Crossing the Red Sea
Notes
Transcript
A Familiar Story...
A Familiar Story...
What jumps out?
What a terrifying situation!
What a terrifying situation!
Place yourself in this story
you’ve escaped from slavery. A situation so bad, that even escaping to the desert seems preferable
Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. You know what Egypt is capable of, and yet God has led you to a place where you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. You’re stuck between Pharaoh’s army and the sea.
God, who had clearly been leading you, withdraws behind you.
Then Moses raises his hand, the wind rises, and the waters are pushed back, and yuou’ve got no other way to go except forward.
We tend to speak triumphally of the miracles involved here, but miracles are easy to see in hindsight. At the time, more often, you just feel desparate, fearful, and, hopefully, relieved in the end.
What can we learn?
What can we learn?
As we face our own sea changes in life?
Pillar of Cloud and Fire
Pillar of Cloud and Fire
Seeking God’s direction for our lives
God, in the cloud, quite literally leading them
Cloud shows where God is, but also obscures God
So often like that when we’re seeking to follow God in our lives - especially when we’re facing uncertain futures or tough decisions - we seek to follow God, but it’s hard to see exactly where God is in all of this.
Between an army and a wet place
Between an army and a wet place
Sometimes it seems like God leads us into a cul de sac. A dead end, with no way out.
There are never dead ends with God.
Walls on either side
Walls on either side
Sometimes, the only way out is through
Sometimes, the only way out is through
God is always with us
God is always with us
Moses was on a hill. The Angel of God was obscured in teh pillar of cloud and fire, but Jesus is right there with us in the mud and the mess of life.
Merton’s prayer
Merton’s prayer
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Amen