Exodus 11-15 - God Delivers His People

So for this post, I'm doing something a bit different. I had the pleasure of giving the message at our inaugural Wednesday night service here at Grace. Our readings were Exodus 6:2-8; 12:1-7, 11-14 | Romans 6:15-23 | Luke 22:14-20. Obviously, the theme of Passover certainly stood out. So instead of my more academic thoughts today, here's my message:

Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, be with us this night as we are gathered together to listen to your Word. May you bless the words that I am about to say; that they may shine your light so that it be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. In your name we pray, Amen.

"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

Well, first of all, because it is our first Wednesday night service we have had at Grace other than Advent or Lenten services. [pause] 

"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

In preparing for my message tonight, I came across this question which is spoken at any Passover dinner by the youngest child who is able to talk. We will get to the answer in a little bit, but as with any good retelling of a historical tale, we need to go back and set the stage.

Last week, we left off in The Story seeing that God indeed provides for his people. God had provided for Joseph even when he was left for dead by not only his brothers, but also by Potiphar after false allegations. God had provided for the Egyptians as he raised up Joseph to be a strong and wise leader in the famine that lasted seven years. God also provided for the family of Jacob, as they traveled to Egypt to eat of their available stores of food.

Now let’s fast-forward about 400 years. The picture is not so rosy – the evidence of God’s providence has now become a foreign concept in the minds of men. As the Israelites numbers increase, their reliance on God has decreased. As the memory of the true God faded from Pharaoh’s mind, he set himself to be lord among men as he subdued the Israelites into slavery for his pet building projects, if not just outright ordering killings of the baby boys born to Hebrew mothers.

We get a picture of the harsh conditions that the Israelites worked under as they became slaves under Pharaoh [read bottom paragraph page 43, Exodus 1:11-14].

Yikes. Yet, we are familiar and can resonate with this picture of slavery all the time, can’t we. 

From our history books and our early childhood education, we are well-aware of a dark time in our country’s not-too-distant past where this practice was legally accepted; and the consequences of this abominable practice are still being felt today 150 years even after its physical and legal ban. 

However, even with the explicit prohibition of slavery, such practices are characteristic to our culture today. We are tireless laborers in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar. We are captives to our competitive dog-eat-dog world where either we come out on top or we are consumed. We are servants to our cultural ideals that perfect children only come from perfect parents or perfect families. And that is only to name a few of an ever-increasing number of ways in which we are indeed, as Paul calls us, "slaves to sin."

As we go about our lives in the fog and haze of slavery, we cry and groan for a way out – for hope – for a light at the end of the tunnel – just as the Israelites did. We continually ask: "Why is this night no different from all other nights that we are facing?"

Yet, as he has done before, God provides for his people.

For the Israelites, God raised up a leader to deliver his people; yet, the one he raised up was not a leader you would expect. This leader considered himself slow in speech; he had a checkered history in Egypt; and he had a tendency to let his emotions and passion override rational thought. And we all know him now as one of the greatest men in world history: Moses.

God worked through Moses to give Pharaoh a chance to repent; an offer that Pharaoh flatly refused again and again. God worked through Moses to bring forth consequences of that unrepentance in the form of gnats, frogs and flies (and that was just for starters). And God worked through Moses as a mouthpiece for what God was about to do: his ultimate judgment – indiscriminate death. For at the stroke of midnight, he would strike down the firstborn of animal and of human, Egyptian or Israelite.

But God ultimately worked through Moses as a vessel for salvation; for it was through Moses that God declared how he would free his people, Israel. For God sent Moses to tell his people that they are to take a spotless lamb, sacrifice it for their family (and others if those around could not afford it), and put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts [make up-down sign with my hands] and the mantle [make left-right sign with my hands] of their doorways. Once they did so, they were impervious to the upcoming agent of death.

"Why is this night different from all other nights?" – Because on this night, God has delivered his people from certain death and through Pharaoh’s decree (though one he would quickly regret), they became free citizens and were able to leave Egypt once and for all.

For us here and now, God has raised up a leader to deliver his people; yet, the one he raised up was not a leader you would expect. This leader was born, grew up and lived in humble means; he has a checkered history with those in power; and he had a tendency to live his life as quite the contrarian to the prevailing culture. And we all know him now as the greatest man in world history: Jesus.

Jesus has told us time and time again to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand; an offer that we flatly refuse again and again. Because we refuse to repent, we reap the consequences of that unrepentance in the form of sin, death and eternal separation from God (and that’s just for starters). And we hear Jesus’ words of what God’s ultimate judgment is – indiscriminate death – for those who have fallen short of complete repentance – and that is all of us.

But Jesus is our ultimate vessel of salvation; for it is through him that God declares how he has freed his people, how he has freed those who believe the promise. For Jesus is our spotless lamb, sacrificed for us and for those around us. It was his body that was broken for us; and it is his blood that is shed for us [make sign of the cross] on the cross that covers our family and household. And now, we are impervious to the agent of death – the Evil One and his armies.

"Why is this morning different from all other mornings?" – Because on this morning, God has saved his people from certain death through Christ’s resurrection, and his defeat of death and the grave; and through Christ’s decree, we are now free citizens of the kingdom of heaven and have left the worldly dominion of the Evil One once and for all!

Yet..... We’re still slaves.

We are no longer slaves to the consequences of our sin; we are no longer slaves to these things of the world; we are no longer slaves to the ways that bring us death. Thanks be to God, we are slaves to righteousness! 

Instead of being beholden to what was, we are to behold what is to come! Instead of the Old Adam in us living in despair, the New Adam in us is to live with joy and cheer! Instead of suffering consequences of past sins, we are to be excited about the opportunities that are in front of us! 

For as the Lord called the Israelites out of the waters of the Red Sea, with the waters crashing down all around Pharaoh and his armies, to become a holy nation; so Christ calls us out to become a holy nation through the waters of Holy Baptism, with the water drowning the Evil One and all of our foes. A new day is dawning.

"Why is this day different from all other days?"

Because through your Baptism, our Heavenly Father has graciously called you out of slavery; equipped you with Christ’s love, mercy and forgiveness; and given you his Holy Spirit of grace and truth so that you can "proclaim good news to the poor; proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind; to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."

Amen.