In the Exodus reading for Sunday (17:1-7), the people are grumbling once again. Even though God has resuced the people from slavery and provided food for them to eat, they still complain. And, my guess is that if we were wandering around in a desert, with no sense of where we were going and no water to drink, we'd complain too. While the past had been a difficult and hard one, at least it was certain, and wandering around is too uncertain for most people. So the people challenge Moses by asking for water to drink, if God is among them or not, and when Moses laments to God, God gives him instructions and says, "I will be standing there in front of you". So when Moses hits the rock and water comes rushing out, I can't help but wonder, did the people gathered there perceive the presence of God? Did they "see" that God was standing there in front of them? The Biblical text tells us no. They will continue to gripe and complain. Sunday's Psalm stops just before vs 17...after the recounting of the miracles in the desert, verse 17 tells us that even after all this, they continued to sin and rebel. Doesn't make space for much hope.
In the Gospel reading (Matt 21:23-32), we find another group of folks grumbling. This time it is the chief priests and elders grumbling about Jesus. Just before this reading, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple, and performed healing miracles. This is what had folks grumbling. And they ask him essentially, "who or what gives you the right to do these things?" Instead of answering the question, Jesus asks them to instead reflect on baptism...is it from God or a human construction. In other words, in the actions of John, did you recognize the presence of God in your midst?
While the chief priests and elders took the "avoidance" way out--avoiding angering the followers of John (who believed he was the messenger of God) and avoiding admitting that Jesus was the Messiah (since John had proclaimed his work was prepratory for the coming of the Messiah)--they answered in a way that I think many of us freely admit--we do not know. We do not always perceive the presence of God in our midst.
In the telling of the "pseudo-parable", Jesus reveals that God is present when we experience a change of heart...and that occurs in the most unlikely times and places. In the case of the "pseudo-parable", God is present with the tax collectors and prostitutes. He goes on to explain that John was acting as an agent of God...preparing the way for God to be present among them. AND YET even after they saw it, they didn't believe it, and they didn't change their minds.
How do we know or perceive the presence of God? In Adult Education, we've been working on our lifelines since the beginning of the summer. Part of that process is to mark with an arrow the high and low points in our life. We are also instructed to indicate moments when we have perceived the presence of God. For some, this is a matter of drawing a heart around their entire sheet of paper. For others, it is more specific to certain events. And I have been told people have perceived the presence of God at the birth of their children, at the death of their spouse, when they have put aside their anger and frustration at their neighbor, or when they have been blessed by someone who has received a handout. And yet, sometimes we don't even realize it, and when we do, it's often after the fact.
Ubuntu (the African word for 'human being') theology says that we are defined in relationship with each other. And that this is modeled after the relationship of the Trinity. That we can not fully live without the other. And I think we get a glimpse of this idea of Ubuntu in the Philippians reading (2:1-13). Full Christian living, is not selfish or ambitious, but one of humility and respect. This way of living in community with one another is also when we experience the presence of God. When one member of a community expresses sympathy, joy or solidarity with another, this coming together is a sign of the presence of God.
If only those early Hebrews had taken a moment to recognize that they weren't simply wandering without direction, but that there were incredible miracles happening around them, they may have been more aware of living Ubuntu, and therefore, witnessed God standing before them. If only those cheif priests and elders had been able to get out of their fear of loosing control and authority, they may have been able to understand the role of the prophet and to understand that Jesus' healing, preaching, and teaching was filled with the Holy Spirit and directed by God. If only we could get out of our own way, stop grumbling so much, and instead look out for one another, laugh together, and sometimes cry together, we too might see that God has been waiting for us to arrive.