Readings
Exodus 17:1-7
Writing of this Exodus reading Maurice Andrew suggests that :
Creation does not of itself liberate an oppressed people, but a liberated people must also be able to live from creation, as we see when, after only three days in the wilderness, they find no water. After liberation, people become migratory and their wandering is characterised not by the will to go forward for life, but by the desire to return to security. In the difficult period between liberation and the gaining of land, which the wilderness wandering represents, the limitations of the people are witheringly exposed. [1] We could call this episode ‘the whinging in the wilderness’ and there is a lot of it about.
John 4: 5-42
We often get long readings from John’s Gospel because in John’s Gospel Jesus makes long complicated theological speeches and the teaching is in those speeches rather than in the description of events. In this episode we get the vision of the inclusive Christ who will accept a drink from a woman who is of a race considered unclean. Jesus also teaches this woman and sends her out on mission and she in turn brings people to Christ.
Sermon
The Exodus journey certainly had its issues with Moses’ leadership right from the very beginning. When the escaping slaves saw the Egyptians advancing on them, they cried out:
‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?’ (Exodus 14:11)
You will remember that the Egyptians were fearful and resentful of the growing population of Israelites. The Egyptians blamed the Israelites for everything that went wrong. Not just unemployment and the rising cost of housing but inflation plagues as well. They were pleased to get rid of them. They might have even called them illegal immigrants.