Saved (Again)!
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle A
Lawrence Henry was 88 years of age when he shared with his family the only sermon he ever preached. Lawrence was a farmer born in 1900 in the Coteau Hills of South Dakota. He received an eighth grade education, raised four children, and died in 1996.
The sermon is titled, "Saved." Here are two key stories in Lawrence's own words:
"Today I will use the word 'saved' as the key word in some of the experiences I have encountered in my past 88 years. The word 'saved' is a small word consisting of only five letters; a powerful word by which all must be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved ... Years ago my older sister (Marmien) drove horse and buggy three miles to a little schoolhouse on the lonely prairie in Oak Gulch Township. One day she was at school and a blinding snowstorm came up from the north. We lived north of the school. It seemed impossible to face that storm, but a thoughtful neighbor asked her to stay at their home, which she did. He must have been a Good Samaritan. She was 'saved' from the storm. There were no cars or telephones in those days. Think of her parents, wondering all night long, 'Where is our little girl tonight? Is she lost in the storm or is she safe in the schoolhouse?'
"The snowstorms we encountered sixty to seventy years ago were severe and sometimes they stormed for two or three days, making it impossible to reach the stable to care for the livestock. The snowstorms we encountered these last years are like a Sunday school picnic compared to the storms of years ago. When darkness set in, my mother would light a kerosene lamp and set it near a window, thinking if some traveler had lost his way, he might see the light and be 'saved.'
"Years ago, an Indian was walking home from town. He lost his way. Darkness and stormy weather set in. He stopped at a white man's house and asked to stay, but was refused. He stumbled on in the storm until he fell to the ground, exhausted. Next spring, when the snow had cleared away, his frozen body was found on the lonely prairie near Sisseton, South Dakota. Almost 'saved,' but lost."
Lawrence Henry told other stories that illustrated the theme "saved" and then concluded: "Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow may never come. Thanks for listening."
Our story begins as the Hebrews leave Egypt without any further objections. They are even given some going--away gifts (see Exodus 12:35--36), possibly as salary for their years of hard labor as slaves. But old Pharaoh's heart is hardened once again and he changes his mind and sends his army with horses and chariots in pursuit.
Israel, just freed, is suddenly threatened with recapture or possible death by sword or by water. While the fury of the Egyptian army is hot on their backs, before them is the ominous water. "Water as a threat" and God's ultimate victory over "the waters" is an oft--repeated salvation theme in scripture. The prime example is in Genesis where Noah is saved "through" the flood.
The story of the flood and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds are two victories the Prophet Isaiah (51:9--11a) brings together:
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago!
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to cross over?
So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing.
The Psalmists allude to the threat of water as a reason for their praise of God's power and victory, which we see, for example, in Psalm 77:16--20:
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
In front of the Hebrews lies the threat of water - the Sea of Reeds - but now behind them the greater threat of Pharaoh's sword and the return to bondage. The Israelites are afraid. They panic. They see the charging horses, the ornate and metal--plated two--wheeled chariots with driver, shield--bearer, and warrior. The sun glistens off spear tips and swords. The soldiers whoop and cry out and curse. The Israelites' hearts sink.
We, too, know fear. Since 9/11 and the current conflict with Iraq, it seems the terrorists have already won because America is becoming a culture of fear. Americans are afraid to fly, afraid of biological and chemical attacks, afraid of Islam, afraid of investing, and afraid of the future.
This culture of fear creeps into the church, too. Church leaders and members are consumed with a wide array of fears. Leaders and members fear change, rejection, failure, being wounded again, conflict, running out of money, and being bullied and controlled by intimidating individuals. Since 9/11 the culture of fear has escalated to absurd proportions. We've been a sheltered nation for a long time and have grown shallow in our resolve.1
"Fear has always been a nagging problem in our history. Beginning with Adam and Eve's fear of not knowing what God knows, all the way to the disciples who feared for their lives during the storm at sea, fear has been a constant sidekick of Christians. And whenever it becomes our friend, we make big, hairy mistakes."2
How then do we neutralize fear? We neutralize fear by being strong, compassionate, and hopeful leaders. Fear can possess us Christians only when we shut faith, hope, and love out of our lives.
We neutralize fear by demonstrating a calm, non--anxious presence even though our hearts are beating like trip--hammers. We neutralize fear as Christians when we are hopeful, seeing the future as a friend and treating failures as opportunities to learn.
When Pharaoh--like henchmen terrorize and intimidate us, our fears are replaced by faith in our sovereign God and our trust renewed in the Moses--type leaders of our day. God does not forget God's redeemed peoples.
The angel of the Lord who was going before the Israelites moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them (Exodus 4:19). Here are two modes of Yahweh's protective presence. The angel and the pillar of cloud move from the front to provide rearguard protection. The angel and the cloud show the vigilant protection God gives Israel, which Moses promised in verses 3 and 14: "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still."
Now only a miracle can save the Israelites. Moses stretches out his hand over the Sea of Reeds and the Lord drives the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turns the sea into dry land. The waters form walls on either side and a dry path appears.
Martin Buber defines a miracle as an event that produces "an abiding astonishment" and he continues as follows: "The great turning--points in religious history as based on the fact that again and ever again an individual and a group attached to him wonder and keep on wondering; at a natural phenomenon, at a historical event, or at both together, always at something which intervenes fatefully in the life of this individual and this group. They sense and experience it as a wonder."3
True religion turns fear into faith, waste into power, worry into prayer, depression into humility, pride into thanksgiving, and perplexity into unrestrained joy.
Next came snorting horses, chariots, and cursing drivers into the same path now parted by a wall on either side. But there's mud! The chariot wheels are clogged, mired in the mud of the Sea of Reeds, and the pursuit stops cold.
And when Moses stretches out his hand, the waters return with vengeance and cover the chariots and chariot drivers, and the entire Egyptian army drowns.
Is this the hour of vengeance? Is this just punishment to the Egyptians for killing the newborn Hebrew boys (Exodus 1:1)? Wholesale extermination of the enemy has always been the vindictive dream of persecuted people. We remember genocide in Uganda, of the Jews in Nazi Germany, and of the Kurds in northern Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
Here in the Sea of Reeds all the "rats" are trapped and eliminated. It's too late for the Egyptians, but the Israelites are saved "through the waters." While the Old Testament writers often see water as a threat to life, of flooding and drowning, they also speak of water's positive properties, using it as a metaphor for spiritual cleansing and the gift of life itself.
At a later time, Isaiah appeals to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to reject injustices and be washed clean. "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:16--17).
The Psalmist used the metaphor of water to describe forgiveness. "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:2, 7).
The Apostle Paul sees the experiences of the Hebrews crossing the sea as a basis for warning the Corinthian Christians against immorality and idolatry (1 Corinthians 6:11). They had become Christians by baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul sees passing through the sea as a parallel to baptism. Passing through the sea transformed slaves into the people of God as God's baptismal cleansing transforms people into Christians. By God's grace in Christ's redeeming work on the cross, and that made personal in our baptism, we are redeemed, saved, forgiven, chosen, gifted, honored, and commissioned.
The Apostle Peter sees the flood as a parallel to baptism in 1 Peter 3:20--22. Once again, people in the original story were saved from water, not by water, but both the flood and the crossing of the sea put an end to wickedness and the beginning of salvation and new life. Peter sees the cleansing in baptism as spiritual, not physical, when he writes: "And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you - not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (v. 21).
Our story concludes with a great sign of relief, renewed trust, and songs. "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses" (Exodus 14:30--31).
Moses breaks out in song (Exodus 15), with the whole assembly of Israel who express joy, gratitude, and praise. Sister Miriam joins in unrestrained joy as well. To be saved is an incredible experience!
"Vicki Pankratz, who gains mobility by use of a vehicle resembling a motorized golf cart, had traversed the railroad crossing many times, all without incident. But when the mother of two teenagers tried it on December 7 (1999), something went wrong. The wheels of her vehicle got stuck between the tracks in the northern Minnesota village of Verndale. Unable to move forward or backward, or to escape ... Pankratz heard the whistle of an approaching train. So did Norman Hines, a member of Woodlake Lutheran Church, in Richfield, Minnesota. Hines, in Verndale to visit the family farm, was at the railroad crossing when the gates came down. He saw Pankratz trying unsuccessfully to free her vehicle from the tracks. Hines, 77, jumped from his idling vehicle, raced to the scene, and, with great difficulty, managed to shove Pankratz's cart about four feet, just far enough to miss the behemoth bearing down. Hines said the train actually brushed the cart as it roared by and he had to cling to Pankratz to prevent her from being sucked underneath the passing train. Hines later told a reporter that he found it difficult to sleep for a night or two following the incident, adding that he was so unnerved by the memory of it that he even found it difficult to concentrate enough to read his Bible.4
Vicki Pankratz was saved! And to be "saved" from sin, death, and the power of the devil is the ultimate. Thanks be to God.
____________
1. William M. Easum and Doug Murren, article "A Culture of Fear," Net Results, July/August, 2003, p. 22.
2. Ibid., p. 22.
3. Martin Buber, Moses: The Revelation And The Covenant (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), p. 75.
4. Metro Lutheran article, "Member of Richfield's Woodlake Lutheran saves stranded woman from onrushing train," January, 2000. Used by permission.
The sermon is titled, "Saved." Here are two key stories in Lawrence's own words:
"Today I will use the word 'saved' as the key word in some of the experiences I have encountered in my past 88 years. The word 'saved' is a small word consisting of only five letters; a powerful word by which all must be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved ... Years ago my older sister (Marmien) drove horse and buggy three miles to a little schoolhouse on the lonely prairie in Oak Gulch Township. One day she was at school and a blinding snowstorm came up from the north. We lived north of the school. It seemed impossible to face that storm, but a thoughtful neighbor asked her to stay at their home, which she did. He must have been a Good Samaritan. She was 'saved' from the storm. There were no cars or telephones in those days. Think of her parents, wondering all night long, 'Where is our little girl tonight? Is she lost in the storm or is she safe in the schoolhouse?'
"The snowstorms we encountered sixty to seventy years ago were severe and sometimes they stormed for two or three days, making it impossible to reach the stable to care for the livestock. The snowstorms we encountered these last years are like a Sunday school picnic compared to the storms of years ago. When darkness set in, my mother would light a kerosene lamp and set it near a window, thinking if some traveler had lost his way, he might see the light and be 'saved.'
"Years ago, an Indian was walking home from town. He lost his way. Darkness and stormy weather set in. He stopped at a white man's house and asked to stay, but was refused. He stumbled on in the storm until he fell to the ground, exhausted. Next spring, when the snow had cleared away, his frozen body was found on the lonely prairie near Sisseton, South Dakota. Almost 'saved,' but lost."
Lawrence Henry told other stories that illustrated the theme "saved" and then concluded: "Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow may never come. Thanks for listening."
Our story begins as the Hebrews leave Egypt without any further objections. They are even given some going--away gifts (see Exodus 12:35--36), possibly as salary for their years of hard labor as slaves. But old Pharaoh's heart is hardened once again and he changes his mind and sends his army with horses and chariots in pursuit.
Israel, just freed, is suddenly threatened with recapture or possible death by sword or by water. While the fury of the Egyptian army is hot on their backs, before them is the ominous water. "Water as a threat" and God's ultimate victory over "the waters" is an oft--repeated salvation theme in scripture. The prime example is in Genesis where Noah is saved "through" the flood.
The story of the flood and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds are two victories the Prophet Isaiah (51:9--11a) brings together:
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago!
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to cross over?
So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing.
The Psalmists allude to the threat of water as a reason for their praise of God's power and victory, which we see, for example, in Psalm 77:16--20:
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
In front of the Hebrews lies the threat of water - the Sea of Reeds - but now behind them the greater threat of Pharaoh's sword and the return to bondage. The Israelites are afraid. They panic. They see the charging horses, the ornate and metal--plated two--wheeled chariots with driver, shield--bearer, and warrior. The sun glistens off spear tips and swords. The soldiers whoop and cry out and curse. The Israelites' hearts sink.
We, too, know fear. Since 9/11 and the current conflict with Iraq, it seems the terrorists have already won because America is becoming a culture of fear. Americans are afraid to fly, afraid of biological and chemical attacks, afraid of Islam, afraid of investing, and afraid of the future.
This culture of fear creeps into the church, too. Church leaders and members are consumed with a wide array of fears. Leaders and members fear change, rejection, failure, being wounded again, conflict, running out of money, and being bullied and controlled by intimidating individuals. Since 9/11 the culture of fear has escalated to absurd proportions. We've been a sheltered nation for a long time and have grown shallow in our resolve.1
"Fear has always been a nagging problem in our history. Beginning with Adam and Eve's fear of not knowing what God knows, all the way to the disciples who feared for their lives during the storm at sea, fear has been a constant sidekick of Christians. And whenever it becomes our friend, we make big, hairy mistakes."2
How then do we neutralize fear? We neutralize fear by being strong, compassionate, and hopeful leaders. Fear can possess us Christians only when we shut faith, hope, and love out of our lives.
We neutralize fear by demonstrating a calm, non--anxious presence even though our hearts are beating like trip--hammers. We neutralize fear as Christians when we are hopeful, seeing the future as a friend and treating failures as opportunities to learn.
When Pharaoh--like henchmen terrorize and intimidate us, our fears are replaced by faith in our sovereign God and our trust renewed in the Moses--type leaders of our day. God does not forget God's redeemed peoples.
The angel of the Lord who was going before the Israelites moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them (Exodus 4:19). Here are two modes of Yahweh's protective presence. The angel and the pillar of cloud move from the front to provide rearguard protection. The angel and the cloud show the vigilant protection God gives Israel, which Moses promised in verses 3 and 14: "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still."
Now only a miracle can save the Israelites. Moses stretches out his hand over the Sea of Reeds and the Lord drives the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turns the sea into dry land. The waters form walls on either side and a dry path appears.
Martin Buber defines a miracle as an event that produces "an abiding astonishment" and he continues as follows: "The great turning--points in religious history as based on the fact that again and ever again an individual and a group attached to him wonder and keep on wondering; at a natural phenomenon, at a historical event, or at both together, always at something which intervenes fatefully in the life of this individual and this group. They sense and experience it as a wonder."3
True religion turns fear into faith, waste into power, worry into prayer, depression into humility, pride into thanksgiving, and perplexity into unrestrained joy.
Next came snorting horses, chariots, and cursing drivers into the same path now parted by a wall on either side. But there's mud! The chariot wheels are clogged, mired in the mud of the Sea of Reeds, and the pursuit stops cold.
And when Moses stretches out his hand, the waters return with vengeance and cover the chariots and chariot drivers, and the entire Egyptian army drowns.
Is this the hour of vengeance? Is this just punishment to the Egyptians for killing the newborn Hebrew boys (Exodus 1:1)? Wholesale extermination of the enemy has always been the vindictive dream of persecuted people. We remember genocide in Uganda, of the Jews in Nazi Germany, and of the Kurds in northern Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
Here in the Sea of Reeds all the "rats" are trapped and eliminated. It's too late for the Egyptians, but the Israelites are saved "through the waters." While the Old Testament writers often see water as a threat to life, of flooding and drowning, they also speak of water's positive properties, using it as a metaphor for spiritual cleansing and the gift of life itself.
At a later time, Isaiah appeals to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to reject injustices and be washed clean. "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:16--17).
The Psalmist used the metaphor of water to describe forgiveness. "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:2, 7).
The Apostle Paul sees the experiences of the Hebrews crossing the sea as a basis for warning the Corinthian Christians against immorality and idolatry (1 Corinthians 6:11). They had become Christians by baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul sees passing through the sea as a parallel to baptism. Passing through the sea transformed slaves into the people of God as God's baptismal cleansing transforms people into Christians. By God's grace in Christ's redeeming work on the cross, and that made personal in our baptism, we are redeemed, saved, forgiven, chosen, gifted, honored, and commissioned.
The Apostle Peter sees the flood as a parallel to baptism in 1 Peter 3:20--22. Once again, people in the original story were saved from water, not by water, but both the flood and the crossing of the sea put an end to wickedness and the beginning of salvation and new life. Peter sees the cleansing in baptism as spiritual, not physical, when he writes: "And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you - not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (v. 21).
Our story concludes with a great sign of relief, renewed trust, and songs. "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses" (Exodus 14:30--31).
Moses breaks out in song (Exodus 15), with the whole assembly of Israel who express joy, gratitude, and praise. Sister Miriam joins in unrestrained joy as well. To be saved is an incredible experience!
"Vicki Pankratz, who gains mobility by use of a vehicle resembling a motorized golf cart, had traversed the railroad crossing many times, all without incident. But when the mother of two teenagers tried it on December 7 (1999), something went wrong. The wheels of her vehicle got stuck between the tracks in the northern Minnesota village of Verndale. Unable to move forward or backward, or to escape ... Pankratz heard the whistle of an approaching train. So did Norman Hines, a member of Woodlake Lutheran Church, in Richfield, Minnesota. Hines, in Verndale to visit the family farm, was at the railroad crossing when the gates came down. He saw Pankratz trying unsuccessfully to free her vehicle from the tracks. Hines, 77, jumped from his idling vehicle, raced to the scene, and, with great difficulty, managed to shove Pankratz's cart about four feet, just far enough to miss the behemoth bearing down. Hines said the train actually brushed the cart as it roared by and he had to cling to Pankratz to prevent her from being sucked underneath the passing train. Hines later told a reporter that he found it difficult to sleep for a night or two following the incident, adding that he was so unnerved by the memory of it that he even found it difficult to concentrate enough to read his Bible.4
Vicki Pankratz was saved! And to be "saved" from sin, death, and the power of the devil is the ultimate. Thanks be to God.
____________
1. William M. Easum and Doug Murren, article "A Culture of Fear," Net Results, July/August, 2003, p. 22.
2. Ibid., p. 22.
3. Martin Buber, Moses: The Revelation And The Covenant (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), p. 75.
4. Metro Lutheran article, "Member of Richfield's Woodlake Lutheran saves stranded woman from onrushing train," January, 2000. Used by permission.
