Deliverance

Deliverance - Exodus 14:13-20
Reflections by Pastor Penny

Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and his challenging twelve sons – featuring fancy-coated Joseph,
who declares about the difficulties in his life: “God intended it for good.”  This week we are in
Chapter 4 of The Story, with the focus on escape from slavery for the People of God.
 
Deliverance seems like a rather churchy kind of word – perhaps The Great Escape would be a better way to describe the excitement and drama of this section of our history.  Remember?  This is our story as well as God’s story.  Picture yourself in Egypt:  desert, cruel tasks for you as a slave, years of your personal history haunted by old memories of lost freedom, and God’s promises – perhaps forgotten?
 
As always, there is a multitude of ways to focus and turn in this section of the Bible.  I’m interested in the echoes of ‘hard hearts.’  I have a favorite heart-shaped rock, pulled from Lake Superior many years ago.  Hearts certainly take all kinds of shapes.
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​The hearts in this week’s section of The Story start with heard-hearted Pharaoh.  
We are told that now a new Pharaoh is in charge, who did not know Joseph.  He fears Joseph’s
later generations because they’ve multiplied so.  Solution to the problem:  have the boy babies
killed.  But God is protecting and bringing hope.  Moses is born, and his mother and sister
manage to hide and protect him.  He grows up educated and pampered in the royal household.  
 
Fast forward to the burning bush, when Moses is called by God to go lead the Israelites
out of slavery.  Through the 10 plagues, the amazing Passover experience and frantic escape
from what had been home.  Finally, the People of God stand at the edge of the sea.  It looks
hopeless.  Water ahead (I’m guessing no live guards among them), Egyptian army behind –
ready to kill.  And Moses tells the people:  "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance
that the Lord will accomplish for you today…”  Exodus 14:13. And that’s just what happened.
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So what?  This same promise is for us!  God is the same throughout the Bible.  We do
not have one God in the Old Testament, cruel and harsh, and a different one in the New
Testament, forgiving and loving.  The church tells us that we have one God, whose character
remains the same.  This God offers grace and radical forgiving love to those into whom God
breathed life.  That’s Me, You, US!
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How is my heart being shaped?  Where and how do I open my life up to God, who
waits to offer me grace, hope, and a path through – or to walk with me through the dark valley.  
As always, it’s our possibility of choosing the path we take that can make a world of difference
in how our hearts are shaped.  When the Bible says “Do not be afraid, God will fight for you,”
that’s what it means.  Calm down.  Look up.  Stand still.  Pray. Worship. Sing.
 
​We choose!  God is always waiting…
 
​If you haven’t read this chapter yet, forge ahead for the next week:  The Story, Chapter 5,
“New Commands and A New Covenant”, p. 59 OR order a CD of the whole Story.  I’ve been
listening to it, and I love it!  (The audiobook can be found on amazon.com!)

Chapter 4: When You Are Walled In

There's a wall in front of you. Behind you is a past you are running from. Beyond the wall awaits the promise of a new life. But you're not moving because there is this "wall". You feel trapped. No way out. This is just the sort of situation in which God does some of God's finest work.

You need only ask the Israelites. Behind them was a life of back-breaking work and slavery. Ahead of them was a life in the land of Promise. Behind them was the fierce army of a fanatical Pharoah coming towards them. Ahead of them was a wall. Their obstruction was made of water.

Your "wall" may be a fear of failure. Or maybe it's a lack of confidence that has grinded your progress to a halt. Or it could be merely too many problems that have piled up in front of you at the same time. And you have no clue which to tackle first.

So you stopped. And you aren't sure if there is a way over, around, or under this imposing impediment.

At this point many people panic. Anxiety coarses its way through the body, atrophies the movement muscles, and rigor mortis overtakes their resolve. Eyes which once had clear focus now only focus on the wall just inches away.

But some look elsewhere. The Israelites looked to Moses. They began belting him with blame. Have you done the same? Blame the boss. Blame a co-worker. Blame your dog. Blame God. Maybe even blame yourself? Blame all you want - but the wall still remains.

While the Israelites were body punching Moses, he opted to look elsewhere. His options? He could have looked at the enemy's army. He could have looked at the ungrateful people he led. He could have looked at the wall of water spread out before him, sat down, and given up.

Instead he looked to God. And God opened an unlikely route through the wall of water. Safely on the other side, the very wall that had halted their steps closed in on and covered the sources of their fears.

The very name of the book where we find this story serves as a reminder when we face our "walls". "Exodus" is a compound Greek word meaning "the way out". And in case you might have missed it, the way out was not a better job, a different spouse, or a victim mentality.

No, the way out is God. Next time you find yourself up against a wall try looking to God.

Forgiveness: It's Never Easy

Forgiveness is one of life's hardest actions. When someone has really hurt us, it is extremely difficult to forgive. During the next week read Genesis 50:15-21, Matthew 6:9-15, and Matthew 18:21-35. Pray for the courage and strength you need to forgive those who have wronged you. Meditate on Romans 5:8 and ask God to help you understand the depth of God's grace so that you can extend that grace to others.

Recap of Chapter Three

Joseph was able to forgive his brothers because he saw that God was up to something; he had captured the Upper Story, God's bigger plan. What the brothers did was wrong, but God used their sin and jealousy to accomplish God's overall purpose, God's Upper Story.

The famine would have killed the little fledgling nation of Israel naturally, but supernaturally God made a provision for their salvation by putting Joseph in the right place at the right time.

Why didn't God just thwart the famine? It wasn't time yet for the nation of Israel to take ownership of the land of Canaan. And, they needed to be prevented from intermarrying with Canaanites, so their move to Egypt got them away from the Canaanites and living amongest the Egyptians who thought it was an abomination to marry shepherds. In Egypt they were given the incredibly fertile land of Goshen where they thrived.

Joseph had 22 years of a difficult life, but 71 years of a blessed life. He saw the Upper Story and it made his life in the Lower Story richer. It made all the junk that happened to him in the Lower Story survivable.

Application for this week:
The trials we go through test us and cause us to trust God and see God's power in desperate situations, and equip us for the very thing God wants us to do that we're not yet equipped to do, so that others will not see us, but God.

Huge consequences come to us when we do things in the Lower Story to hurt other people, even though God often uses our sinfulness to accomplish God's overall will.

For those whose life isn't turning out like you had envisioned it, you need the perspective of Romans 8:28:

"That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."

Try thinking on this scripture this week... Do you trust God with all the details of your life? Do you look at how you can align yourself with God's will and prompts in your life - what small changes can you make to follow a little closer to God on a daily basis?

For me, just starting to read or study God's word everyday has helped immensely! What is helping you?

Reflections on Tough Times

Reflect back on your life. Where has God been at work shaping and forming you... Even in the hard times? Are there lessons God was seeking to teach you that you might have missed? Ask for eyes to see them and a heart to receive and learn. Are you facing something tough right now? If God wants you to use this experience to grow you, ask for the courage to embrace it.

What a Joy!

A great Sunday indeed!

The kids sang! They did a wonderful job - loud and clear with a fun song! It's amazing how far they've come in such a short time... I can't wait to see what comes next...

It was also Communion Sunday - and what a joy to finally share in the Lord's Supper as one big family! (Thank you, bell ringers, for the beautiful music during this sacred ceremony!)

As I read and listened to Joseph's story again and again this week, I couldn't help but see God's work in our churches... So many times we've been knocked down, but everytime, God has breathed new life into these faith families. Maybe through new staff. Maybe new members. Maybe new minstries. Maybe through new relationships. However it happened, God has brought us to this place, this day, together.

Let us rejoice, that like Joseph, we have not been forgotten - but that God has been planning for a good thing to happen!

Coat of Many Colors

Coat of Many Colors: GENESIS 50:20
Reflections by Pastor Penny
 
I’m inviting you to join me reading The Story!   It’s an unusual opportunity to move through the Bible in a condensed, chronological manner.   I always find myself in the stories-- for who among us doesn’t struggle with temptation, forgiveness, and the challenge of loss?  If you haven’t gotten your book yet, pick one up at church.  If you haven’t quite started, just jump in. This week we’re on chapter 3, “Joseph: From Slave to Deputy Pharaoh.”
 
As we move from creation in the Garden of Eden, through the life of Abraham and Sarah, we now get to sit around the family table of Jacob and his twelve sons.  Believe me, this is one lively group!  I’ve begun to hear people say how surprised they are that these old stories are ringing true for our time.  That’s how I find the Bible – it resounds with deep truth and shines light on my path.  It also makes me laugh, shake my head with questions, and wonder.
 
I laughed when I saw the October 3rd Time magazine cover: “Why Mom Liked You Best: The Science of Favoritism.”  There’s Jacob and the 12 – with Joseph standing tall in his beautiful robe.  I can assure you that my sister and brother always thought I got that shining center spot.  All of us deal with the very same issues that these early families of our faith tell us about. 
 
And the same God who helps them helps us!  As you read along, talk in a conversation group Sunday morning or during the week, or listen to the audio CDs, you’ll be interested in what God’s Spirit draws you to.  That’s what we are promised as we listen; God comes and helps us know how to live.
 
                One of the key themes in the life of Joseph is found in Genesis 50:20, “Even though you intended to harm me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve numerous people, as he is doing today.”  Just how does that possibly work?  In a way, it sounds like God manipulating jealousy, lust, scheming for murder, lying, ETC! to make something good come in the end.  But I know that’s not in the character of God, so I like the translation in The Common English Bible:  “But God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing.”  Imagine the heart of God, making it turn out for the best!
 
                We are invited to imagine that because the whole Bible tells us more and more about the heart of God and how God acts.  1 John 1:5 says: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”  So we know that God is not using or manipulating darkness to make light.  But, in God’s own way, God “turns” the situation to make good for us – for us at St. Paul’s UMC.  I think of this way of understanding as living in the world seeing only the back side of a beautiful tapestry; it looks tangled, a little knotted up here and there, pattern not always clear.  God sees the front side of the tapestry of our lives, which have pattern, clarity, and beauty.
 
               
                The Story helps us really see Joseph. The more I look at Joseph’s life, the more impressed I am.  Maybe you had the sense that he was a puffed up kid bragging about his future possibilities, as he interpreted his dreams to his irritated brothers.  But as we read the whole story he stands tall, a man of honor following the God he must have learned about at his father Jacob’s tent and mother Rebecca’s knee.   
 
                Joseph is a favored child and his jealous brothers find a devious way to get rid of him.  As he is dragged off to Egypt, things look grim.  But God turns what looks like a death sentence into a chance to be useful; in slave-Joseph’s care, the household flourishes.  Terrible trouble comes when the wife of the Egyptian master tempts Joseph. His answer to temptation is: “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9 
 
Joseph’s behavior opens him up to God’s best.  He puts himself in the stream of God’s grace and receives a jail sentence.  What?  How does that happen?  For his good behavior, Joseph is thrown into jail.  God moves through Joseph’s life in jail.  God turns this for good.  BIG NOTE:  Good behavior does not guarantee any kind of stress-free life.  There are no Free Passes through the challenges or troubles of life.  But what we do know, and see in Joseph’s story, is that God is always with us, always working to ‘turn’ any situation for good.
               
            Joseph’s life is full: 2 years in jail, dream interpretation, leading a nation in a challenging time, and reconnecting with the devious brothers and, finally, a happy ending.  Joseph speaks the words of forgiveness and grace to his brothers – you intended harm but God turned it to good.
               
                So what?  As we read, listen, think, question, and move forward with our own lives, what does the Joseph story have to do with us?  It could be just an old story with forgotten possibilities or a new opening to deep truth and new possibilities.  New possibilities for how we live as families, as we see Joseph centered on offering lavish forgiveness. 
 
                I’m always intrigued by the new! This week I got a New poetry book by Shell Silverstein, the poems were found years after his death in 1999.  Our grandchildren are enchanted with poems and drawings.  One of our favorites shows the possible outcome of a hairdryer working backward -- beware the foot left sticking out.  Very funny! New science offered Time magazine.  “Faster than Light.  A new study may upend Einstein.” The discussion unfolded:   “A finding about subatomic particles that may be moving over the speed of light…” The finding is enough to overturn a century of firmly established physics and rewrite the textbooks.”
 
New church!  Well, why not?  God is always inviting to new, to fresh possibilities.  What if the life of our congregation is only just beginning?  Let us find ways to believe that God will turn our present situation and do deep, lasting, permanent good.  For us and for our world.  May it be so!
                Does this story leave you with a question?
                Are You left with an answer?
                An invitation?
                What will you DO about that?
 
Next week:  Moses and Freedom! Chapter 4, page 43, “Deliverance”