“Led by God”

Exodus 13:17-22

A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas M. Donley

November 14, 2004

University Baptist Church

Minneapolis, MN

 

            Last week, as the election results were being finalized and people began licking their wounds or doing their victory dance, a pillar of fire lit up the evening sky.  The Aurora Borealis where the sun showers mixed with the ionic particles in the atmosphere gave all of us who gazed up a spectacular display of green light.  I found myself thinking about today’s scripture.  Even as we dealt with the election or whatever other trauma was in our lives, if we looked up, we would see on that night a pillar of fire by night.  It was a gentle reminder that there is a larger reality that we don’t always pay attention to, but unexpectedly reminds us of its presence.

            Hear what the psalmist says: “Commit your way to YHWH; trust and God will act. God will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.   Be still before YHWH, and wait patiently; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret - it leads only to evil.” - Psalm 37:5-8

            As I said in my weekly e-mail, it’s time to move on from the election.  It’s not time to move on from the issues.  The time for advocating for issues that are important to us and important to God’s vision of a peaceful and healthier world is always before us.  The time for putting our faith in candidates is behind us and now we focus on real faith.  That’s what will sustain us in the long hard struggle that isn’t bound to election cycles.

            When the people were in the wilderness, having fled Pharaoh and his minions, they were in uncharted sand.  None but Moses had been outside of Egypt, so we assume, since they were slaves.  But now they were there in the wilderness, trying to figure out why they were there and constantly questioning whether it was really wise to do this in the first place.  Many of us have taken steps away from the known and predictable.  At first it feels great, like liberation, like freedom.  And then reality sets in.  Was this a good idea?  I mean, in Egypt we had food.  We were slaves, but we had food.  Are you sure we should go this way? 

            Luckily the people were not left alone without a guide.  They had Moses, Aaron and Miriam.  But they needed something else.  Human leaders are fickle.  They can flip flop.  They can outright lie to you.  They can deceive you.  They can worship idols and cause us to do the same.  The idols can be oil, military might, money, xenophobia, political party platforms, even churches. 

            Hear what one such leader said, "The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and cooperation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life."

          -- Adolph Hitler,

          My New World Order,

          Proclamation to the German Nation

          Berlin, February 1, 1933

I would never equate one of our leaders with Hitler.  And yet, we need to be careful when one uses the mantra of religion as the basis of their platform.  It needs to pass the smell test.  We must not make the mistake of confusing human leaders with God.  We need to always keep God’s vision before us.  We have the ability, each and every one of us to see God’s vision. 

            God’s vision is metaphorically represented in today’s scripture as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.  No matter what else happens in our world, God is always leading us forward, if we pay close enough attention.  No matter who wins or loses an election, we need to look for God’s pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

            The early Baptists saw God’s vision so clearly that they refused to conscript to the military. 

They refused to pay taxes to the government. 

They refused to recite the creeds of the churches if they did not believe in them.

They refused to have their infants baptized. 

They refused to be defined by any law other than the Bible. 

They focused heavily on the Gospels and saw how Jesus always stood with the outcasts. 

They saw how Jesus always preferred the outsiders to those who were considered the most holy.  Jesus always came down on the side of compassion even when it meant breaking the law.  He knew the story of Shiphrah and Puah.  He knew the story of the people’s liberation from slavery.    Those early Baptists identified with the Biblical story.

The Christian disciples were demoralized and afraid when Jesus was strung up on the cross and executed.  They were ready to cash it all in and go back to their normal lives.  That’s when Mary Magdalene proclaimed the resurrection and said that they should go on into Galilee to find Jesus.  When they went, they didn’t necessarily find the person Jesus, they found the work of Jesus.  Jesus met them on the seashore and said, “if you love me feed my lambs and tend my sheep.  If you really love me, then be on your way to the Promised Land.”  And the Promised Land is not necessarily a place.  It’s a state of being.  It’s a lifestyle choice.  It’s a commitment to follow God in the ways of compassion, mercy, justice and love.  When we make that lifestyle choice of not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), then we are on the way to the Promised Land.  When we don’t do that, then perhaps we are being deceived.  Like the early Baptists, we need to always be true to the vision of God which is best articulated by the morality of Jesus.

Hear what The Rev. Oliver G. White, Grace Community United Church of Christ, St. Paul said in yesterday’s Star Tribune: “The president is a forthright evangelist for moral values that he and religious fundamentalists have determined to be right for America. These values have regrettably kept homes unaffordable, health insurance unavailable, poverty unacceptable and an end to the war in Iraq and peace in the Middle East incomprehensible. Our country is divided, and our world is situated on explosive ground. To leave the interpretation of the gospel in the hands of the rich and powerful is to leave it used for their purpose. As it is stated in the black religious tradition: "Can I get a witness?"”

            Our spiritual journey might include a time of breaking away from what people say is Christianity and embracing true Christianity—the kind you can feel, taste and see.

Jesus and Moses never said it would be easy.  God knows it’s not.  And yet, we are called to follow God into the unknown.   Our spiritual journey, if it is to be led by God, needs markers along the way.  For the people of Israel, it started out as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.  It later became the tent of meeting and still later the Temple.  In Jesus’ time, the Temple had become too much the focal point, so Jesus shifted the fulcrum into people’s hearts and minds.  The vision of God needs to be in each of us. 

            So let’s think of the things that stand in the way of God’s vision and the things that help us.  I can think of three things.

            The first thing that stands in the way of God’s vision is terrorism.  Terror is antithetical to spirituality.  Terrorism is designed to break our spoirit and blind us to God’s vision.  It allows fear to rule the day.  We become so focused on terror, that we don’t see God anymore.  It’s sister is the myth of redemptive violence which believes that violence saves.  Violence doesn’t save.  God saves.  And God is there as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.  God is there and all we have to do is recognize God’s presence and then head in that direction. 

            The second thing that stands in the way of God’s vision is blind patriotism.  As a survival technique, we have needed to turn a blind eye to evils done in our name so that we can stay sane in this insane world.  Perhaps sanity is overrated.  Maybe we need to question the powers and principalities and bring them back to the root of their power.  It’s a power given to them by people.  And if those people are awake enough, they just might hold them accountable.  The early Baptists saw through this deception. We present-day Baptists can do the same.  When the country becomes our god, then our vision of God has been co-opted.

The third thing that stands in the way of God’s vision is apathy.    This is when we throw up our hands and declare there’s nothing we can do about it.  It says, there’s nothing to be done, so let’s just move to Canada or just give up.  It lives itself out spiritually by focusing only on one’s own personal investment portfolio or salvation without caring about your neighbor.  It turns justice in to just us.

            These tendencies of terrorism, blind patriotism and apathy blur God’s vision for our world.  Frankly, it’s what those forces who co-opt God are counting on.  They’re counting on our fear, our lack of critical thinking and our apathy.

            So what do we need?  How do we find our God’s vision in this day and age?  I’ll offer three ways, although I’m sure you can think of more.

            The first is to pray.  I know that some of you might not be comfortable with rote prayers or with the formality of prayer.  So let’s demystify it, shall we?  Prayer is talking to God.  It is asking God, pleading with God, arguing with God, thanking God.  It is all of that.  But the moment we find ourselves focusing on someone other than God, then we end up demonizing our enemies.  We end up afraid.  We end up not doing any critical thinking.  We give our power over to another side.  When we pray, we tap into the power source of God’s lifeblood.  And we quietly see and hear God’s vision for our world.  I have found myself praying a lot these past few weeks, seeking God’s vision for the living of these days. 

            There’s a Venezuelan protest song that goes “No, no basta rezar hastan falta muchas cosas para conseguir la paz.”  That means it’s not enough to pray when there is so many things to do to secure peace.  The second thing to do is to do something that would please God.  This could be to visit someone who needs a friend. 

It could be organizing a protest. 

It could be writing a letter or lobbying an elected official.

It could be driving for meals on wheels,

Or supporting a Burmese family,

ringing a bell or two in defiance of fear and apathy,

standing for GLBT rights,

serving at Loaves and Fishes,

hosting people at Families Moving Forward,

even opening up a homeless shelter. 

All of this gives life and helps us to see a larger vision.  It helps us to see God’s people.

            The final thing we can do is to hang on to someone else.  It is so easy to lose your spiritual center when we are so busy doing the work of God.  We need each other now more than ever.  If we pray, do good work and hold each other tight, then terror is temporal, we are not duped by blind patriotism and we have an antidote to apathy.  But most important, we see God: God in people; God offering hope; God helping us to be the most moral people imaginable.  We see God guiding us to a new life in a new land.  And we are changed.

            God promised to lead people as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night as they left their slavery and went on to the promised land.  As we seek to live as God’s children on our journey of faith, we can see God just as clearly, love God just as dearly and follow just as nearly.

            I hope and pray that in these uncertain days, that you will find a way to not be controlled by terrorism, blind patriotism or apathy.  Rather, latch on to the power of God who can move all the mountains of despair, doubt, confusion and fear. 

So sisters and brothers, pray, work and hold each other tight as we follow God who if we look closely enough is guiding us on our way. 

It might be a pillar of cloud you see;

it might be a pillar of fire. 

It may be the Aurora Borealis. 

It may be a person you see on the street. 

Or even the compassionate touch of a loved one. 

Remember that God is leading us on this journey. 

And God will not leave us. 

Thank God!