GOD'S CREATIVE SAVING WAYS
Exodus 1.8-2.10
Reverend Charles W. Roberts
First Presbyterian Church, Pascagoula, MS; 8/25/02
I suspect you have heard the story of what happened this year in the
spring floods.
It seems that there was this fellow in Missouri, who had lived all his
life in the house his grandfather had built, and never left it, even in
floods.
Well, this year the flood was particularly bad. The State police were
dispatched to remove him from his home. They drove out, and drove away,
after the man waved a shotgun and said that God had promised to protect
him.
The floods rose, and the man moved to the second story of his house, as
he had several times before. A boat was sent to rescue him, but he waved
the shotgun again, insisting that God promised to take care of him.
The waters rose again, and when the news helicopter spotted him and
tried to pluck him off his roof, he shot at them, and they flew off.
The waters rose yet again, and the man perished in the flood.
He got to heaven, made his way through the pearly gates, and walked
straight up to the throne of grace. Hands on his hips, he addressed God:
"I thought you were going to take care of me!?"
God smiled and said, "Son, I sent a car, a boat, and a helicopter. What
more do you want?!"
Sometimes, God's saving ways come in the most unexpected, and creative
ways.
The part of the story that I read for you from Exodus this morning is
really just that- it is a part of the story.
What precedes it is this:
God has chosen to create a people for himself, a people who will know
him, and know his love. He begins with Abraham, who is Joseph's
great-grandfather. Abraham has a child, his child has a child, and that
child has 12 sons, one of whom is Joseph.
Joseph has an interesting history, growing up in a MOST dysfunctional
family, being sold into slavery by his brothers, but rising from despair
from an Egyptian prison cell to the highest position possible, second
only to Pharaoh. From that position of power and influence, he saves the
Egyptian people from starvation, and his own family from a similar fate.
Joseph is highly regarded by the Egyptians, but his extended family
grows, time passes, and, as the Bible says, "Then a new king, who did
not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt." (EX 1.8)
Call that political spin, call it revisionist history, call it what you
will, the reality is that a great deal of time has passed. Joseph's
legacy and fame as the leader of the Hebrew people in Egypt are
meaningless, now.
Pharaoh seems threatened by the growth of this race, and determines to
do something about it. He devalues them as a people, and turns them into
slaves.
The idea was to break their spirit by making them slaves, but the
opposite occurred. The people who were oppressed during the day thrived
at home, and the Hebrew nation grew even larger.
Pharaoh tried to manipulate things to his advantage, but the midwives
fibbed to him that the Hebrew women had babies before they could arrive.
So he ordered that ALL male children-even Egyptian-were to be killed
upon birth. No male Hebrew children meant that in a generation or two,
the race would be extinct. The race that caused Pharaoh consternation,
but also the race that carried the promise, the covenant, and the love
of God.
And you know the "rest of the story," how Moses became an outcast from
his own people, wandered until he encountered God alone in the
wilderness, and was sent back to Pharaoh, because the cries of his
people had come to him. Then he led the people on the Exodus, through a
long wandering to the promised land, the same land that God promised to
Abraham, Joseph's great-grandfather.
God's saving ways come in the most unexpected, and creative ways.
In between those two long stories is the short story of the birth of
Moses, which I read this morning. It is an interesting story, which we
have romanticized thanks to Cecil B. DeMille and the DreamWorks studio.
Really, I think it is a story of
political intrigue,
irony, and
the providence of God.
I think it is a story about political intrigue, because of the threats
that Pharaoh feels from the numbers of the Hebrews, and the lengths he
is willing to undertake, to end their existence.
Then there is the intrigue that the midwives enter into to thwart the
ways of Pharaoh.
Then there is Pharaoh's willingness to threaten his own nation's
military future (how do you have an army if you kill ALL male
children!?)
And I believe it is a story that is filled with irony, as well. If you
think about it, Moses' mother did exactly what she was told to do.
Pharaoh said that all male children were to be thrown into the Nile.
Well, she did that, just not immediately, and certainly not violently.
But she fulfilled the letter of the law, and her male child lived.
And what greater irony could there be, than to have this prejudicially
despised Hebrew male child raised in the home of Pharaoh's own
daughter?! To add to that irony, Moses' mother is paid to nurture her
own child.
And people tell me that they think God does not have a sense of humor .
. .
Ultimately, however, I believe this is a story about the creative ways
that God saves his people, and his providence-that is, the fact that God
is working to care for his people, even when they are not looking.
It is not until the third chapter, when the Bible has fast-forwarded
through time, and Moses is near 80 (that's right, 80!), that God says he
has "seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out
because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their
suffering." (EX 3.7)
But even before the people knew enough to cry out to God;
even before their misery was so great as to overshadow all that was
going on;
even when they were suffering, yet making more babies than Pharaoh
could count;
God was at work to bring them salvation from slavery.
Before the people could ask God for help, God was at work, creatively,
and quietly, bringing them the salvation they needed.
They did not know it,
they could not see it,
but God was at work, nonetheless.
Sometimes, we, like the Hebrew people, put God in a box, thinking he is
not at work, is not interested, and does not care. We need to expand our
view of God, to grow in our ability to appreciate him, and discover that
even in horrible circumstances, God's hidden work is ongoing.
Remember JOSEPH'S story? His family was happy and settled. They were
thriving where they were, and doing well. The brothers resented the
youngest, so they sold him into slavery. But from that slavery, Joseph
rose to prominence and power! Do you remember what he said when he
confronted his brothers? "You intended to harm me, but God intended it
for good ." (GN 50.20)
During World War Two, an American patrol was advancing slowly through
the front lines in Europe, when the small-arms fire and shelling
stopped. A soldier named Bert Frizen was one of the scouts the Americans
sent into an open field, not knowing that the German soldiers were in a
hedgerow 200 yards away, watching him.
Halfway across that field, they opened fire, and machine guns ripped
Bert's legs, dropping him in the field. The Americans retreated into the
woods, and the two armies exchanged fire.
Bert lay in a stream, as bullets flew over his head. He looked up, and
saw a German soldier crawling towards him. He knew that he was about to
die. He lay in the stream with his eyes closed, waiting for the
inevitable. After some time, he opened his eyes, to see the German
soldier beside him, smiling. The shooting had stopped.
The German soldier-the enemy-picked Bert up, and carried him to the
American Army. Then he turned around, and went back to the German side.
After a few moments, the cease-fire ended.
Sometimes, God's saving ways come in the most unexpected, and creative
ways.
I do not know where you are looking for God's help today. I know that
some of you are in desperate financial straits.
I know that some of you are terribly lonely in marriage, and you hang
on for the sake of the kids, hoping that maybe tomorrow will be better.
I know that some of you struggle against depression, that creeping
blackness that obscures even hope.
I know that some of you hunger to know that God loves you, but you hold
some great roadblock-sin-in the path of accepting that love, despite the
fact that God has removed it.
Some of you, I know, despise your work, wishing that there were
something else you could do, to be happy, and keep bread on the table.
Many of you have shared with me the feeling that you simply cannot take
one more thing! You believe that God will not give you more than you can
handle, but you wish he did not think so much of you!
And all of you long to see the salvation of God.
It is not that you question it, it's just that God has not done what
you wish he would do! And that makes you wonder if God is really busy
for you, after all.
When you struggle with any of those things, remember Moses. Remember
Joseph.
Remember Jesus.
Sometimes, God's saving ways come in the most unexpected, and creative
ways.
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