Scripture Readings: Exodus 14:19-31 & Matthew 18: 21-35
In Exodus 14, God told Moses it wasn’t time to cry to Him but to arise with His people and move toward the sea. There he was to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea that God would then divide, allowing God’s people to cross unharmed. The powerful Egyptian army would follow close on their back, but God’s people will be delivered by God’s care.
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israelites, withdrew and went behind them. The angel of God and the pillar of cloud, the evidence of God’s nearness to them, surrounded God’s people. These protective agents of God stood between the Israelites and their pursuers. The cloud seemed to bring light to the Israelites, who were about to flee with full force into the Red Sea, and darkness to the Egyptian army.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind all night and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided and formed a wall for them on their left and right. So, the Israelites fled between the divided walls and crossed over the entire night.
The Egyptians had already witnessed great signs and wonders, but the hardness of their heart was getting stronger and stronger. When the Egyptian army tried to catch God’s people, their road was withheld by the cloud. Even when they charged forward after the Israelites, the Lord was fighting for Israel and threw the entire army into confusion.
Then the LORD told Moses to stretch his hand over the sea so the waters may flow back over the Egyptians. The waters that were previously divided and a means of deliverance for the Israelites now came together and became a means of destruction for the Egyptian army.
God was with His people between the sea of chaos and the violence, working hard. The Red Sea became dry land, and the dry land pathway to the promised land worked for God’s people. God displayed his power in the world, and many people took notice and feared. The Israelites not only began to fear God with a deep trust, but they also acknowledged God’s hand on his servant Moses.
In God’s guidance, While Moses responded to God’s calling by leading God’s people and raising his staff and stretching out his hand, Israelites followed Moses’ instruction by leaving the land and crossing over the Red Sea. Following God is a walk of faith. God is the mighty deliverer who saved His people from death and opened the Red Sea for them. We sometimes face obstacles, but we can bring those into God’s presence one by one and obey His words.
God is always with us, but He doesn’t always lead us through the shortest path to get to the destination he desires for us. God gives us opportunities to way out or move forward but does not push us into the path that has opened. God sometimes wants us to wait on him and pleases His people’s sincere responses of faith. Whenever we face difficulties, may we ask God to show us how He will work with each of those obstacles. We have opportunities to ask or expect what God wants us to do next. Today, may we praise God for what He has done and will yet do in our lives.
In Exodus, the pathway to the promised land involved jumping into the terrifying sea of chaos. When God’s people did not have the power to fight violence with violence, they were saved by God’s grace. Our path to the promised land on faith journey will also be opened by Christ’s love and grace.
Jesus Christ has stretched out his arms and parted the sea of chaos and darkness before us, inviting us to follow him into the promised land of reconciling love. Jesus offers us only one way out when we find ourselves trapped between the sea of chaos and something negative that pursues us. The only way is Jesus. But it is not a simple cure for the world’s ills or disasters, that is not a quick solution that will end all fear and anxiety.
The parable of the unforgiving servant begins with Jesus saying that we need to forgive countless times. A servant owes a great debt to his master, and when he pleads for forgiveness, the master forgives him. However, the same servant refuses to forgive a smaller debt owed to him by a fellow servant. Then Jesus said, ‘So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
This story from Matthew’s gospel teaches us about the boundless forgiveness and grace of God and the expectation that we should extend forgiveness and mercy to others. Today’s text reveals God’s character as a merciful and forgiving God and how he expects his followers to imitate His forgiveness in their relationships with others. May we extend forgiveness as a central aspect of our Christian walk and trust in God’s redeeming power in our lives.
God showed us His infinite mercy toward us through His continuous love and care, and Jesus showed His unconditional love through His life and death. Any sin of others against us is relatively smaller, in comparison to the debt of sins the Father has forgiven us. May we forgive one another and extend forgiveness, as the Father has forgiven us. I hope the dry land pathway to the promised land will open a little wider and the light of hope for the earth will shine a little brighter by extending our forgiveness to others and embracing people who sin against us.
The “way out” is not in our hands, but in the nail scarred hands of Christ and His cross. This is for the salvation of the people and the healing of the world. God’s deliverance and forgiveness are revealed in both Exodus and Matthew. Today’s Scripture readings highlight the importance of trusting in God’s plan even when faced with difficult challenges.
The God who hears our cry of despair will act to save us. We may stand between the sea of chaos and the unknown power we cannot control. However, God will come to save us, to open a way through the sea of impossibilities and allow us to walk through. And if we will take the way that God opens before us, that same sea that saves us will destroy the forces of oppression that sought to drag us back and hold us down. Many people cannot see the sign of their “way out” in their busyness or spiritual blindness, but may we refuse some half-baked solution of our own and be able to wait and trust God’s way and his timing.
God’s mercy and power to redeem and deliver His people even from impossible situations are at work. God opens the way and commands us to follow. The promised land of life in the wide-open spaces of God’s love lies on the other side of the opening sea. And blessed are those who put their trust in God and step forward when God opens the way. And blessed are those who extend forgiveness and love just like Jesus embraced us through His life-giving love. In the love of Christ, may we all discern and move forward when to cry out to God and when to take a step of faith.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)