New Beginnings
Text: Exodus 14:19-31– The Crossing of the Red Sea
Note: Earlier in the service, a film clip showing the crossing of the Red Sea scene from the film the Prince of Egypt was shown. My comments presume that people had seen the scene.
I have to admit; in my opinion the scene of the crossing of the Red Sea in the Prince of Egypt blows any previous film to cover the subject out of the water. Sure, it’s an animated film… but in that way it can do and capture things that live action films can’t… like keeping that sense of wonder and mystery as part of it. Maybe that’s why I personally enjoyed it so much. I remember seeing this for the first time when it was released in 1998, and a few people said after walking out of the theatre, a few people joked “so who is Charleton Heston anyway?”
A few weeks ago, we met Moses as the reluctant shepherd living in exile. We have come a long way since then.
Now all the people of Israel are gathered at the shore, at the edge of the sea… caught between certain death at the hands of Pharaoh’s soldiers, or to be drowned amongst the dark waters of the sea. Pharaoh had let them go after God had struck Egypt with great and terrible wonders, but it wasn’t willingly. By the time the slaves had made their way towards the shores of the sea, Pharaoh had changed his mind. He would sooner see the slaves dead than free in another land.
Caught between Pharaoh’s murderous rage and the angry waters of the sea, the Hebrew slaves have no way out. They feel betrayed, turning to Moses in their desperation and accusing him of leading them to their doom.
There’s an important line of dialogue that is left out of the Prince of Egypt sequence. It’s implied, but in order to move the action forward quickly, it’s left out. When they reach the shore, and its evident that Pharaoh’s army has come to exact their vengeance, the fear of the people is tangible.
They say to Moses,
“Why did you lead us here? Surely we had a better life back there, even if it was merely as slaves in Egypt? You’ve led us out here to die!”
They do have a point. By all accounts, Moses has led them to a dead end, trapped and with nowhere else to go. Sure, there was a sign of the pillar of cloud and fire… but these elements would not hold back a spear tip or a barbed arrow. The soldiers are going to drive the panicking refugees into the sea, to be swallowed up and drowned by the great and terrible deep.
If there was one thing that the Hebrews feared more than Pharaoh’s army, it was the sea. They are a people who like dry land, they liked solid ground. They were a people who lived away from the shorelines… leaving sailing and plying the waters to the Phoenicians or the Egyptians. The water was a dark and terrible place, a great and swirling mass of chaos filled with all kinds of untold horrors. Going into the water was to suffer a fate worse than a soldier’s blade. Moses had led them literally to a dead end.
Our western eyes tend not to see the sea in the same way. Even our hymns, shaped by British mariner culture have made the waters of the sea something to be enjoyed… respected to be sure… but enjoyed. I enjoy being out on a boat, I’ve been on cruises, I’ve swam with turtles while snorkeling. The sea is a place of wonder for most of us.
Not for the people of Israel… To get an idea of how they saw it, we’re in the midst of hurricane season. Hurricane Ike ravaging Cuba and Texas this week… perhaps even hitting us tonight… But there was also Gustav nearly hitting New Orleans a few weeks ago… Hanna drenching the East Coast, including the Maritimes… This is more the great and terrible waters that the Israelites know. It is those images of horror, of churning chaotic waters of swallowing communities whole that give us a glimpse of the kind of terror that the fleeing slaves faced. The “Red Sea” in Hebrew is better translated as the “Reed Sea” –but there is also a play on words here that just doesn’t make the translation. It can also mean “Ending” –the End of the Road. Coming up against the sea was the end of the road. Given the choice, going back to slavery or even the soldier’s spear seems like a far more reasonable option.
It is here, in this darkest of places, at this time of deep terror that we experience the greatest of God’s wonders. At this time of greatest despair by the Hebrews, God tells Moses to hold out his staff and point to the one place where the Israelites will not go… This way… Suddenly the waves of the deep are driven back and it’s divided. Through a dead end, a place of certain death, emerges a path of dry land. They stand at the shore, staring at this new path before them; a new way, just when it seemed that all was lost.
It really does make for good theatre, a people who struggle under the burden of oppression and slavery, who seek to taste freedom… at last they are delivered through the waters of the sea by the hand of God… and we tend to think, “they lived happily ever after!” After all, the Crossing of the Red Sea in most film editions happens at the end.
But that’s our first mistake.
The crossing of the Red Sea… or more properly the “Reed” Sea is all about a new beginning. It’s not the end of the story, it’s just the beginning. Up until this point, it’s been about the struggle for freedom… but the real story begins once they have it. If we think of it this way, the crossing of the Red Sea comes at Chapter 14 of the book of Exodus… Exodus has Forty chapters. We’re barely 1/3 of the way into the book, and we’re ready to say that they lived happily every after.
The Crossing of the Red Sea was not an ending, but a beginning of a new story. God gives them safe passage through the very place that they feared the most. Through that which we thought was a dead end, God carves a path to a new beginning. God calls them to move through the waters, through this end of the road, through this dead end, to a new beginning, a new hope, and into a new relationship with God. This is what begins the story about a long, new road to the Promised Land.
Our Faith is a faith that is all about new beginnings. Where other people see the end of the story, we see the beginning of something new, something wonderful… but something that may involve a long and sometimes difficult road.
Here on Rally Sunday we celebrate new beginnings. The summer is over, the new school year has begun, our children are going into new grades, new programs are starting throughout the community. We return from our summer holidays and vacation times to what is the real “New Year” in Canada. It seems rather appropriate that we have one of the best stories recalling new beginnings as our text for this Sunday. With any new beginning there is that sense of fear and wondering about what is coming next. A number of you may be starting a new program, some of your children are going to new schools, and some of you are starting at a new school yourself. All new beginnings come at the end of something else… and it often comes with a sense of nervousness and unease. Sometimes we cannot see the new beginning, and feel trapped amidst the chaos of a dead end. Sometimes new beginnings come out of something we never thought possible. God call us to move through those dark and terrible places to a new beginning, a new hope, a new life.
Standing with the Israelites on the shores of the sea, we realize what God has truly done. It is no coincidence that some of the language used in this story echoes those of creation. God brings order to the primordial chaos of creation, dividing the great waters, and forming dry land. Parting the waters of the sea was a reminder to us that we are part of God’s creation, and through the Exodus it begins a new relationship between God and humanity. God has delivered and redeemed the slaves of Egypt, brought order to chaos, and shown that the great powers of the earth who’s really in charge. The people of Israel would be forever changed… for this would finally bring an end to their lives of slavery, and bring them into a new chapter in their relationship with God.
When the waters rolled back in front of the fleeing Hebrews, it was still their own choice to flee through this new opening. God did not push them into it, nor were they driven into it by Pharaoh’s forces. Remember that they feared the sea more than they feared Pharaoh. They had the choice to take that step, to overcome that deep seated dread, and to put their trust in God. Taking that step through waters, into the new beginning can be a frightening experience… but it is also where the challenge truly lies. On this day that we mark new beginnings in the church, maybe we can listen and see what new paths God is calling us to take… daring us to move and trust that God is there in the midst of it.
Amen.
Note: Earlier in the service, a film clip showing the crossing of the Red Sea scene from the film the Prince of Egypt was shown. My comments presume that people had seen the scene.
I have to admit; in my opinion the scene of the crossing of the Red Sea in the Prince of Egypt blows any previous film to cover the subject out of the water. Sure, it’s an animated film… but in that way it can do and capture things that live action films can’t… like keeping that sense of wonder and mystery as part of it. Maybe that’s why I personally enjoyed it so much. I remember seeing this for the first time when it was released in 1998, and a few people said after walking out of the theatre, a few people joked “so who is Charleton Heston anyway?”
A few weeks ago, we met Moses as the reluctant shepherd living in exile. We have come a long way since then.
Now all the people of Israel are gathered at the shore, at the edge of the sea… caught between certain death at the hands of Pharaoh’s soldiers, or to be drowned amongst the dark waters of the sea. Pharaoh had let them go after God had struck Egypt with great and terrible wonders, but it wasn’t willingly. By the time the slaves had made their way towards the shores of the sea, Pharaoh had changed his mind. He would sooner see the slaves dead than free in another land.
Caught between Pharaoh’s murderous rage and the angry waters of the sea, the Hebrew slaves have no way out. They feel betrayed, turning to Moses in their desperation and accusing him of leading them to their doom.
There’s an important line of dialogue that is left out of the Prince of Egypt sequence. It’s implied, but in order to move the action forward quickly, it’s left out. When they reach the shore, and its evident that Pharaoh’s army has come to exact their vengeance, the fear of the people is tangible.
They say to Moses,
“Why did you lead us here? Surely we had a better life back there, even if it was merely as slaves in Egypt? You’ve led us out here to die!”
They do have a point. By all accounts, Moses has led them to a dead end, trapped and with nowhere else to go. Sure, there was a sign of the pillar of cloud and fire… but these elements would not hold back a spear tip or a barbed arrow. The soldiers are going to drive the panicking refugees into the sea, to be swallowed up and drowned by the great and terrible deep.
If there was one thing that the Hebrews feared more than Pharaoh’s army, it was the sea. They are a people who like dry land, they liked solid ground. They were a people who lived away from the shorelines… leaving sailing and plying the waters to the Phoenicians or the Egyptians. The water was a dark and terrible place, a great and swirling mass of chaos filled with all kinds of untold horrors. Going into the water was to suffer a fate worse than a soldier’s blade. Moses had led them literally to a dead end.
Our western eyes tend not to see the sea in the same way. Even our hymns, shaped by British mariner culture have made the waters of the sea something to be enjoyed… respected to be sure… but enjoyed. I enjoy being out on a boat, I’ve been on cruises, I’ve swam with turtles while snorkeling. The sea is a place of wonder for most of us.
Not for the people of Israel… To get an idea of how they saw it, we’re in the midst of hurricane season. Hurricane Ike ravaging Cuba and Texas this week… perhaps even hitting us tonight… But there was also Gustav nearly hitting New Orleans a few weeks ago… Hanna drenching the East Coast, including the Maritimes… This is more the great and terrible waters that the Israelites know. It is those images of horror, of churning chaotic waters of swallowing communities whole that give us a glimpse of the kind of terror that the fleeing slaves faced. The “Red Sea” in Hebrew is better translated as the “Reed Sea” –but there is also a play on words here that just doesn’t make the translation. It can also mean “Ending” –the End of the Road. Coming up against the sea was the end of the road. Given the choice, going back to slavery or even the soldier’s spear seems like a far more reasonable option.
It is here, in this darkest of places, at this time of deep terror that we experience the greatest of God’s wonders. At this time of greatest despair by the Hebrews, God tells Moses to hold out his staff and point to the one place where the Israelites will not go… This way… Suddenly the waves of the deep are driven back and it’s divided. Through a dead end, a place of certain death, emerges a path of dry land. They stand at the shore, staring at this new path before them; a new way, just when it seemed that all was lost.
It really does make for good theatre, a people who struggle under the burden of oppression and slavery, who seek to taste freedom… at last they are delivered through the waters of the sea by the hand of God… and we tend to think, “they lived happily ever after!” After all, the Crossing of the Red Sea in most film editions happens at the end.
But that’s our first mistake.
The crossing of the Red Sea… or more properly the “Reed” Sea is all about a new beginning. It’s not the end of the story, it’s just the beginning. Up until this point, it’s been about the struggle for freedom… but the real story begins once they have it. If we think of it this way, the crossing of the Red Sea comes at Chapter 14 of the book of Exodus… Exodus has Forty chapters. We’re barely 1/3 of the way into the book, and we’re ready to say that they lived happily every after.
The Crossing of the Red Sea was not an ending, but a beginning of a new story. God gives them safe passage through the very place that they feared the most. Through that which we thought was a dead end, God carves a path to a new beginning. God calls them to move through the waters, through this end of the road, through this dead end, to a new beginning, a new hope, and into a new relationship with God. This is what begins the story about a long, new road to the Promised Land.
Our Faith is a faith that is all about new beginnings. Where other people see the end of the story, we see the beginning of something new, something wonderful… but something that may involve a long and sometimes difficult road.
Here on Rally Sunday we celebrate new beginnings. The summer is over, the new school year has begun, our children are going into new grades, new programs are starting throughout the community. We return from our summer holidays and vacation times to what is the real “New Year” in Canada. It seems rather appropriate that we have one of the best stories recalling new beginnings as our text for this Sunday. With any new beginning there is that sense of fear and wondering about what is coming next. A number of you may be starting a new program, some of your children are going to new schools, and some of you are starting at a new school yourself. All new beginnings come at the end of something else… and it often comes with a sense of nervousness and unease. Sometimes we cannot see the new beginning, and feel trapped amidst the chaos of a dead end. Sometimes new beginnings come out of something we never thought possible. God call us to move through those dark and terrible places to a new beginning, a new hope, a new life.
Standing with the Israelites on the shores of the sea, we realize what God has truly done. It is no coincidence that some of the language used in this story echoes those of creation. God brings order to the primordial chaos of creation, dividing the great waters, and forming dry land. Parting the waters of the sea was a reminder to us that we are part of God’s creation, and through the Exodus it begins a new relationship between God and humanity. God has delivered and redeemed the slaves of Egypt, brought order to chaos, and shown that the great powers of the earth who’s really in charge. The people of Israel would be forever changed… for this would finally bring an end to their lives of slavery, and bring them into a new chapter in their relationship with God.
When the waters rolled back in front of the fleeing Hebrews, it was still their own choice to flee through this new opening. God did not push them into it, nor were they driven into it by Pharaoh’s forces. Remember that they feared the sea more than they feared Pharaoh. They had the choice to take that step, to overcome that deep seated dread, and to put their trust in God. Taking that step through waters, into the new beginning can be a frightening experience… but it is also where the challenge truly lies. On this day that we mark new beginnings in the church, maybe we can listen and see what new paths God is calling us to take… daring us to move and trust that God is there in the midst of it.
Amen.
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