Exodus 15:22–26 NRSV

Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” He cried out to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

When Life Gives you Bitter Water

IS THERE ANYTHING MORE REFRESHING THAN A COLD DRINK OF WATER?

ON A HOT SUMMER DAY WITH THE SWEAT IS POURING DOWN YOUR FACE AND YOUR THROAT IS DRY …. CRYING FOR RELIEF FROM THE THIRST, IS THERE ANYTHING MORE REFRESHING THAN A COLD GLASS OF WATER?

NOTHING QUENCHES A THIRST LIKE A COLD GLASS OF GOOD OL’ H2O

YES A COKE IS GOOD. A PEPSI MAY BE FINE. AN ENERGY DRINK MAY HELP.

BUT THERE IS NOTHING THAT REALLY SATISFIES YOUR THIRST LIKE A COLD DRINK OF WATER.

DURING MY YOUNGER YEARS….WHEN I RAN TRACK IN HIGH SCHOOL …. AFTER FINISHING A RACE….THERE WAS NOTHING BETTER THAN GOING BACK TO THE COOLER FILLED WITH COLD WATER….AND DRINKING A FEW CUPS …TO REHYDRATE MY BODY AND COOL ME DOWN

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE WATER.

A PERSON CAN LIVE A LONG TIME ON BREAD AND WATER.

BUT YOU CANNOT SURVIVE TOO LONG WITHOUT WATER.

YOUR BODY BEGINS TO DEHYDRATE AND EVENTUALLY YOU WILL PERISH.

CAN YOU THINK OF A SITUATION MORE DESPERATE THAN BEING IN A HOT DESERT WITH NO WATER TO BE FOUND?

PEOPLE HAVE GONE MAD AND BECOME DELIRIOUS IN SEARCH OF WATER.

CAN YOU IMAGINE YOURSELF GOING WITHOUT WATER FOR DAYS AT A TIME?

THIS BRINGS US TO THE SITUATION IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAVE ESCAPED BONDAGE IN EGYPT.

MOSES HAS LED THEM OUT OF EGYPT AND ACROSS THE RED SEA.

THEY HAVE MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPED THE PURSUIT OF PHAROAH’S ARMY WHICH WAS DROWNED IN THE SEA WHILE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WALKED OVER ON DRY GROUND.

IT WAS ATIME FOR GREAT CELEBRATION OVER WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE.

NOW THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS TO THE PROMISED LAND.

BUT IT WASN’T TOO LONG BEFORE THEY ARE FACED WITH THE REALITY OF THEIR SITUATION.

THIS WAS THE CASE WITH THE ISRAELITES.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE GOING WITHOUT WATER FOR 3 DAYS THAT WILL CAUSE YOU TO FACE THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION.

THEY CANNOT LIVE ON EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM.

THEY NEEDED SOME WATER TO DRINK IN ORDER TO LIVE.

AS I WAS PREPARING THIS SERMON…IN MY RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT AFTER THE FIRST DAY’S JOURNEY THEY STOPPED AT A PLACE WHERE THERE WAS WATER, BUT IT WAS TOO SALTY TO DRINK.

THE FLOCKS COULD DRINK FROM THAT WATER, BUT NOT THE PEOPLE.

THE SECOND DAY’S JOURNEY BROUGHT THEM TO ANOTHER STOPPING PLACE, BUT THERE WAS NO WATER THERE.

THE PEOPLE WERE GETTING A LITTLE ANXIOUS NOW.

BUT MOSES TOLD THEM NOT TO WORRY. MOSES WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE LAND……

HE KNEW THAT ANOTHER DAY’S JOURNEY WOULD BRING THEM TO A PLACE KNOWN AS MALHA.

MOSES KNEW THAT THE WATER AT MALHA WAS FRESH AND GOOD TO DRINK.

MOSES TOLD THEM, “HOLD ON FOR ANOTHER DAY AND YOU WILL FIND FRESH WATER TO DRINK.”

SO DESPITE THEIR WEARINESS AND THIRST THEY MARCHED ON REFRESHED BY THE ANTICIPATION OF DRINKING FROM THAT WELL OF FRESH WATER.

BUT WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE WELL THE NEXT DAY THEY FOUND THE WATER WAS BITTER.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FRESH WATER?

WHAT WENT WRONG?

HAD MOSES LIED TO THEM?

WHAT MADE THE WATER TURN BITTER AND UNDRINKABLE?

THERE IS A LOGICAL EXPLANATION TO WHY THE FRESH WATER WAS NOW BITTER.

A RAINSTORM HAD COME UP EARLIER AND THE RAIN HAD WASHED THE MINERAL SALTS DOWN FROM THE CLIFFS INTO THE VALLEY, CAUSING THE WATER IN THE WELL TO BECOME SALTY, BITTER, AND UNDRINKABLE.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN THE STORMS TURN THE WATERS OF YOUR LIFE INTO BITTERNESS?

THE WATER AT THIS PLACE WAS NORMALLY FRESH AND GOOD TO DRINK.

BUT THE RAINSTORM HAD POLLUTED THE WATER, MAKING IT UNDRINKABLE.

HOW FRUSTRATING AND DISAPPOINTING CAN IT BE WHEN THE WATERS OF YOUR LIFE TURN BITTER.

CAN YOU IMAGE THE FRUSTRATION OF THE PEOPLE AS THEY DRANK THE WATER……. BUT HAD TO SPIT IT OUT BECAUSE IT WAS BITTER?

SINCE THE WATER IS BITTER TO TASTE.

THEY RENAMED THE PLACE, MARAH, WHICH MEANS BITTER IN HEBREW.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE WATERS OF LIFE BECOME SOUR AND TART

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER UNPALATABLE AND UNPLEASANT SITUATIONS ON THE JOURNEY OF LIFE?

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH BITTER WATERS?

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FACE THE BITTER WATERS OF DISAPPOINTMENT IN LIFE.

___ EMPHASIZE

YOU LOOKED FORWARD IN ANTICIPATION TO GETTING THAT JOB WE APPLIED FOR.

BUT WE SOON FOUND OUT THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAD GOTTEN THE JOB.

BITTER WATERS OF DISAPPOINTMENT.

YOU APPLIED FOR THAT HOME LOAN …..YOU KNEW YOUR CREDIT WAS RIGHT……BUT STILL GOT DENIED.

BITTER WATERS OF DISAPPOINTMENT.

YOU STARTED A RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE….WHO SEEMED TO BE MR. OR MRS. RIGHT……

ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THEY WERE REALLY MR. OR MRS. WRONG FOR YOU.

BITTER WATERS OF DISAPPOINTMENT….

SOMETIMES WE WONDER WHY BITTER WATERS COME. THE ISRAELITES PROBABLY WONDERED WHY THEY FACED THEIR DIFFICULTIES….

MAYBE GOD HAD A LESSON HE WANTED TO TEACH THEM

AND TRUTH BE TOLD……PERHAPS HE IS TRYING TO TEACH US A LESSON IN OUR BITTER WATERS OF DISSAPPOINTMENT.

PERHAPS HE WANTED TO TEST THEIR FAITH, TO SEE IF THEY WOULD REALLY DEPEND ON HIM.

AFTER ALL, EVEN THOUGH THE WATERS WERE BITTER, GOD WAS STILL GOD.

THE WATERS WERE BITTER, BUT GOD WAS WITH THEM.

HAD THEY FORGOTTEN SO SOON WHO IT WAS THAT HAD LEFT PHAROAH’S ARMY DROWNED IN THE SEA……WHILE THEY ESCAPED ON DRY LAND?

BITTER WATERS WERE NO PROBLEM TO HIM WHO COULD ROLL UP THE WATERS OF THE SEA LIKE A MIGHTY SCROLL.

HE WAS THE SAME GOD WHO HAD DIVIDED THE WATERS FROM THE WATERS, GATHERED THEM TOGETHER AND CALLED THEM SEAS.

HE WAS THE GOD WHO MADE EVERYTHING GOOD.

________

SOME PEOPLE BECOME EMBITTERED BY BITTER WATERS.

WHEN LIFE HANDS THEM A RAW DEAL, WHEN HOPES FIZZLE, THEY RESPOND WITH BITTERNESS.

WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?

THEY SHAKE THEIR FISTS IN THE FACE OF GOD AND CRY WHY, WHY, WHY, GOD.

HOW DARE YOU INFLICT ME WITH THIS ILLNESS. HOW DARE YOU TAKE AWAY MY CHILD OR MY WIFE OR MY HUSBAND?

HOW DARE YOU, GOD.

THEY RESPOND WITH THE JOB’S WIFE SYNDROME; TO CURSE GOD AND DIE!

SOME PEOPLE STILL CARRY BITTERNESS IN THEIR HEARTS OVER SOME TRAGIC EXPERIENCE EARLIER IN LIFE.

WE PROBABLY HAVE HEARD OF PEOPLE WHO BECAME SO EMBITTERED BY A BITTER EXPERIENCE THAT THEY TURNED THEIR BACKS ON GOD, LEFT THE CHURCH, AND LOST THEIR FAITH.

BUT THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO TAKE BITTER WATERS OF LIFE IN STRIDE.

THEY REFUSE TO LET BITTER WATERS EMBITTER THEIR LIVES.

THEY BELIEVE THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO ARE THE CALLED OF GOD.

WHAT WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE IS THAT THE WATERS OF LIFE ARE NOT BITTER ALL THE TIME.

THE WATERS AT THIS WELL WERE DRINKABLE MOST OF THE TIME.

BUT THE STORMS WASHING DOWN RAINS CONTAINING MINERALS MADE THE WATER BITTER.

MOST OF THE TIME WE GET ALONG FAIRLY WELL IN THE WATERS OF LIFE.

MOST OF THE TIME THINGS ARE GOING RELATIVELY WELL.

SOMETIMES THEY AREN’T THAT GREAT, BUT MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE ALRIGHT.

MOST OF THE TIME WE ARE BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED OF THE LORD.

BUT IF TRUTH BE TOLD…..

WE TEND TO FOCUS ON THE BAD THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO US IN LIFE.

BUT MOST OF US CAN SAY THAT THE GOOD DAYS HAVE OUTNUMBERED THE BAD DAYS.

THANK GOD TROUBLE DOESN’T LAST ALWAYS.

WEEPING SHALL ENDURE FOR A NIGHT, BUT JOY COMES IN THE MORNING.

THINGS AREN’T BAD ALL THE TIME.

BUT THEN THERE ARE THOSE STORMS OF LIFE WHICH TURN OUR WATERS INTO BITTERNESS.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU BITTER WATER?

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE STORMS OF LIFE BRING AN UNEXPECTED ILLNESS, THE SUDDEN LOSS OF A LOVED ONE, THE LOSS OF A JOB, A CRISIS IN THE FAMILY? THE COVID PANDEMIC HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR MANY OF US.

OFTEN TIMES THE STORMS OF LIFE COME ON US UNEXPECTEDLY, TURNING OUR WATERS INTO BITTERNESS.

BUT LOOK WHAT HAPPENED……

MOSES CRIED OUT TO GOD. GOD HEARD HIS PLEA AND ANSWERED.

GOD FOR WHOM NOTHING IS TOO HARD, DID A STRANGE THING.

GOD WHO COULD HAVE SPOKEN TO THE WATERS, MAKING THEM SWEET…….INSTEAD

HE SHOWED MOSES A TREE.

WHEN MOSES CAST THIS TREE INTO THE WATERS, THE BITTER WATERS BECAME SWEET.

THERE WERE CERTAIN TREES WHOSE BARK HAD THE ABILITY TO MAKE THE WATER CHANGE…..SO THEY BECAME SWEET AND CLEAR.

THE TREE WAS THERE ALL THE TIME.

GOD SHOWED MOSES THE TREE.

BUT WHEN MOSES SAW THE TREE HE KNEW WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

HE CAST IT INTO THE WATERS AND THE WATERS BECAME SWEET.

SOMETIMES THE ANSWER OR THE SOLUTION FOR OUR BITTER WATERS IS CLOSE AT HAND.

GOD WILL SHOW US WHAT WE CAN DO TO SWEETEN UP THE WATERS OF LIFE.

GOD HAS TREES RIGHT AT HAND---TREES WITH THE MEDICINAL QUALITIES TO HEAL THE SOURS WATERS AND TURN BITTERNESS INTO SWEETNESS. GOD HAS SHOWN US A TREE.

SOMETIMES HE SHOWS US THE TREE OF PRAYER. MAYBE THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO IN THE MIDST OF BITTER WATERS IS TO FALL ON YOUR KNEES AND HAVE A SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER.

SOMETIMES THAT SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER THAT CALLS US FROM A WORLD OF CARE CAN SWEETEN THE BITTER WATERS OF LIFE.

CAST THE TREE OF PRAYER INTO THE BITTER WATERS OF LIFE.

SOMETIMES HE SHOWS US THE TREE OF HIS WORD.

GOD’S WORDS ARE SWEET TO THE TASTE. SWEETER THAN HONEY TO YOUR MOUTH.

LET THE PROMISES OF GOD SWEETEN UP THE WATERS OF YOUR LIFE.

PROMISES LIKE, “THOU SHALL NOT BE AFRAID FOR THE TERROR BY NIGHT NOR THE ARROW THAT FLIES BY DAY.”

PROMISES LIKE, “HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER THEE TO KEEP THEE IN ALL THY WAYS.”

LET THE WORD AND THE PROMISES OF GOD BE FOR YOU A TREE TO SWEETEN UP THE WATERS OF LIFE.

BUT GOD HAS ANOTHER TREE TO SHOW US.

HE COULDN’T SHOW MOSES THIS TREE.

BUT GOD PREPARED A TREE ONE DAY FROM WHICH THE CROSS OF CALVARY WAS FASHIONED.

GOD HAS SHOWN US THIS TREE.

THIS IS THE SWEETEST TREE OF ALL.

THIS IS THE TREE THAT TOOK AWAY THE STING AND BITTERNESS OF DEATH.

ON THIS TREE JESUS CAST HIMSELF IN THE BITTER WATERS OF DEATH THAT LIFE MIGHT BECOME SWEET FOR HUMANKIND.

THANK GOD FOR THE TREE WHICH IS JESUS.

JESUS DRANK THE BITTER CUP OF DEATH TO SWEETEN UP OUR LIVES.

HE CRIED, “IF IT BE THY WILL LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME.” BUT HE DRANK IT.

HE DRANK IT ALL THAT OUR LIVES MIGHT BE SWEETER.

HE PLUNGED HIMSELF INTO THE BITTER WATERS OF DEATH THAT OUR LIVES MIGHT BE SWEET FOREVER MORE.

WHAT A JOY TO KNOW JESUS. HE’S SWEET I KNOW.

BUT MORE THAN THAT…. IS THAT HE’S SWEET ON ME.

I KNOW JESUS IS SWEET.

BUT THE THING I LIKE ABOUT IT IS THAT JESUS IS SWEET TO ME.

DESPITE MY FAULTS AND FAILURES, HE IS STILL SWEET ON ME.

HE LOVES ME WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE.

SOMEBODY MIGHT BE THINKING…….HOW DO YOU KNOW HE IS SWEET ON YOU PASTOR NEAL?

JESUS LOVES ME ………THIS I KNOW FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.

I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY BITTER WATERS I MAY YET HAVE TO GO THROUGH.

LIFE MAY NOT BE THROUGH PUTTING ME THROUGH BITTER WATERS.

BUT AS LONG AS JESUS IS SWEET ON ME, I DON’T HAVE TO WORRY.

I’LL BE ALRIGHT.

HE’LL LOOK AFTER ME BECAUSE HE IS SWEET ON ME.

HE’S SWEET ON ME.

DARK CLOUDS MAY RISE AND STRONG WINDS MAY BLOW.

BITTER WATERS MAY COME.

BUT I’LL TELL THE WORLD WHEREVER I GO, THAT I HAVE SOMEBODY WHO IS SWEET ON ME.

THE GOOD NEWS THIS MORNING IS THAT YOU TOO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO IS SWEET ON YOU.

HE’LL LOOK AFTER YOU, CARE FOR YOU, AND SEE ABOUT YOU, BECAUSE HE IS SWEET ON YOU.