POWER September 14, 2008

Exodus 13:17 - 14:10
Matthew 18:21-35
When in Seminary we were taught, “save the book of Genesis until later, it is the most beautiful rich poetry, taking all the ancient oral traditions and crafting the story. The first event of faith, be we Jewish or Christian, is the EXODUS. God heard the people's cries, God never forgot them, and God led Israel across the Red Sea to dry land and Safety in the Wilderness, while destroying mighty Pharaoh, his Chariots and Armies in the chaos of the water. But more than a history of how the People of Israel escaped Egypt, EXODUS is a story of the POWER of GOD.

Like an old John Wayne Western, there is this pause, as the Israelites, and the Egyptians, the story teller and the listener all realize the POWERLESS PEOPLE are HOPELESS. The people had wanted to WORHIP GOD, to show God Glory; and the Pharaoh had made himself into a God, saying NO.

As we portrayed last week with each of the 10 plagues, time after time, Moses had come on behalf of the people NOT to ask for their freedom to leave, but to ask for their FREEDOM TO GLORIFY GOD and Pharaoh had said NO. Ultimately, there is the PASSOVER, when all the first born of Egypt, all those who had been bred to inherit, of every family, die. While the whole nation of Egypt mourns, Israel is set free. But such events do not GIVE GLORY to the POWER of GOD.

God leads the people into a Wilderness, as the heart of Pharaoh becomes bitter, resolved and ruthless. You can feel the anxiety climax, as the people of Faith and the Chariots of Pharaoh pass beside each other over and over again in the fog throughout the night. They can hear each other, they sense one another, but they ALSO HEAR THE WIND beating against the sea from the East al through the night. When the mists rise, the people who had been slaves, who had escaped during the tragedy of Egypt are trapped, their backs are to the sea and before their eyes coming down upon them is this un-named God-Like Pharaoh with his 600 finest Chariots, his army, his horsemen, and many other Chariots too.

And MOSES, the Man of Faith, commands the people “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID” we are not alone. Then a second Command “STAND FIRM” then “BE STILL” and finally “SALVATION IS AT HAND” and as he raises his staff, the waters they were afraid of , the waters they were to be drowned in, to die, part. In a RE-Enactment of CREATION Dry Land is formed by God out of the Waters of Chaos.

In the past, we have described the escalating Nature of CONFLICT. That whenever there is disagreement, there is the potential for Conflict.
LEVEL I: The difference may be as minor as I wanted Fish and you wanted Chicken, or we both want what only one can have. We disagree. The important factor at this stage is that we both value what we want and each other enough to state our Conflict.
LEVEL II: Or the difference may be between Parent and Child, Teacher and Student. I want you to reach beyond what you have known as easy, to strive for what can only be attained by challenge. Again, because we value each other, and we value what can be, the Conflict is healthy.
LEVEL III: The difficulty is that as Conflict escalates there becomes COMPETITION where we value each other less; and winning/attaining/ being first, becomes our goal. In a world of Limited Resources, with FEAR a presence in our consciousness, we sruggle for ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, we strive for ACCEPTANCE, we COMPETE to SURVIVE. A problem of our culture, is that we have ratcheted up EXPECTATIONS, TIME has become so precious, RECESSION has left us all fearful of losing what we have, that COMPETITION has become our baseline, of where we live.
LEVEL IV: The difference between the Conflict of Comeptition, and the next Level of Conflict is a desire not simply to win, but to humiliate, to emotionally and psychologically break the other, in order that they will never challnge for power again.
LEVEL V: The absolute reality of CONFLICT is more than a willingness, a desire to destroy, to make an example, so that no one will ever again challenge or conflict.
The TIPPING POINT from one level of Conflict to another, may be as simple as DISAGREEMENT, or FEAR, or because at every level of Conflict there is a decreasing number of people you identify with and feel a part of, the difference may be ISOLATION. As idealistic and communal as our culture has claimed to be... As much as the Internet has shrunk our world bringing us into communication with people around the world... We have become increasingly INDIVIDUALISTIC and Isolated and Alone.

As Pharaoh perceived he was being Challenged, he became more HARD HEARTED, more intractable, his level of Conflict escalated from denial of a request, to teaching a lesson, to annoyance, to a desire to win and control, to a desire to act as God where these people would never again challenge him, to a desire for genocide. BUT REMEMBER what Moses sought was not to put a frog in the lap of the King, what Moses sought was not to set the people free, MOSES' CALL had been to allow the people to be free to Choose to Worship, to offer GLORY TO GOD.

So when outnumbered, with over-whelming force and technology, backed up against a wall of chaos and destruction, MOSES DID NOT command “Get 'Em”... Moses did not command “Retreat”... Moses did not command “WE WILL SURGE THE WAR TO OUR ENEMIES and BE VICTORIOUS!”
In the face of escalating Conflict, over-whelming POWER, TERRORISM in its most basic form, MOSES Commanded “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID.”
If only in the midst of our Conflicts, we could find a moment of Peace to collect ourselves and fear not. To STAND FIRM and BE STILL, Listening and knowing we are not alone.
The Story of Exodus is not about the CONFLICT between ISRAEL and ENEMIES, not even between Pharaoh and Moses, or Technology and Faith. The Story of EXODUS is about All the Greatest Power of the Mightiest Pharaoh, in CONFLICT with the POWER OF GOD, over who will be GLORIFIED.

This is not a story that can be explained scientifically, this is not RATIONAL Reasoning.
As described by a Confirmation Class student years ago,
“Either you have to accept the Miracle of Moses Parting the Red Sea, or you have to accept the Miracle of Pharaoh's entire Military 600 Chariots and Calvary and Soldiers all getting stuck in the mud and drowning in 6” of water!”
The Bible is not a CONSTRUCT of HISTORY, this happened that set up this possibility; this is a story of WITNESS, the Power of an Empire against the POWER OF GOD, and in the middle are a people afraid and alone, backed up against Chaos and Death. An ENTIRE NATION who in the midst of their anxieties and fear hear their leader command “PEACE, FEAR NOT, STAND FIRM, BE STILL, KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE” and they were saved.

So the question we must ask ourselves, is Whether we add to one another's fears, escalating conflict, by escalating competition and power, or Whether we stand with one another, lowering the conflict by remembering and letting others know they are not alone?

The teaching of Jesus is difficult enough to accept and practice,
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT GOD GAVE GOD'S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON FOR US.
But here, when asked Jesus teaches that we must forgive not just once or twice, or even SEVEN Times, but forgiving llong after we give up counting how many times, as many as 70 times 7 times= 490 times to forgive those close to us.
YET, according to Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus said this, he also illustrated his point with a parable... Not only does it not matter the amount forgiven, one was forgiven 100 Talents ½ a Year's Salary, where the other begged to be forgiven a day's wages; the point is that the FORGIVENESS Of the King was to have had an effect of this one forgiving others 70 times over. More than the idea of PAY IT FORWARD this is the realization that we forgive because we have been forgiven, and how awesome the world could be, if everyone forgave, and stood beside one another instead of toe to toe.

Seven years ago, the General Assembly of the Church was gathered to consider the future. For the last forty years, the Church has been divided over one social issue after another, divided by fear, by losses. The testimony we heard from both sides described “Do Not create one more Policy, one more Paper to sit in the Archives.” And we were asked to consider the underlying issues, to name a fresh new future for the Church in the 21st Century?

Historically, here in North America, the Church has been an established authority, A Power.
In every community, the Church sits at the Center, or atop the hill as a moral beacon.
In this community, as you enter from the West you come passed the sentinel of the Lutheran Church; entering the Village from the North you pass the Catholic Church then the Methodist; or from the East passed the Pentecostal then between the Episcopal and Presbyterian, like stone gates of establishment and power. Yet, in recent decades the Church has become identified as marginalized, people seek truth, their answers from GOOGLE, from POLITICS, from the ECONOMIC MARKET, from the MEDIA.
What if, the Church stood with people who were marginalized, who were in fear, to stand with the POWERLESS and command “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID, STAND FIRM, BE SILENT And LISTEN, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, YOU ARE FORGIVEN, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, YOU WILL BE SAVED”.