Find this week’s readings here. To dig deeper, check out our subscription options. Discover our free podcast here.
This week, we celebrate the reality of resurrection, of God’s deliverance, the crossing of the great Sea, and the ways in which this changes everything. Because of who God is, we do not have to grasp for control. We can trust in the One who has initiated our rescue, has saved us from the enemy, and will put things right.
Our Old Testament reading (Exodus 14:19-21) tells the story of the God who rescues. By him, we are invited into faith by stepping on to the uncertain dry ground ahead of us that once was chaos. We are called to “fear” the Lord which does not mean to be terrified of him, but to give him our allegiance in a world where it looks like so many other things run the show.
When we are successful in this life, we are tempted to believe that worldly success should be our ultimate pursuit. The problem is, if you keep getting more successful, you are just going to want more of it. This kind of success is rarely consistent and will keep us thirsting as we drink from a thermos of sand.
When we find that we are relatively safe and secure in this life, the temptation becomes to hold on to that safety and security at all costs. This is often at the expense of others. Like the squirrel that hoards nuts and lashes out at someone who seems to threaten it, we often push away those who threaten the things we hold most dear.
We see a kind of “grasping” in our New Testament reading (Romans 14:1-12), where Paul faces a church divided over cultural issues that feel extremely important in the moment: one group abstained from meat because most of the meat that was available at the time had been sacrificed to idols; the other group (with whom Paul agrees) has embraced a new freedom in Christ and are freely eating meat. The first group may be tempted to think the second group is being unfaithful, playing fast-and-loose with the call to holiness. The second group may be tempted to think that the first group is immature and they are resistant to include them in their meals because of it. Both are called, as brothers and sisters, not to destroy the work of God because of food! Rather, they are to trust in the Lord Jesus more than they cling on to their own perspective on the issue. They must trust, stepping onto the dry ground of fellowship with one another, trusting the One who has made a way for them.
Our Gospel reading (Matthew 18:21-35) proclaims that there is another kind of control which we hold on to: the need for vengeance against those who have hurt us. We may express vengeance by attempting to socially isolate the one who has hurt us, talking behind their back, speaking to them in passive/aggressive ways, punishing them at work, by violence, or simply, by keeping score in our minds of all that they have done. It may be appropriate to ask our congregations if they can bring to mind those who are the most difficult to forgive. It is important to be intentional because sometimes we run the “scoreboard” without even realizing it.
We then must remember rightly those things for which God has forgiven us. We bring them to mind not to shame ourselves or to dredge up things for which we’ve already been forgiven, but to remember the beauty of forgiveness and the generosity of God. Forgiveness is God’s very heart and is the lifeblood of his people.
In the story of the Red Sea we hear the good news that God is the one creator, the one liberator. And He loves His people. We are unable to liberate ourselves, to fix ourselves and our circumstances. These are comforting words because we need to stop trying. God responds to the cries His people. Many times, rescue is not evident and, in those times, it is appropriate to cry out in lament; through it, we can trust that God is faithful.
Early Christians quickly found a connection between the story of the Red Sea and the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ has crossed the great Sea of death and, in baptism, we have done so with him. Hear the good news: you have been forgiven! You have been set free! Because of this reality, the world will never be the same.
Yet, we must acknowledge we do not see this new world fully realized. In this way, we live between Passover and the Crossing. It often feels like we stand surrounded: with evil chasing and chaos in front of us. And we have to trust. God is with us. The same God who called dry ground out of sea, who called life out of death, is calling out new creation in our midst.
May we know Him, may we fear him, may we step out on dry ground. May all we do be in honor to the Lord, as we share the table with all our brothers and sisters. And may we be a people of extravagant forgiveness, letting go of our record-keeping, knowing that we can trust God…even with that.