Fear Behind Us, the Sea in Front of Us

What am I still holding on to because the unknown scares me more than what I already know?

The Israelites had Pharaoh's army behind them and water in front of them, and the familiar misery of Egypt started to look safer than a freedom they had never seen. Moses told them to stand still and watch, but they had to be willing to move when the sea opened.

When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt? Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today. Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”

Exodus 14:10–14

The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.”

Numbers 11:4–6

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom.”

Luke 9:62

Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13–14

How do I break free from a slavery I've gotten used to, even in my own mind?

The sermon quotes a rabbi saying true freedom demands more than loosened shackles; the Israelites had to stop believing they were destined to be slaves before they could cross. The mind can stay in Egypt long after the body has left.

Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’” Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Exodus 6:6–9

Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2

Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:34–36

Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1

Do I only know what I've always been shown, and is there more I can't yet see?

The sermon uses Plato's cave, where prisoners believe the shadows on the wall are all there is. They do not know they are in the dark until someone comes back and tells them, and even then they would rather keep the shadows than face the light.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:16–18

This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:19–21

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.

Ephesians 4:17–18

How do I trust God to lead me through something with no way around it, when the way forward makes no sense?

Moses stood at the sea with no plan and no way through, and God told him to stretch out his hand and the water would part. The sermon keeps repeating that the way through only opens when someone takes the first step into what looks impossible.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.

Exodus 14:15–16

But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

Isaiah 43:1–3

The waters saw you, God. The waters saw you, and they writhed. The depths also convulsed. The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around. The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known. You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalms 77:16–20

Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. For by this, the elders obtained approval. By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:1–3

…for we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7