The Rabble and The Rock

Hello Easley Patch! While looking for recent Blog type posts here in Easley I came across a recent sermon from Dr. Bill Seel at Easley Presbyterian Church in Easley. I am in no way attempting to favor one faith or church over another, however I felt this was a good example of what a Blog post on Easley Patch could be.

Dr. Seel's Sermon from June 26, 2011:

Rabble. Rabble is not just the word for faithless Israelites screaming at Moses in the wilderness. Rabble is the name of that same faithlessness, that same failure to trust and to obey God, which lives inside of us, every day – no matter how hard we try to be good.

So the question, then, is what God is going to do with a rabble such as Israel, a rabble such as lives even within His servant Moses, the persistent rabble that lives within each and every one of us? How will God respond? We watch and we listen as God responds this morning both to the rabble around Moses and to the rabble within Moses. And to both God’s answer is: grace. God answers Moses’ own lack of trust with not a word of rebuke. In fact, God does not seem to hold it against Moses at all – as if He is not surprised and actually knew all along that Moses was flawed and frail and human. God answers the rabble within Moses simply by giving Moses some new instructions to gather the elders and take up his staff and strike the rock to which God will lead him. And God answers Israel’s lack of trust in the same grace-filled manner. God answers that rabble by kindly giving them what they need. Moses, at God’s command, strikes the rock – and out flows water for the rabble to drink.

To read the full sermon, visit the Easley Presbyterian Church website.