Romans 5:6-8
Third Sunday in Lent
24 February 2008
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
About 18 months ago, just literally days after I closed escrow on my cabin in the mountains, I was up there late one evening, long after sunset, hanging mini-blinds in the windows. I discovered that night why my cabin had been named “Sleepy Hollow” by a previous owner. That night the fog came literally rolling right through the open windows, casting a very eerie feeling throughout the primarily furniture-less cabin. I decided it was time to go. I had no clue what was ahead as I started my way down the “Rim of the World.” The fog I had experienced at the cabin only grew worse as I turned onto Highway 18. The experience was unlike anything I had experienced for many years. The fog was so thick I hardly was able to see even a few feet ahead of my car. Then, as “fate” would have it (if you want to call it “fate”), around one curve in the foggy road I came upon two large yellow school busses driving in procession down the mountain. I fell in line behind them, grateful for the guidance and direction they provided me until the fog cleared and I passed them, able to proceed on my own.
Just last Monday, I had a little different experience on the mountain. This time was a clear day. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. Heading back to my cabin after a couple hours at Lake Arrowhead Village, I followed two cars in procession. I suddenly saw car #1 bounce around. Then car #2. Then I bounced also. All three of us hit a substantial pothole in the road which looked to all three of us as nothing other than a large puddle of water. Following those two other cars didn’t protect me from suffering the same jarring fate they had suffered.
Our First Reading today [Exodus 17:1-7] is not just a wonderfully thrilling story that took place some 3,500 years ago. Our First Reading today paints for us the contrast between human nature and Divine character. Our First Reading today portrays for us that all human beings (even those who have already been the recipients of God’s undeserved grace and mercy) are broken and fallen. Our First reading today defines for us what it means to be a gracious and faithful Lord.
Moses tells us that the Children of Israel had left the Desert of Sin. That’s actually an ironic, appropriate name. The Desert of Sin is where the Children of Israel, recently rescued from slavery in Egypt, first began to rethink their decision to follow Moses out of Egypt. It was in the Desert of Sin where they voiced their first complaint: “We’ve got nothing to eat!” Moses heard that complaint. Moses took that complaint to the Lord. The Lord met the Children of Israel right there in their complaint and provided for them food. He would continue to provide that daily food for them for the next 40 years without exception, without failure.
You think they would have learned a powerful lesson, right? WRONG!
Here we see the Children of Israel complaining again. It’s a “Been There. Done That” type of situation. This time their complaint is about a lack of water, an actually understandable complaint. The human body can survive an incredibly long period of time without food. Without water, however, life span can be counted within days. Their complaint was valid. Their need was real. And again, the Lord met them right there in their complaint and provided for them water. He met not only their physical need, but He also restored them as His people by again restoring their faith in Him as their God Who would always provide for them in all ways. Human brokenness is met by a gracious and faithful Lord.
Fast forward about 1,500 years. The scene changes from Rephidim to Jacob’s Well. There Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman [John 4:5-26]. He met her right where she was – on her own turf, drawing water alone because she was an outcast because of her less than impressive reputation for having had five husbands and now living with a sixth man, laboring under the hot mid-day sun. She had her own complaints. She was tired of being an outcast. She was tired of laboring daily for needed water. She was tired of being a second-class citizen. Full of complaints as she was, Jesus met her right there in her time of thirst. While she had in mind only her physical needs, Jesus restored her in a way she could have never expected. He introduced Himself to her as the One Who could meet not only her physical needs but her eternal, spiritual needs. Human brokenness is met by a gracious and faithful Lord.
Fast forward again about 2,000 years. The scene changes again. This time it’s not Rephidim. It’s not Jacob’s Well. This time the scene is Pasadena, California. A group of people are gathered together and each one has a unique, valid, important complaint. One complains about the weather. One complains about the government. One complains about a wayward adult child. One complains about too much work. One complains about not enough work. One complains about health issues. One complains about money. One complains about worry. One complains about a spouse. A cacophony of complaints rise from earth to Heaven, complaints that can be summarized as being thirst in life. Again, human brokenness is met by a gracious and faithful Lord.
The message of the Gospel is proclaimed clearly by St. Paul: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly ... God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” [Romans 5:6,8].
Human brokenness is met by a gracious and faithful Lord. Human thirst is quenched by the gracious and faithful Lord Who Himself, on the Cross, yelled, “I am thirsty” [John 19:28]. He thirsted for us to know the true depths of our despair. He cried out to identify with us during our times of complaints so that He could know the healing power that flows into our lives when He meets us in our brokenness.
The Gospel is truly the Gospel, the GOOD NEWS, because of where and how God meets mankind. He meets us in our brokenness. He meets us when we’re powerless. He meets us in our sin. He doesn’t just sympathetically notice us at those troubled times and send us a memo letting us know that when we get our act together He’d be willing to meet with us. No, instead, He does meet with us in our brokenness. He knows there is no other human condition than brokenness. But His grace and faithfulness triumphs over our brokenness.
Too often, people prefer fair weather driving in life. They put their confidence in themselves and that’s when the potholes of life hit. The Children of Israel were expecting Moses to solve their problems for them. The woman at the well was looking to Jesus to solve a temporal, physical problem.
Following Jesus and allowing Him to meet us in our time of brokenness, however, is like following those two big yellow busses. The world around us might be foggy. We might not have a clue where we’re going, but our God does. He pops into our eyesight when we can see hardly nothing else. He meets us in our brokenness.
Where are you today? What are your complaints? What is your brokenness? What is your sin? What are you looking for in life? What are you relying upon in life? Jesus is here to meet you, just as you are!
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena