"To God Be the Glory"

  

"But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."

 

            The people leave Egypt, sent by Pharaoh, driven out by Pharaoh after the Passover. They go into a wilderness, a land where no one lives. Now they are confronted with two issues.

            If they take the direct route to the Promised Land they will run into the Philistines and certain war. Their fear of the Philistines might cause them to turn back and return to slavery in Egypt.

            If they stay in the wilderness, then they will be within reach of Pharaoh and his army, and so he might change his mind and come after them.

            They are fearful of the main road and they are fearful of the wilderness. God works in their fears to gain glory, to be made known among the nations. This scripture points beyond itself to God's plan of salvation.

            First is their fear of the main road. They are a vulnerable group of newly freed slaves. They are not yet a community. They lack law, government, organization, and defense. They are not ready for battle. It is true that God, who defeated the mighty Egyptians, could also handle the Philistines. But the issue is deeper. The Lord is concerned that in their fear they might change their minds and return to Egypt, to slavery. That seems impossible to us. But Jim Bruckner points out that "physical liberation does not necessarily result in the liberation of one's self-perception." I wonder if I could change one word – "Physical liberation does not necessarily result in the liberation of one's soul." This is a soul problem, an issue of identity. They need to be formed by God, shaped by faith and obedience. That will take some time. They are better off in the wilderness being instructed by God than trying to take the fast road to the Promised Land.

            We too have a need to be shaped and formed by God. Often that takes time, and we are impatient, in a hurry, tempted to always take the fast route. When we are vulnerable or weak or troubled, we feel the pull to return to the slavery of sin. We reach for what feels good immediately. We need to be willing to be in the wilderness with God, so we can be fully taught and formed.

That is why we are planning a day long prayer retreat on February 20. We invite you to set aside a full day for prayer; to go to a quiet place and listen to God speak to you. In March we again will be having a Men's Retreat at Covenant Harbor. This summer we are planning a three-day family retreat. We need to take time for God. We need to be molded by him in the quiet place. We need to become like clay in the potter's hand – have your way, Lord, have your way.

            I feel that we are feeling the cumulative effect of a number of life-changing disasters of recent years. There was 9/11 in 2001 and the war on terror that has followed it. Then came the great tsunami, and hurricane Katrina, and the recession and now the earthquake in Haiti. Each one took a toll on us. Together they create a deep discomfort, a feeling that we are in a wilderness. The way is not clear. The world is not the same as it was. We do not feel as safe or secure. We feel fear. In the wilderness, we are in need of a deeper life with God. A shallow, convenient faith will not do. We need to hear God's voice and learn his will and follow his way. We need to be formed and re-formed by the Lord.

            During the civil rights movement of the 1960's, many people, especially in the South, faced violence, jail, beatings, gunshots and bombs in the night. Martin Luther King Jr. helped black people in those fearful times to understand their close connection to Moses and the people of the Exodus. He taught them that in times of danger, in wilderness times, when there is fear and a desire to turn back, that is when God forms us and draws his people to the Promised Land.

            Today we are also in need of connecting with Exodus, with Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness. Much more than I realized last summer, this book speaks to us today. Are we ready to listen to God, to open our hearts to the Savior?

            The second issue that the people faced was their fear that if they stayed in the wilderness, Pharaoh might come after them. It is also difficult for us to believe that Pharaoh might change his mind. The message was abundantly clear in the plagues and in the Passover. He was to let these people go. But Pharaoh was a man of enormous personal pride, and he could not let go of his need to be served. The slaves who were serving him were now free to serve the Lord, and he could not agree to that. So, he did the unthinkable. It was not rational or wise. He chased after Israel. He risked his own army and his own people for the sake of his pride.

            In this, Pharaoh is very much like the oppressive power of sin in our lives. A curiosity, a momentary comfort, grows to a habit and then gains control. Sin demands to be served. Sin is persistent, it doesn't easily let go, and it often returns after we feel we have defeated it. Where is the power to wash away oppressive sin in our lives?

            God lures Pharaoh into the desert and then takes away the capacity of Egypt to pursue the Israelites. God leads the people on a route that John Durham calls "too erratic to have been invented by man." A series of abrupt turns puts them on the edge of the sea, hemmed in by the desert. To Pharaoh, it looked like the people were lost, confused, vulnerable to attack. They seemed to be an easy prey. But this was in fact a trap set by the Lord. Pharaoh's army charged after the children of Israel, and ended up at the bottom of the sea. In that, all Egypt could finally see, Bruckner writes, that "The Lord is God over all chaotic forces in the world. Because Yahweh is Lord, the slaves are freed and oppressive principalities come to an end. The world needs to know this." So God was honored, given glory for His victory.

            The glory of God was also seen in Jesus at Cana. This did not happen during a battle or an escape. It was at a wedding. At the wedding the best wine came last. There were six large stone jars filled with water used in ceremonial washing. This was the water used in rituals to cleanse sin. Jesus turned the water used for ritual washing, into wine, the best wine. In that he was saying something about his life that would bring true and powerful forgiveness. Jesus surpasses Moses, surpasses the institutions of Israel. In Jesus there is something new, something glorious, something powerful.

            "Who can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

The glory of Jesus points to the cross and the resurrection. That is the power over persistent sin. That is the power that defeats our fiercest enemies. On the cross, the power of sin and death is thrown into the heart of the sea.

            In Christ our sin no longer has a hold over us. It cannot oppress us or defeat us, or come after us. In the cross there is forgiveness.

            What that meant for the Children of Israel is that as they continued their journey to Mt. Sinai and the receiving of the Ten Commandments, they were not pursued by their past slave masters. They were set free to learn, to obey, and to be formed by God. That is the freedom we have in Christ. He gives us grace to know him and to walk in his way.

            "To God be the glory. Great things he has done."

            Amen.