Tedd Pullano
Exodus 17:1-7

Is God Among Us?

For most of my adult working life, I was in the restaurant business. When I went back to seminary I took a job in construction working in roofing and light carpentry. The man I worked for, Mike, was the owner and boss of the company. Mike was an excellent craftsman, very knowledgeable and a good guy to work for. He also had a certain kind of wisdom I have not found anywhere else. Some of his sayings and wisdom it would not be appropriate to share with you this morning, particularly with the young people present. But, I really learned a lot from working with him. Yet, while he was good at many things, he had one major fault: he was very disorganized. The dashboard of his truck was his filing cabinet, and it was always strewn with receipts and bills. Part of his problem in this regard was that he was always in a hurry. The back of his truck, where everything was kept, was a complete nightmare. Stuff was scattered all over the place. This really came into play when everything, all the tools, scraps, wood, whatever, had to go back into the truck.

Now, unfortunately for me, being the helper, when we were in the middle of a project, I always had to go find whatever tool he needed. I began to dread it when he would tell me to go get him a particular tool from the truck, because they were so difficult to find. I distinctly remember one time last year when he asked me to get him a big crescent wrench. I looked for about 5 minutes, and could not find it. Reluctantly, I returned to him knowing that he was going to be angry, and said I could not find it. In language I cannot express here, he gave me specific, graphic instructions to look again and get him the wrench. So, with head hung low, I returned to the truck. Unfortunately, after looking for a few minutes, I was still unable to find it. So I slunk back and told Mike that the wrench was actually not anywhere in the truck - I looked, I can't find it, it must not be there. Well, upon hearing this he stormed back to the truck to look for himself. When we got in the truck, he proceeded to look a little differently than I did. Mike moved a whole bunch of stuff around, shoved things out of his way, looked underneath everything, and found the wrench in question. Then he said: "You know what your problem is, Tedd? You look like a man." I responded that I was glad he felt that way, because that's what I was. With me being obviously bewildered, he explained what he meant. He told me that men and women look for things differently. Men walk into a room, look around for the missing item without actually moving or touching anything, and say they since they cannot find it, that it is not there. Since they cannot see it, it must not be there. Looking for something, for men, involves only one sense, the sense of sight. Women, on the other hand, actively look for things. They move everything in their way until they uncover what they seek. Looking, for women, involves major activity and all 5 senses. And, for women, looking means finding. Amazingly, what I was looking for was there, I just couldn't find it. Just because I couldn't see it did not mean it wasn't there. I was looking with the wrong kind of eyes.

Now, I think the Israelites we encountered today in our reading from Exodus 17 could have used my boss Mike's insight. You see, when we find them, they are in the desert, and they too are looking for something they are having trouble finding - God. Since they cannot see God amongst themselves, they automatically decide that God is not there. And, as they have done in the past, they once again ask God to prove herself to them. If you are really there, bring us some water. Now.

As I first read and reflected on this story, I was very judgmental of the Israelites. The question they ask seems, to me, to be very odd. Based on the past few years, how could they possibly ask "Is God among us or not?" Don't they remember the plagues when they were in Israel, the fact that God had destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians while at the same time preserving the animals and the firstborn of Israel, the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt or the parting of the Red Sea, the bitter water made drinkable, the quails provided for them when they wanted meat to eat, the daily provision of that manna which continually provided for their health and benefit? What about the miracle we read about today, which they had just witnessed with the water coming from the rock to quench their thirsts. Who did they think did all this for them? I appreciate the way Psalm 78 puts it:

(12)In the sight of their ancestors God worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud,and all night long with a fiery light. (15)He split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. (16)He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (24)he rained down on them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. (25)Mortals ate of the bread of angels; he sent them food in abundance.

Yet, as it says in verse 11: (11)They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.

So I could not help but wonder, how could they question if God was among them or not? Wasn't it obvious God was among them? Apparently not, because they had lost sight of God.

Then, as I was judging the Israelites harshly for their lack of faith, which Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggeman calls an "inappropriate and remarkable lack of faith", I reviewed their situation. They were in the hot, dry desert. Sure, God had led them out of slavery, out of Egypt, and told them they were going to the Promised Land. Hooray!! However, at this point in their journey, the Israelites were, as Terrence Freitheim put it: "somewhere between the Red Sea and the Promised Land. A people stuck between a promise and its fulfillment". You see, they had been promised the land of milk and honey, and yet they were still in the difficult place we call the desert- and not just physically, but emotionally, and spiritually as well. They are stuck in the desert; they are frustrated and they are thirsty. They have been freed from brutal slavery and promised a new homeland - their own home, a land of milk and honey. But clearly they were not there yet. So in the midst of this, they were just a little impatient and out of sorts. They were drained of their energy, their patience and, it appears, the faith eyes they needed to recognize God among them. They were in a godforsaken wilderness, and to them, things seemed hopeless. So, their natural response was to question if God was there, if God really cared about them. They were having trouble finding God - just like I couldn't find the wrench in the back of Mike's truck - but that did not mean he wasn't there.

Since I began here, actually even before that time - when I first considered coming here and I read your ReVision statement, I have had this sense that New Life Presbyterian is feeling similar to the Israelites. You have been wandering in the desert of a few years, caught in between the past and the Promised Land. And some of you, not all of you but some of you, have been asking the simple but profound question: Is God Among Us or Not?" So this morning I want to help you answer that question, because I believe it is a valid question. And I believe that sometimes we miss the obvious - or maybe we just need to be reminded of the obvious and the true. Let me give you an example: the other day, about 2:00 in the morning, I heard John call out to me from his room "Dad". So I hopped up and went into his room. I approached him and said "what's up buddy". And he replied, "Nothing, just making sure." You see, he was just making sure his father was there. At that very moment, his eyes could not see me. So it was reasonable to question if I was there or not. And he needed a gentle reminder that his father was there. I am totally okay with that. So, as we here at NLPC continue our march toward the Promised Land, I am feeling like is a good time to remind you as well that your God is here among you - that in fact he has never left. Let me say that I have been amazed at the deep Christian Spirituality I have witnessed in my 8 months here. Never have I experienced so many people willing to step up and pray publicly. Never have I experienced a group of people who know so much about their faith and are willing to share. We have 78 members on the rolls here - and we have been averaging 65-75 in worship each week. You cannot begin to understand how amazing that is. The depth and quality of the Christian witness here is amazing. And not only do you have this "inside" piece, but you have the "outside" piece as well. Look at all the ministries we are involved in here: RAIHN, Corner Place, Soul Singers, and the Food Cupboard ... That is a lot for 78 members. And let's ask: who here is on a board or committee? Two? Three? That is pretty powerful. You folks are great. You need to be aware of that. You need to rejoice in that and live out of it. And you need to recognize that with your wonderful faith, with your wonderful dedication to ministry, that God truly is present here. None of this happens without God being present. Just the fact that NLPC is still here witnesses to the fact that God is present.

But, don't take my word for it. I can tell you until I am blue in the face that God is present here, but that is not always the answer. Moses told the Israelites, but they didn't seem to listen. So let me ask you: do you have the eyes of faith that it sometimes takes to see God? Do your eyes see God among us or are you struggling like the Israelites to see him? Sometimes we need help with our eyes. Just the other day we went to see the Spiderwick Chronicles. Part of the story is all these goblins and gremlins that people cannot see because they don't have the power to do so. Yet, there is one good creature that can help people see. If he spits this slime into your eyes, you can finally see the entire world around you. So, let us spit in each other's eyes if you will and help one another to see God amongst us. Share it with each other. Be proud of the fact that God is among us. You will find in your pews paper to write on. Fill them out - when I collect them all, I will put them up on a poster board or something to see as a reminder to all of us that God is among us. And as we fill these out, I encourage you to share aloud how you see God among us.

Well done good and faithful servants. Remember that even though at times you may not be able to see or feel God's presence, God is surely among us.