Tap here
James Cathcart
October 04, 2023
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Exodus 17: 1-7 (NRSVA)
1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ 5 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’
You’re standing there patting your pockets, trying to get your bearings. There’s a queue forming behind you. Folk are getting increasingly annoyed and restless. All you have to do is ‘Tap here.’
But you are not at a supermarket checkout… you’re the de facto leader of a thirsty wandering people and you’re staring down a massive boulder… and all their expectations.
You are Moses and things have started getting ugly, everyone is exhausted and thirsty and taking it out on you. There’s a menacing, electrically charged atmosphere. You have just cried out to God: “What shall I do with this people?” And God has instructed you to strike this rock so that water will spring forth.
Finally you pick up your staff and strike the rock. Water bursts out. And your immediate takeaway is not that the Lord has provided, or that you’re glad of a drink. It’s that water can sure bring out the worst in people…
Verse 7 says that you, Moses, called the place Massah (the test) and Meribah (quarrel), because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Depending on where we live, humans often have a love-hate relationship with water. It is essential for life but its over abundance or scarcity can be devastating — it certainly can bring out the worst in people. Our greatest needs can sometimes bring us together and sometimes drive us apart. Here, you (you’re still Moses) have gained a useful lesson in what desperate need can do to people. Not all storms bond us together.
Knowing when and where to tap — in the desert but also in the supermarket — choosing when and where to strike can be the difference between thriving and disaster.
PRAYER:
Lord in Heaven,
Guide us in the tap of our cards
the taps of our feet
the taps of our keyboards
and the tapping of our resources.
Help us to gather together
trusting in you and one another.
Amen.
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