Sermon for October 29, 2000
Andrew T. Barton
The Great Escape
Exodus 14:10-31
An 8 year old boy was reporting to his folks at Sunday lunch what he had learned at church school that morning. "Wow! It was exciting," he exclaimed to his surprised parents. "The Hebrews were pouring out of Egypt in jeeps, half-tracks, and 16-wheelers. Pharaoh’s army came after them in hot pursuit. They tracked down the Israelites with satellite surveillance. They exploded missiles all around the Hebrews and shot at them from helicopters. When Moses and the people reached the Red Sea, they thought they were finished. The raging sea in front of them, the forces of Egypt coming behind them. Suddenly, the Corps of Engineers came up with a plan of escape. They build a pontoon bridge over the Red Sea and all the Hebrews crossed over to freedom. Then, just as Pharaoh’s army was halfway across the bridge, they Hebrews blew it up with dynamite. The Hebrews lived happily ever after in the Promised Land. What a terrific story!"
The boy’s mother and father looked at one another and then looked again at their son with the overactive imagination. "Son, is that really what they told you in church school this morning?" "Well… not exactly," he replied. "But if I told you what they told me, you’d never believe it!" Exodus p.158 Dunnam
The Crossing of the Red Sea is an amazing event—it’s the miracle not simply of Moses parting the waters, but of God rescuing his people from slavery. This remarkable story has been retold in the worship liturgies of Israel and in many psalms. It is a watershed event (Get it? Watershed—water parting event.) Americans remember Yorktown, Gettysburg, and D-Day. The Jews look back to the great escape through the Red Sea. It was a day of victory, not unlike our Easter. This great story reveals the power, presence and providence of God. And it sets an example of how we respond to tough times and tight spots.
The young boy had it right: The Hebrews found themselves in a fix: the uncrossable sea before them, the raging army of Pharaoh behind them. They were literally ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea.’ And it was all God’s fault, according to the Hebrews. They had been led by a pillar of cloud during daylight and a pillar of fire after dark. This was Yahweh leading them. The Lord himself, the Presence of God, guiding them away from Egypt. It was a reassuring presence, knowing that God had not abandoned them, that God in his providence had a plan.
But then the plan seemed to go awry. The swift Egyptian army had easily caught up with the slow caravan of Israelites. They were trapped. The people had begun to look at the obstacles instead of at God. And as people are wont to do, they murmured, complaining to Moses, "What have you done? Why didn’t you leave us alone? It was better to be living slaves than dead free people." Undaunted, Moses sought to revive the people’s resolve. With three powerful phrases, he bolstered their hope and courage. "Fear not." "Stand firm" "Go forward."
"FEAR NOT." Fear stifles faith.
The 747 jetliner taxied down the runway. A voice came over the speakers. "Good morning, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Flight 22. We will be climbing to a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and will travel at an air speed of 660 miles per hour. Our flight time will be about nine hours. As soon as we are airborne the flight attendants will be serving you breakfast. We will take off… just as soon as I can get up the nerve."
We all know fear and that fear causes our mind and will to play games—we can’t act decisively, we get irritable with those around us, and doubt clouds our vision. I watched the movie U-571, about an American crew that takes over a German U-boat. As the sub comes under fire, as crew members are lost, as the situation becomes tense, the crew’s fears elevate—They start to squabble nearing mutiny. They question the new commander’s leadership and decisions. And their hope of completing their mission and coming out alive wanes. That’s what fear does.
Moses rallied the people, "Do not be afraid!" Then he added, "STAND FIRM." It is a call to courage, to hold ground. The Hebrews were on the verge of waving the white flag, to surrender to the army of Pharaoh. Moses urged them to stand their ground. What ground did they have to stand on… it felt like quick sand? Moses told them,
"Stand firm and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today: The Lord will fight for you and you have only to keep still."
Today is Reformation Sunday. Martin Luther was at the forefront of the Reformation. Luther had had a profound experience of the grace of God and a renewed understanding of the gospel as outlined in the book of Romans. He had come to recognize that we are not justified by our own efforts or works, but by our faith in Jesus Christ. He went on to write treatises and books decrying the errors of his church and setting forth the Scriptural argument for his beliefs. The church charged him a heretic. Historian Roland Bainton sets the stage of the proceedings:
"Here was Charles, heir of a long line of Catholic sovereigns…lord of Austria, Burgundy, the Low Countries, Spain, and Naples; Holy Roman Emperor ruling over a vast domain… and here before him a simple monk, a miner’s son, with nothing to sustain him save his own faith in the Word of God."
Here I Stand R. Bainton, p.181ffThe trial went on for some time until Luther was asked directly, "Do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?" Luther replied,
"Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant of anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me…Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise."
Luther stood firm because he stood on the Word of God. Earlier, in describing the scene of the trial, Bainton had explained, "What overpowered Luther was not so much that he stood in the presence of the emperor as this, that he and the emperor alike were called upon to answer before Almighty God."
IBID.Moses and the Hebrews were to find assurance in the Pillars of Cloud and Fire. We quell fear and stand firm when we see and know the presence of God. We find courage through God’s living presence in prayer, the sacraments, and Scripture.
Yahweh then gives the order: GO FORWARD.
Even though the way was not yet evident, the people were to step out in faith and to do what God called them to do. Surely the command bewildered them. "Go where? Into the sea and drown?" Only as they stepped out, did God open the way across the sea. In times of adversity, we go forward in trust—not fully knowing what will happen, nor fully seeing where to go, but trusting that God will lead the way. Moses and the Hebrews went forward and God opened up the sea—a wide road right through the Red Sea. I imagine it was a fearful thing to cross even with such a miracle. Would the ground be firm? Would the waters come crashing down on them? But they obeyed and as Exodus reports: "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day."
Yes, there was adversity. Yes, there had been uncertainty. But there had been no cause for fear. They could stand firm in faith and move forward with conviction. Because the Lord delivers. God keeps his promise. God could be trusted for he is the God of salvation.
Centuries later, the Jews still recall this story of deliverance. It lifts us presence, power, and providence of God. It calls them to fear not, stand firm, and go forward. And it leads them to celebration.
Remember the third Star Wars movie, The Return of the Jedi? After the victory over Darth Vadar and the Death Star, the people gather with the Ewoks and a lively celebration. Exodus 15 is like that celebration. Moses and the people singing of the triumph. The hero of the story is clear—it’s not Moses or the exploits of the people. Listen.
"I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously...
The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation."
