no, i would not give you false hope

on this strange and mournful day...

A sermon on the Crossing of the Red Sea:

Today’s Scripture opens with the people of God coming up against it. On their march TO freedom, the Israelites find out the impasse of the Red Sea stands in front of them. And as they look for somewhere to turn, they also realize the Egyptian army is hot on their heels! 

What began as a daring flight from Egypt quickly turns into a desperate bind. With the enemy bearing down on them and nothing but chaos laying ahead of them, the Israelites couldn’t help but wonder if their escape was really nothing but a flying leap into their own ruination. It was starting to appear as if the people of God had jumped from the proverbial frying pan of slavery into the fire of their own demise. 

Have you ever felt like that? 

I’d be willing to bet you have. It’s a pretty safe bet. Isn’t it? None of us walk such a cleared path that we’ve never found ourselves between a rock and a hard place a time or two. Have we?

So, presuming you can relate, let me ask you another question. Have you ever, in a moment like that, done like the Israelites and gone to the clergy during such a predicament? And if you have, let me ask you one more question; how’d that work out for you? Probably not the way you planned. Huh?

In today’s Scripture, the people of God have some real problems. As such, they could use some real HELP. All their pastor has to say, though, is to hold tight and look to the Lord!

Can you imagine the Israelite’s reaction?!? Why I can just hear it now! “What do you mean, hang on, Pastor Moses,” they must have objected. “This ISN’T the time or place for that,” they undoubtedly protested. 

No, the Israelites needed some help. They needed some solutions. They needed a plan! BUT the only advice their pastor had for them was to sit tight and look to the Lord.

Like the Israelites, we know when to look for the Lord. Don’t we? And it’s not when the enemy is chasing us down and chaos is coming up quick. No, the time to look for the Lord is during a relaxing vacation or a quiet walk in the woods. 

When we’re in dire straits, there’s no time to look for the Lord! Is there? No, when life goes sideways, all there’s time for is crafting a plan and trying to survive to die another day—not stopping and looking for the Lord.

And maybe that’s where you are right now. And if it is, I have some bad news. I’m no better than Reverend Moses. I don’t have any other Word for you today than hold tight and look TO the Lord. Sorry.

…Over 65 years ago, a pastor much better than me found himself staring down some pretty impossible circumstances. It was late January 1956. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was initially planned to last a week at most, was dragging into its third month. 

Before it was all over, the boycott would last almost a year.

As the realization that this was going to take longer than expected began to set in, a little wind was let out of the movement’s sails. And the mounting resistance DIDN’T help matters, either. As everyone began to count the costs, the initial fervor that ignited the movement began to flag. 

And so was the freshly minted pastor leading the cause. 

It was partly because he was new to town that the Rev. Dr. Martin King Luther Jr. had been chosen to lead the boycott. And while his fresh face may have made him electable, it didn’t help assuage this new minister’s doubts. At just 27, the young Pastor King was being expected to lead well beyond his years or experience. 

He knew it, too. And late one night, it all came to a head for him. It came to a head with a phone call around midnight—a death threat.

I won’t repeat what this person said to Pastor King, but he called him some truly awful names. Then, this person told Pastor King that if he didn’t put the breaks on the boycott and leave town, they’d kill him. And blow up his house, too. 

Now the Rev. King had received calls like that before. But that night, it got to him like never before. Unable to sleep, he went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. But that night, not even coffee helped.

Sitting there, he thought about the threats on his life. He thought about his newborn daughter. He thought about his wife sleeping in the next room over. And he thought about how they could be taken away from him at any moment.

That night, Pastor King felt alone like he never had before. He knew he couldn’t call on his dad up in Atlanta. And he couldn’t call on his mother, either. Instead, he had to call upon that God his folks had told him about. 

That night Rev. King learned, for himself, that religion had to become real for him. He learned that he had to know God for himself. Sitting there, at his wit’s end, Martin Luther King Jr. called upon God.

He bowed his head over that cup of coffee and prayed. He was so distressed he even prayed out loud. He didn’t care who heard him.

He confessed that he was weak. He conceded that he was losing his courage. He admitted that he was afraid. He was afraid of what would happen to the movement if people saw their young leader faltering. 

But then, with that desperate praying hanging in the air, Pastor King heard God like never before! He heard God tell him to stand up for justice. He heard God promise that he would never leave him. No, never leave him alone. 

That night Rev. Dr. King met the God the Israelites met that night in today’s Scripture. He met that God who makes a way OUT of no way! He met that God who makes our DEAD-ends into the driveway to the heart of salvation! He met the God who makes our problems GOD’S prerogatives! 

And so does this God FOR you. Yes, you.

Sure, it may not be prejudice based on your skin color that’s oppressing you, but it might be thoughts and feelings and attitudes you’re NOT proud of that are giving you trouble. And it may not be a literal army bearing down on you, but it might be an army of bills. And yes, it might not be the tumult of the Red Sea standing in front of you, but it might be the chaos of the headlines and health issues that’s got you coming apart. 

And I could go on. Couldn’t I?

Maybe you’re worshipping here today, missing that old stately sanctuary on South Central. Or maybe you’re worshipping here today, a little unhappy about the prospect of bringing over some old stained glass windows to this intimate little sanctuary. Either way, maybe you’re like the Israelites, wishing you could go back to the way it was—imperfect as it may have been. 

Or maybe it’s more mundane for you. Maybe it’s one of those so-often hidden fault lines in family life that’s got you distressed. Or maybe it’s a new boss. Or maybe it’s a pension statement. Or maybe it’s rumblings of layoffs. Or maybe it’s a nagging health issue. Or maybe it’s just a workload that isn’t letting up.

Whatever it is, the truth is, in one way or another, we all come here in a bind. We come here with a problem bearing down on us AND nothing but the prospect of more chaos lying ahead of us.

We know what it’s like to come here with the past nipping at our heels. We know what it’s like to come here with nowhere to turn. And we even know what it’s like to come here after a night of sitting at a kitchen table, at the end of our rope. 

Honestly, I don’t need to drum any of this up. Do I? In fact, maybe all this talk of problems breathing down your neck and chaos eying you up is just raising your blood pressure. 

But if it is, just hold on. Because here’s the deal, we may come here for respite. BUT we don’t come here for denial. 

As the parting of the waters reveals, God DOESN’T skirt the issue. No, God goes right through them! God doesn’t save you from the problem. No, God saves you in the problem—right in the middle of it! 

Salvation is not a theory. No, salvation is the unexpected work of God where it’s least expected! That’s what makes it salvation! That’s why we say God does some of God’s best work in cemeteries!

You don’t have to come here pretending you have it all together today. Why that’s the best way to get nothing out of this all too brief hour! Instead, you can just come here admitting that you need to be here! Believe me, God can work with that!

When you come here, YOU come to the place God parts the waters! You come to the place God MAKES a way out of no way! God first did this at the Red Sea. And in Jesus’ baptism, God did this for all brought to the waters of salvation! And in your baptism, sisters and brothers, God pledged to rescue YOU over and over again! Come what may!

This is what it means to call ourselves “Christian” and not “Jesus-ians,” by the way! Jesus’ teachings are fine and all, but it’s the fact that He’s risen and lives that makes all the difference! It’s the fact that Christ sits at the right hand of God that makes him worthy of worship!

Salvation is not a past event! No, salvation is what the risen Lord Jesus Christ does day in and day out! Does right now! Does for you! Yes, you.

And that means, if you’re at the end of your rope today, you’re right where real faith begins! If you just barely dragged yourself here, that just means you have everything Jesus needs to win deliverance from your disaster today! And if all you can see are all your problems, that just means you’re finally ready to really look for the Lord!

And that means, fellow children of God, all I have to tell you is what I told you I was going to tell you all along! All I have to tell you today is what Moses told the people of God that night! "Do not be afraid! Stand firm! And see the deliverance that the Lord WILL accomplish FOR you TODAY!”

And so, you who have been rescued in the waters: Do not be afraid! Stand firm! And see the deliverance that the Lord HAS accomplished FOR you TODAY!

Now let us sing, as we fix our gaze on the Lord! 

Be Thou My Vision; ELW 793