Yesterday, I shared about how I felt that part of my old self has been dying. As I was reflecting on this past week's sermon I was struck that part of the process of the old self dying has to do with baptism and recieving the Holy Spirit. I felt that my reflection (written to my small group) was worth sharing.
In light of yesterday's point I felt like this would be a solid follow up. This post is grounded in the fact that our God is a God of action. Sermons today cannot leave congregations without what it means for their daily encounter with Christ and the world. Part of my critique is an attempt to put to words what "God with us on our journey means."
For those of you who missed Sunday, guest speaker Daniel Chung was back sharing with a message out of Exodus 17. In Exodus 17 we find the Israelites in the wilderness between coming out of the Red Sea and Sinai. Daniel discussed how the Israelites, like us, are often in the in-between places in life. His most concrete example was that we are between the saving grace that God has given us by pulling us out of slavery (us = slaves to sin, Israel = slaves to Egypt), washing us (us = baptism, Israel =the red sea) and the future promises (us = eternal life, Israel = promised land).
Daniel’s sermon mostly dealt with Israel’s question, “Is God really with us? Or has he led us out here to die in the desert?” By the end of the sermon Daniel answered the question affirmatively that YES!!! God is with us and was with the Israelites even through the tough times. He answered this question affirmably by showing that the Israelites acknowledged God’s presence when the water flowed from the rock. While I agree with Daniel that God is with us, I believe he missed an opportunity to share what this means for us today.
As we have learned, and Daniel even touched on, there are many symbols and references in the Bible that when given, draw us back to previous stories and meanings. As Steve as shared sometimes these symbols/references come in the form of standing stones, names, places, etc. What I want focus on is the image of the water coming out of the rock, and what it means for God to be present in the image of water.
If you go back and re-read Exodus 17 the picture that Moses paints is one where he (Moses) goes out to look for God standing on a rock. It is because God is standing on the rock that Moses knows which rock he is to strike with his staff. Upon striking the rock water flows forth. When this mini narrative is viewed in light of the rest of the Scriptures a couple things jump out that have implications for us today.
First, the image that is used again and again throughout Scripture for the Holy Spirit is water. (Jer 2:13. John 7:37-39, Acts 2:33, Luke 3:16, Joel and many more). Daniel indirectly referenced this by reading John 4 which depicts the story of the Samaritan Woman. In the story of the Samaritan woman Jesus offers her spiritual water which he says will quench her thirst. This spiritual water is the Holy Spirit which Jesus again promises in Acts 1:8 and is poured out in Chapter 2.
Even more interesting is the image or the water coming out of the rock, which was struck, while God was standing on top of it. What does it look like? God standing upon Jesus shoulders while Jesus is being struck for our iniquities and the Holy Spirit flowing from him… I could break down all the symbols and references that lead me to this conclusion but Paul does it for me in 1st Corinthians 10:
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
So what does this mean for us today? The spiritual water which the Israelites drank we too can drink. In Acts 2:38 Peter says “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Further implications, we are given the holy water, the holy spirit, which is the way the world might know that God is present in our lives. We are living ambassadors living as representatives sent to the world. The world will know Christ through us.
Over the next 10 weeks I hope I will be finding time to define what those actions as Christ's ambassadors looks like.
Forward: I think The Politics of Jesus is messing me up.
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