Walking on Dry Land

Sermon: Walking on Dry Land

Scripture: Exodus 14:19-31

This scripture is one of those Old Testament scriptures that we have heard several times starting with our earliest of Sunday School classes.  We are all familiar with the story of the Israelites just barely escaping the Egyptians.  However, the old, old story of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt is one that hits closer to home than we may think.  When compared to the book of Matthew we find the commonalities of the books and their main characters, Jesus and Moses: both have a birth story, both have an evil ruler whom their parents are fleeing, in both there are children who suffer, in both there is an exodus, in both there is a passage through water, in both there is wandering through wilderness for a time of testing, in both there is journey to a mountain, in both they reach their destination.   Exodus and Matthew, Jesus and Moses all have a lot in common with one another but we are missing yet another character to be added to these stories.  

The other character to whom I am referring is of course, you.  Take a look at your faith and I bet you can see your life as described in the stories of Exodus and Matthew.  You, of course, have a birth story, even if it didn’t start with a basket placed in a river or involve being born in the inn.  There is likely something in your life that has tried to rule over you.  Whether it be some sort of addiction or vice to which you are trying to flee.  We can all think of some innocent child we have seen undeservedly suffer, some of us feel that we have undeservedly suffered in some way or another.  Most of us have had our “passage through water” which we call our baptism.  I am sure there was a time in your life where your faith was tested.  I am sure you have your place, your mountain-top, where you feel closest to God.  And I am confident you will reach your destination, eventually.  See, the book of Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew are much closer than we have probably viewed them in the past and this path that we call faith follows the same storyline.  It is no coincidence.  We have had those moments, those decisions where we were running from something, but it kept creeping closer and closer and we just kept running and running.  Then we get to the Red Sea where we come face to face with that immovable object, and all hope seems lost.  It appears that we have no place left to go.  There is little doubt that whatever has been chasing us will catch us now.  The “chariots” keep getting closer and closer despite our best efforts to run.  We eventually come to the conclusion that we have done everything we can do and then hopefully we realize that we have only one hope left...

That is same feeling that the Israelites had when they got to the Red Sea.  The only fraction of a hope they had left was God.  We have all been there, left with a decision to either be overtaken or to place our faith in God.  The Israelites placed their faith in God and He parted the Red Sea just in time for the Israelites to pass.  Take a moment to look at your life... What was your parting of the Red Sea moment?  It’s likely that you have one and if not, you will someday.  You will be left with only two options left, place your hope in God or be overtaken by whatever is “chasing” you.  In this moment of decision the most important factor is knowing, despite what happens next, that God is, always has been, and always will be with you.  

I had a good discussion with Team Christian about truth vs fact.  I asked them to give me some facts and many answers were about the color of their eyes or hair.  The dictionary describes a fact as: something that actually exists; something known by actual experience or observation.  So then I asked them for some facts when it comes to their faith and one of them said “God loves us” and another one said, “Jesus died on the cross.”  As Christians we would like to think of these statements as fact when really they do not fit the definition of fact I just gave you.  We cannot undoubtedly prove either one of those statements, despite a deeply rooted want to do so.  I told the kids that these were truths which are described as: the true or actual state of a matter.  No, I cannot prove that God loves me but I believe that statement to be true and the actual state of the life in which I live.  Jesus dying on the cross falls into the same category.  This scripture also falls into truth.  The parting of the Red Sea, the building of an Ark by Noah, David vs Goliath, Daniel and the lions den and many other Old Testament scriptures all fall into the category of truth.  What all these stories have in common is the faith of someone in God.  Can we prove that any of these things actually happened? No, but we can still hold them as the truth of one person’s faith.  Does the arc have to be found for me to believe that this story actually happened as described in the Bible?  For me, it used to, but now I see it completely different.  We have a need and desire to be verified by facts but there is nothing about faith that comes from cold, hard facts.  Therefore, the only facts we are left with are our actions.  Let me say that again, the only facts about faith that are left in this world are our words and actions.  Now these facts can be seen by others as either helping them to see God’s glory or not.  The fact remains that Moses was obedient to the best of his abilities, he was faithful and when his Red Sea moment came, he knew exactly where to place his faith.  The question we must ask ourselves is if we know to do the same.  The biblical commentator H.L. Ellison worded it like this, “Once or twice in a lifetime the average Christian finds themselves in a position like Israel’s.  When they know that it is God who has brought them into it, they will find that God’s command is to go forward.”

The NIV scripture tells us that it is an easterly wind that causes the Red Sea to part and dry the land, other commentaries say that it could have been an earthquake that caused the land raise up and fall back down.  To me, there is no necessary explanation because it seems to me that no matter the explanation, the truth remains that Moses was faithful and placed his hope into the hands of God.  We have heard countless attempts to try to justify miracles of the Bible, you have even heard me make one such justification but I stand in front you today telling you that I was wrong.  These miracles need no justification.  No matter the biblical story, there are truths to be found.  Truths that we as Christians should try our best to live by such as: hope, grace and love and by making an effort to live by those truths through faith, words, and deeds then we help others to see God’s merciful, loving and hopeful glory.  

With that being said, the devastation of what remained when the waters slammed back shut cannot be ignored.  There was ruin and devastation all around the Moses and the people of Israel.  It can be argued that the same devastation and ruin surrounded Jesus as he walked this earth and I would make the point this same devastation and ruin still remains to this day.  There is oppression, devastation, and ruin.  There is greed, selfishness, and exploitation.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Sometimes our faith has a tendency to put sunshine and rainbows over the wounds that cut too deep to hide forever.  God’s love and grace can heal these wounds but I warn you that scars will remain.  These “scars” serve a dual purpose: they help remind us how God helped heal and; they continuously show us how far we have come in the hopes we don’t go back.  When the waters slammed shut, there was no turning back.  Exodus 14:31 says that the Israelites feared the Lord and then placed their trust in Him.  I am a little hesitant to use the wrath of God as way to get people to believe.  However, the fear of returning to the vices or addictions that keep us away from God, if used correctly, can be beneficial.  Once we have chosen to believe and made the conscientious decision to lead a life of faith my hope is that we don’t want to return back to that life.  Life without God contains devastation and ruin.  Life with God is full of devastation and ruin.  The difference is knowing that God is always with you.  Jesus showed us how to live a life living out what he called the two greatest commandments: loving the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind and loving your neighbor as yourself.  We may be surrounded by devastation, heartache, and pain yet we worship a God who loves you no matter what and knowing this will help you to walk on dry land.

Over the past several months, I have preached a lot about the love of God.  It is because my own faith has changed.  I used to fear the wrath of God and I used that fear as a motivator but I have come to realize that it should not be fear that drives us, it should be love.  God does not want us to fear Him as much as He wants us to love one another and love Him.  God gave up so much in order to show us this kind of love.  God does not quickly excuse our sin as we will have to bear the consequences of our actions instead God himself suffered for it and forgives it, in the hopes we will show others this kind of love.  Christ died as an example of what love and sacrifice looked like.  Jesus didn’t die in our place, he died so we could live.  He died so when we were faced with our moment at the Red Sea we would know exactly how to live, how to love, how to walk on dry ground.  Amen.