Erin Mills United Church Sermons

Today’s story from Exodus is great fodder movie directors and their special effects departments. Even as we hear the story read again, in our minds eye we can see the Egyptian charioteers in hot pursuit of the fleeing Israelites, billows of dust rising from the hooves of hundreds of horses. We can see Israelite children clinging to their parents, hundreds of others bent over with the bundles; the only possessions they were able to gather up in their hurried escape from Egypt. And there’s Moses out in front staff in hand, urging everyone to move more quickly. We can see them rushing can up to the brow of a hill only to come to an abrupt standstill as they gaze on the body of water stretching out before them. The cameras pan in close so that we can see the disbelief, fear, panic and terror marking the faces. All eyes look to Moses for help. And here’s where all the special effects come in. A huge swirling cloud descends and engulfs Pharaoh’s army in darkness and a sand storm so severe that they are immobilized. At the same time glorious, heavenly light shines on the Israelites encamped on the shores of a vast sea.

And in the morning dawn, Moses stretches his staff over the water and with what appears to be some vast and invisible hydraulic system, the seas roll back on either side, creating a narrow sandy path between huge watery walls.

On the move again, the Israelites make their way along the seabed; every now and then there is a close up of the watery walls and we can see fish and other sea creatures swimming beside them as if contained by the glass at a modern day aquarium.

As the last foot reaches the dry land on the far bank, faces turn from jubilation to horror as they turn back and see the Egyptians chariots coming after them following the same seabed path. And then, with the power of a terrible tsunami, the waves sweep over horse and rider, until the path disappears and the sea is once again calmed.

Of course to experience the full effect of this cinematic masterpiece, imagine a Dolby sound track to enhance the sound of the waves and the wind, the thundering horses’ hooves and the cries of the Israelites and Egyptians alike.

While all of this makes for wonderful theatre, I’m not so sure that it makes too much difference to our lives. Like so many adventure and action movies, it offers great entertainment and escape, but little guidance and wisdom for daily living.

So this morning, I want us to look beyond the Hollywood versions of this Exodus story to uncover the wisdom and guidance it has to offer for living in the real world.

Now before we leave all of these special effects behind, when we read stories like this from the Bible, the question is usually asked…is it really true? Did the Red Sea really part in half, making a pathway of dry land for the Israelites to walk through. And of course, people usually line up on one of two sides.

On the one side are those who say, yup!, it happened just as it is written; you just have to believe in miracles.

On the other side are those who say that there is a perfectly rational explanation for what happened and it usually goes like this.

The body of water in this Exodus account has been wrongly named the Red Sea, it is really the Sea of Reeds; in fact it is really a marsh land. On this particular occasion, there was indeed a strong east wind that blew and temporarily a pathway was created in these shallow marshy waters. It wasn’t a miracle, simply a phenomenon of the weather patterns that day. A stroke of good luck for the Israelites that they interpreted as a miracle of God.

The trouble with both of these responses to the question is that on the one hand, God becomes reduced to some kind of magician who performs special tricks to win over the trust and faith of people, or on the other hand, God is usually taken out of the picture because a rational explanation implies that God has no hand in the matter.

While it might seem to be a ‘cop out’ to some of you, I think that it is more helpful and useful to ask what the story is trying to tell us about God’s relationship with humanity and the world. What is it about this story that has made it such a central and transformative story for so many people of faith?

For those of you who receive the weekly EMUC Friday email, you may have already ready my brief reflection which speaks to our common connection to the experience of the Israelite people. At some point in our lives, most of us have had the experience of feeling similarly trapped in some area of our personal circumstances. We have tried to escape, to make a change, to move forward in a new direction toward a life of greater integrity, wholeness and freedom...for some it has been the move away from an addiction, for others away from a lifestyle that was unfulfilling, for some away from an abusive relationship, a source of pain, a crummy job...you fill in the blank. Like the Israelites, you have felt trapped, unable to be the person you want to be, to live the life you envision for yourself. You’ve gathered up your courage, walked away from these former habits, lifestyles, relationships or jobs.

But going forward isn’t as easy as you thought and then one day right in front of you there seems to be an impassible obstacle, a challenge too great to overcome. You can feel the pull of what you’ve left behind, pursuing you, trying to drag you back. At least it’s a past that is familiar to you even if it isn’t the life of freedom and fulfillment that you long for. And when all that you can see in front of you is an angry sea of unknown chaos and peril threatening to swallow you up you begin to question why you started the journey in the first place.

‘What have you done to us? Why did you drag us out into this desolate place where what lies ahead threatens our very existence? We’d have been better off to have stayed where we were!’

In the face of what seem to be impassible obstacles, not only does this become the mantra of individuals, it is also voiced by organizations, churches, nations and groups of people of every description and kind.

Thankfully, for the Israelites and for people of every generation, God raises up leaders to calm our fears and quiet our complaints long enough to get us to pay attention to the way that lies open to us - the way into God’s future.

Harriet Tubman was one of those leaders. Born a slave in Maryland, and severely beaten as a child, beatings that severely affected her health, Harriet eventually married a free African American. Fearing that she and other slaves on the plantation would be sold, Harriet decided to run away. Her husband refused to leave, so Harriet left with two brothers, following the North Star to guide her to freedom. Even when her brothers became fearful and turned back, Harriet continued to Philadelphia where she met William Still, the Philadelphia Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of Still, and other members of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, she learned about the workings of the UGRR.

Not content to leave others in slavery, Harriet returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family. In all she is believed to have conducted approximately 300 persons to freedom in the North. Because of her courageous work and her confidence that God would aid her, Harriet earned the name ‘Moses’ in recognition that she was like Moses of the Bible, leading her enslaved people to freedom.

According to a number of stories, Harriet Tubman sang a spiritual called "Wade in the Water" as a warning to runaway slaves. The lyrics of the song are based on the story of Moses leading the Israelites to the sea, where God ‘troubles the water’ so that they can escape to freedom. Harriet sang the song to escaping slaves, to encourage them to abandon the path and move into the water. By traveling along the water’s edge or across a body of water, the slaves would throw chasing dogs and their keepers off the scent. I’ve asked the Chancel Choir to sing this spiritual, so let’s listen to it now.

As Harriet guided her people to freedom, the creeks and small rivers the muddy marshes and swamps that she led them through wouldn’t make for the big screen special effects of a Hollywood movie.

And yet for a people traveling terror of being caught by slave hunters and fearful of the unknown territory that lay ahead of them, the gateway to freedom that Harriet led them through was no less spectacular and no less a sign of God’s work of liberation than the path that the Israelites took through the Red Sea.

And in our time it was no less a sign of God’s work of liberation for those seeking for healing and health in the face of cancer when Terry Fox faced the impossible and made his often painful way from Newfoundland to Thunder Bay. And it is no less a sign of God’s work of liberation today when across this land each year people continue to face the challenge of cancer’s scourge by making their way along many routes and pathways in the Terry Fox Run or in the Run for the Cure for Breast Cancer.

And as we seek to find a way forward in freedom in the face of what seem to be the impossible barriers of our day…barriers of disease or war, barriers of climate change and environmental degradation, barriers of poverty and barriers created by our own personal tragedies, we need to be alert and attentive to the signs of God’s liberating work not so much in the dramatic and extravagant gestures that make for Hollywood movie but rather in the muddy path through the creek that runs out there or in the small crack in the door that opens up for us over here or in the narrow trail that beacons us to move over there, or in the small staircase that draws us to step up to another level.

The signs may be small and the way may not be very dramatic, but it is very much the journey along God’s pathway to freedom. And the good news is that each one of us can play a part in this drama - sure there may be a few outstanding lead parts from time to time, but there are always important ‘bit parts’ to play…for each one of us can play the part of helping a neighbour to take a few steps forward, we can open the door a bit wider, clear the path of a few stones and sing songs of courage and hope and encourage more folk to join us in this freedom walk to God’s land of promise.