Advent Lutheran Church

"Manna in our Wilderness"

"...and they began to celebrate…” This is how I began last week’s sermon about the Prodigal Son, and the great party his father threw to welcome him home.  Celebrating is part of the Old Testament lesson that was appointed to support that gospel lesson, our text from Joshua for tonight.

The people of Israel had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years when Joshua brought them into the Promised Land.  They ended their journey the way they had begun, by crossing a river:  out of Egypt 40 years earlier thru the waters of the Red Sea, then in to the Promised land 40 years later through the water of the Jordan.

Now, just as they were poised to claim their inheritance, Joshua calls them to worship – and they sit down to a Passover meal – a seder supper – for the first time in 40 years.  What had been a terrifying incident for their parents had become a symbol for their freedom – a celebration.  And after that, the very next day, “they ate of the produce of the land” and the manna ceased.  The Hebrew word for “ceased” is shabat, the same word base for the word “Sabbath.”  So, in literal terms, the manna went on vacation.  Or Spring Break, if you prefer.

I was thinking about how God feeds us on miraculous food like manna when we are wandering in our wildernesses.  Just like the Israelites, we sit down to meals every day.  Mostly, those meals are shared with loved ones:  family, friends, co-workers, fellow students.  These meals are the fellowship of our communities.  Just like the meal we share in this community each week…

But what about those times when God’s manna seems to dry up for us?  How are we fed and nourished for our days in the desert?  I’ve talked about our encounter in Istanbul with His All Holiness, Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox church.  As I take time to try to integrate the experiences of that trip, I realize that I was forever changed by meeting him, and I believe there were two reasons why.  (1)  We heard his story, and (2) we got to eat with him.

In London, the Archbishop of Canterbury was understandably busy – we met him briefly between this meeting and that.  In Rome, the Pope received us as one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of delegations that seek an audience with his momentary presence but it was clear that our stories must strain to become intertwined once again.

But in Turkey we heard the stories of Christians living in a Muslim country.  We visited a monastery waiting almost 40 years for students to return and begin seminary studies again.  We had conversations over lunches and dinners with those in positions of leadership across two continents who listened as well to our struggles and concerns.  And then we shared a last meal before departing, and kissed the cheeks of brothers in the faith to say goodbye.

God provides miraculous manna with his presence and his grace.  But when the manna from God seems to take a “Sabbath,” God uses us and our stories to nourish one another.  God uses us when we confess to each other and God uses us when we forgive one another.  God uses us as companions on our journeys through the wilderness.  And God uses us to feed one another as we wander.  Thanks be to God for these daily celebrations.

They are the manna in our daily wildernesses.  Amen.