February 2012
This month's Thought for the Month is taken from The Way of the Desert by Andrew Watson, the BRF Lent book for 2012.
Ash Wednesday: Creation
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, "Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians"? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!' Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.' … Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
Exodus 14:10 - 14, 21 - 22
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John.
Matthew 3:13
It was the deadest of dead ends. The Israelites were caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. The 'devil' in this case was the mighty Pharaoh, who had finally released the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, only to have second thoughts and demand their return. The 'deep blue sea' was an inlet of the Indian Ocean, part of the Great Rift Valley that separates the continents of Africa and Asia.
With Pharaoh and his armies approaching at an alarming speed, the Israelites' response was one of complete panic: first crying out to God (more in desperation than in hope), then rounding on Moses his servant with a series of angry questions. Egypt and the Egyptians: that was the focus of their questioning. Egypt was all they could see, all that they knew; Egypt had been their only reality for 40 years - a brutal reality, true, but at least a familiar one. Yet now their first taste of freedom had turned sour. They had always been suspicious of Moses - suspicious of his privileged upbringing, his rash nature, his madcap schemes; and at this point those suspicions seemed completely justified.
Whatever Moses' inner feelings, his reaction to the situation was both calm and decisive. In response to the Israelites' panic, he spoke of a new approach: 'Do not be afraid', 'Stand firm', 'Only be still'. In response to the terrifying sight of the approaching Egyptian armies he spoke of a new focus: 'See the deliverance the Lord will bring you today'. In response to the sense that there was only one possible outcome to this piece of folly - that the people had been 'brought to the desert to die' - he spoke of a new reality: 'The Lord will fight for you'. This was the same Lord to whom the Israelites had been crying out, of course, but only Moses had truly included him in the equation.
What followed was a miracle of such magnitude, such awe-inspiring power, that it can variously be understood as the creation, birth and baptism of the people of Israel - their transformation from slavery to freedom, from rabble to nation.
As on the third day of creation, when God gathered the water so that dry ground appeared (Genesis 1:9), Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, then led the people through; and having safely negotiated this 'valley of the shadow of death' - the walls of water threatening to engulf them as they later did the Egyptian army - the sense of wonder was almost palpable, finding joyful release in the heartfelt outburst of worship and praise that we'll pick up in tomorrow's reading.
It's not just water that brings together our two readings today, for Jesus' decision to be baptised by John both expressed his oneness with God's ancient people and marked the beginnings of a whole new exodus for Jesus himself and all who would follow him. Expectations were running high that the Messiah was on his way, with the 'devil' now taking the form of Caesar rather than Pharaoh, and with thousands responding to John's call from the desert. Yet from the start Jesus would subvert those expectations, taking on a bigger fish than even the mighty force of Rome. The first exodus brought freedom from the power of Pharaoh and from the daily grinding experience of hardship and humiliation in the life of a slave. This new exodus would bring freedom from the power of death and from the daily grinding experience of guilt and shame in the life of a sinner.
There are many themes we could focus on as we begin our Lenten exodus together. The apostle Paul would tell us of God's presence in the face of the deadest of dead ends: 'God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it' (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The early church fathers would remind us that our sins of greed, pride and anger have been drowned in the waters of baptism and need to remain that way. Martin Luther would urge us to practise a faith that grows, not shrinks, in the face of apparently impossible situations, and triumphs as God gloriously intervenes.
Arguably, though, the most helpful challenge of all is simply this: the call, with Moses, to include God in the equation. For whatever the extent of our churchgoing and spiritual maturity - whatever our tendency to cry out into the ether in times of pressure and pain - it remains alarmingly easy to focus on the devil and the deep blue sea and quietly to ignore the powerful, life-giving presence of a God who loves us and who created the universe. 'Do not be afraid.' 'Stand firm.' 'Only be still.' 'The Lord will fight for you.' These are the phrases of an active faith, a faith that enables us to face life calmly, purposefully, trustingly, peacefully; and it is that faith, 'of greater worth than gold' (1 Peter 1:7), that God would wish to refine and strengthen as we travel with the Israelites into the desert and beyond.
A prayer based on Psalm 46
O Lord my God, my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble, grant me stillness and trust, I pray, and fill me afresh with the gladdening presence of your Spirit.
Amen
About The Way of the Desert
The Way of the Desert
Daily Bible Readings through Lent to Easter
Andrew Watson
I think that Andrew Watson has an enormously attractive and effective style in opening up the text and making real connections with everyday life. The fruits of scholarship combined with astute understanding of the human condition and the challenges and opportunities that we constantly face. Along with the group discussion guide I think that the text is a rich resource not just for Lent, but for other seasons of Christian study and discernment.
The Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern, Bishop of Derby
In the Bible the desert is a place of punishment and discipline, but also of blessing and love's reawakening. Both Jesus and the people of Israel before him spent time in the desert, learning what it meant to be chosen and loved and holy. Yet while the people of the Exodus frequently got it wrong, providing some cautionary tales for us to learn from, Jesus himself constantly got it right, offering a perfect model for us to follow.
In The Way of the Desert Andrew Watson takes us on a Lenten journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, from the parting of the Red Sea to Israel's entry into the promised land. Combining these Old Testament scriptures with insight from the Gospels, he reveals the continuing relevance of the exodus story to all who would seek to follow Christ.
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