Reading
for Easter Vigil
April 15, 2006
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Hollywood and Hallmark have taken this powerful story of God’s triumph over injustice, and turned it into a cheesy fictional drama of human relationships-- relationships battling for power, romance, and political correctness. If you saw the Hallmark show this week “The Ten Commandments”, you know what I’m talking about. If you saw Cecil B. DeMille’s Charlton Heston version in the 1950’s, you know what I am talking about. Hollywood does not honor the real power of this story, no matter how sophisticated we get with digitally produced special effects.
This is not a story of God’s ability to manipulate nature; it is not a story of God “taking sides” in human political power struggles—it is a story of triumph for God and those who embrace God’s justice.
YAWEH—GOD--is the key actor in this narrative—not Moses, not Pharaoh. It is YAWEH who “clogged” (or “removed”) Egyptian chariot wheels. It is YAWEH who “tossed” the Egyptians into the sea. It is YAWEH who “saved” the Israelites from the Egyptians. It is YAWEH, the One True God, who triumphs with justice over the power of Pharaoh’s oppressive sword.
We need to reclaim the Exodus story as a witness of faithfulness of those who put their trust in God. Let us proclaim Moses a leader who insisted on keeping himself and his people focused on YAWEH, the One God, Creator, Sustainer. Even through doubt and despair, Moses remains faithful to God’s call to freedom from oppression. It is Moses’ desire to serve this One God, that brings freedom to himself and the Israelites.
Even in the face of our own painful sorrow, struggle, and impossible odds, we, too, are called to look to God, the sustainer of all that is just. We, too, are to hold on to faith in God’s justice. We must place our trust in him and not ourselves. When we are oppressed, or overcome by darkness in our souls, or feel the pain and struggle of others, it is to God and not ourselves that we must turn. Then, we, like Moses, “…will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously.” (Exodus 15:1)
| Updated 4/15/06 |
|