Exodus 14:13-22 (Common English Bible)

But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to get moving. As for you, lift your shepherd’s rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two so that the Israelites can go into the sea on dry ground. But me, I’ll make the Egyptians stubborn so that they will go in after them, and I’ll gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, all his army, his chariots, and his cavalry. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I gain honor at the expense of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.”

God’s messenger, who had been in front of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The column of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them. It stood between Egypt’s camp and Israel’s camp. The cloud remained there, and when darkness fell it lit up the night. They didn’t come near each other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.

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Please turn your attention to the image on the front of your bulletin. I also posted this photo on Facebook, and sent it as part of the order of worship in an email. It will also serve as the image accompanying the service on our website.

I took this photo a few years back while Judi and I were hiking on the trails above Horse Thief Lake in the Black Hills. On the left side of the photo, you can see Mount Rushmore. As you follow the ridge to the right you come to a rock hump that sticks up. Do you see that?

That is Old Baldy Mountain. If you take the trail down from Old Baldy you’ll run into Camp Judson. Camp Judson is an American Baptist Camp; it is a incredible facility nestled in the Black Hills on the back side of Mount Rushmore.

When I was the pastor of Rapid City First Baptist Church, we did an all church retreat every Labor Day weekend at Camp Judson. Most of the congregation would come the 23 miles to Camp Judson for a weekend of study, fun, worship and fellowship. One of the many possible activities at the Labor Day Retreat was a hike up the trail to Old Baldy.

It is a beautiful hike as you traverse the forest rich with Ponderosa pine and Aspen until you come to the rock face which is Mount Baldy. To maneuver up the rock, there is some climbing through crevices that must be done. But to get to the top of Mount Baldy you have to climb through a split in the rock, known as the plumber’s crack. It is a simple climb of 8-10 feet to the top but the crack itself is a fairly narrow climb. It is a tight squeeze. There is no way to the top without passing through it.

The first time I hiked the trail up to Baldy, and I came to the crack, I was unable to proceed. My claustrophobia got the best of me that day. I have no problem climbing, no problem with heights, but tight spaces have always been an issue for me. And so while everybody else shimmied up the crack to the top, I stayed at the base of the rock. It was frustrating and embarrassing, but most of us who are claustrophobic know what it is when the walls squeeze in.

I thought about that failure throughout the next year, and found myself over and over, visualizing my way through the crack to the top. The next Labor Day, when we did the hike again, and I came to the Plumber’s crack. I had a little self talk, took a deep breath, squeezed myself into the crack, grabbed a hold of the ledges and pulled myself up to the top. I gotta tellya, the view from on top of Old Baldy Mountain is simply spectacular, but the only way to get that view is to pass through the crack.

After the final plague, the king of Egypt invited the Hebrews to leave, immediately. And the Hebrews scooped up their belongings and left.

As the Hebrews were exiting Egypt, the Egyptian king and his advisers did some quick math and realized that losing their population of Hebrew slaves would be devastating to the economy, and so they changed their minds, gathered together their army and chased after the Hebrews.

Moses and the people came to the Red Sea and stopped there. The Egyptian army came up behind them. The Hebrews were trapped with the sea on one side of them and the Egyptians on the other.

God spoke to Moses. “I will lead you to freedom. But, to get there, you all must pass through the Sea.”

Moses reported the Lord’s words to the People. I can imagine the entire group, which the Bible claims is 600,000 adults, plus children, plus livestock, turning to look over the vastness of the water, and thinking to themselves, “there is no way that we can pass through this Sea.”

Even Moses complained to the Lord, “This can’t be done.”

But God said to Moses, “Chill out and watch it happen. Here’s what I need you to do, take your staff and raise it to the sky. What comes next will be pretty cool.”

So Moses raised his staff. The wind started blowing. Hard. And the waters began to part. The wind blew with such ferocity that the muddy ground at the bottom of the sea dried out quickly as walls of water formed.

Moses said “go” and the Hebrews began to walk. As they looked to the left, they could see a wall of water. As they looked to the right, they could see a wall of water. I don’t imagine that the walls of the sea were flat and smooth like a wall in your house, I imagine that it was fluid and that you could see water moving, and as you saw the water moving, you could see the fish swimming. Like being at an aquarium where you walk through a tunnel and on either side you see the fish and the sharks swimming all about. Only this tunnel isn’t made of smooth glass, it was the water itself. I assume that as they walked, they occasionally felt the spray and splash from the water. As they looked down at what had been the sea floor, they saw ground dry enough for 600,000 adults plus children plus livestock to cross.

They walked, I Imagine, tentatively at first but then as they were fully invested in the journey, they realized that it was vital to their survival that they get to the other side, and so their pace quickened. How frightening that must have been. And yet, how hopeful as they imagined life on the other side.

As they continued to move along, they strained to see to the other side because getting to the other side meant freedom, meant safety, meant the hope of new life. Of course what they discovered on the other side was that freedom, safety, and the hope of a new life carried with them all sorts of challenges of their own, but when you’re passing through, the hope that lies on the other side is sometimes all that you have to grasp onto.

I have been thinking about the Exodus story, that journey to pass through to get to the other side and I think about where we all are right now. I wonder, as a culture, as a society, as a nation, as a world if we are in the process of passing through to something different than it is now.

This pandemic, which has shaken the world, uprooted politics, crushed economic systems, upended cultural dynamics,

The racial reckoning that has come to the forefront, the recognition that systemic and systematic racism must be confronted, along with the idea that equality and equity are not just words we use but a reality that has not been afforded people of color in our country and around the world,

The ongoing worsening of climate change, where natural disasters are bigger and badder than ever, where every year we seem to set a record for global temperature increases, where sea levels are demonstrably rising as ice caps are melting,

Economic disparity, where the very wealthy get exponentially wealthier as the vast majority of the world’s population struggles to stay afloat financially.

All of these factors, plus others, set us on the trajectory filled with uncertainty and fear. But as the Hebrews of old, we place our hope in a God who shoves back the sea and turns the mud into dry ground, and as the The Hebrews of old we step forward, one step at a time, sometimes it’s a brave step,

sometimes it’s a wary step,

sometimes it’s a fearful step,

but it is a step nonetheless, because we believe that we are passing through to a new day on the other side,

where people are committed to taking care of each other,

where there is truly a sense of equality and community,

where caring for ourselves means caring for our planet,

where wealth is seen as a tool used to create a more just and caring society, rather than a treasure to hoard.

Right now we’re passing through, and it’s scary as you’re passing through- that dry ground beneath you feels like it may be getting a little soft, those walls of water on either side feel as if they might be giving in, the other side still seems to be so far in the distance- and yet as we pass through, we will trust in the One who is leading the journey because we are confident that the views on the other side are simply spectacular.

Amen.

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Pastoral Prayer - Lectio Divina

Psalm 105

Give thanks to the Lord; call upon the Lord’s name; make God’s deeds known to all people!

Sing to God; sing praises to the Lord; dwell on all God’s wondrous works!

Give praise to God’s holy name!

Let the hearts rejoice of all those seeking the Lord!

Pursue the Lord’s strength; seek God’s face always!

Remember the wondrous works God has done, all God’s marvelous works, and the justice God declared— you who are the offspring of Abraham, and the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

The Lord is our God. God’s justice is everywhere throughout the whole world.