Worship

In the book of Exodus, chapter 16:9–15, the Israelites are complaining about the lack of food in the wilderness. They long to go back to Egypt—perhaps forgetting that’s where they had been enslaved.

It is striking how their anxiety completely distorts the memory of the recent past. Egypt was known to be a place of horrific abuse and heavy-handed oppression. It’s almost as if they forgot—not only about slavery, but they forgot about the One who was guiding them, the One who had parted the waters of the Red Sea, and who was with them even in the wilderness.

In verse 9, we find that the priest Aaron does what priests do. He invites the congregation to draw near to God—which is another way of saying, he invites them to come together in worship. As they do, the scripture says that they turned their faces toward the wilderness. If they turned their faces toward the wilderness, this means that they had to turn them away from Egypt. So they turned away from dwelling on the past. They turned away from a culture that valued production over the soul. They turned away from a place that valued their physical capabilities over common humanity.

When they looked instead to the wilderness, they saw not an empty, deathly place as they had thought, but they saw the glory of God. The “Shekinah” is the Hebrew term, and it suggests a magisterial and wondrous presence.

Then, beyond the glory, the Israelites found there was providence—manna.

In this simple act of worship, not only their eyes but their very hearts are turned. They see what they were not expecting to see. They see provision, beauty, glory.

Isn’t that what worship does—whether we do this online or in person?

Think about it. When else in life do we stop to refocus our lives? Where else do we stop to remember whose we are? When else are we able to honestly name the reality of the world around us—yes, there is a lot of brokenness, a lot of hurt and pain and hunger, and wilderness—yet still say, we are here to worship because we don’t believe that suffering has the last word?

Let us pray: Loving God, we offer to you again our entire being. In our personal and corporate worship, take our hearts, our guilt, our shame, our worries, our anxiety, our joy, our praise, our lives. And fill us with healing, meaning, hope… with manna, with the Bread of Life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.