Forward

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

November 6, 2016

Forward

Exodus 14:5-15

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled,

the minds of Pharaoh and his officials

were changed toward the people,

and they said, “What have we done,

letting Israel leave our service?”

So he had his chariot made ready,

and took his army with him;

he took six hundred picked chariots

and all the other chariots of Egypt

with officers over all of them.

The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt

and he pursued the Israelites,

who were going out boldly.

The Egyptians pursued them,

all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots,

his chariot drivers and his army;

they overtook them camped by the sea,

by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back,

and there were the Egyptians advancing on them.

In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses,

“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt

that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?

Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt,

‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’?

For it would have been better for us

to serve the Egyptians

than to die in the wilderness.”

But Moses said to the people,

“Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance

that the Lord will accomplish for you today;

for the Egyptians whom you see today

you shall never see again.

The Lord will fight for you,

and you have only to keep still.”

Then the Lord said to Moses,

“Why do you cry out to me?

Tell the Israelites to go forward.”

*******************************************

They could see the cloud on the far horizon,

a thick cloud of dust

kicked up by a thousand hooves,

two thousand, three thousand;

a cloud of dust kicked up

by the iron wheels of chariots,

chariots by the scores;

clouds of dust churning,

the sky no longer blue,

growing darker by the minute.

And as the cloud drew steadily nearer,

they could all hear it,

the low rumble of the hooves,

the wheels,

the tramping feet.

Before long, they could feel it,

feel it in the ground beneath them,

an army fierce, brutal,

armed with swords, spears, and shields,

racing down upon them,

not to take them back,

back to Egypt,

back to their lives as slaves,

but coming to kill them,

coming as storm cloud to slaughter them,

every man, woman and child.

They shook in fear as they watched horrified,

as they listened,

as they felt the very earth shake beneath them.

Where could they go?

They were trapped,

the savage army racing toward them from the west,

and the roiling waters of the sea to the east.

Why, oh why had they listened to Moses?

Why, oh why had they followed him?

Why had they followed the Lord God?

Yes, their lives as slaves in Egypt had been brutal,

working as they had, seven days a week,

from sunup until sundown,

never a moment’s rest

without risking the overseer’s whip,

meager rations for every meal.

And yet life, as cruel as it had been,

had been life.

And now, here they were,

men, women and children,

unable to defend themselves,

trapped,

death racing toward them.

They cried out to Moses;

they cried out to God.

And the word of God came to them through Moses,

just two words,

two words the people didn’t understand at all:

“Go forward!”

“Forward?

Where?

Into the churning waters of the sea?

Are we to drown ourselves

to spare us from the Egyptian’s swords and spears?”

“Forward?

Where is the power of the Lord God

we’d seen in Egypt?

The power of plagues and locusts;

the power of the angel of death

that had been able to reach even into Pharaoh’s house.

Where is that power now?”

“Go forward!?”

And yet that was what God was saying to the people:

“Forward”,

God’s unspoken words,

“Trust me”

“Have faith”

“Believe.”

We know what happened next, don’t we?

The seas parted

and the Israelites were able to escape,

were able to walk through the parted seas,

which then closed over the pursuing Egyptians,

drowning every last man and horse,

including Pharaoh himself.

But who among the Israelites

could have imagined that,

even for a second,

gripped as they were with fear,

certain that death was minutes away.

Who would have thought,

who could have thought

even for a moment,

“God will part the waters

and we will be able to cross over on dry land,

every one of us.

We will escape from the Egyptians;

We will escape death”.

“Forward!”

“Forward!”

“Trust in me.”

“Have Faith.”

These were God’s words to our ancestors in faith

as they stood quaking on the edge of the sea.

These are God’s words to you and to me.

“Forward!”

“Forward!”

“Trust in me.”

“Have Faith.”

We are called to go forward,

even when we can’t see the path ahead,

the path God wants us to take.

We are called to go forward

even when it seems like the doors all around us

are shut tight, locked;

“Forward”, God says.

God has said that to us,

the people of this church

every year since 1867,

every year, in good years,

and in bad years,

Forward, through years of war,

forward through years of economic struggles,

forward through this problem or that.

“Forward;

trust in me;

have faith.”

As Ed White reminded us two weeks ago,

Jesus says so simply to each of us, “follow me”

“follow me”.

Adding two more words,

“fear not”.

“Follow me.

Fear not.”

And so we follow, confidently,

faithfully following our Lord Jesus,

who is the head of our church;

following Jesus wherever Jesus leads us.

God is leading us now through Christ

into our 150^th year.

It will be a joyful year as we celebrate our past,

our rich history.

It will also be a challenging year as we look ahead,

churches of every denomination struggling,

facing strong headwinds.

Our Session has been working on

our budget for next year,

and we know things will be tight.

We’ve had quite a few long-time members move away

the past year or so,

and with them, of course,

went their financial support.

It will be a struggle,

even with new members coming in,

to replace that money that was here last year

but won’t be here next year.

We’ve been down this path before.

We went through this back in 2010,

when $50,000 in pledges left the church

from a combination of members moving away or dying.

That was more than 10% of our budget,

there one year, gone the next.

But God called us forward,

saying to us, “fear not”,

and we got through that year,

and the years following,

with strength, assurance.

Our budget team is looking for places to cut,

which I understand,

but I also know

that we are a very lean organization.

Russell Jackson and I are the only full-time employees.

Believe it or not,

both Deborah Panell and Melissa Kirkpatrick

are considered to be part-time employees.

And you all know they put in far more time

than what we pay them for.

Krista Brocker, our office manager,

Lisa Faust, our financial administrator,

Jody Ritner and Brenda Martin

the leaders of our revitalized preschool,

all of us, the staff, we all are going forward.

Continuing to build a strong music ministry,

a strong Christian Education program,

an outstanding preschool,

a building that is bright, welcoming, and safe.

Brian McLaren writes in his most recent book,

“The call to get moving comes

not after the way is clear,

but while it still seems impassable…

when chaos, uncertainty, and turmoil prevail,

and when the tumultuous sea shows no sign of parting.”

God calls us forward,

Forward.

Speaking through the prophet Isaiah,

God says to us:

“I, the Lord, am first,

and will be the last…

Take courage!

It is good!

Do not fear, for I am with you,

do not be afraid,

for I am your God;

I will strengthen you,

I will help you,

I will uphold you.”

(Isaiah 41:4ff)

McLaren ends his books with words written

as though for us at this time,

in this place:

“We have new places to go.

We have great work to do.

Our calling is forward.”

Forward.

Forward.

AMEN