Trinity 16 – 27 September 2009

Exodus 3, Psalm 116, Ephesians 3, Luke 7

This past summer Emily and I, for the first summer in four years, did not move. In 2005, we moved from Orlando, Florida to Cavalier, North Dakota; in 2006 we moved from Cavalier to Santa Rosa, California; in 2007 we moved from Santa Rosa to Santa Barbara; and in 2008 we moved from a cramped apartment in Santa Barbara to a lovely house.  During all these moves I learned one thing, moving is miserable.  Moving coerces us to feel insecure.  It upsets daily routines; it imparts unbearable feelings of unease and fear; and, at least in our marriage, is the cause of numerous marital spats.  Our church is moving.  We are moving from Emanuel Lutheran Church, our home for the past twenty years, to the chapel at Bishop Diego Garcia.  Even though we are excited about this move, even though this move is a good thing, it will stir up feelings of unrest, unease and insecurity.  Consequently, following the advice of Pastor Don Johnson, a mentor and the pastor of Montecito Covenant Church, we are going to begin a series on the book of Exodus, the story of Israel moving out of Egypt and into God’s Promised Land. 

             Reinhold Neibuhr, the famous American theologian once said, “The final test of religious faith is whether it will enable men to endure insecurity without complacency or despair.”[1]  One of the purposes of the book of Exodus was nourish the faith of the Israelites so that they would not fall into compliancy and despair while they were moving to the Promised Land.   The older generation of Israelites, those who left Egypt with Moses, went through numerous periods of despair, periods marked by an intense longing for their past lives in Egypt.  Exodus 14 records one such period when the Israelites saw the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s murderous army behind.  The Scripture records, “They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.”   Even though the Lord had just proven his sovereign power by redeeming Israel from slavery through ten miraculous plagues, the Israelites were in a state of despair.  The older generation of Israelites always needed reminding that their faith in the Lord must lead to hope and not to despair.

            The younger generations of Israelites, those were born during the desert wanderings, were prone to complacency.   Their entire life was spent wandering in the desert; they knew only about tents, sand, and constant travels.  They began to be complacent, self-satisfied with their wilderness nomadic life, and were tempted to inactive faith, preferring the desert to the Promised Land.  To encourage active faith, the book of Exodus with numerous stories of God’s lavish rewards to those who were not complacent.  Exodus 32 contains one such story.  When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Covenant from the Lord, the Israelites became religiously insecure and instead of patiently waiting for the Lord to reveal himself, they made for themselves a new god, a golden calf.  When Moses came down from the mountain, the Israelites were out of control and running wild.  Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and yelled out, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!”  All the Levities rallied to Moses and as a result of their active faith; the Levities were set apart to serve the Lord in the Tabernacle and later the temple.  The younger generation of Israelites always needed reminding that their faith in the Lord must lead to action, not complacency, which is self-satisfaction.

            To encourage the older generation of Israelites to hope in the God’s promises rather than despair and to encourage the younger generation to have active faith rather than be complacent, there is one doctrine that lurks and dwells on every page in Exodus: the doctrine of God’s sovereignty.  Throughout the book of Exodus, God is the supreme, independent, and effective ruler over not just Israel, but Egypt, Canaan, and all of creation.  Listen Nahum Sarna, a Jewish theologians, length description of God’s sovereignty in Exodus: “It demonstrates that human beings cannot successfully defy God’s will or effectively thwart His purpose.  True, God has endowed man with free will, but the tension between human will and divine will must inevitably resolve itself in the humbling of man. The pharaoh may arrogantly dismiss Moses and Aaron with the derisive proclamation: ‘Who is the Lord that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, not will I let Israel go.’ In the end, however, he must ignominiously rise in the middle of the night to summon Moses and Aaron, and to announce his abject surrender: ‘Up, depart from among my people, you and the Israelites with you! Go, worship the Lord as you said!’”[2]  

            Here is one of the greatest mysteries of faith.  The same doctrine that humbles us also brings great comfort and hope.  To the older generation of Israelites that struggled with despair, God’s sovereignty meant that they did not have to worry about their present predicaments.  God’s promises were mightier than any army; no enemy could come between them and their God.  To the younger generation who struggled with complacency, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty reminded them that their wanderings in the desert would not thwart God’s plans.[3]  Concerning our human inabilities to thwart God’s plans and purposes, Joseph, the great patriarch, certainly spoke the truth when he said in Genesis 50:20, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good.  

What does God’s sovereignty mean for us today?  We serve the same God who demonstrated his power to the Egyptians through ten plaques, we worship the same God who parted the Red Sea, we love the same God who gave the Israelites peace and rest in their own land, therefore the doctrine of God’s sovereignty means the same things for us as it did for the Israelites.  For those struggling with the despairs of insecurity, God’s sovereignty means the insecurities of life, though real and terrifying, do not render God’s promises null and void and he has promised to always be with us and work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).   Therefore, we have every reason to hope.  To those struggling with complacency, God’s sovereignty means our mistakes and mishaps will not undo God’s promises. In fact, all of God’s promises have already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and what God has fulfilled can never, ever be undone, therefore we no longer need to fear. 

Moving is stressful, it is frightening, and it can open us up to new insecurities.  The doctrine of God’s sovereignty equips our faith to handle life’s many insecurities. We worship a God who as asked us to cast all our anxieties upon him, we serve a God who sent his Son to take our insecurities and fears upon himself, we love a God who has promised always be with us and to work everything out for our benefit and for his glory.  Let us pray with all assurance and confidence that our Father will send his Holy Spirit to strengthen our inner man and that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith.  So that no matter what happens in life we will be rooted and grounded in love, so that we may “be able to comprehend the breadth and the length and the depth and the height and to know the love of Christ which passes all understanding.”  Finally, let us be thankful that the Lord is sovereign for he is able “to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, so unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

           


[1] ThinkExist.com Quotations. “Reinhold Niebuhr quotes”. ThinkExist.com Quotations Online 1 Aug. 2009. 26 Sep. 2009 <http://einstein/quotes/Reinhold_Niebuhr/3.html>

[2] Nahum Sarna, Exploring Exodus, Shocken Books: New York, 1996, pg 2.

[3] In fact, God would make their wanderings part of his plan for he used that time to raise and train their armies.