Bitter Water Made Sweet—Exodus 15:22-27

0:00Hello, and good day. I'm Pastor Gillespie from St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in school Sherman Center random like Wisconsin. It's good to have you with us here for the congregation of prayer guide for daily meditation and prayer Rangon's word. It is Monday March 2nd, 2026. Can you believe it's March already? Uh Yeah, I can and Today our catacasus will continue in the book of Exodus. We're going to be at Mara Whereas the bitter water is made sweet with the with the wood of the tree. Might make some connections already there just thinking about it Let's see if you missed the weekend service. It's available for streaming That's that's available live and then on replay throughout the day The sermon I break out is a separate video and as audio those are now posted as well As well as the text of the sermon is on on the website. So if that helps To go back go back and review or try to catch a turn of phrase or something out of your attention

1:04Either because you questioned it's truthfulness or Are you you found it evocative and you wanted to meditate upon it? That's a great way to do so. It's a great way to do So it's a busy weekend too. I was out of town Friday Saturday on Friday morning Jim Schmidt's progressed negatively Our friend pastor Mark said a man you know I was able to visit him in my absence and Provide him last rites he died in the Lord in the afternoon He also had a relationship with pastor marks is one of the Thursday Bible study people That predates my my tenure Been going on since the dual parish. I believe way back in the day So those those folks that go to Thursday Bible study have Have kind of a double allegiance if you like they have more than one pastor and so we'll be sharing the Funeral duties a week from today At six p.m. On the ninth Let's see what else happened over the weekend We had some had some other pastoral care needs I to make phone calls while I was driving not exactly

2:06a good idea, but that's how it goes and Let's see And then I also did a coffee seminar yesterday, which I scheduled six months ago But with voters and why not just a busy weekend So a lot of catch up to do today if I've neglected to respond to a phone call or an email at this point You can look forward to that in the next day or two All right Let's see Vicki says I thought it was a great sermon. All right. Excellent. It's a great text. It's one of my favorites favorite text I think it's because it's So much of of my ministry seems similar to that woman and the wrestling with Jesus I think so much of our Christian life also And is that way where it seems Jesus is not answering us or he's not for us but against us It's certainly the theology of the cross is being taught there being a theologian of the cross living under And Christ heavy hand and that he may exalt you and do time as the psalmist says Yeah, it's good to be here alive as well So that way if you do have such comments or questions I can respond to those there was a question on saturday about

3:09Jacob and his wrestling with the man and my friend Donovan Riley had done some some work on Different translations if you compare the Hebrew and the Greek if you look at Syriac and some of the Latin and some of the other translations Um, everyone plays with the dynamic of Jacob eventually referring to him as the lord I've seen god face to face right paniel But also being called a man earlier And the moment where Jacob realizes who he is wrestling with it does seem to be to me anyway You can disagree It seems to be once Um, Jacob asked for the man's name He suspects I think with the bless asking for the blessing But then when he asks for the man's name and he says why do you ask me my name? That's the moment when Jacob says this is my lord and god Um, it reminds me of some of the other incidents where Jesus is conversing and then he immediately leaves them right he disappears from their midst Um, like when they when they want to stone him or throw him off the the cliff

4:12That would be an example But even in the upper room where he's speaking to them and then and then he he's absent from them And this absent god does not mean and and that he's truly absent just absent from our sight Or maybe even from our experience even though he's heavy heavily at hand So lots of things going on there A delightful text again Do we always know that we're wrestling with god no do we know that we're For example when we're showing hospitality that we might not be entertaining angels unaware no Right you think of Abraham with the three men. That's another another such example and Paul I think refers to that but also maybe his own experience did you net you don't know when you're dealing Even directly with god until maybe after the fact if if even them all right So such as our Christian experience Oh, let's see yeah, so I think that's I think that's sufficient to lead in So let's begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Oh, man

5:16I believe in god the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ is only Son our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell the third day He rose again from the dead He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of god the Father Almighty From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Christian Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and Life everlasting. Come in All right, our Psalm Psalm 121. I lift up my eyes to the hills from where it is my help come My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber Behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep The Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade on your right hand

6:16The Son shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life The Lord will keep you're going out and you're coming in from this time forth and forevermore Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever Oh man Classic home, right? I think we pray that quite often Our wisdom is now in chapter 8 remember we finished the Those nine or is it ten? Exchanges the Father to Son my son right and of course the Charge to Avoid Do not pass go do not go near the emoral or the forbidden or the foreign or the adulterous woman, right? Which I think is a contrast with The woman that is to be pursued which is the woman of wisdom Or personification of wisdom which ultimately finds its fulfillment in Christ But here that is likened to to the woman, right? So we'll hear that. Proverbs 8

7:21Does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift up her voice She takes her stand on the top of the high hill beside the way where the paths meet She cries out by the gates at the entry of the city at the entrance of the doors To you oh man, I call and my voice is to the sons of men. Oh you simple ones understand prudence Oh you fools be of an understanding heart Listen for I will speak excellent things and from the opening of my lips will come right things For my mouth will speak truth wickedness is an abomination to my lips All the words of my mouth are with righteousness nothing crooked or perverse is in them They are all plain to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice-gold For wisdom is better than rubies and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her Where's the quote end? Oh, I think it's still going So she even refers to herself here as she is wisdom

8:22But she also refers to herself for wisdom is better than rubies and all things when made desire cannot be compared with her Or maybe the voice switches all right, so there is that too right, but just a Such a startling contrast to having heard so much about the woman who leads one astray and now having this woman Who cries out with understanding and with wisdom and with prudence Right who speaks right things in truth and Refuses wickedness right justness comes from forth from her lips nothing crooked or perverse This is a call to wisdom And is it ultimately a call to Christ but more particularly Christ as he is Revealed as his word reveals him and also how his word I'm directs our lives in the way that we should go the I would say most of the challenges if not all the challenges we have As as Christians in our own lives and our congregation um in this world

9:22Are due to us not heating wisdom the wisdom of Christ his own word Let's talk about this yesterday in the voters assembly Uh, and that why am I why have I been publishing a weekly article on kind of our relationship to wealth and money and work Currencies these sorts of things why Because the scriptures are full of wisdom in these in these realms and we continually act outside of wisdom with Not to speak too strongly, but I think it's appropriate um in foolishness um in simplicity um Wickedly perversely without understanding without knowledge Right rather than relying upon wisdom we rely upon Our hearts the lust the passions the things that we want and things that we think we ought to do And not according to Christ's word not according to what he has said And then all of it I then our difficulties Interaction with one another with my role as pastor your role as as heroes of God's word

10:23With the with amongst the leadership and our relationship between church and school these things They all spin out from our refusal to hear wisdom and to to act wisely According to God's word with prudence and understanding As as the the woman wisdom here gives Sophia as she's called in and greet and yeah in Greek it's Sophia and it's feminine Of course Jesus ultimately being wisdom for us So we do all to listen to her as this is the point And our verse behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep But we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible And we shall be changed 1 Corinthians 15 51 to 52 And our catechism for the week is on the sacrament of the altar What is the sacrament of the altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine instituted by Christ himself for us Christians to eat and to drink

11:24Where is this written? The Holy Evangelist Matthew, Mark, Luke and St. Paul right Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed took bread And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said Take eat This is my body which is given for you this do and remembrance of me In the same way also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying Drink of it all of you This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins This do as often as you drink it and remembrance of me All right, and then who receives this sacrament? Worthily Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared

12:28For the words for you require all hearts to believe Okay So our first reading as I said we're gonna go back to Exodus. We're now in Exodus chapter 15 Beginning verse 22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea then they went out into the wilderness of Sure And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water and when they came to Mara there it is They could not drink the waters of Mara for they were bitter Therefore the name of the of it was called Mara Which means bitter And the people complained against Moses saying watch shall we drink and watch So sorry, it's a different section. What shall we drink so he cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a Tree when he cast it into the waters the waters were made Sweet there was a statute and ordinance for them are there he made a statute in ordinance for them

13:29And there he tested them and said if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight Give ear to his commandments and keep his statutes I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians for I am the Lord Who heals you then they came to Elam where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees And they are they camped by the waters All right It's time for a new prescription difficulty reading the screen that far away So it is Where did Moses lead Israel then this is after the Red Sea remember we had the song of Moses on Friday We go into the wilderness of sure wilderness of sure this is Is it in the Arabian Peninsula is that on the other side In what would be modern day Rack would be midian Hmm the Egyptian peninsula the Arabian peninsula that's the question I think it's on the Arabian side All right, how long did they travel without water as about as long as you can go

14:31Three days of course three days we hear three days we know this is going to be a death in resurrection story This is going to be a christ um in the tomb story All right, so they're going down into death and then what's going to happen here? What brings death a lack of water or rather the water is bitter All right, so the name of the place is bitter or mora What do the people do in the midst of death? They murmured or grumbled against Moses So Moses is the deathbringer to them and yet They cry out to him because they also believe he can bring life Another word for crying out or grumbling or murmuring is praying I know we we say all they're complaining and God doesn't want our complaints That's not what the scripture teaches The sort of grumbling murmuring against Moses ought to be directed towards the Lord And that's what we would call prayer your prayers are often going to be this character and

15:31As we've been started we started studying in our couples couples class Which meets on the what is it the third Sunday in the evening? I think it is so it'll be coming up in a few weeks um We've started to look at Lament and the struggle especially his parents With the death of a child or with the absence of a child these sorts of things um the scriptures teaches how to pray these at those times All right How does the Lord respond to their prayers to their cries to the Lord there verse 25 The Lord shows Moses a piece of wood or a tree and what's he do? He's to throw it into the water and then what happens to the water? He goes from being bitter to sweet All right wood water can't help but think of the cross can we I mean Jesus of course died on the tree of the cross out from his side comes water and blood Of course water with Jesus we can't we also think of baptism and they just went through a baptism didn't they? Yeah in the red sea Bikki says couple studies the last Sunday of the month. How about is it always the last Sundays that what we said not the fourth? Okay

16:38So it is So the fourth Sunday the month But we just had the fourth Sunday we moved it up didn't we oh no it was it was the 22nd so the next couple's study is the 29th is that right Palm Sunday? Yep, that's when we have it Palm Sunday in the evening All right, uh, let's see So what has God asked of Israel and of all who been baptized? See verse 26 This is really important for us as Christians because we we sometimes neglect this Especially because we we do the scripture explicitly teaches. We're not saved by our works But then we turn faith into a work and then we say well We don't we're not going to act according to faith because that would be putting trust in our works I don't know if you can hear the convoluted logic there Um the logic is that the God would somehow does not want us to live according to his word Because then that would be works righteousness No Should we continue and send that grace may about and by no means Paul says

17:41Same idea here. God is asking as he does And even commanding in our baptism right go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit and I was at end teaching them to observe all things. I have commanded them So here you have received the bitter water made sweet you've been baptized for the red sea All right Follow my word do what I tell you listen to me and you will do and you'll do what is right and it will go well with you And you in here there'll be an avoidance of disease disease that is brought upon because of the rejection of God's word of what he has said So hold fast to him right like an anchor Chained right bound actually Ah, I think it's ain't Augustine who likens the life of the faithful is being changed and being Being What do they call it tied to the mast of Christ ship going through the storm Don't you know, but I would I would say, you know, does he bind you to himself?

18:42Yes, he does I bind myself unto thee today though as the way we sing it and they him so it works both directions Remember Jesus says it John's gospel John 8 if you abide in my word You are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you freed or blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it right Which is Luke 11 all right What did God promise to keep away from them if they listened as we just said diseases Specifically the ones that were brought upon the Egyptians. Why did the Egyptians suffer the plagues? Because they rejected the word of the Lord spoken by Moses, right? So we see and then that assertion there at the end verse 26 For the Lord heals you is the one who heals you So he brings wheel and woe he brings disease and healing right So where do they go next to elim and they find there it to start contrast to what they just experienced 12 Wells of water and 70 palm trees 12 tribes 12 apostles 70s the number of days

19:46Was the 70 who went down to into Egypt right in the days of Joseph You have the 70 years in exile in Babylon. We have all those sorts of things but here Palm trees Egypt is probably the connection right and and you so you can hear in the narrative I think if only they just waited another day or however long it takes to get from Mara to to elim right the Lord was going to preserve them and he had even greater things in store for them but their prayers their laments were answered and Ultimately, it's the Lord who carries them through So we have cross we have water tomorrow we're going to have bread From heaven. So getting all the pictures all of Christ here already in this narrative in this story So the entire Christian life Is lived in baptism Likewise, Israel was baptized in the red sea That is rescued from death through water and then was confronted by water again It was but three days since the mighty deliverance, but they still grumbled

20:48They failed to confess that their god is life and that the life Triumphs over death that they had heard and seen in Egypt and at the red sea The bitter waters of death were changed to the sweet waters By a tree even as ordinary water becomes life giving water Of the Holy Spirit through the word wood or tree of the cross right so it's the cross that gives baptism It's new life Daily we return to those living waters making the sign of the cross and crying out to the god to god to be faithful To the promise he made to us and those sweet waters This is the god who multiplied the 70 who went down into Egypt and then made them into the great nation of the 12 tribes of Israel Through the prophetic and apostolic preaching symbolized in the 12 springs We drink deeply of the living water of this faithful god What a fantastic story, isn't it? That brings all of all of these elements of our of our faith together All right, and we continue our second reading from John 11 Remember we have we have this is the story of Lazarus we're in the midst of here

21:52The many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did Then the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered a council and said what shall we do for this man works many signs If we let him alone like this everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation And one of them Caiaphas being high priest that year said to them You know nothing at all nor do you consider that is expedient for us that one man should die for the people And not that the whole nation should perish now this he did not say on his own authority But being high priest that year he'll he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation And not for that nation only But also as we heard on Sunday that he would gather together in one the children of god who were scattered abroad Then From that day on they plotted to put him to death Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews But went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim and there remained with his disciples

22:55And the Passover of the Jews was near and many went from the country of up to Jerusalem Before the Passover to purify themselves Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple What do you think that he will not come to the feast now both the chief priest and the Pharisees had given a command That if anyone knew where he was he should report it that they might seize him It's curious we we were reading The blessings of Jacob you know before we got into Exodus so at the end of Genesis and Remember we talked about the blessing of Jacob to Jew who went specific yeah to him to Ephraim it was a curious blessing. Let's see if we can find that Where would that be Genesis 49? Yeah Seminan Levi Judah Zebulin is a car Dan Asher dad Joseph Benjamin where is Ephraim? What son? What number was he did I miss Ephraim? Was he the Seminan Levi Rubin?

23:58Isn't it come right after Judah? Oh, that's Zebulin is a car Sorry Trying to find it asher Nathalie Joseph and Benjamin do it maybe we talked about Ephraim's being missing well That's interesting. I don't know why I couldn't find it more quickly than that well in any case Ephraim's mentioned here Ephraim is the primary tribe of the north Of the north that remains even after the Assyrian conquest all right or least it was up until the Assyrian conquest So we had Judah to the south Ephraim to the north of the are the larger tribes This Ephraim oh, yeah, Ephraim is the one son of oh he was in the sons of Joseph. That's right. Ephraim of Manasseh All right, so what do you say to Ephraim? Oh Yes, he's the younger brother who will be greater than Manasseh and have many children And that will be a word of blessing

24:58All right, huh There we are Remember there was the whole dual hand thing with Jacob and chapter 48 of Genesis. Oh, yeah, it's all there I don't know. You could probably make a connection here to do a lot more meditation upon that though All right, let's continue with our hymn now. This was the hymn of the day yesterday when in the hour of deepest need M615 Oh When in the hour of deep Yes, need we know not where to

25:58For When days and nights of anxious thought Know how far console yet Have brought Then is our comfort The That we may meet before your throne To you Lord rescue in our You Your children's cries and time Love me Through him

27:00Is great our save your hand our All right, we'll do like we do a little bit here a little bit there Stands it one through three four through six. We'll try that this week again Um, unless time allowed All right, uh, I think we do have some commemorations this week actually We did not last week cried only on the one Today no actually this week is wide open. Okay, not until Saturday Perpetual and felicitous is on Saturday. So Let's continue with our collect for the day for Monday of reminiscirate grant We besiege the Almighty God that thy family Which does abstain from food and mortification of the flesh may fast from sin by following after righteousness Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord who live with and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen

28:02Oh God you see of ourselves we have no strength by your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body And from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God now and forever. Oh, man We pray for the joy of the resurrection for the faithful preaching and hearing of God's word for the fruit of faith Norse by the word and sacraments for faith to live in the promises of holy baptism for all vocations and daily work For the unemployed for the salvation and well-being of our neighbors for our schools our homeschools our colleges and seminaries for good government and peace We'll also pray with and thanksgiving with the Maliah celebrating her birthday yesterday and also Sophie celebrating her baptism Pray for all the households of our church especially that of Ron and Joan Michael and Michelle Stephen Karen Shannon Marlene Allen Jane we pray for our catechumans Esther Patrick Alexander sovereign We pray for those ill receiving treatment or recovering especially Joe Len Ron Lorraine Sheila Brad Kayla Vicki scarlet Dan

29:04Jim Debbie Dan Jim Jim Dick and Pauline pray for our homebound Dan Sophie Ruth Joan Paul Dolores and Ruth pray for our mission of the month Camp Louisamo And we pray now for those grieving especially the family of friends of Joyce and of Jim For all this let us pray to the Lord, Lord have mercy our Father who art in heaven Howler would be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Oh, man I thank you my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ your dear Son That you have kept me this night from all harm and danger and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil that all my doings in life may please For into your hands I commend myself my body and soul and all things let your holy angel be with me

30:08That the evil foe may have no power over me. Oh, man Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all Amen You know one thing I was going to pray for today um And I should have done that before the blessing was um On Well thinking about what's happening in our world If you don't mind if I just go back and do that quick. Yeah, let's do that Heavenly Father Lord of hosts have mercy on us You see the wars the lies that feed them and the hatred we excuse is necessary You see the innocent crushed the weak exploited the grieving exhausted in the fearful driven from home You also see the sins we would rather not name our pride revenge cruelty and cold refusal to forgive We commend to you all who suffer today the wounded and the displaced the hungry and the imprisoned the families waiting for news And those who cannot sleep because death has come too close Guard the defenseless restrain the violent give daily bread and shave shelter where there is none

31:11Strengthen those who served protect life and keep them from becoming what they fight Turn the hearts of rulers and commanders expose evil plans break the will to dominate Give wisdom that seeks peace and not applause justice and not propaganda Where repentance is needed granted where truth is suppressed bring it to light And for us forgive our lazy opinions our tribal thinking and our appetite for outrage Teach us to fear love and trust in you above all things Keep us steadfast in your word make us ready to help our neighbor in real ways and to pray without seizing We ask all this for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord Who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit one God now and forever Amen Christians think soberly about war um I Cannot abide by art some of our politicians who just start foaming at the mouth when I'll name one I listen to Lindsey Graham from South Carolina

32:11um a horrible vengeful heart he has Just delighting in war and in murder Killing people as he says I just I can't even I can't even imagine What it's like to live with that kind of spirit Um, which is a spirit of wickedness of evil right in any case um warmongers have no place Um in the amongst the Christian amongst Christians Christians ought to repent if the if they delight in such things Um as God's word demands all right, so um let's see Kkk anything else That's quite a bit. Nope. I think that's good So on the Lord be with you keep you safe and secure Um made the Lord turn Whatever bitter waters you have to sweet by his cross and we'll see you again in the morning We welcome you to join us for divine service on Sundays and Wednesdays

33:13We offer Bible class and catechesis for youth and any interested adults If this podcast is a benefit to you, please consider supporting the work of our congregation by going to sjrl.org sjrl.org And clicking the donate link join us to receive the Lord's word and his gifts you