Text: Exodus 14:5-14 v. 10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were Egyptians advancing on them…
There are those instances in life when dubious circumstances have combined to create a seemingly insurmountable situation. You may have been rolling along, going about your business, happily married, raising children, working at a steady job, or serving the Lord at a growing church when first one thing, then another and then perhaps still something else has happened to you to put you on the brink of personal or corporate catastrophe. You had tried to believe, tried to step up, did your very best to make things work out. And still you found yourself looking at a mountain of difficulty and no way out. You may even have come to church this very morning certain that defeat is imminent, ready to concede that your best efforts have produced nothing but failure. But I interrupt the sermon series on evangelism because every now and then, it will do a Christian some good to review some of the old stories of the faith, some of those biblical events that shaped the faith of our forebears and that laid the foundation for centuries of trust in an all powerful miracle working God. Or maybe we’ve forgotten that we serve a God who knocked down walls, a God who heals the sick, a God who provided a table in the wilderness, water from a rock, who gave life to the dead, food for the hungry, power to the weak. Every now and then we need to review the mighty works of who it is that we serve, whose children we are. So let me remind you this morning that we serve an awesome God, that we are children of an all-powerful, wonder working God for whom nothing is impossible.
The text from Exodus concerns the most significant story in the Old Testament, and it was what scholars regard as the pivotal moment among those who believe in God at least until Jesus went to Calvary. This story is familiar, and yet all too often forgotten. It is powerful and yet so many of us who call ourselves people of faith are powerless to recall it. It tells us of one such insurmountable circumstance that the people of God endured, a time when at the brink of obtaining a long sought after freedom, God’s people were threatened with total and utter eradication. Look at that text and see those circumstances with me. Go ahead and contemplate the varying destructive forces that are at work in your own life as you read this text. And in doing so, let us determine if there isn’t anyone else who has gone before us who ever felt scared as we do. Let us understand correctly if there isn’t some biblical account of persons whose faith was shaken as ours is or has been, whose countenance had become weakened as ours is inclined to be, and whose likelihood for survival had been seriously endangered as some of us here today may very well feel.
I read that verse ten, where the Israelites looked back, and they viewed that Pharaoh drew near, and in my mind’s eye there is the picture of some governmental leader determined that God’s people would not be free. There is an understanding in my heart of some school superintendent, some presidents of the United States, some chief justices of the Supreme Court insisting that schools that separated Black children from White children were equal. Pharaoh drew near. I read further in the text of how the Egyptians were advancing on them, with 600 picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And in my imagination I perceive the mighty arsenals of weapons and the billions of dollars spent building these means by which one people can destroy another. I read in that 10th verse how these armies of the Egyptians not only had the children of God within their sights, but how they were advancing on them, causing great fear, making the situation worse, further depleting what little faith and hope and peace still existed in the hearts of the righteous. And in reading this, I am overcome with a sense of déjà vu from having read things this very week in the newspapers, the wars and the rumors of wars, people killing people all over the planet, sometimes in the name of God, sometimes in the name of freedom, but every time in the clutches of hatred. Pharaoh drew near. The Egyptians were advancing. The situation looked pretty bad. The freedom that had seemed so close to attaining was most assuredly beyond the grasp of God’s children now. Gravesites were being contemplated. Funerals were being planned. Complaints were being lodged. Fingers were being pointed. Excuses were being formulated. Fear and spite and defeat were already taking up residence in the hearts and minds of the Israelites. It was 4th and 26. The message is, “don’t give up.”
This is Black History month, a time when we look back at the actions and heroism of Aftican Americans. And when you look at a Booker T. Washington, when you look at a Harriet Tubman, when you look at a Fannie Lou Hamer and a Barbara Jordan and a Martin Luther King and a W.E.B. Dubois, and realize the daunting and horrific circumstances into which these individuals were born. They were not welcomed into the realm of the intellectual elite nor into the bosom of American political life. Laws were such that not a one of those individuals would have surprised anyone had they just lived a life of mediocrity and obscurity. Slavery stacked the deck against them. Jim Crow incorporated hatred into the legal system. And the hearts and minds of so many would not be changed even after the laws and constitution were changed. Yes with a society looking down on them, with a system bent on beating them into the ground, with an economic and institutional racism that kept a heavy foot on their necks, with a culture of hatred aimed at them, these individuals were each individually and collectively in a situation that looked pretty bad. Looking at those stories, looking at those circumstances, looking at how insurmountable those conditions were and to see today how far we’ve come, how far we’ve still to go, but certainly how far we’ve come, it speaks volumes about the type of God we serve and about how we are to respond in the face of such insurmountable circumstances. For African Americans in this country, it is fourth and 26. The message is, “don’t give up.”
I was reminded recently of a now deceased church member of mine, Harvey Knapp who when I first arrived as pastor he met with me in my office a few times. Harvey was certain that our church was going down hill, and he felt that I should know. He was fearful that he wouldn’t live to see any kind of resurgence, counting down the days until the church would not be able to keep the doors open. Membership had been declining or at best plateaued. The neighborhood was changing, the membership was aging, the pastoral search had yielded a candidate who won the pastorate by literally one vote, and that left some people bitter, some angry and others just stayed away from the church all together. And in Harvey’s mind the predicament facing Second Baptist looked like an insurmountable set of circumstances. He wanted me to know. It was fourth and 26. But you know that we’ve taken in 140 new members since then. We’ve boosted the attendance average to almost double what it was. We’ve increased our outreach into the community with tutoring, with feeding programs, with Sunday School. We’re renovating our facility to the tune of $2.5 million. But looking at where we were then and where we are now and where we’re going to be in the not too distant future, the message is this, “don’t give up.”
Look with me at that text again, see how the people of God who had seen his miracle working power, who had witnessed the ten plagues, who had seen their God bring their oppressor to his knees, see how they responded when Pharaoh drew near and the Egyptians were advancing. The last part of verse 10 says, “In great fear the Israelites cried out to God.” Any body here ever been scared? Ever been really scared? I remember the sound of my father’s voice when he told me that my mother had cancer. I remember sitting with some of you at a funeral home or at a gravesite and seeing how scared you were. I remember calling the chair of my board of deacons one Sunday evening when my wife was 4 months pregnant and telling him that the doctors had told us to get my wife to the hospital as soon as possible. I remember how scared I was. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. Ever been there? They told you they were downsizing your job, going in another direction. Your spouse filed for divorce. The police knocked on your door to tell you that your child had been involved in some sort of illegality. Ever been really scared, I mean really scared? I know you have.
Verse 11 says that “they said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” Pessimism had captivated their hearts. They were playing the blame game because with Pharaoh drawing near and the Egyptians advancing on them, it looked like an insurmountable set of circumstances. And some folks when faced with insurmountable circumstances will start quickly and recklessly assessing blame. You don’t want me to preach about this.
Verse 12 says, “Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?” Now I’ve searched the scriptures of Exodus, and it isn’t there. They never said that. In fact what stands out in the scriptures is how God says, “I have heard the cries of my people…” Some folks when they’re under pressure will become revisionist historians. They’ll recall things that never happened, remember words that they didn’t say, and forget the way things really were. It’s all in the business of assessing blame on someone else, but it’s revisionist history to be sure. “We were better off back in the day. In my day, we never had these kinds of problems. I told you we never should have started renovating that building. One bad thing after another I told you. We should have just let good enough alone.” Never mind that the building would have crumbled inside and out in a matter of years and the church night have had to close its doors. Revisionist history.
Look at verse 12 again there at the end. “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Some folks begin assessing blame, others engage in revisionist history, and then still others lose all semblance of dignity. Many of you know the story of how Harriet Tubman was leading the slaves to freedom on the underground railroad. And once when they were running through the woods being chased by the oppressors, one Black man fell down tired and ready to give up. He said to Harriet Tubman, “You go on. You’ll get caught if you wait on me. I’ll slow you down. I’ll just stay a slave.” But Harriet Tubman took out her pistol and put it to the man’s head, and said, “Listen, you’ve got two choices. Either you get up off of what it is you’re sitting on and move it, or I’ll just shoot you dead right here.” It would not have been better to stay in Egypt. It would not have been better to accept being a slave than to die fighting for freedom. It would not have been better to leave the same messy world for your children that you found for yourself. It would not have been better to leave the hard work of building justice and creating peace for some other generation. Where is your dignity?
Verse 13 gives us a powerful response to the situation of 4th and 26. It says, “But Moses…” Every thing else that was gathering up to be an insurmountable set of circumstances had just been turned around because the writer of the book of Exodus used a transitional phrase to introduce what was coming up next. “But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today.” They forgot that they had a God who could do anything. By focusing on Moses and his leadership and his failings and his shortcomings, they had forgotten about God and his power and his might and his determination to keep his word. “Stand firm and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today."
I make no apologies for my fancy and affection of sports and competition. The apostle Paul cited the Olympic games of his era when he said that he’d run a good race and fought a good fight. So there is some precedent for preachers loving sports. But for those of you who do not have a relationship with that term that I’ve been throwing around, 4th and 26, a few weeks ago, the Eagles were playing the Packers in the playoffs. If they were to lose, their season would be over. The opponent had taken a slim 3 point lead, time was running out, and to make matters even worse the Eagles had been sacked for losses on consecutive plays, and now it was fourth down and 26 yards to go. Joe Montana never faced that situation. John Elway never faced that situation. Johnny Unitas never faced that situation. He was pretty good in his day, young people. Fourth and 26. An insurmountable set of circumstances for the Eagles to achieve their goals. They asked one of the players after the game how they were feeling when it was 4th and 26. Freddie Mitchell said, “We knew that as long as we had #5 out there, we still had a chance.” #5 is Donovan McNabb, the quarterback. And when McNabb got into the huddle to call the play, he said to his teammates, “Leave it all out on the field, don’t come in tomorrow morning and tell me you could have done something more.” And wouldn’t you know that Donovan McNabb dropped back to pass, spotted a man breaking clear downfield, let the pass fly from his hands, hit Freddie Mitchell down the field with a perfect pass, a play that went for 28 yards. 4th and 26 was supposed to result in the eagles demise. 4th and 26 was supposed to be the last play of an ill-fated season. 4th and 26 was supposed to be the beginning of the end. But because they didn’t give up, because they kept on believing, because they did the best they possibly could do, the Eagles went on to win that game.
Listen, I know what Freddie Mitchell and the Eagles think of their great quarterback Donovan McNabb, but when in reality we are faced with an insurmountable set of circumstances, we need to remember whose on our team. We need to remember who our quarterback is. We need to call on the name of the Lord our God, Jehovah Jireh, the lord shall provide, Jehovah raffa, the lord my healer, El Shaddai, the almighty one, Yahweh who was and is and is to come. We need to call on the name of Jesus, he who saves his people from their sins. If you’re going through something, if sickness and disease have imposed their will on your life and you don’t know how you’re going to get through, I come to tell you that it’s 4th and 26. Call on Jesus. If your sins are mounting up and you feel like you can’t get close to God, feel like you’re too far gone, feel like you’re too far away, I come to tell you that it’s fourth and 26. Time to call on Jesus. If your church building project has hit some snags, if it keeps getting more and more difficult, if it ain’t one thing it’s another, I come to tell you that it’s fourth and 26. Time to call on Jesus. Time to give Jesus the ball. Time to leave it all on the field. No time for excuses. No time for pointing fingers. No time for revisionist history. It’s time to give the ball to Jesus. Sweet rose of sharon. Jesus, lily of the valley. Jesus, bright and morning star. As long as we got Jesus, all things are possible. As long as we got Jesus, nothing shall be impossible to the one that believes. As long as we got Jesus, it doesn’t matter if it’s fourth and 26, for no weapon formed against you shall prosper. As long as we got Jesus, there is still hope, a glimmer of hope, whispering hope, restorative hope, life giving hope, hang on in there hope.
