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Sermon 98

Sermon by Ian Scott Thompson at Wonersh 7^th October 2007.

MOSES III

BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Exodus 13-14;

Series on Moses sermons ABCD. Housegroups get three extra: adds 1 “God who hears” 6 “God who teaches” and 7 “God of glory”.

The Jews looked on Moses as their founding father, because he gave them the Ten Commandments, the Law; and wrote the first five books, the key texts. So he’s the foundation of Jesus’ faith, and he was a hero of faith for the New Testament church, and we follow Jesus and the apostles.

Exodus 1 & 2 is about Moses’ birth and childhood, saved from an early death, and then growing up as a prince in Pharaoh’s court in Egypt. In Exodus 3 Moses meets with God personally for the first time at the burning bush and God gives Moses a job to do, to rescue the people. We asked ourselves what God might be calling us to do for Him… Last week John Metcalfe preached superbly on the Passover in Exodus 12, and the escape from Egypt. Now we follow them escaping from Egypt towards the Red Sea; and God tells them to camp by the shore, tempting Pharaoh to think he can trap them there. Pharaoh regains his resolve, assembles a huge army and catches up with them. It looks like he’s got this one in the bag: Pharaoh’s eager to get ‘em, and the Israelites are understandably terrified, and turn to blame Moses.

But Moses, in verses 13 and 14, tells them not to be afraid, but to stand firm and watch what the Lord does; and the Lord tells Moses in detail what he is to do, and what will happen next. God is so gracious, giving Moses the whole picture; but this one needed a lot of trust, so it’s fair enough.

A schoolboy was thrilled to read this story.  His Divinity teacher asked the boy why he was so thrilled. “I’ve just been reading that God opened up the waters of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle on dry ground,” replied the boy. "That can all be very easily explained,” said his teacher. Modern scholarship has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across." The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from his teacher back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The teacher turned to go, but scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice louder than before. “Now what?” he asked "Wow!" exclaimed the boy happily, "God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!"

As we start our second reading, God separates the Israelites from the Egyptians, Moses stretches out his hand over the sea and the Lord creates walls of water and dry ground. I remember a cartoon I saw once in somebody’s loo, showing this scene, with Moses looking back over his shoulder, saying, “What do you mean: ‘It’s a bit muddy’?” He leads them through, and the Lord causes confusion among the Egyptians; and Moses is commanded again to stretch out his hand and cause the waters to flow back over the Egyptians.

So, what might this mean for us, today?

Last verse (v31): “the people feared the LORD.” Fear leads to trust in God; so, different to negative fear of evil, more like Awe. That’s something we’ve lost today – a sense of God’s power and authority.

Bishop Michael Baughen says he tends to ask PCCs if they believe in God (“Yes, of course”). Ah, but when a church member is given a diagnosis of terminal disease, do you first comfort the family, or do you pray? Do you believe in God?

If a member is made redundant, do you first offer them counselling and support, or do you pray? Do you believe in God? When the church is facing a massive deficit, do you first discuss launching an appeal, or do you pray? Do you believe in God? Uncomfortable questions, about whether our faith changes our reaction to a crisis, our instincts.

You see, this is not just history: the Jews took this as the event which defined their nation, the story of their becoming a distinctive people. It symbolised God freeing them from sin, oppression and evil. In the New Testament, it is our salvation-story, escape from sin. When Jesus talks to the disciples about his death on the Cross, he calls it his departure, his “Exodus”. He sees his death as the event which frees the people from slavery to sin.

So, this the story of Christ. All the promises of the Old Testament find their fulfilment in Jesus of Nazareth. And we follow him, we are in Christ, we are the body of Christ, so this is our story.

We learn that God deals with a whole nation, a people, not just with individuals; I was learning this week that the cult of the individual is a 17^th-century innovation – before that we were all part of extended families, villages, groups. Nor does God deal just with processes and events and mechanisms. E.M. Bounds was asked about God’s methods in history, said: “God's method is people.”

We learn that the main event, the big story, is an escape story. From slavery to freedom, by the hand of God. And our role is not to struggle or fight, but to trust God and watch. Verses 13 and 14: “Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Archbishop William Temple said: there is only one thing which I can contribute to my salvation, and that is my own sin which took Jesus to the Cross.

God has delivered us from sin through the Cross, but we need to accept by deliberately putting our trust in Jesus. It’s not enough just to believe in the head (James’ epistle says that even the Devil believes in God). We need to accept and trust for ourselves; just as the Israelites had to accept by stepping out and walking across the muddy sea-bed.

Can we bear to stand and watch what God will do?

I’ve always appreciated this saying: Religion is what proud people think they can do for God; Faith is what humble people know that God has done for them.

A prayer given to me by Jane’s grandmother, a lifelong Christian in the Plymouth Brethren Meeting in Stafford:
"O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art the Way, the Truth and the Life; we pray Thee: Suffer us not to stray from Thee Who art the Way, Nor to distrust Thee Who art the Truth, Nor to rest in any other thing than Thee Who art the Life. Teach us by Thy Holy Spirit what to believe, what to do, and wherein to take our rest. For Thine own name's sake we ask it, Amen."

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