"Bitter Waters"By A. Lamar Torrence
Cross of Life Lutheran Church
Exodus 15:1-25
This week, many of us along with the British Empire, took interest in the celebration of the twenty-first birthday of Prince William of England marking a milestone in his journey towards the royal throne as future king. It was noted that at the very young age of eight, when Prince William and his younger brother Harry were on a picnic with their mother Diana, prince William said to his mother, “Mom, when I grow up I want to be a policeman, so that I can always protect you.” His mother Diana smiled and before she could response, William’s younger brother said objectively, “ You can’t. You must be the next king of England.” Little Harry knew, what Princess Diana already knew and that was that there could only be one logical destiny for William. He must inherit the royal throne and become the king of England. Whatever the cost: the divorce of his parents, the tragic death of his mother, the scandals and the scrutiny. In spite of it all, Prince William must be king? And someone here, this morning needs to know that like there is only one possible destiny planned for little Prince William, God has only one possible destiny carved out for you. As his child, his son, his daughter, you too have a throne to inherit. You too have a crown to wear. You too have a robe of glory to adorn. You must inherit the throne. You must take your rightful place as a joint heir with the son. No matter what the cost- the disappointment, the dissatisfaction, the strife, and the pain- nothing will keep you from obtaining that destiny. When god has something for you. It is for you. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to fret. You don’t have to cuss or fuss. It’s yours. It’s waiting on you. Your path has been fixed. Your steps have been ordered. There is no river wide enough to keep you from reaching it. No mountain high enough to keep you from moving it. No valley low enough that can keep you from raising it. God’s destiny for you is assured. You must be king my son. You must be queen- my daughter. Your destiny is guaranteed.
That is what Moses was trying to teach the Israelites who just got delivered from slavery. He was trying to show them that there the enemy could produce no army, no sea, or any circumstance that would keep them from their chosen destiny in history. What God promised to give them, they would have if only they believed. That is what God was trying to tell Job in his series of rhetorical questions of “where were you?” God was trying to point out to job that he had so order the world that Job’s destiny was already planed. Jesus was trying to show his disciples that in spite of the raging seas and strong winds that made occur in our lives, when God crosses you over to your destiny, nothing on earth or in heaven could hinder the process. What God has for you, is for you.
That’s why we praise him. That’s why we glorify his holy name. We give God praise because praise is what we have been created to do. Our life is fundamentally lived in praise of God and giving him thanks. In fact the very definition of the term, doxology, is a praising or giving of Glory. Doxology is our reason for being and joy is the final outcome of God’s way with us. We respond to goodness of God with our doxology. When God does something good in our lives and for our lives, when we give him praise. We glorify his name. We magnify his name. We praise his holy name. That is what the Israelites did, and that is what God is calling us to do. Listen to the psalmist, o give thanks to the lord for he is good. For his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south.
In other words, if God has done anything for you; you should give him some thanks. No matter where you’ve come from and how far you have come, you should give thanks. If he has made a way out of no way, you should give him some thanks. If he has put food on your table, clothes on you back, a roof over your head, you should give God some thanks. Thank him for healing your body. Thank him for keeping you in your right mind. Thank him for keeping the murderers, thieves, and rapists at bay. Thank him for bills that are paid and the bill collectors that don’t call any more. Thank him for helping you walk right, talk right, and live right. If God has done anything in your life, you should at least tell him thanks.
And yet, in spite of all he ahs done, in spite of how far he has brought many of us, life often finds us in a mode of complaint rather than in a mode of celebration. In spite of how much he has blessed us, in spite of all the battles he has won for us, when we should be given him praise, we often find ourselves causing him grief. I think it is so amazing how the saints of God can go from celebrating God for he has done to complaining to God for what he has not done. I mean look at our text, here the people of God just sing to God about how much he has done, yet three days later, they are complaining because of the bitter water in the wilderness. The Israelites just experienced one of humanity’s largest blessings; yet later on they allow one small incident of discouragement to cause them to complain and doubt the power of God and his leader. I think it is simply amazing how we as a people can allow one small incident of bitterness turn our focus from God and make us forget the blessing we just experienced Just think about it. If I gave each and every one of you one hundred dollars this morning (I said “if “, not that I would), surely your spirits would be high and you would be grateful,; yet, if on the same day, you were to leave this sanctuary, go out to the parking lot and discover you had a flat tire, nine times out of ten, the rest of your day wouldn’t be focused on the hundred dollars I gave you, it would be focused on the fact you had a flat tire.
That’s simply due to the fact that as we traverse through this wilderness of life, we can get doubtful, skeptical, and critical.
For us this wilderness is intimidating. It’s a place were we are being tested, tempted, and tried. Beneath every rock is a new temptation. Behind every hollowed tree is a new trial? Our faith is challenged by our flesh. We are called to walk by faith yet; our fears are being encouraged by what they see. We are to told to trust God for our daily needs, yet, often our checkbook in the red, bill collectors are at the door, and we are thirsty for some relief.
And what’s frustrating for the average person is to be in this wilderness and find no relief. It’s frustrating to thirst and find no water or anything to quench that thirst. And often that which you think will satisfy your thirst turns out to be bitter and unfit to drink. In fact some of this chaos we are seeing through out the world is just fallout from people who thought they found water; however it was only bitter, unfit, and unsatisfying. Marriages are going to divorce court to due to bitter water. The unemployed trying to recoup and gather their senses in a jobless market is fallout from bitter water. Folks leave one church to go off and join another is fall out from bitter waters. In our society, people are getting frustrated and tired of searching for something to fulfill their desires and coming up only with bitterness. And so, they continue to search going from one relationship to the next, running up credit cards, and going through a bottles of liquor, packs of cigarettes, and cups of coffee, trying every kind of religion-looking for something to take away the pain, something to take their minds off of their problems; yet every thing they come across is either bitter water, a dry up well, or a broken cistern.
I can imagine the greatest frustration has to be to come to the one place that promises ‘living water’ but we only find bitterness. The greatest frustration for the unchurched and the unsaved is to take a chance on God, to seek him out on Sunday morning, visit one of his churches looking for living water, and to walk away with and aftertaste of bitterness.
And so many times, the lost encounter bitter waters where there should be living water. They come to the saints looking for comfort and strength but only find church conflict and strife. They come in looking for deliverance and healing but only find deception and hate. They come in looking for acceptance and love but we give them gossip and criticism. And no wonder people are so turned off from the church and religion. No wonder people are slowly giving up on God because of the toxic waste given out by God’s people. And it’s not that many of us do it intentionally. We are not aware that we have allowed life in the wilderness to make us bitter, ineffective, and dry. We are not aware that our testimonies are more “moaning” and “complaining”.
But what God wants us to realize is that that moment of bitterness is just one moment-life will go on. One of wisest words of advice I received this week, did not come from my pastors, friends, or peers, but it came from the entertainer, CHER, as I watch her interview by 20/20. She simply said that, her mother once told her, “honey, if it doesn’t matter in 5 years-it doesn’t matter. Don’t sweat the small stuff.” And that’s God’s word for you, ‘Honey if it doesn’t matter in 5 years-it doesn’t matter. Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Don’t let one small comment spoil your destiny with god. Don’t let one negative remark cause you to give up on God. Don’t let one small commotion; stop your journey to the kingdom of heaven. Keep pressing on. That’s why I still can thank him. That’s why I still praise him. That’s why I can still glorify him because in spite of it all, he is still a good God. Oh you thought I was going pout. You thought I was going to remain tight lip and upset, but honey, I’ve learned that the more bitter the cup, the bigger the blessing. You can’t make me doubt him, I know too much about him. He has done more for me, in a day than anyone could do for me in a lifetime. You can’t make me doubt him.
