Sermon for September 17, 2023 – The Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Water. How often do you think about water? I have been spending quite a bit of time thinking about water. It is one of the basic elements of life. Our world is mostly water. Our bodies are mostly water. It fills us, surrounds us, sustains us. Without it, we die.
It is so essential to our being that water is woven into the stories of our spiritual narrative. God stilled the chaos of the waters with his breath. God renewed life through Noah and the flood waters. Water, and the lack thereof, plays a central role in the ongoing stories of the Israelites liberation from Egypt. Many generations later water will be the conduit by which Jesus would be confirmed as the Son of God, his beloved, in whom he is well pleased. It is fitting then, that as we celebrate the baptism of Amalfi and Bianca and welcome them into the family of God, we hear the story of the Crossing of the Red Sea. God’s redemptive work, begun in the waters of creation, reaffirmed in the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, is then made complete in the waters of baptism.
Our lesson from Exodus today has jumped forward a bit in the story of Moses and the Israelites. Last week, we heard about their preparations for the Passover of the Lord. They were to eat their meal hurriedly, mark their doors, and be ready to go when they got the word. The final plague, the death of firstborn humans and animals, has come and devastated Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Pharaoh then commands Moses and the Israelites to leave immediately.
So, the Israelites leave.
But, when this text picks up today, God has one last miracle to perform, one that would forever establish that the God of the Israelites had power over chaos and tyranny. So, the Lord tells Moses to go towards the sea so that Pharaoh’s army could pursue the Israelites and place them in a predicament that only divine intervention could save them from.
Can you see it in your mind? The Israelites camped by the sea, with nowhere to go as they see and hear Pharaoh’s chariots approaching. Some complain to Moses that he should have let them stay in Egypt instead of leading them to die in the wilderness. And then the waters start dividing, parting so that thousands of Israelites could walk on dry land. Imagine the faith and fear and awe in their eyes as they made that journey, perhaps reaching out to touch the waters held back by God’s mighty hand.
This scene calls to mind the first creation story in Genesis: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” In this exodus event, God is creating a new identity for Israel, one that is distinct from the slave identity imposed on them by Egypt. The people, through the wilderness wandering, will be recreated.
And that is where I hear the good news for us today. Through wandering in the wilderness, God’s people will be recreated. Through the waters of baptism, we are recreated. A fundamental change occurs, one that cannot be seen, but is most certainly felt when the Spirit of God rests upon us. It creates an indissoluble bond between us and God; a relationship that binds us together with God forever. By the waters of our baptism, we have undergone a transformation. We have been created a new being in Christ. Each and every one of us is then called to live a life of discipleship. We are called to be living reflections of God’s light and love. Within these walls we are a community that forms people to witness God’s truth in the world. Our mission is to bring about unity; unity with God and unity with each other.
Baptism is not just a one-time experience. It is true that we only physically participate in the ritual act of baptism once. And through that participation we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and works through us. The transformation that occurs in baptism is a continuous and lifelong endeavor. Every time a person is baptized in the midst of our community, we reaffirm the covenant with God made on our behalf. We remind ourselves of what we are committing our lives to. We remind ourselves that through these promises we continue the mission of Jesus Christ.
These two young children come to us, to this community of beloved disciples, to find their place in this their spiritual home. Just as God made a covenant to guide, support, and nurture the Israelites on their journey to new life, so too will each of us soon promise to guide, support, and nurture the newest members of our family. We too will promise to come alongside them and walk this life together, as long as they will allow us. Once again God is at work, creating and recreating through water.
God is no less present here and now than God was in this story from Exodus. The Israelites are made a new people as they leave Egypt. It will still be a long time before they are in the promised land, but already they have been changed by how God has acted in their communal life. They are no longer slaves, they are now wanderers, waiting and searching to experience the fullness of God’s blessing.
We do not have a clear pursuer, as the Israelites did. But we do have a God that is ever present with us. We may not be able to reach our hands out and touch the water that has been cleared from our path, but we can reach out our hands and taste the goodness of the Lord in the Eucharist. We will not see our enemy -- all our uncertainties -- swallowed up into the sea, but we will be delivered by our God. That is the promise of God to the Israelites, and that is the promise of God to us through the waters of our baptism.
So, let’s not delay this any longer and get this baptism started. Amen.
