September 14, 2008; The 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35.

The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith

Waters of Salvation

Many of us find it difficult to deal with the Old Testament-the angry God; the ancient times; the disconnect with our culture. The story of the Exodus has provided the foundation for the faith of millions throughout the ages. The account of the Exodus (today we hear about the parting of the Red Sea, last week the Passover), however, involves a number of unsavory actions attributed to God.

It helps to remember that these accounts were recorded, and the understanding of their significance developed, in a particular culture at a particular time - a time when the small and vulnerable Hebrew community managed to survive and gain freedom against all the odds. As a result of their unexpected victory over the Egyptians, the people of that time could explain it no other way than to attribute everything to God -including the death of their enemies.

For us, the issue is not whether the sea parted as described or even the exact nature of the death of Israel's enemies. The point, the message that comes down to us through time, penetrating into our totally different cultural reality, is that God is our salvation.

God does care. God is involved in the lives of God' people. God acts to free us from bondage in all its forms so that we can be fully human and live to God's glory.

St. Irenaeus, the great second-century theologian, is often credited with using the phrase, "the glory of God is a human being fully alive!"

Today's psalm is paired with the reading from Exodus, and presents us with words and images from an ancient time that might not mean much for us on a personal level.

Psalm 114

1 Hallelujah! When Israel came out of Egypt, * the house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,

2 Judah became God's sanctuary * and Israel his dominion.

3 The sea beheld it and fled; * Jordan turned and went back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams, * and the little hills like young sheep.

5 What ailed you, O sea, that you fled? * O Jordan, that you turned back?

6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams? * you little hills like young sheep?

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, * at the presence of the God of Jacob,

8 Who turned the hard rock into a pool of water * and flint-stone into a flowing spring.

Nan Merrill has written a book entitled Psalms For Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, in which she has interpreted prayerfully the psalms using words and images of our day.

Her rendition of Psalm 114 is as follows:

 
Come, all you who have wandered
 far from the path,
 who have separated yourselves
 from Love;
A banquet is prepared for you in the
 heart's Secret Room.
 
There you will find the way home;
 a welcome ever awaits you!
Even as you acknowledge the times
 you have erred,
 the forgiveness of the Beloved
will envelop you.
 
Call upon the Beloved when fear
 arises,
 when you feel overwhelmed;
The Eternal Listener will heed
 your cry;
you will find strength to face
 the shadows. 
Befriend all that is within you,
 discover the Secret Room in 
your heart.
 
Then will abundant blessings enter
your home; and,
you will welcome the Divine Guest 
who is ever with you. 

(Nan C. Merrill, Psalms For Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., New York: 2006, pp. 242-243.)

Nan Merrill's psalm invites us to discern what God's salvation means for us today on a personal level. She is clear that her psalms are "in no way meant to replace the well-loved, still meaningful, and historically important Psalms of the Hebrew Scripture (p. viii)." She hopes that Psalms for Praying may, "stand as a companion, a dialogue...of one age speaking with a later age (p. viii)."

Through scripture and our traditions, one age from long ago does speak to a later age - our time. For some the disconnect between the ages is so great that faith and church make no sense at all. Many of us believe because of a sense we have of God-of what is of God, of what is holy-a sense of what is divine and eternal that we cannot explain rationally. Many times, faith develops by being part of the church, the body of Christ, Christian community, because it is here that we seek to know God and understand our traditions in our time - engaging the questions with both intellectual integrity and faith.

For it is here that we try our best to live as faithful follows of Jesus. United with him through baptism, we experience the miracles of faith - miracles that many would not see as such. We are a community of forgiveness and healing as described in today's gospel. We understand our lives in light of God's grace, which makes it possible to choose forgiveness over all that is less divine. One age speaks to a later age and together, with God's help, we discern what that means for us on a practical personal level-that is Christian community in action.

It is into the body of Christ, into the community of faith, hope, love, forgiveness and healing, that we welcome John Austin Cooper today. The rite of baptism is the event of one age speaking to a later age. All that God has promised to God's people throughout the ages is made known to us today in John's baptism; John received all that God has promised today.

All of God's power to save and transform is here with us now. Christ is here with us. Sometimes a little water from the Holy Land is put in the font for baptisms. While it is not wrong to do so, it is really not necessary, because the water we use today for John's baptism might as well be the water that saved Moses and Israelites-it will be as infused with the love of God as any water could be, sanctified here today by the Holy Spirit. It is important not to worship the past, but to worship the living God who is here now, in the midst of us.

One age speaks to another today. We rejoice in the long history of God's saving love. We will move out from this place, to live that love in our time-taking the traditions and making them real for us in our world. This is the journey of faith that John begins today - the journey of living the faith in ways that speak to our age -thanking God for all that God has done throughout history and seeking to know that salvation on a personal level to our joy, the joy of others, and to the delight of God. Amen.