The Better Bread: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

²The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
 
  ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”
 
  ⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” ¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹²“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
 
  ¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” (NRSV)

BrunoRaymond_20081228_IMG_1748 by Bruno Raymond on flickr.  CC BY-NC 2.0

“I’m never eating Jell-O again in my life.”

These were the words spoken by a good friend of ours who’d just endured a major surgery on her colon.  Her doctor told her that she could only eat Jell-O and broth—for the next six months.  The rest of her diet consisted of a light-brown goop delivered to her body via a feeding tube.

“I’ve never been so hungry for a cheeseburger,” she said.  “Go and eat one for me.”

There is nothing in all human experience that is more miserable than hunger.  I can only imagine this is what the Israelites felt when they found themselves in the desert.  There was no food.  And there was nowhere to get food.  All the elation at their miraculous liberation from slavery in Egypt quickly turned to raging anxiety once the hunger pangs came.

They forgot how God heard them when they cried out under the cruel hand of their taskmasters.

They forgot that God rescued them from the hand of Pharaoh.  They forgot that God raised up Moses and Aaron to lead them across the desert, to the promised land.

From the standpoint of now, Moses and Aaron were imbeciles—and they were imbeciles for trusting them.  God hadn’t rescued them.  God had led them to their own destruction.  They would’ve been better off if God had killed them back in Egypt rather than starving them in the desert.  The way they talk, they feasted like royalty when they were slaves in Egypt—when, in reality, they had barely enough food to stay alive and work.  They didn’t ask God to free them from slavery.  Given the choice, they’d go right back to Egypt.

In their minds, there was no hope, no salvation, no Promised Land.  There was.  They just didn’t want it the way God was giving it to them.

The problem here is that God’s deliverance rarely happens on our terms and timetables.  God does things God’s way, not ours. This drives us mad.

We want to be in control of our salvation.  We want to be in control of God.  We want God to prove worthy of our trust by giving us what we believe is right.  We want God to tell us what we must do—and if we do those things, God ought to deliver the goods.  Given the choice between grace and control, we’re going to choose control, every time.

But this doesn’t leave any room for God to be gracious.  In fact, if God dealt with the people the people dealt with God, God would’ve dumped them a long time ago.

God’s grace cannot be dictated or controlled by us.  That, dear Christian, is a good thing.

Sometimes, the only way to the Promised Land is through the desert.  Since it’s the desert, we wouldn’t dare venture through it.  But there’s no other way.  In the desert, there’s dunes, dangers, and death.  Your only means of survival is God’s grace.  When all you have is God, you experience God’s faithfulness like never before.

God graciously puts Moses in the desert with them to remind them—God is here!  God has heard their cries for food—and God has provided, though not in the way they’d expect.

There’s a fine, flaky substance covering the ground—and they don’t know what it is.  The word manna, in Hebrew, means “what is it?”  And it’s more than just an unexpected source of food.  It’s a sign that God is leading them.  It’s better than the bread and meat they imagined themselves eating in Egypt because it is from God.  It’s the bread by which God will take them to the promised land.

Just the same, Jesus is the true bread of heaven.  The people ask, “what sign are you giving us, so that we may see it and believe in you?”  That sign is the cross.  That sign is body and blood given for you to eat and drink.  God’s power is in them to forgive sins and give eternal life.  Jesus is the better bread.

When you find yourself in the desert, and your body and soul are hungry because of the distress and dangers that surround you, don’t go back to Egypt!  Receive the bread of memory!  Remember the ways God has fed you and led you through all your life’s journeys.  Move forward with confidence that God will lead and feed you.

God will give you the bread that is God’s Word—because sometimes, God’s grace isn’t always plain to see.  It just might be a fine flaky substance covering the ground, and you don’t know what it is.  But it’s God taking care of you.

You don’t just hear the Word.  You must act on it, too.  Take, eat, and drink of the body and blood given for you, knowing it’s the only bread and cup you need for eternity.

Believe in Jesus’ determination to feed hungry bodies and hungry souls.  Don’t let God’s grace end with you.  Give and share with confidence that Jesus can do infinitely more with what you give to him than you could ever do yourself.

And when you find yourself lost and alone in the desert, where death and dangers surround you, your body is hungry, and your soul is weary, remember that Jesus will always give you the better bread.  Maybe not the bread you want, but the bread that will lead you to new life in him.