are closed today, and mine is no exception. We are all trying to be responsible and do our part to help prevent, or at least slow, the spread of the Corvid-19 virus and protect our most vulnerable people. So, I am sharing a brief devotional instead.
The first reading for the 3rd Sunday in Lent is Exodus 17:1-7:
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
This event took place shortly after God had brought the people safely out of slavery and genocide in Egypt, parting the waters of the Reed Sea so that they could pass safely. God made the poisonous waters of the oasis of Marah good for drinking the first time they were thirsty, and provided both manna and meat for the people when they were hungry. So many blessings for their safety and survival. But their memories were short, so when they were thirsty again they did not pray for water but complained that God did not care for them, saying “Is the LORD among us or not?”
Well, God did care and He was among them. So, He commanded Moses to strike the rock and water poured out for His thirsty people.
Paul remembers this event 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
The last line hints at a belief that had grown up around the water-giving rock, that when the Israelites left Horeb, the rock rolled after them so that they never went without water again. Paul knew this story and identifies the rock as Christ. So, Paul tells us that God the Father went before the people as a pillar of fire, and God the Son went behind them as Living Water. They were surrounded by the Lord during the long years of pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Let us Pray the Collect for the 3rd Sunday of Lent:
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Amen! Another wonderful reflection, encouragement, and prayer! Thanks, Heidi!