Worship Helps for Pentecost 11

The Gathering of the Manna

Artist: Dirk Bouts

Date: c. 1465

Worship Theme: Many Christian churches stress social action. Feeding the hungry is important for Christians. God commands acts of mercy. Sadly, however, many churches offer little more than physical bread, bread that does not last. Bread is necessary for this life, but Jesus wants his Church to focus on offering the Bread of Life (Jesus himself, the Word of God). This Bread nourishes our souls, not just now, but for all eternity.

Old Testament: Exodus 16:2–20

²The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat around pots of meat and ate as much food as we wanted, but now you have brought us out into this wilderness to have this whole community die of hunger.”

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Watch what I will do. I will rain down bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether they will follow my instructions or not. ⁵On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “At evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷and in the morning you will see the Glory of the Lord, because he has heard your constant grumbling against the Lord. Who are we that you should grumble against us?”

⁸Moses said, “Now the Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and as much bread as you want in the morning, because the Lord has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰As Aaron spoke to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and suddenly the Glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹²“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Say to them, ‘At evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³So in the evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew surrounded the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew was gone, there were thin flakes on the surface of the wilderness, thin as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given to you as food to eat. ¹⁶This is what the Lord has commanded: All of them are to gather as much of it as they need to eat. You are to take an omer per person based on the number of people each of you has in your tents.”

¹⁷The Israelites did this, and some gathered more, some less. ¹⁸When they measured it with an omer, the one who gathered more did not have too much, and the one who gathered less did not have too little. All of them gathered as much as they needed to eat. ¹⁹Moses said to them, “No one is to leave any of it until morning.” ²⁰However, they did not listen to Moses. Some of them left part of it until morning, and it became full of worms and stank. So Moses was angry with them.

1. Why did all Israel grumble against Moses and Aaron?

2. Whenever we grumble, against whom are we grumbling? (See 16:8)

3. How did the LORD provide for his grumbling people?

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1–5, 11–13   

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, ²and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them—and that rock was Christ! ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. He had them die in the wilderness.

¹¹All these things that were happening to them had meaning as examples, and they were written down to warn us, to whom the end of the ages has come.

¹²So let him who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you except ordinary testing. But God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it.

4. How would you respond if someone says, “I know God severely punished people long ago, but things changed once Jesus died on the cross”? (See 10:11)

5. Can a Christian lose his or her faith? (See 10:12)

Gospel: John 6:24–35   

²⁴When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

²⁸So they said to him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.”

³⁰Then they asked him, “So what miraculous sign are you going to do, that we may see it and believe you? What miraculous sign are you going to perform? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³²Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴“Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!”

³⁵“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.

6. What kind of bread were the people interested in having from Jesus? What kind of bread did Jesus offer? How did the people misunderstand?

7. What did Jesus mean when he said: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty”?

Answers:

1. Israel was in a difficult spot: They had very little to eat.

2. Whenever we grumble, we are grumbling against the LORD. Yet he has put us where we are. He promises to provide all his children need, and he has been so kind, so often. He forbids grumbling. So why do we grumble?

3. From heaven the LORD daily provided Manna (Hebrew for “What in the world …?”) It was “white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey” (16:31). On this particular day, the LORD also provided quail.

4. If someone claims that Old Testament Bible stories about God punishing people do not apply to us, we should tell them that the New Testament says that all those stories are meant to warn us and to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things, as people long ago did.

5. Sadly, yes, a Christian can lose his or her faith. We need this warning whenever we think we are standing firm on our own. When we feel unsure of our future and sorry for our sins, we need the comfort only the Gospel gives.

6. The people were interested in having physical bread. Jesus offered “food that endures to eternal life.” The people still thought that Jesus was offering physical bread that would last forever.

7. Jesus is talking about faith in him as the Savior from sin. While Jesus also promises to provide for our daily, earthly needs, here he is focusing on the eternal needs of our souls. Through faith in Jesus, the Bread of Life, we can be assured that we will never go spiritually hungry or thirsty.

Putting your faith into action

At a buffet restaurant each customer chooses an appropriately sized serving so that there is no leftover food to pick up from the tables. If there are lots of leftovers it means the customer demonstrated a lack of control and bad judgment. When God gave the Israelites manna for food, he promised to provide all the manna each person needed. But some doubted. They saw the delicate nature of the manna and how it appeared like frost. They came to the logical conclusion that such light nourishment would not be enough, so some gathered more than they could eat. But the excess manna spoiled, became insect-infested, and smelled horrible. God promises to give us “all that we need to support this body and life” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed). If we trust God’s Word, we can be satisfied in having what we need. “Take all you need,” says God, “but use all you take in service to my world.”

A reading from the Book of Concord for Pentecost 11

[NEGATIVE STATEMENTS]

We reject the following teaching of the popes and monks: after regeneration a person can completely fulfill God’s Law in this life, and through this fulfillment of the Law he is righteous before God and merits eternal life.

On the other hand, the enthusiasts should be rebuked with great seriousness and zeal.  They should not be tolerated in any way in God’s Church.  They imagine that God, without any means, without the hearing of the divine Word, and without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws people to Himself, enlightens, justifies, and saves them.

We should also rebuke those who imagine that in conversion and regeneration God creates a new heart and new person in such a way that the substance and essence of the old Adam, and especially the rational soul, are completely destroyed, and a new essence of the soul is created out of nothing.  St. Augustine clearly rebukes this error in ‹his comments on› Psalm 25, where he quotes the passage from Paul [in Ephesians 4:22], “Put off your old self …”  Augustine explains this in the following words: Lest anyone might think that the essence of a person is to be laid aside, he explains what it is to lay aside the old man, and to put on the new, when he says: “Putting away lying, speak the truth.” – Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article II, Free Will, paragraphs 79-81

Click on the link to watch a YouTube video of this hymn.

Rock OfAges, Cleft For Me

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood From thy riven side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure: Cleanse me from its guilt and pow'r.

Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill thy law's demands.

Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace.

Foul, I to the fountain fly -- Wash me, Savior, or I die!

While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyelids close in death,

When I soar to worlds unknown, See thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee!