Exodus 13:17-22 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[a] The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle. 19 And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, “God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.” 20 They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
We have been following the story of the Israelites since the birth of Moses. Here they are, Free at last. They are walking into the wilderness. Our theme thought for today is this, when we walk into the future,
God knows the way. God Shows the way. God Holds the Day.
As we approach the end of the school year and Graduation, I couldn’t help but remember the moments when I graduated. First there was High School, then much later, College and my Master’s Program. What I remember at those moments was the feeling of freedom, much like the Israelites must have felt. I was no longer bound to studies and school, I was free.
I distinctly remember that feeling about 12 years ago when I went to the post office to drop off my very last paper in the mail. I walked out with a light heart. Graduation would be later, but that last task being over, my heart sang with joy. I did it!
There was a Hallmark store in the shopping center, and I stopped there as I walked home. There on the shelf was a delicate dancing figure that spoke to what I felt. It exuberated joy!. I couldn’t help but buy it.
As all of us know, those moments of feeling our freedom are fast and fleeting.
Our graduates in the next few days will discover that while there is life and freedom after school, the feeling of freedom is short lived. For some there will be college and post graduate school. For others, there is the new challenge of finding a job and taking on those responsibilities. Some may know where they are headed, others are simply trying to figure it out.
The truth is, an ending of one thing is always a beginning of another.
And so we find our Israelites today. They are leaving Egypt and beginning a new relationship with God. We read that God directed them the long way around so that they would be safe from the Philistines. We read that God appeared as a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night.
There comes a day in every believer’s life when the same thing happens. They accept Jesus as their personal savior. They turn their back on sin, and head out into the wilderness of the future. They joy they feel may be as intense as the joy felt by a graduate.
And as they begin their journey, things are clear and their path is certain. God’s voice and direction surround them, keeping them from danger and leading them into a new world of freedom.
God knows the way.
We spoke at the beginning of this series about the fact that God has a plan. Here in this passage we see this in a different way.
The Israelites don’t know where they are going, but they don’t have to. God knows the way.
Psalm 139 speaks it so well. Verse 16 tells us that: “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.”
Scientists will tell you something important. Time did not exist before the universe was created. God created time, and God exists outside of time. That is a scary and confusing thought when you think about it.
But it is also a comforting thought, again when you think about it. There is nothing that will happen to us that God doesn’t already know.
My personal journey from High School to Pulpit Ministry was about 35 years, almost as long as the Israelites spent in the wildness.
But it wasn’t wasted time. During those years I touched the lives of many students and staff at the Community College where I worked. I had the awesome privilege of interacting with missionaries going out into the field and returning home. I had the joy of planning prayer focuses and events. God had a path for me, that might or might not have led where I am today.
God knew where my life was leading, and God knew the steps that it would take to bring me here. God knew the way.
But God didn’t just know the way, God showed the way.
I love this passage for the Israelites, because it shows that from their very first footsteps outside of Egypt, God was showing where they needed to go. All they had to do was follow.
We, too, have instructions on the way we should go. God left them behind in Scripture, they are there to guide us in how we should act.
I believe that God directs our paths at times by simply allowing one door to open and another to close. We choose colleges and jobs because it seems logical, but deep down, we need to understand, God is directing our path.
I think of my choice of seminaries as an example. I had made my decision, I was going to Fuller Theological Seminary. It was conservative like I was conservative. I had even been accepted. But one day, a letter arrived in the mail from the San Francisco Theological Seminary (Southern California branch). The letter told me that they had prayed for me that day, and that they wanted to invite me to an orientation meeting.
I threw the letter away. I had made my decision, I didn’t need to hear from them. Besides, if I went to Fuller, I could stay in my house and my job and my life would not have to change. Fuller was safe. SFTS was scary.
I could throw the letter away, but I couldn’t throw away the words. We prayed for you. God kept touching my heart until I could no longer resist. I pulled the letter out of the trash and called them. Besides, it was free, offered two classes, and lunch.
As I sat in the classes that day, and met with the other students over lunch, there was much that touched my heart.
Particularly, there was a Vietnamese student whose father was a pastor who had come to the United States to follow the same path. He spoke of having to hide his faith and meeting out in the country. He had lived the other side of the Vietnam war, after we left.
Then there was a Chinese Student. He was super intelligent and had translated the Lord of the Rings by Tolkein from English into Chinese. He spoke of stealing food during the cultural revolution, when the educated were sent to work the fields, and he and his family were starving. He, too, would be returning to his country when his education was complete.
I could no longer escape God’s call, a call that was finalized in my interviews with the directors of both schools. Fuller was safe. SFTS was where God was calling me.
God always shows the way.
But God doesn’t just show the way, God holds the day.
It seems strange to think about my seminary days, because they are like an island in the midst of my life. It was as if God set aside this time, much like God took the Israelites into the wilderness.
But when the time was over, my path continued. I don’t speak of my first call in Kansas, but I will today.
They had lost their previous pastor nearly four years before, shortly before I began seminary. During my years of seminary, they had a faithful interim pastor who led them on their journey.
And when I was given permission to apply for positions, their call caught my attention. And God brought us together. God had brought me into ministry for that moment in time.
A few years later, as they faced financial challenges, I began to hear God’s call to move on. It was then that I heard from TriCounty. You will recognize the story, because just like the story of my choice of seminary, I did not consider this an option. Besides the call having three churches, we really wanted to move closer to the west coast.
But, God had different plans, and once I arrived I quickly came to love not only the churches, and the people, but Missouri itself.
We learned to live in the seasons, with spring, and summer, and fall, and winter. And we learned in the coldest moments of winter that spring would always come.
We learned that God holds the day. And as we faced challenges, we were able to apply that to our lives.
The Egyptians (and our graduates) are free. But the journey is only beginning. We need to remember that
God knows the way
God shows the way
And God holds each day.
Let us pray.
