Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Forgiveness

16th Sunday after Pentecost
September 24, 2017
Matthew 18:21-35

            The summer that I was 19 I bought my first car. It was a 1996 Honda Civic, silver, four-door, and stick shift. I drove it all summer long. A couple weeks before the fall semester started, we went to the beach for a week, in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. The same week some relatives were at the beach in Garden City, South Carolina, just south of Myrtle Beach. My sisters and I wanted to spend time with them, too, so we planned to spend the first part of the week in Atlantic Beach and drive the four hours on Thursday down to Garden City. My car never made it to Garden City. Instead, driving through Myrtle Beach, another driver had turned left out of a shopping center and had paused in the median, waiting for traffic the other direction to clear. Except, he wasn’t completely in the median; he was partly in the median and partly in my lane. The median to my left was a ditch; the two lanes to my right were full of cars, so… I hit him head on. I left a good 12 feet of skid marks, although I don’t remember braking. I don’t remember the accident itself at all. What I know is that God had guardian angels all around my sisters and me. The first person on the scene was a good Samaritan, she told me her credentials, doctor or nurse or something, and she helped us until the police and paramedics arrived. My sisters got ambulance rides to the hospital. My first car was totaled. The police and insurance companies ruled that the other drive was completely at fault, and his insurance paid for everything: the value of my car, all of our medical bills, and additional money to my sisters for grief and suffering because they both had scars on their faces from their injuries. The police officer at the scene told me that he had seen people die in accidents that bad. And my Grandma, a long-time pastor’s wife, told me that the accident was now part of my story, part of my witness of what God has done in my life. There were guardian angels surrounding us that day, because we should have been hurt a lot worse than we were, if not killed. We shouldn’t have walked away from that accident. But God was taking care of us and protecting us. Grandma told me that this was now part of my witness of what God has done in my life and that I needed to share it. So, I do, from time to time.
            However, there’s one part of that story that I’ve never told, and that is about forgiving that other driver. Before we left the beach to come home, I went out one evening to walk on the beach by myself. And, this may sound a little crazy, but I felt like God gave me three curses to use on this other driver, this guy who had totaled my first car, who had caused such harm to my sisters and me, who had taken away a level of my innocence, since I’d never even been in a car accident before, much less one that bad. I was mad at this guy. And that night, at the beach, I cursed him, twice. This may not sound like much to you, but even before becoming a pastor, I never cursed. That’s just who I was. So, I used two curses that night, and saved one for later. Because human nature is like that, right? We like to hold on to grudges, we like to have vengeance. I held on to one. In college I was part of the Wesley Foundation, which is the United Methodist campus ministry. It’s part of what our apportionment money helps to fund. And at that point in time, we had a monthly worship service on campus. I don’t remember the details, whether it was the scripture or the music or something the campus minister said, or maybe a combination, or just simply God moving in my heart. But one night, at that monthly worship service, I broke down and I gave back to God that curse. I don’t know what caused it, if I’d been thinking about it, if I’d been looking for a good reason to use it, or a good reason to hold onto it, but God moved, and I released that last curse, without using it. I forgave the guy. And I’ve never shared that part of the story. I’ve always talked about God keeping us safe in the accident that should have seriously hurt us. I’ve talked about the guardian angels and the good Samaritan person at the scene. I’ve never talked about forgiving the other driver. Probably because the idea of God giving me three curses sounds a little crazy. But that’s the story of how I forgave the other driver who totaled my first car. I gave it back to God. I released it, and let it go.
            Our Gospel lesson today is one about forgiveness. Jesus and the disciples are still talking about life in community, about church life. Peter asks Jesus, “How often do I have to forgive someone who sins against me?” Seven is a holy number, the number of completion, so perhaps we are to practice perfect forgiveness. Yet Jesus says, “Not seven, but seventy-seven or seventy times seven times.” “Your forgiveness must be beyond perfect; it must be beyond counting.”[1] This is forgiveness without limits, infinite forgiveness, which is, after all, how God forgives us. Three things about forgiveness this morning:
First, forgiveness is not conditional upon the other person apologizing first. I never met the other driver in Myrtle Beach. We had zero communication. We didn’t talk at the scene of the accident, and we certainly didn’t talk after that. I only ever found out his name because it was on one of the insurance documents. He didn’t apologize to me. We tend to think that the other person should say or do something first before we have to forgive them. We tend to think that we’re owed something when we’ve been wronged, and only once we’ve received that reparation, then we can forgive the wrong. But that’s not how it has to work. And, considering you will never get apologies for some things, if that’s what you’re waiting for, then you’ll never forgive them. That, then, in turn, hurts you the most. When we hold on to past hurts and resentments, our emotional and physical health are deeply affected.[2] And we are hurt the most by our unwillingness to forgive.
Presbyterian minister and author, Marjorie Thompson, wrote, “To forgive is to make a conscious choice to release the person who has wounded us from the sentence of our judgment, however justified that judgment may be… Forgiveness means the power of the original wound’s power to hold us trapped is broken.”[3] Don’t let whoever wronged you control your life. Don’t let them live in your head and make you bitter and angry. Get them out of your emotional life. You’re hurting yourself by holding on to that resentment. Don’t wait for an apology. It’s not necessary. You don’t need one in order to forgive. Forgive them now and free yourself from that hurt.
Second, forgive does not always mean forget. In healthy relationships, yes. 1 Corinthians 13 does say that love keeps no record of wrongs. However, in unhealthy relationships, unstable relationships, abusive relationships, no. Shake the dust off your feet and move on. To forgive someone does not mean that you have to have a relationship with them. I said last week that there are some folks from whom we have to keep your distance in order to keep our mental and emotional health. People change, yes. As Christians, we believe in redemption and second chances. However, it’s not worth putting yourself at risk. Let the person be redeemed, reformed, changed and let them do it with new people in their life. It doesn’t have to be you. Let it go. It was 12 years before I returned to Myrtle Beach. Enough time had passed that when a friend invited me to the beach with her, I didn’t even make the connection with the accident until I was back on US-17 in Myrtle Beach. It’s okay to forgive and not forget.
Finally, “forgiveness means to release, to let go… [It’s] not denying our hurt,” or minimizing it or glossing over it. Something happened that shouldn’t have happened. We were hurt. Forgiveness requires us to “acknowledge the negative impact of another person’s actions or attitudes in our lives.”[4] We acknowledge it, scream about it, write about it, vent about it. And then we release it, so that it no longer has control over us. So that we do not begin to think that it defines us. One of my favorite parts of the Disney movie Moana is when Moana approaches the monster Te Ka with the heart that was stolen from her. 
Moana sings to her, “I have crossed the horizon to find you. I know your name. They have stolen the heart from inside you. But this does not define you. This is not who you are. You know who you are.” This evil thing that was done to you is not who you are. Te Ka calms down, Moana puts her heart back, and the lava rock of the monster falls away to reveal Te Fiti, the missing goddess. 
Let go of the hurt. Let go of the pain. It does not define you. It is not who you are. Whether or not you receive an apology, whether or not you forget as you move on, move on. Don’t let that limit you today. Forgiveness is important for your health and well-being. Even more, Jesus tells us that we are to forgive because we have been forgiven. Our forgiving others is in response to our receiving God’s forgiveness. In the parable Jesus told in response to Peter’s question about forgiveness, the king says, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?”[5] In the Lord’s prayer we pray, “Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who sin against us.”[6] Forgiveness should cause more forgiveness. Those who have received forgiveness are to forgive others. And each one of us here has been forgiven. You have already been forgiven. You may or may not have accepted that, but you have already been forgiven.  Go and do likewise. Return to God the curses you’re holding onto, the grudges you’ve been nursing, your list of all the times you’ve been slighted. It’s time. Forgive yourself, forgive God, forgive your neighbor, forgive reality for being what it is. Forgive. I don’t do many altar calls, but this is one I feel called to do this morning. If no one comes, that’s fine. However, if there is someone on your mind this morning whom you have not forgiven, now is the time to do it. If you need help doing it, please come forward and I’ll come pray with you. Or raise your hand, and I’ll come to your pew. Let us pray…




[1] Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, p. 69
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., p. 70, 72
[4] Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, p. 70
[5] Matthew 18:33
[6] Matthew 6:12

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Putting the Band Back Together

15th Sunday after Pentecost
September 17, 2017
Exodus 14:19-31; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20


In 1980 an action comedy movie came out called The Blues Brothers. It begins with the release of the older brother, Jake, from prison and he and his brother, Elwood, go on “a mission from Gahd” which requires them to put their band back together. While Jake was in prison, the other band members all moved on and took other jobs. Jake and Elwood have to go to each band member individually and talk with them and convince them to come back for one last show.  One member takes a little more convincing, but, eventually, he agrees. A band is much like a family, or any other group of people. They come together for a common purpose, and yet each bring their own personality, their own preferences, their short or long tempers, and they have to figure out how to work together.
Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am, also,”[1] and it’s a good thing because where two or three are gathered, there are also two or three personalities that are eventually going to disagree over something. Although, if we’re honest, we can have conflict just with ourselves, individually! Anyone ever said, “I’m conflicted,” or “I’m torn”? The thing is, conflict is normal and even healthy because it keeps us from growing stagnant.[2]  Either we change and adapt and grow, or we die.  So, rather than seeking the absence of conflict, what works better is to seek the presence of a just peace.  Conflict resolution doesn’t actually work all that well because then you expect a definite end to the conflict and a winner and loser.  Instead, working towards transforming the conflict means that we’re committed to staying in relationship no matter what, like a married couple for whom divorce is not an option.
            One of the things we read in Romans last week was Paul’s advice “to live in harmony with another.”[3] A harmony is not all one note. A harmony is made up of multiple notes that sound well together. If you look at our choir, they don’t all sing the same note. Each section has a part to sing: bass, tenor, alto, and soprano.  Not everyone sings the soprano part, and the sopranos don’t sing so loud so as to drown out the other parts.  We need all the parts to form the choir.  And because the parts are different, there is occasionally going to be conflict.  We’re not all always going to get along.  But if all the choir members are committed to the choir and committed to making beautiful music that honors God, then each one puts in the hard work of learning their part and knowing when to sing, what to sing, and how loud or soft to sing.  That’s what it means to be in harmony.
            Jesus’ advice this morning is what to do when someone is disharmonious, when someone is breaking up the harmony, intentionally breaking up the band, when someone has sinned against you. This isn’t just normal conflict or differences of opinion or being a little flat as you learn your part. And Jesus says, first, go and talk to the person, one on one. And if that doesn’t work then try bringing one or two others in as witnesses or mediators. And remember the goal isn’t to embarrass or belittle or criticize, but the goal is restoration. There’s a break in the relationship and the goal is healing. The story in Matthew immediately before this one is the one about the farmer with 100 sheep and one goes missing. You may think that 99 sheep are still enough sheep, what’s one more? But the shepherd leaves the 99 to go find the missing sheep, because without her, the flock isn’t all together.
            Now the end of Jesus’ advice seems a little harsh: if the person still doesn’t listen, then treat them as a Gentile or a tax collector. Now, there are some folks we are not going to get along with. There are some folks we’re going to have a hard time being in harmony with. And we’re not called to like everyone or to agree with everyone. Jesus says we are to love one another. Loving one another does not mean being buddy-buddy or seeing eye to eye on everything. And there are some folks whom we have to love from a distance in order to stay mentally and emotionally healthy. I have two dear friends whose first marriages ended because their spouses no longer wanted to make them work. There are some folks you dust the sand off your feet and move on in order to keep your sanity.
            We’re at the point in Exodus where Moses and the Israelites are finally leaving Egypt. Their time in slavery is at an end. Thanks to the 10th plague, Pharaoh finally agrees to Moses’ request to “let my people go” and the Israelites are finally beginning their journey out of Egypt. Pharaoh goes back on his word and chases after them. God’s people find themselves between the Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. And God makes a way where there seems to be no way, having Moses stretch out his hand and parting the Red Sea so that the Israelites can cross thru on dry land. The Egyptian army gives chase behind them, and drowns as the waters come back together. This is the end of the conflict between Egypt and Israel, at least then. Israel, through Moses, kept trying to work things out. Egypt refused and refused and refused. It got to the point where they dusted the sand off their feet and moved on.
Yet think about this, if Jesus says we’re to treat a person who won’t listen as a Gentile or a tax collector… Jesus regularly interacted with Gentiles and tax collectors. Matthew, the guy who’s gospel we’re reading, was a tax collector and one of the twelve disciples. Zaccheus, the wee little man who climbed a tree was a tax collector. Then there’s the Samaritan woman at the well, the Canaanite woman we read about a few weeks ago, the fact that Jesus makes a Samaritan the good guy in the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus never stops reaching out. He doesn’t write off anyone. Dust the sand off his feet, yes. Occasionally lose his temper with the Pharisees or with the moneychangers who set up shop inside the temple, yes. What’s holy should stay holy. God should be honored. And God sent his only begotten son because God “so loved the whole world.” So, even with those we disagree, even with those who rub us the wrong way, even with those who have hurt us, we are to err on the side of grace. We are to never stop reaching out. Like God, we always yearn to restore what was broken.
            I was talking with a colleague this past week and she reminded me that church is one of the last places in society where we regularly gather with people with different opinions. Church isn’t a club where all the members have a lot in common. Church is a family, where we all have one common denominator, that we’re all God’s children, we’re brothers and sisters. That’s why it hurts when there’s a rift, because each of us is incomplete without each other. The suffering of one person is the suffering of everyone. The joy of one person is the joy of everyone.[4] That’s why we share joys and concerns. It’s not gossip time. It’s so that we can be happy with you when you have good news and we can sit and mourn with you when you have bad news. We’re all in this together. We’re here for one another. That’s what a family is.
            The goal isn’t resolution, with a winner and a loser. The goal isn’t everyone always agree on everything all of the time. That’s not realistic. The Church is a place of mutual interdependence, so the goal is transformation. Together we are stronger and better and more faithful and more effective in our witness than we are apart. You can’t be a Christian by yourself. You need the body of Christ, warts and all. Scars and all. You see, even after restoration, even after transformation, there are scars. There are marks. You may not be able to see them, but things will not be exactly the same as before. You are different; the other person is different. Think of Jesus going through the crucifixion and resurrection. Even after he was alive again, he had the marks on his hands and his feet. He had a hole in his side. Things are changed, things are transformed. If God’s in the middle of it, then it’ll be better than it was before, yet still different.
            So, conflict is normal. It’s part of life. It doesn’t have to be avoided.
Conflict is natural because of the diversity of creation and because all of us who are created different try to live together and be in relationship with each other.[5]  Conflict is also necessary to overcome injustice, oppression, and evil.  There is nothing wrong with conflict in and of itself.  What’s key is our attitude toward conflict.  If we think it’s bad and should be avoided at all costs, then we’re not going to deal with it well.  But if we embrace it as a God-ordained consequence of diversity, then we learn more about God and how he made us. We learn more about ourselves. Jesus says the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”[6] Paul essentially restates that in his letter to the Romans that we read, “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” [want wasn’t isn’t yours] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Love does no harm to a neighbor, whether it’s a neighbor we like or don’t like, whether it’s one we agree with on a lot of issues or not, whether we have similar interests or not. Love does no harm. “Love is patient… [and] kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”[7] It’s always trying to put the band back together, knowing that the new music will not be the same as the old. Voices change. Skills change. Music changes. Thanks be to God for keeping the song going, and for the opportunity to always be able to join back in, because this is the love that will not ever let us or our loved ones go. Amen.



[1] Matthew 18:20
[2] Much of this is from material from the JustPeace Center
[3] Romans 12:16
[4] Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, p. 44
[5] Also from JustPeace Center
[6] Matthew 22:37, 39-40
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Who You Are

14th Sunday after Pentecost
September 10, 2017
Exodus 3:1-15, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:21-28

            Some of you may have noticed from the number of books in my office that I love to read. My new favorite fiction author is Fredrik Backman, a Swedish writer with two books that have hit the bestsellers’ list. His newest book is called Beartown, a fictional small town set deep in a forest in Sweden whose entire population is obsessed with youth hockey. Then there is a dramatic event which throws the whole town into an upheaval and sides taken and it’s a big mess. And there’s this line that Fredrik Backman wrote, that “One of the plainest truths about both towns and individuals is that they usually don’t turn into what we tell them to be, but what they are told they are.” It’s food for thought. Do we become who we are told to become, or do we become who we are told we already are? It’s like a child repeatedly being told they’re stupid, and so they start to believe it and internalize it and believe that they are stupid. Or my son repeating back to me the other day what I had told him in joking days before, that he was a monkey. Who are we told that we are? I’ve been told I’m a good preacher and I’ve been told I’m a lousy preacher. I don’t know which to believe, except that my goal isn’t good or bad, my goal is to be a faithful preacher, and realistically I know the delivery doesn’t always come across as it should. Who have you been told that you are? And who do you listen to when it contradicts with what someone else has said?
            Even though we only skipped 15 verses ahead from where we left off with Moses last week, a lot happened in that short time. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and he killed the Egyptian. Pharaoh heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled, becoming a political refugee, and went to the land of Midian. He settled there, got married, had children, and became a shepherd.
Moses is taking care of his father-in-law’s flock when he sees the burning bush. His response is to turn aside and check out why the bush is on fire but not burning up. The English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote about it in her poem, “Aurora Leigh”:

            “Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries”

Moses is paying attention. He knows God has already been at work in his life. I’m sure growing up he heard the story about being drawn out of the water. His father-in-law owns sheep and is also a priest. God gets Moses’ attention, and rather than dismissing it, or using the fire to keep warm during the cold desert night, Moses decides to take a closer look. God calls him by name, “Moses!” and like so many others before and after him, Moses says, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God says. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” How often do we find ourselves on holy ground and we do not know it? There are so many places of holy ground, so many “common bushes afire with God”. Are we people who recognize it and take off our shoes, which is more like tread carefully, be gentle, acknowledge the presence of God in this place. Or are we those who just sit around and pluck blackberries off it? Moses is someone who answers when God calls, “Here I am.” Moses is someone who pays attention to the work of God in the world. Moses is someone who responds appropriately when told that he’s on holy ground.
            That part of the conversation he does well. But then God gives him a specific task: Moses is to go to Egypt to bring God’s people out of slavery. And Moses responds with a question: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Who am I? You can read it as, “Why me? I’m not anyone special.” Or you can read it as, “Tell me who I am. Tell me about me and why you’ve chosen me.” Either way, God doesn’t answer with Moses’ life story, a list of his spiritual gifts, or anything like that. God says, in effect, “You are someone whom God is with.” Yes, Moses has other good character traits and a testimony. But the most important thing is God is with him. Who am I? You are someone whom God is with, and will never leave or forsake, will not abandon or betray. God is with you. God loves you. That’s who you are. The beloved of God. Someone who belongs to God and someone who is loved by God.
            Now, why does this matter? Of course, for the sake of the world, for working with God in his work of redeeming the world. But we’re going a little more specific than that today. There’s a new line of thought about vision.[1] In the past, vision has been defined as a destination, where we’re going, and how we’re going to get there. That kind of strategy sounds familiar, right? And who we are are people on the journey to this vision of the future. Well, the argument is being made that we know less and less of what the future is going to look like. The future is becoming more and more unpredictable because the rate of change has rapidly increased. No sooner do you buy one gadget than you already need to update it. And how quickly technology becomes obsolete! The fact of culture changing faster makes it harder to predict what the future is going to look like. Are we going to end up like the Jetson’s? Like Star Trek? Like the Hunger Games? And so it becomes harder to discern a vision that has an end point, of what life and the church are going to look like five or ten years down the road. Instead, this new line of thinking that’s emerging is that vision isn’t so much a destination as vision is God’s kingdom coming, and the key question isn’t where is God calling us to go but who is God calling us to be. Instead of knowing where we’re going before we start the journey, this is “a vision of the kind of people we will be on the journey, which will in large part determine where we end up.”[2] That’s why we need to know who we are, and who we will become.
            Who have you been told you are? Who have you become? For a positive example, I think that’s why affirmation of parents is so important. Being told I’m a good mom helps me become a good mom. How about for you? Who are you? Who do you need reminding and affirming that you are? I’ve had three family members visit over the past two months that I’ve been here. Two were obvious, because they sat with my kids and my husband and his brother look a bit alike. The third was my stepdad, who was practically incognito without my children to out him as Grandpa. My brother-in-law, his wife, and my stepdad all said that Lisbon is a friendly and welcoming church. That’s who you are. Whether you believe it or not. Whether you’ve been told otherwise or not. You are friendly and welcoming. You are God’s people, beloved by God. Now, “given who we are, our unique identity in this time and place – in this [community] – what is God inviting us to do?”[3] Moses was invited to go free God’s people from oppression in Egypt. And then God invited him to continued leadership as the Israelites wandered the desert for forty years. And grumbled and complained about it, which we’ll get to in the coming weeks. Moses asked, “Who am I?” And God said, “I am with you. Now go free my people.” Moses believed God was with him. And with God at his side, Moses could go to Pharaoh, could do the signs and wonders of the ten plagues, could lead God’s people out of slavery.
            What about you? With God at your side. Believing God loves you and is with you. Believing that we are a friendly and welcoming church. Knowing that we are in the year 2017 and in the community of Lisbon. What is God inviting you to do? What is God calling us to do? We know who God is calling us to be, his people, beloved by him. We read in Romans that we are to love one another, to honor one another above ourselves, to serve the Lord, to share with those who are in need, to practice hospitality, to live in harmony with one another. And we read in Matthew that “if you want to follow [Jesus], you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow [him]. Those who want to save their life will lose it, those who lose their life for [Jesus’] sake will find it.”[4] That’s the thing about not having a destination for a vision. It means only God knows exactly where we’ll end up, just like only God knows what the future will look like. We trust God to lead us, to give us enough light for the next step, or to give us enough courage to take a step in the dark before we find the light switch. We are people who trust God and trust that God holds the future in God’s hands. And that trust may be in spite of knowing that God can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.[5] God can do more than we can dream of. That is both exciting and terrifying. And as God does more than we can imagine, we are people who are committed to journeying with God and together, paying attention to where God is already at work, listening to God’s voice and answering when God calls. That’s who we are. God’s people in this particular time and this particular place. Thanks be to God.



[1] Much of this paragraph is from A New Day in the City: Urban Church Revival by Donna Claycomb Sokol and L. Roger Owens. In spite of the title, much of what the authors have to say is applicable to a church in any setting, not just in the city.
[2] Ibid., 27
[3] Ibid., 33
[4] Matthew 16:24-25
[5] Ephesians 3:20

Friday, September 8, 2017

Shall We Gather at the River?

13th Sunday after Pentecost
September 3, 2017
Exodus 1:15-2:10; Romans 12:1-8

            One of the things I knew I was going to miss about leaving Eastern Baltimore County was its proximity to the water.  On the map, we were “this close” to the water. In reality, you almost never saw it because houses lined the inlets of the rivers and the bay. Going and being able to stare at water is something that has always brought me peace. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an ocean or a bay or a river, just sitting and looking out on the water brings calm to my soul. Now, we were reminded again last week that water doesn’t always bring healing. Hurricane Harvey brought record amounts of rain to Texas and Louisiana, measured in trillions of gallons. Water can do damage. We know that full well. Egypt knows that, too, as the Nile River used to flood yearly until they built Aswan Dam. Yet Ancient Egypt also couldn’t live without the Nile River, as it was their only source of irrigation for their crops. They counted on its annual flooding in order to water the fields that were farther from the river. The answer to the question of our last hymn this morning, shall we gather at the river, really seems to be that it depends. If the river’s flooding, no, we don’t really want to gather at the river. But if the river is the river of life that flows by the throne of God, a river that gives life, then, yes, let us gather with the saints at that river.
            We read Moses’ birth story this morning, and you may have noticed, he’s the only one with a name, but he’s not one of the main characters. Everything happens to him and around him, which I suppose makes sense, since he’s only a three month old baby. Continuing on from last week, Pharaoh is still so incensed over these Israelites that oppression and slavery and bitter labor aren’t harsh enough. He still feels so threatened by them that he commands that all the baby boys be killed, in fact, thrown into the Nile River. Yet there are some who fear God more than they fear the king, and two midwives get around Pharaoh’s edict. They claim that the Hebrew women are in labor for no time at all and the baby’s born before they arrive to help. Then, Moses’ mother manages to have him in secret. However, by the time he’s three months old, she can no longer hide him, and in her hope to save him, she turns to the river. Other babies are being drowned there, but she fixes a waterproof basket, puts Moses in it, and sets him among the reeds of the river. This river that is being used to kill, she is hoping and praying will bring life for her baby. Moses’ sister, Miriam, hides nearby to keep watch and see what will happen.
            What happens next is that Pharaoh’s own daughter comes down to the river to bathe. You get the impression that this isn’t the spot on the river where they’re putting the baby boys. Yet Pharaoh’s daughter must have known about that. She comes to the river that is being used to kill in order to clean herself. There’s a little bit of irony in this, or perhaps it’s that Moses’ mother and Pharaoh’s daughter both remember that the purpose of the Nile is life-giving, even if Pharaoh is twisting it for his own purposes. Pharaoh’s daughter finds the basket, correctly deduces that this baby must belong to the Hebrews, and has compassion on the baby. Miriam sees the compassion and bravely steps forward to offer to find a wet nurse. Pharaoh’s daughter agrees, and Moses’ mother is hired as a wet nurse for her own son. You wonder if there was any family resemblance among Moses, Miriam, and his mother? Pharaoh’s daughter probably suspected. Yet she, too, goes around her father to make sure this baby boy lives. Moses spends his early childhood with his biological family before being brought back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopts him. And it’s Pharaoh’s daughter who names him, Moses, because she drew him out of the water. Moses is similar to the Egyptian word for water, and similar to the Hebrew word for “draw out.” It adds some nice foreshadowing as Moses will one day draw the Hebrews out of Egypt. And the river did turn out to be a life-giving, life-saving place for baby Moses. His mother took a risk, and it paid off.
            In the church, we also turn to water for our salvation. In the waters of baptism we are marked, sealed, and named as Christ’s own. We become a member of God’s family, and not just any member but a beloved child. Yet in thinking about water in terms of life and salvation, we often think that means water shouldn’t be a means of death, or it’s being used wrongfully when it is. Water is necessary for life, and yet floodwaters are destructive. The truth is that both life and death are found in baptism. Baptism is dying to our old self, our old way of life, and being born again. The waters of baptism are both death and life. In fact, “the early church often built its baptismal fonts in the shape of tombs.”[1] Nowadays we tend to gloss over more of that side of baptism, and focus more on life and washing clean. For the early Christians, baptism meant a very definite marking of ending their old way of life. They didn’t live the same way after their baptism. Life changed. They didn’t worship the Emperor. They became part of a persecuted minority. It was a big deal to become a Christian. The waters of baptism are both death and life, just like the Nile River.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”[2] That is what happened to baby Moses and what happens in baptism. Moses’ mother offered him, a tiny, helpless baby, with forces at work that could well mean death and destruction for him. In a similar way, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, go through the waters of baptism, and come out on the other side. It’s what happens when we come to church for worship; we offer ourselves again to God, to be used by him, shaped by him, focused on him and not on ourselves. That’s why it’s “our true and proper worship;” it’s focusing on God, not on our needs, our wants, our preferences. Paul continued in his letter, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Only through your own transformation are you able to best discern God’s will. Transformation through baptism, through worship, they shouldn’t leave you the same on the other side. Water washes away and makes things new again. The early Christians had the symbol of the tomb for their baptismal font; ours are often eight-sided, representing the eighth day of creation and everything being made new. And the truth is, you need both to get the full picture. Moses’ mother put him in the river not knowing what was going to happen to him or who was going to find him. She just knew she had to try something.
            The last hymn we’re going to sing this morning, Shall We Gather at the River, was written by a Baptist minister, Robert Lowry, during the Civil War. He felt that there were too many songs focusing on the river of death and not enough on the river of life that flows from the throne of God.[3] That’s an image that comes from Revelation 22 and it captivated Robert Lowry. “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” And Robert Lowry had the thought, “’Shall we be among the privileged number who stand before the throne singing the praises of the Savior?’ Then he answered his own question, ‘Yes, we'll gather!’”[4]
            Moses’ mother and sister decided to gather at the river and brought Moses with them. Pharaoh’s daughter decided to gather at the river. The river of life, the river of death, both describe the Nile River. They’re two sides of the same coin. It’s the same river. Water can mean redemption or it can mean destruction. The Nile River was both. The Red Sea that the Israelites crossed and Pharaoh’s army drowned in was both. Baptism is both. Transformation is both. Pruning is both. Making room for new life and new growth means something has to go for there to be room. Transformation means you’re different afterward. Baptism means you’re different afterward, whether your parents chose for you like Moses and those of us who were baptized as babies, or whether you chose for yourself. It means we continually offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices for God to do with us as he will. We offer ourselves, just as Moses’ mother offered up him, not knowing what will come next. We trust that it will be plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. So, may we always gather at the river, where there’s room enough for all, like God’s table. May we always remember its power to transform, God’s power to transform. May we keep our eyes and our trust on him, and not on ourselves.  

My Dad and me on the Nile River in Egypt, ca. 1983. The Nile had again become a place of filth and destruction, full of Cairo's sewage. My Dad was among the corps of engineers who designed Cairo's first sewer system so that the wastewater would be treated before being dumped in the Nile.