“When Israel Left Egypt’s Land” a sermon based on Exodus 14:19-31 preached at Trillium United Church, Caledon September 17, 2017

 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, fell back and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front, and went behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night God drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.  During the last watch of the night God looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! Their God is fighting for them against Egypt.” Then God said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and God swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day God saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of God displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared God and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

This is one of those familiar stories that we tend to nod through – we’ve all seen the Charlton Heston version of Moses leading the children of Israel out of slavery and to a land which is promised by God.

Yet even in reading this text, look at all the inconsistencies. We have always thought of a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, yet this tells us the angel of God was travelling in front of Israel’s army – I can only assume that means a whole lot of people – but the word army is interesting. God’s angel moves behind the escaping people, as does the pillar of cloud – and it’s the pillar of cloud which provides light for the refugees to see, and darkness to prevent Pharaoh from seeing them. Then, God drives the sea back with a strong east wind – which would suggest one direction, yet there’s a wall on either side. God tells Moses to stretch out his hand, and kill all the Egyptians by sweeping them and their horses and chariots into the sea. And the very last bit – the Israelites are so terrified by what they see done, that they are in complete awe and fear of God, and do what Moses tells them.

So, once again we’re faced with whether or not we take this as a literal historical event. How many of us honestly believe this literally happened? Yes, someone will say “Anything is possible with God”, but I'm not convinced this is where that works. Is God a magician who arbitrarily kills a whole lot of people, to save a ‘chosen race’? I don’t think so.

I think this is a story of God’s steadfastness and commitment to those who are oppressed, and Im drawing on last week’s sermon as well – because it seems to me this is God making a Way out of no Way. And I think it’s a story of liberation of people – that’s God’s desire is that all be liberated.

Do you remember the movie? Remember Heston, his long, grey beard blowing in the wind, raising his hand and the waters piling up on either side. Those were pretty impressive special effects in those days.  Remember too, lots of well-intentioned people trying to “logically” and “scientifically” explain the parting of the sea. But scientifically explaining miracles misses the point of the story.

In such legends, impossible things happen, and the whole point is their impossibility. This is a foundational story for the Hebrews. It is a way the Hebrews have been able to say to themselves, “God is with us. We are a chosen people. The fact that we are here is a miracle. It’s God’s doing.” In other words, this is a theological statement told in the language of a story.

And a part of the legend, told in the Hebrew Midrash, is that God wept as the Hebrews celebrated because, “the Egyptians are my children too!” Sometimes the story needs to be enlarged to accommodate such new insights.

This text is really the end of the rule of Egypt over the Hebrews – the end of the first 14 chapters of Exodus, after Pharaoh let the people go. Pharaoh has second thoughts, and the chase is on. Yet God accompanies the people on their flight from violence and oppression, and the story tells us God is there in the form of an angel.

This is a core story for the Hebrews then and the Jews today - the telling and re-telling, remembering this story about God's hand at work when they were absolutely "up against it," up against a wall of water that trapped them before the certainly awesome might of Pharaoh and his armies. This wasn't one army against another, however outnumbered and outgunned. This was a ragtag group of impoverished ex-slaves escaping their captors not by their own strength or wits or organizational skills or strategic planning, but by the power of God.

Imagine their panic and terror, when the vast armies of Pharaoh appeared on the horizon, in hot pursuit? They had lived their entire lives under the heel of this mighty empire, so they were well acquainted with what it could do. They had no idea how a way might come out of No Way.

The great theologian and  preacher  Walter Brueggemann describes this narrative as "the powerful, compelling center of Israel's defining memory of faith," through which Israel comes to understand itself as "the beloved, chosen community of YHWH and the object of YHWH's peculiar and decisive intervention in public events.

Yet notice, this Pharaoh, is never given a name. Thus, he can be identified with, and experienced as, every one of the "powers-that-be," every overwhelming, well-armed oppressor, for he is "as much a cipher for evil as a flesh-and-blood human being.  And if God and empire face off, the story reminds us, in any situation or time, God is always going to win. Even against superpowers occupying other countries and oppressing their people.

When the people entered that pathway through the water, they were a huge  group of refugees, terrified and in panic, but they "emerged on the other shore in awe and in an attitude of faith in Yahweh for this great miracle of salvation"

It’s a great story about faith, trust in God, of the underdog coming out on top. It’s the story of a slave people – the product of perfectly legal slavery,  a people held by the ‘powers that be’, the mega-powers who have an agenda for their own powerful expansion of empire.

What happens if we look at today? Dos God swoop in and rescue the drowning refugees? The little boys and girls lying face down on a beach? Does God rescue the Rohingya Muslims being exterminated in Burma, the leadership of a person who is a Nobel prizewinner, who was once an oppressed person as well? Does God rescue the Uighur religious group in China, persecuted for practicing their religion? Is God supporting the takeover of Palestinian lands and homes, in favour of another group which has forgotten what it means to be an oppressed people.? Or is God weeping at the incredibly useless slavery enforced  upon  minority peoples?

For more than a generation  now Canadians have been learning about, and trying to learn to embrace the history of oppression and cultural genocide – both official and unofficial, both at-the-top political and on-the-ground personal that has been faced by the First Nations of this land.  We’re learning the story of the residential schools, and we’re learning also that that’s only one chapter in a very big book.  We’re learning about treaty rights, stolen land and broken promises, and so much more.  and we’re learning that it’s not up to us to make all the decisions, and expect First Nations to continue doing what we think is best – without listening seriously.

Do we really believe that life is about liberation, and that liberations – small or large, simple or complex, are one of the ways we see God at work in the world?  And even if we do believe it, how on Earth do we act it out and honour the ways of God in human affairs?

This is a story of liberation –  escape from slavery and oppression. For the people of Israel – for the people whose cries God hears, to whom God sends a leader, and for whom God arranges a liberation from their oppressor – a story which continues to be told by Jew and Christian alike – that no matter how long it may take, God is always on the side of the oppressed. 

But for the people of Egypt – the people who would not let them go, who did not take seriously what was happening until it was too late, it’s a tragic story – for the Egyptians, for God, for anyone who cares about humanity.

An old Jewish legend says that 40 years after this miraculous escape and 40 years in the wilderness, as the people of Israel finally stand on the bank of the Jordan about to enter the Promised Land, God tells Moses he will not be entering the land with them, and will not set foot in it.  After leading them all this time and all this way, he is to die and be buried just outside the Promised Land.  Moses, taken aback, asks why. 

In reply, God asks Moses if he remembers the day way back at the beginning when the people of Israel were led through the Red Sea, and they turned around to see the Egyptian army overwhelmed and drowned in the same sea they had just passed through.  Moses says yes, he remembers that day.  And God says, "Well, you smiled."

In our heart of hearts, and in our best and most informed reading of Scripture, we know God does not will the destruction of anyone.  How might it have been, and what might have happened if the Egyptians had only – even just at the last moment, chosen to let the people go?

It really does seem that the story tells us that life is about liberation, and that the liberations all around us – big or little, simple or complex, are one of the ways we see God at work in the life of the world.  It’s about our own liberations from old and maybe mistaken ideas; for when we chain others, we also are chained. If others are not free, we are not free.  And it tells us that God might just choose us to work through, to effect yet more liberation till the Way has been made out of No Way. May it be so.

Sources:

1.      Church of Scotland website -  Weekly Worship

2.      Sermon Seeds for Proper 19 by Rev. Kathryn Matthews

3.      Brueggemann, Walter  Introduction to the Old Testament

4.      Milton, Ralph. “Rumors”, an  E-zine for Christians with a sense of humour.

“Going Out with Joy” Isaiah 55:12–56:2 Revelation 22:1–5 Preached at Trillium United Church Pastoral Charge Mono Mills September 10, 2017

Isaiah: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” Seek God nearby;  call on God who is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to God, who will have mercy on them, who will freely pardon.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares God.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,  so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me  empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  Instead of the thornbush the juniper will, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for God’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

56 This is what God says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this— the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

Revelation

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and God’s servants will be there. They will see God’s  face, God’s  name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

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Preaching, for me, is not about the minister getting up and telling you what to believe or how to believe, what to think or how to think. Part of preaching is about opening a text and helping find meaning and direction – preaching is about ministers being able to wrestle with their own faith and their own doubts, their fears, anger, and discouragement – openly with the congregation – because we do struggle, and sometimes we really just don’t know where to go with something. Where to find some hope, when hope seems to have been destroyed. How to find our way forward when suddenly everything seems so dark and history appears to repeat itself.

The texts for this Sunday celebrate God’s participation in creation in various contexts. In Isaiah and in Revelation the passages are contrasted to the sorrow of exile or the apocalyptic fear of early Christians, respectively. Do those sorrows and fears have something in common with our climate fears?

Today is to be a hopeful sermon about the new realm, the one we keep hearing about in the New Testament – where the realm of God is right at hand, right around the corner, all we have to do is seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly through this short life.

I saw a quote the other day, “Imagine what seven billion humans could accomplish, if we all worked together and respected each other.” John Lennon of the Beatles wrote the opening song, “Imagine" –

Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky.
Imagine all the people living for today.

Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion, too.  Imagine all the people living life in peace.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.

Lennon was strongly criticised for saying “no heaven, no hell’ and ‘no religion’, as if somehow he was making a hugely wrong theological statement.…. But I think Lennon was speaking in the sense of religious boundaries no longer hindering how humans work together – people able to accept other religions as part of the vision of creation, and work together for the benefit of all. What is heaven? What is hell? Are they places apart from this world, or are they here, and now? For me the Isaiah and Revelation text is that vision – that there’s yet work to do, but we are on the right path, slowly building bridges so we can come together as united humanity. The whole ‘vision’ is laid out in Isaiah – living water, water given for thirsty people, thirsty lands, thirty souls. In this vision, everyone, no matter who, no matter what faith or colour or gender or orientation – everyone, has a place in this vision – and that place is equal in every way. This ‘vision’ is really, for me, the full text of God’s vision of creation, and we, human beings, are to be co-creators in this vision.

The Revelation passage, the other ‘bookend’ is the vision accomplished – the new world come about. The old anger and hatreds and prejudices are gone, all the old ways are gone – a new way of being, of living, of relationship.

Some days, as we look around is, the vision seems to be getting further away. Hatred, bigotry and discrimination seem to be on the rise again, the threats of war echo – and the environment seems to be coming apart at the seams – devastating fires across the world, three hurricanes at once in the Gulf of Mexico, earthquakes and landslides. It can feel like the vision is fading like a mirage in the desert, and now we have to start the walk, all over again, to the promised land.

So where’s the hope? A colleague of mine, Kathy Donley, writes about the preaching of one of her African-American colleagues – that God makes a Way out of No Way. “After the sea has been crossed, after the people have returned from exile, after the abolition of slavery, after people of all religions and colours and genders and ways of life are truly part of the fabric of life,….. THEN we can see that there was a Way made out of No Way. When you are on this side of ‘No Way’, this side of the unthinkable which is happening yet again, it is entirely different to affirm with a whole heart, - a Way will be made out of No Way.” My heart tells me, even in the depressed times, that one thing – a Way will be made out of No Way.

As I was scoping some of this sermon on Friday, I started to cry. I cried for gays, straights, trans-gender, black, Asian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Latino – immigrant and refugee – for the deaths from the hurricane in the Caribbean, for the deaths from earthquake in Mexico, for the deaths of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, for the homeless and abandoned, for the hungry and the addicted. There are times when it’s truly overwhelming – and we feel helpless.

How to retain sanity? To work at Creation in this small space? My answer this week, was to go to visit a friend who was giving away plants which she can’t care for over the winter. I took some baking, sat with five other women drinking coffee, eating key lime pie, hearing about each other’s travels. I came home with a huge palm tree, two monster Boston ferns, and a hibiscus. Creating a garden inside where I can sit and listen to the fountain, and enjoy the green and the flowers – and just being. Because regeneration and rejuvenation of the soul is the only way to hold the vision.

Rev. James Eaton writes “…….. the Puritans were so effective because they believed everything depended on God but they acted like everything depended on them.” And James notes that the Rabbis say “Even if the Messiah comes, still finish your Torah study for the day.” So our part in building the vision is to do what we can wherever we can, and whenever we can, even if that’s carrying someone’s groceries, or taking some baking when they are ill, or helping with gardening. 

In Hebrew, the verb ‘to create’ is ‘barah; but in the Hebrew scriptures that word is only used about God. In our current theological understandings, that which we call God lives within each person – so my logic tells me that the only way the creation of the vision will happen is if we are truly the hands and feet and mouths and bodies which make it happen. There isn’t going to be some kind of magic event which suddenly makes this desert go away. The only way the water which quenches the thirst can be given is if we call get into the act together.

So in this time when it seems everything is going awry, we have a calling, today – right here. To commit to hope, to commit to going out with joy, delighting in our God who is the ground of everything we are, everything around us, and recognising that while we cannot solve all the huge issues around us, we can make a difference here in this neighbourhood, now – and that like ripples on a pond, the seemingly small things make a large difference. Every small act of goodness, every plant put into the soil, every tree grown, every person helped – even the smallest things can make a difference.  May we be instruments of creation, instruments of true shalom, the true peace which passes all understanding, in which all live full lives. Make us instruments of peace. Amen.

“How Do I Follow?” Based on Matthew 16:21-28 and Romans 12:9-21 Preached at Trillium United Church, September 3, 2017

Matthew

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed. and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”  Then Jesus said to his followers, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

Romans

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving Jesus. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with all people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will show him for what he is.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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 This Sunday we celebrate the beginning of Creation Time in the churches – an addition to that long section of church liturgical year which is normally green colours. Yet the fall is anything but green – it embraces all the colours there are. This is a season where we spend some time looking at creation around us – as well as the role we play on this earth. So today Im also going to get political, because frankly Jesus was quite political. To be a follower of Jesus means sometimes we have to get political. The question is, how do we do that?

I'm going to start with the incredible obsession we seem to have with celebrities – good or bad. And how we, and sometimes they, want to put themselves forward as more than they really are. Even to the point of lying about who and what they are. It’s almost become expected. And everywhere any of them makes an appearance, the media and die-hard fans are certain to show up.  And sometimes they will even pay people to show up so they can prove they have fans – and sell themselves as a kind of ‘messiah’. Don’t our politicians do that? Don't we expect them to? Right on down to clergy, who are often expected to be a saviour for a struggling congregation, or who believe that following Jesus means they have t be all things to all people all the time?

 In last weeks Gospel reading, of all the followers, Peter seemed to be the one who would be Jesus’ main fan.  He had been following Jesus, was captivated by the person and power of Jesus, had even been rescued from drowning by Jesus.  So, when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?", Peter responded enthusiastically, boldly, wholeheartedly, with a deep and profound confession of faith. "You are the Christ" the long-awaited Messiah "the Son of the living God!"  Peter was already preparing for Jesus to be King of Israel, and of course Jesus would serve as his chief assistant!

 Jesus started talking about what it meant for him to be Messiah.  He would not be the Messiah faithful Jews expected, the one who would claim the ancient throne of David, throw out the Romans, and win the freedom of the Jews after centuries of foreign oppression. 

Jesus was going to rule, all right but he was going to rule by suffering and dying and rising from the dead. And Peter wouldn’t hear it!  Nothing like that would happen to his Messiah!  Peter forgot that the Jews actually expected two Messiahs – the warlike militant one who would overthrow the Roman oppressors, and the spiritual Messiah. Jesus tried to explain he was the latter, not the former. And it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around, because we don’t live right in the middle of the violence and oppression Jesus and the others did. They really didn’t want a spiritual Messiah; but that was what they got.

 So Peter strides up to Jesus, wags his finger in his face, scolds Jesus, and says, "God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you!"  The last thing Peter wanted to be was the #1 fan of a Messiah who was going to die a humiliating death.

And Jesus answers, "Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me!" Commentator David Garland says this: "Instead of following in the way of Jesus, Peter tries to take the lead and plants himself firmly in the way."

While we are taught not to judge, there are times when we must – and I don’t mean the kind of judgment which maligns people because we don’t like them, or we speculate on their motives – I mean the kind of judgment we MUST make if we are to remain followers of Jesus – the words which come out of people’s mouths, their actions – or lack of actions – towards those they have deemed “lesser”. Following the way of Jesus is what we believe will bring our creation out of destruction, and people into full living. Opposing anything which puts personal gain above the gain of others is a judgment we must make. Opposing anything which claims one group of people, or one colour of people, is somehow superior to another, is a judgment we must make.

What happens with us when we fail to allow Jesus to be Jesus, when we let our own agenda and limited understanding block the teachings of Jesus, aren’t we a stumbling block, a hindrance to Jesus, rather than an asset in claiming that all people are of worth,  and healing creation? 

There are great discussions now, about statues of the confederacy in the southern US, statues of the father of Canadian confederation; the Black Lives Matter movement, the White Supremacist movement. Here’s where we find ourselves torn – and trying to maybe split a few hairs; yes, all lives matter. Except when the incidence of death for people of colour is far higher than for whites, except when people of colour are treated differently, or when whites are treated better because they’re white. At that point we must make a judgment and respond that all should then be treated equally and fairly with no discrimination at all.

This week, I was called a ‘divider and conqueror’, and told I should follow the lead of First Nations, about taking down statues of Sir John A MacDonald. I felt taking them down here in Canada had the potential for being a further whitewash of our history, and that what was needed was strong education in our schools – about the residential schools for First Nations children, about the Sixties Scoop, about Japanese-Canadians and the concentration camps, about the treatment of Canadians of German and Ukrainian extraction. Yet Justice Murray Sinclair, from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this week said that arguing over the name or the statues isn’t what reconciliation is about. He says “Reconciliation is about finding a balance in the telling of the history of this country.” So for me, faithful following of Jesus means I have to stand for balance in telling the story, and working to make things right, recognising and acknowledging the things in our history which were wrong, teaching about them, and then healing this part of the creation we live in.

Jesus, in this tale today, moves forward.  He invites Peter to ‘get behind him’ where he belongs, and makes his way to Jerusalem. He goes to Jerusalem and suffers exactly the fate he had predicted.  He is opposed by the religious leaders, and arrested, and tried by the Romans, and sentenced to a horrible, hideous, political execution on a cross.  But Peter forgets that Jesus is ‘raised’ into a new beginning, and he is raised in a garden. Jesus showed that life can be a healing, forgiving, and renewing venture of faith.

The apostle Paul is in my mind, one of the most maligned and misunderstood followers of Jesus. Yet, we have to remember that he was a trained rabbi and that he too struggled with what following Jesus meant. He never actually met Jesus in the flesh face to face, yet he had a good grasp of what ‘following’ meant and was even honest enough to talk about how difficult it was for him.

And today Paul tells us exactly what Jesus taught as well. Abhor what is evil, hold on to what is good. What is good for Creation? All people are equal in Creation, even those we consider ‘enemies’. They are all children of Creation. Love overcomes anger and hate. Live in harmony with all of creation, do not respond to hate with hate. Offer love and compassion, for doing so will show who you are. Treat all of this world around us, and all the living things in it, with care and compassion. Hold on to what is good. Bring forward what is good. Live what is good, even when it’s difficult. Even when it takes all of what we are. May it be so.

Sources:

1.  "FOLLOWING JESUS" a sermon based on Matthew 16:21-28 by Rev. Richard Thompson