October 2, 2022 - Deep Waters (Deep Spirituality)
Exodus 39:1-23
Deborah Laforet
Deep Waters
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
It’s quite the story we heard, isn’t it? God parts the waters, the Israelites travel through these parted waters to the other side. Then, while the Egyptians follow in their 600 plus chariots with hundreds of officers, we read, “The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.” (14:28)
I start here because I don’t want to ignore it. I’d rather focus on the miracle and the wonder of how the Israelites were saved, but we can’t ignore the violence that occurs in this story, violence by a god we worship.
In both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, we read acts of violence attributed to God. Up to this point in our bible, we have the flood that wiped out all life on land except for Noah and the life on the ark, we have the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, we even a story about a woman who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at the destruction of her home. By this point in our story, it may not shock us that God would send plagues and drown an army but it might make us wonder about this god we claim is full of love and encourages peace, mercy, and forgiveness.
Now, these stories are all around us. It’s about the good guys and the bad guys. We read fairy tales where wolves are killed, witches are shoved into ovens, or enemies are poisoned. We watch shows that are filled with the villains being outmaneuvered, shot, and blown up. I think these stories are more a reflection of who we are as humans. The stories we create are filled with retributive justice, meaning an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth, and I think our tendency toward violence reflects how we portray our God. Although when we portray our God in this way, it almost gives us permission to continue in the same way.
I read a commentary this week by Ericka Shawndricka Dunbar, Assistant Professor at
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, that helped me to see this violence in a different way. Her analysis of the ‘uncreation’ that happens in this story struck me, as it’s something we’ve been talking about the last few weeks. Specifically she cites the first story of the bible when God created. She wrote:
“the plagues and the subsequent drowning of the Egyptians can be understood as an undoing of creation. This gives way for interpreting the exodus as an act of re-creation. Not only are human oppressors undone and ecological elements transformed to facilitate this undoing, but in the process, Yahweh transforms national, global, and imperial structures of oppression. Yahweh dismantles the empire, disposing of those who singled out, exploited, and endeavoured to obliterate and erase the vulnerable bodies of God’s covenantal people.” (workingpreacher.org)
Uncreation and Re-creation. We saw this in the story of Noah and the ark and now we see it in this story with God using water again to uncreate the Egyptian army who had, as Dunbar puts it, “exploited, and endeavoured to obliterate and erase the vulnerable bodies of God’s covenantal people.” I’m not saying it’s right or that we want these violent stories to reflect our God, but it is a powerful allegory of God’s preferential treatment for the oppressed, neglected, marginalized, and abused.
Now that we’ve addressed that part of the story, I want to take a step back. Let’s imagine just before the parting of the waters when the Israelites are caught between a large body of water in front of them and the powerful military strength of the Egyptian army behind them. Of course, people panicked and were scared, and when looking for someone to blame, they chose the person who had led them there, the person who had convinced them that God was delivering them from their oppressors, the person who had grown up in a royal Egyptian household, and who had led them into this trap. Moses.
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (39:11-12)
I can imagine some trying to run, some huddling together and saying their goodbyes, some screaming and becoming hysterical, and maybe a few, just a few, getting down on their knees to pray.
As you saw in our video earlier, the United Church has a new purpose statement which involves three key phrases: “Deep spirituality, Bold discipleship, Daring justice.” Today, we’re going to look at the first phase: “Deep spirituality.”
When caught between a rock and a hard place, or in this case, a sea and an army, what do you do? Do you run? Do you panic? Do you freeze? How do you cope?
The past two years, I have been struggling with some personal healing work. It hasn’t been easy and some days are easier to get out of bed than others. I am slowly discovering though what it is I need to help me through this. I have no control over the length of time it will take for this healing work, but I do have some resources that will help me to manage.
As a minister, who writes sermons about faith every week, leads a congregation in prayer, and is always thinking about theology and spirituality, you’d think I’d have an excellent personal prayer practice. Not so. I struggle, as I’m sure many of you struggle. I can’t seem to find what works, and honestly, finding the time is one of my biggest challenges.
My goal for the next while is to develop this practice. I’ll be working on it this year and into next year, and into my sabbatical. I’m discovering I’m a ritualistic person. I need ritual like lighting a candle, creating an altar with images on which to focus, finding a song or poem that I can recite, picking up stones or branches, parts of nature to add to my altar. I also have known for a long time the benefits of meditation or contemplation. Mediation is a practice that literally needs practice. I’m starting with ten minutes a few times a week and I will work my way up. These kinds of practices are what will deepen my spirituality and give me a stronger connection to my own inner self and to the sacred around me.
I think it was very purposeful for the United Church to make “Deep spirituality,” the first phrase in its purpose statement. We need to be listening - listening inside, listening to our community, and listening for God, before we can be bold in our discipleship, and dare to do justice, in ways that are safe and brave, and in ways that are appropriate, respectful, full of love and compassion, and grounded in our faith.
What is your spiritual practice? How do you connect with the sacred, more than coming to church once a week or camping during the summer? How do you connect daily? Do you talk to God when you’re walking? Do you sing, dance, or listen to music while communing with the holy? Do you read scripture daily and reflect on what you’ve read? We all have our own ways and different methods work for different people.
We all experience difficult times in our lives. Events around the world fill us with sorrow and fear. As a community, we wonder what the future holds for us. We’re not exactly caught between a body of water and an army of chariots and horses, but it sometimes feels that way. Do we look for someone to blame; do we flee; do we go into a state of panic? Or might we be some of those who drop to our knees in prayer, knowing God is with us, knowing we are not alone. There may not be a holy man with a staff to open up the waters and perform miracles, but we may find that little bit of peace and maybe even a nudge in the right direction.
I encourage you to find your own way towards a deep spirituality. Let Creator, Christ, and Spirit be your anchor, your guide, and our inspiration. And may you always find the holy within and around you. May it be so. Amen.