Water from the Rock!
By Rev. William Dohle
Yesterday I had the craziest day!
I was sitting in my office in a meeting when the phone rang...twice! It was my wife who, frustrated, told me that our van had stalled at the corner of University and Lake. Since we live just down the street from that intersection, I ran down to see what was the problem.
The van had stalled. Only not just stalled. It wouldn't start again. No matter how many times we tried, it just wouldn't work.
So... I told my wife to return home with our infant and I'd work things out.
First I called the insurance company who informed me that somehow they couldn't find that part of my policy. "But..." she said, "...I'll still hook you up with a tow truck."
That was kind of them. The heat index was close to a hundred. And, waiting there, I started to sweat...a lot!
Then, as I waited for the tow truck to appear, I was visited upon by four angels. First, our youth director Amie came down the hill asking if everything was alright. She then returned with a glass of water. A first angel, a messenger of hope, came with water.
Next came my son riding down the street. He also brought me a bottle of water. My second angel of the day.
Then my wife to see if everything was alright. She came with company in our other car. My third angel.
Finally the tow truck guy arrived with the tow truck. And here the incident turned humorous!
The truck driver was hillarious! Simply hillarious! He tried to teach me how to hook my van up to the tow truck. He almost let my van roll down the hill into traffic at one point, telling me how his cousin had made the same mistake back in Oklahoma. He told me the seat belts were out in his truck when I climbed in. And then, to top it off, he breathed into a breathilizer when an alarm went off in the truck because his insurance required it.
Still, he got me to the car repair shop and gave me the best gift of all. The gift of laughter! Laughter at a terrible situation and laughter at life itself. And with that(and without garnering payment either) my fourth angel left.
And as I rode off, it occurred to me. I had just received water from the Rock. The very thing Exodus was speaking about.
The story goes when the people of Israel were thirsty again in the wilderness and crying out to God, that God instructed Moses to give them water. God told Moses, "Go out in front of the people Take some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink."
The people were thirsty. They cried out for God. And God sent help. God made even the rocks watery for the people of Israel. That was the miracle then.
And that is the miracle now. God still does this.
We can talk, as Christians, about God bringing living water out of his Rock, who is Christ. We can speak of the living water and those who drink will never be thirsty. And we can remember that Christ is the Rock from whom that water flows.
But sometimes we need more than just theology. We need more than faith. We actually need water. We need to be taken care of, just like God took care of Israel. We need that water from the rock to be, well, literal!
And that's just what happens too. God continues to make water flow out of the rocky places. Angels amongst us minister to us, even when the weather is hot and dry and there is no one around. Familiar angels and messengers of God bring water and good news. And, sometimes, stranger angels also come with crazy stories to lift our spirits and with kindness that pierces the darkness of our lives.
That's water from the Rock. That's the gift of God. It's what God gave the people of Israel way back when. It's what Christ gives us in his death and resurrection. And that is what is continued to be given to us in the deserts of our lives.
So...where has God made water flow in your deserts?
Eternal Rock, shower me with your life giving water, even in the wild places of my life. Amen.
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