Manna and Gratitude - A Sermon for Sunday October 5, 2025
I hope you are enjoying the journey so far
through the Narrative Lectionary.
We are learning that God journeys with us.
We heard last week the name of God - YHWH
I Am who I Am
I am present where I am present.
God is present.
A helpful word for the coming weeks is Listen!
God listens to us.
Good things happen when we listen to God.
Today’s text is about God listening.
Today we enter the story
as Israel is just weeks into their new found freedom,
and the people are suffering.
An important part of the wilderness journey
is Israel had been captive for generations,
and now they need to figure out how to live
as a freed people.
Freedom comes with struggle.
It is important to remember a couple details
of God’s saving power:
God called Moses and Aaron,
and God was at work powerfully through them.
You might recall the ten plagues
that rained down on Egypt.
Pharaoh’s heart hardened each time.
The final plague was a revisit
of the Pharaoh’s slaughter of the innocents
The first born children of Egypt will die.
The Israelites were instructed to institute the Passover.
Marking the door with the blood of the lamb
allowed death to pass over Israel.
The Pharaoh allowed Israel to leave,
but not before chasing them down for battle.
But God provided and God protected Israel
with a pillar of fire and cloud;
the reed sea was opened
and Israel escaped the imperial might of Pharaoh,
by the hand of God.
Invite reader forward.
Our God is a God of reversal,
who brings insecure, tyrannical,
power-hungry,
wisdom-lacking,
racist commanders down from their thrones,
and lifts up the lowly.
Now, by the hand of God,
Israel is fed.
Let us turn to God’s Word
to hear what God is saying to us today.
FIRST READING: Exodus 16:1-18
A reading from Exodus.
1 The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The 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 pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then 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. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites: ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 And 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. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 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.’ ”
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When 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. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.” 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.
Word of God. Word of life.
Thanks be to God.
Part of me wants to be hard on the Israelites,
part of me gets it:
the grumbling, the complaining.
I am very much like Israel,
and maybe you are too.
If I’m being honest,
my faith can be like the Janet Jackson song:
a “what have you done for me, lately?”
Kind of faith.
I have had powerful experiences of God in my life,
times in which I can remember God’s presence and power,
but I easily forget,
and my thoughts about God can easily become:
what have you done for me, lately?
Perhaps that’s one reason why we come to church.
to remember God’s power,
to hear anew the power of the Gospel,
to remember those times in our lives
that we have perceived God’s presence
because sometimes,
like that gathering song we sang last week,
it feels like God is asleep,
that Jesus is asleep on the cushion in our storm.
Indeed, God does care when it seems we are perishing.
And God listens.
Remember this - pray. Call out to God.
Complain. Lament.
trust that God hears your heart
and God knows your pain.
Part of the life of faith is honesty with God
and honesty with ourselves
about our challenges.
Israel was honest with God.
Yes, God freed them powerfully,
but now in their freedom,
they are hungry.
They long for the fleshpots of Egypt,
they were slaves,
but at least they had some meat and bread.
Let’s be honest - the Israelites were not hangry,
they didn’t just need a snickers bar,
they were starving.
Like many in Gaza today,
they were near death.
Freedom comes with challenge; with suffering.
Israel cannot rely on their slavemasters for food any longer,
they have to rely on God,
and they have to get to work.
I’ve been trying to imagine this wilderness scene
in my mind all week,
and I can’t really wrap my mind around it.
According to the book of Numbers,
about 800,000 men left Egypt.
Including women and children,
that makes about 2 million people.
I don’t know what 2 million people look like.
This is like all of Calgary and the surrounding area
walking out to the mountains together.
If you think the crowd at the Saddledome is bad,
this must have been utter chaos.
But God brings order and beauty out of chaos.
God feeds God’s people.
And the people call it Manna - literally “What is it”?
If you read ahead in the story,
Manna is like coriander seed.
White colour -
and it tasted like wafers made with honey.
But the people will complain again.
From the book of Numbers,
after the death of Aaron,
the people became impatient
with the long wilderness journey.
The people spoke out:
“why have you brought us up out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness.
For there is no food, no water,
and we detest this miserable food.”
Spoiler: God didn't’ really like it.
What do you mean no food?
God gave manna and quail.
Wafers made with honey doesn’t sound miserable.
What do you mean no water?
God poured water from the rock.
God freed Israel powerfully,
God fed Israel,
The people should remember and be thankful.
But, I also get it.
It has to be beyond challenging
to feed 2 million in the wilderness.
The dessert, wilderness, is not where food is aplenty.
And they were starving.
A couple thoughts.
A colleague reminded me this week that
sometimes we are called to fail.
Sometimes failure reminds us that we all rely on God.
and the business world will tell you
that you have to fail in order to succeed,
that outcomes and mistakes and perceived failure
can lead to innovation.
Maybe Israel was called to fail in the wilderness,
so that they can learn in the wilderness to trust God.
Sometimes, you and I are called to fail.
Second thought - Sometimes the prayer of the faithful
keeps God accountable for God’s promises.
This was the prayer of Jacob, wrestling with God,
holding God accountable for God’s promises.
Maybe Israel wasn’t complaining,
maybe it was lament and prayer,
holding God accountable for Gods’ promises.
Israel feared death by hunger,
longing for the food they had in slavery,
because slavery is better than hunger
and God hears their cries.
“I will make Bread rain down from Heaven” says God.
Manna - or “what is it?”
The people find this foreign substance,
They are curious about it,
and like Moses and the burning bush,
God uses curiosity,
and the people can eat.
But they can’t hoard.
As they save this manna for days to come,
it quickly rots.
But when it is shared,
there is enough for everyone.
As if manna weren’t enough,
God provides quail.
God provides water from the rock.
God freed Israel.
God provides for Israel.
But Israel didn’t always like how God provided.
It doesn’t take much imagination to consider their diet.
Quail. Every night.
There’s only so many ways to cook quail:
Roast Quail,
Quail Tartare,
Quail stew,
Quail Sushi when the fire goes out,
Same with Manna:
Manna bread,
Manna paste,
Manna with Quail if you’re lucky.
It was the same food, every day.
It reminds me a little of my puppies.
Sometimes I look down at their kibble
and I think wouldn’t want to eat THAT every day.
But they don’t complain.
they wolf it down.
I’d like to show you a little video.
I’ve been wanting to show this to you for some time,
some of you may have seen it already.
I think we can all use an example of faith.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2xIdEEFyi-8
Same kibble, every day.
But this dog won’t complain.
this dog has to thank God.
Not one bite before Amen!
I’m going to remember this pup
next time I want to sneak a bite before grace!!
With Israel’s freedom
comes an invitation into a new way of life:
where they can simply expect God will provide;
simply trust that God will provide,
and be thankful.
The praises go up,
and the blessings come down.
But this new way of life was hard for them.
I believe that Christians today
have to learn a new way of life,
a new way of being church,
because the old way of church
isn’t exactly working anymore.
Israel missed their fleshpots.
We miss being the centre of society.
Israel found themselves in a wilderness crowd
and we long for the crowds that used to enter these doors.
The world in changing.
The past is past,
it cannot be changed.
It was true for Israel,
it is true for us.
How will Israel move forward?
How will we?
A lesson from Manna:
You can’t hoard your past.
Manna is given every day.
Faith is given every day.
When Israel saved Manna for the next day,
it would rot and they had maggots.
When it comes to God and God’s work in the world,
when it comes to our faith,
when it comes to being the church
God provides enough for today.
Tomorrow,
God will provide for that day.
So share your Manna today.
When you take a step forward in faith,
when you join God’s work,
God will provide for you,
but God will provide for you according to God’s will.
Like Manna,
it might be something unexpected.
You might say “What is this?”
and it might just be God providing.
God might even be calling us to fail.
But remember the cross of Christ,
and God turning the greatest failure
into resurrection and new life.
Like Israel,
we are invited to live into dependance on God,
to live in gratitude to God.
This has always been God’s invitation.
God is committed to God’s people,
to a fault.
God is committed to you.
God keeps God’s promises,
and God hears the cries of God’s people.
It happened with Israel,
and it is happening with you.
Jesus Christ is the bread of life.
Jesus is your manna.
By the blood of the Lamb,
death passes over us.
There is more than enough Manna at this table
to go around.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
