From the Pastor – July 2025
The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’” (Exodus 16:2-ff)
It would seem as if grumbling comes easy to us. We grumble about everything: about work, about our families, about our circumstances, about money, about chores, about things to do around the house, about our church, about our fellow congregants, the list goes on and on. Sometimes we grumble for no specific reason and to no one in particular. Other times we know exactly why we are grumbling and we direct it to the very one that we are angry with.
The Israelites were doing just that. “It is true,” they said, “that you (Moses) have led us out of slavery in Egypt, but our circumstances now, in this desert, are far worse. We should have died there, where we were at least comfortable.” The Israelites thought that they were grumbling about Moses, but in reality they were grumbling about what God had done for them. In their eyes slavery was much better than freedom. Even as saved people of God, grumbling is an easy thing to do…
God has saved us, through our Baptisms, from sin, death, and the devil. He has freed us to be His chosen people and has promised to provide us everything that we need for this life and the next. But it is so very easy to forget this, or even worse, to believe that this is not enough; because to our sinful eyes it is not. We think we know better. We cry out to God for help in times of need and when the answer does not come in the way that we had imagined we believe that our prayers have fallen on deaf ears.
God, “rained bread from heaven” for the Israelites in the desert. This food sustained them until He brought them into the Promise Land. For forty years this was more than enough for the people of God. Was it what they wanted? No. Was it what they would have chosen? No. But was it what they needed? Yes!
In the 6th chapter of John, Jesus declares that He is the true bread from heaven. In Him is life and salvation. In Him is freedom from slavery and death. As we travel with the Israelites through this desert filled life it is easy to not realize this. It is easy to say, “That is well and good that Jesus died for me and that someday I will be in heaven. But what about now?”
Jesus is here for you now and He is enough to sustain you through this desert. At times that is the hardest thing to grasp. We believe that as children of God we should not have to wallow through the desert, but that we should immediately be given the Promise Land. But that is not how it works. … Do we understand this? Does this seem fair? No. And yet here you are, in the desert, waiting for heaven, and God does provide for you. Christ your Lord sustains you to the very end, through all of life’s struggles and tribulations. In His Word He speaks His promises to you. In His Supper He gives Himself to you. … Would we have it differently? Yes. But God’s promise is still true and still valid even if we can’t fully understand it.
Jesus says to you in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He is enough; no matter what our sinful flesh wants to believe. Amen.
Rev. Eli Lietzau
