Sermon 9-16-2023
Delivered to the women in Muguluka, a village in Uganda
Exodus 14:19-31
19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. 25 He clogged[a] their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
The Pursuers Drowned
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Some would interpret this passage by saying that God will protect those who believe in God, and kill their enemies, those that enslaved them.
Instead, we are looking at this passage from the perspective of how this looks to us and our lives.
Something enslaves each one of us. It can be financial burden, or it can be our children’s inability to go to school. Or it can be a health issue that just won’t resolve. It is not a Pharaoh that enslaves us, it is a circumstance in our life.
So, when we think of how we get hope – when we think of who or what is our Moses – we can realize that God can save us, God can give us hope. God works through people, yet the power and ideas come from God.
We then know that we can pray for God to show us the way across the Red Sea, out of enslavement. We can pray for opportunities, for the way forward. Sometimes we simply need to pray for light of the next morning, hope in the form of another day on this earth, and the strength and courage to move forward.
We can ask God to destroy that which destroys us – Fear. To replace the fear with hope and love and peace. God is very good at doing that. We simply need to practice daily to bring God’s light into our hearts. Let’s do it now.
Take a deep breath in, hold it in your heart, and exhale all tensions from this today. Take in another breath, breathing in the light and love of God, and exhale all tensions from yesterday and before. Finally a deep breath of in, breathing in peace, holding it in your heart, and then gently exhaling and sharing that peace all around you. Let us pray:
Dear God,
Thank you for this time together, bringing light love and peace into our hearts, into our minds, and into our bodies. May we carry this peace forward. May this peace surpass and destroy any fear that is left. Remind me to breath and pray whenever the fear returns, so that I may restore all hope for the future of me and my family.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
This week, in Morocco, on the West coast of Africa, there was an earthquake, in a rural area that destroyed all the buildings and ended over 2500 lives. It left thousands without homes or food. They need Moses, they need hope to lead them to a new land, and a new life. They need us, right here and right now, to pray for them. We don’t know much about them. We don’t know their names or their faces, but we do know their suffering. Many of us have also lost loved ones. Many of us have lost housing or been without food. Many of us have had to start over.
So let us pray for those in and around Amizmiz, Morocco.
Dear God,
At this time, we pray for the families and friends of those who have lost their lives in Morocco. May they emerge from the enslavement of fear as they mourn, and as they rebuild.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Also, on the heals of that tragedy two dams broke in Libya, a country to north of Uganda, on the northern coast of Africa. Over 10,000 people have died because of that tragedy. Let us pray for them:
Dear God,
When we hear about the tragedies from neighboring countries, we realize that our burdens are not as great as those that need to mourn the destruction of cities and the deaths of many, many families. We know hurt and we know mourning. We now pray for those in Libya who face the next years of rebuilding lives. We cannot understand why so many died, but we can understand that our job is to send love and compassion to those we do not know, so that they may begin again.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
When we learn about the tragic events from elsewhere in the world, it can make us sad. But it can also stir up the emotion of compassion, a feeling that we are not alone in our suffering. We have community nearby that supports us. Let us give thanks for our local community. Webele ngo.
We have community a bit farther out who know about us and support us, such as medicine and food from town. Let us give thanks. Webele ngo.
We have community from far away that support us, from the United States. Let us give thanks. Webele ngo.
And we now have community in Morocco and Libya. We don’t know much about them, but we are together with them now in their hour of need. We support them by praying for them. We are One with them, through God, through prayer, sending hope and love to them. We are grateful for the opportunity to spread our love to them. Webele ngo.
Through this prayer and gratitude, we are now closer together in our hearts to each other and to God. Can you feel it? We can feel that people around the world are like us, even if they don’t look like us or sound like us. God made us all, God loves us all, and all God wants is for us to love each other, and to love God. That’s it.
May God bless you. Katonda akuwe omukisa!
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