Proclamation
of the Word
This is a
pivotal story in the history of the people of Israel. Throughout the Bible,
there are passages recalling the time when God brought his people out of Egypt
and saved his people.
Over the
past few weeks we had stories from the Book of Genesis, and now the Book of
Exodus, that focus on new life.
The creation
stories
Noah, and
how God wanted to start afresh
And then God
chooses and calls Abraham and Sarah – one couple who will become a nation
and this
week, the Exodus event.
It is like
God is continually moving the story along, if the world won’t cooperate, God
will work through a nation, and at times individuals within that nation.
With the
coming of Jesus, the offer of God is to all people, just as in the beginning.
God is
always calling us forward, calling us to obey, to love, to live in fullness of
life.
For a while I
want us to focus not on the main actors, but on the ordinary people.
…
Imagine what
it would have been like to be a slave in Egypt, or an Egyptian. The discussions
between Aaron, Moses and Pharaoh and his officials would not be on the news
each night like we have now. Some may have filtered out, but with everyone
doing the best they can to stay alive, I suspect it may have just seemed like a
crazy time.
The river
turning blood red, the plagues of boils, the locusts, what next?
Some of the
Hebrew people ask Moses to stop poking his nose in, because Pharaoh is getting angrier
and making them work harder.
But I wonder
how many saw the big discussions, and how many just slogged through each day,
wondering what was coming next.
I wonder if
that is how some people feel today.
Flood and
drought and bushfire, earthquakes, tsunamis ….
Or people
who lose a job, fall ill, one thing after another.
I have a
story[i]
written about the exodus from the perspective of a Hebrew girl, she looks about
8 years old in the pictures. She remembers that each day she would work
spreading mortar onto stones, looking at the birds in the sky flying freely.
Wondering if the air was sweeter up there. Then she talks of how life changed,
strange things were happening, the river turned red, frogs were everywhere,
sick and dying animals, not knowing why those things were happening. She writes
of her father killing a lamb, and putting blood on the doorposts, and the screams
and cries she heard in the night.
Adults coming into groups, talking about leaving, now. They ran into the night, ran from Egypt, ran to???
Adults coming into groups, talking about leaving, now. They ran into the night, ran from Egypt, ran to???
And then
they saw the sea
And then it
parted, ripped in two!
And the
story finishes with this girl dancing and singing and smiling.
“How I
danced along the shore, never having danced before!
How I
shouted by the sea, loud and long and joyfully”
It can be
hard to consider what it was like for the people living through this time. We
know the end of the story, and the next bit and the next bit.
But for the
people going through this experience, I suspect it was quite confusing and
daunting and somewhat overwhelming.
The Hebrew
people were told to leave, then the army comes after them
When they
get to the Red Sea, Moses says stand firm, and God says move forward.
The pillar
that led them, moved to behind them.[ii]
Is it any
wonder the people of Israel asked Moses: “Wasn’t
there enough room in Egypt to bury us? Is that why you brought us out here to
die in the desert? Why did you bring us out of Egypt anyway? While we were
there, didn’t we tell you to leave us alone? We had rather be slaves in Egypt
than die in this desert!” [Exodus 14: 11-12 CEV]
We make a
change in our lives, and then we second guess ourselves:
should we have moved to a new house?
should we have moved to a new house?
did I retire
at the right time?
When should
I consider aged care assistance?
Much of my
time is in thinking about the church,
what is God calling us to leave behind?
what is God calling us to leave behind?
What is God
calling us to?
What if I
mess it up?
What if we fail?
In the midst
of uncertainty and confusion, looking back at what was, we can forget how bad
slavery was.
Looking
back, we can see the big Sunday schools and parties, and not see why people
stopped being part of the church, the hidden abuse, the judgement. How many of you
have children and grandchildren part of a worshipping community?
Like the
Hebrew people, we can look back, and gloss over the problems, or we can move
forward with God, into whatever future God calls us to.
“As we walk along the uncertain path of this
life, God’s leading can be deeply confusing. Make no mistake, God calls us all
to freedom from sin and death, including freedom from structural sin, like the
Egyptian slavery. But sometimes the path is confusing, and our act of
faithfulness is to stop standing still and crying out and instead to move
forward into what the LORD is doing.”[iii]
We can cry
out to God about lower attendances, lack of young people, not enough resources;
we can complain about decisions made by the Minister or the Church Council or the
Assembly. Or we can move forward.
Move forward
with God. We can be brave enough to leave where we are and follow on a path we
cannot see then end of.
The people of
Israel asked why Moses brought them out of Egypt to die.
Israel’s
question was answered. Moses didn’t bring them out into the desert to die, but
to live.[iv]
And God
leads us to new places, so that we might live, and others might also live.
What
might help us to move in faith to where God is calling us?
[i]
The Longest Night: A Passover Story
[ii]
http://johndobbs.com/israels-question/
[iii]
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3775
[iv]
http://johndobbs.com/israels-question/
