Exodus 12:29-32
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 7/11/10
A very wise person once said: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.”
Do you every do dumb things? Make foolish, seemingly unthinking, often self-destructive mistakes? I suppose it’s safe to say that we all have those moments, from time to time. Consider the following:
“March 17, 2000: 22-year-old Mark Williams of Pontiac, Michigan, a young man struggling with serious financial problems, decided to rob the fast-food restaurant where he worked. He put on a ski mask and held up his fellow employees to the tune of $3,000.
“But as if the crime alone wasn’t unwise enough, his foolishness continues:
“As it was Williams intention to rob the restaurant immediately before his shift, and then, as his alibi, to arrive at work as if nothing had happened; Williams, while wearing a ski mask to protect his anonymity, had also inadvertently chosen to wear his work uniform and name badge. After questioning employees, police were just about to leave the restaurant to arrest Williams at his home when he saved them the trouble by walking in the front door.”
“Williams was subsequently sentenced to a 6-year prison term.”
Not exactly thinking things through.
Sometimes we truly are our “own worst enemy.”
This is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning: The foolish ways we often DO OURSELVES IN.
Today, as we pick up our study of the story of Moses and the Exodus, we find Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) agreeing to let the people of Israel go - to release them from captivity and slavery in the land of Egypt. However, this freedom has not come easily:
Last week, as you may recall, Moses had returned to Egypt and (speaking on behalf of God) had ordered Pharaoh to “let (the) people go.” But Pharaoh had not only refused this demand; he had, in fact, in response, chosen to increase the oppression of the people.
This caused God to launch into a series of PLAGUES against the Egyptians – to show God’s might and to force Pharaoh into submission. Ten plagues in all, culminating in the event described in our reading today: The DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN. The people of Israel protected by the sacrificial BLLOD OF THE ALMB. This being the central event of the Jewish faith, commemorated in the celebration of the PASSOVER; for Christians, redefined in the DEATH AND RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ – the “Lamb of God,” one sacrifice for all - celebrated in Holy Communion.
It’s the pivotal moment in the story. The people have been set free but it has come at a tremendous COST – a cost Pharaoh himself knows all too well:
This night, as the Israelites prepare to move on to life, Egypt mourns its dad – and Pharaoh mourns a death in his own family. The saddest, most tragic element of this loss being that it DIDN’T NEED TO HAPPEN. Pharaoh made it happen through his foolishness and pride, through his arrogance and stubbornness. This night he’s paying the price of his own choices.
It is a ruin he has brought upon himself. He had everything going for him; but he threw it all away!
All of which is meant to make us ask: How do we keep from making a similar mistake? That is, this contrast of Israel moving on to life versus Pharaoh moving into ruin presents us with a choice: Which path will we take? Which path are we (currently) taking?
What do we learn from the self-destructive example of Pharaoh?
A few thoughts - our lesson today: HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE IN FIVE EASY TO FOLLOW STEPS...
(I)
Step 1: WILLFULLY DISOBEY.
Christian author John Beukema writes:
“Nita Friedman is not the type of person you would imagine to be involved in a police pursuit. Still, that’s what happened on U.S. highway 95 after Bonners Ferry, Idaho, police chief Mike Hutter tried to stop her for reckless driving. Hutter flipped on his lights and siren, but instead of pulling over, the 66-year-old woman pulled away.
“Police chased the woman through two counties. The chase did not end until after the State Police put a spike strip on the road in front of Friedman’s car. After driving over it, the woman tried to keep going, but with three flat tires escape became impossible.
“What astounded law enforcement officers, however, was that throughout the entire 15-mile chase, Friedman never went over the speed limit. Once, she even stopped behind a vehicle that was making a left turn. While running from the law, Nita Friedman was determined not to break the law.
“As I think about this I can’t help but think that this I like my friend who maintains the highest standards of integrity in his business relationships, yet candidly admits to filing false tax forms to the IRS.
“Or, how it’s like when I pray for God’s will to be done and then insist on having things my own way.
“Or how it’s like holding hatred in our hearts while we sit in church and sing about love.
“It’s righteousness while running away from true obedience.”
Righteousness while running away from true obedience. This is where we begin: Under the pretense of righteousness we fail to do what we know we really ought to do. We give lip-service to obedience and it leads us on a wild chase with the law.
Well, this is where the story of the plagues begins: God has told Pharaoh what he is to do – “Let my people go.” But he refuses. He knows what he is supposed to do but he WILLFULLY DISOBEYS. And thus, standing outside the will of God, he is left only with the possibility of ruin.
So, likewise, this is where our ruin and self-destruction so often begins: We know what God wants us to do but we don’t do it! We come to church, we sing the hymns, we say our prayers, we behave like good, upstanding citizens all week long; but somewhere, deep within our lives, there’s some way we knowingly refuse God’s command and it keeps life from us.
What did Mark Twain once say? “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that give me trouble; it’s the parts I do!” What are the parts of the Bible that we do understand, the commands we know God calls us to; but we willfully disobey? To apologize, to forgive, to sacrifice, to be merciful, to get involved, to be compassionate, to be truly loving?
Far too often we take God’s commands as suggestions, viewing them as burdens, not seeing that they are God’s gift to us trying to keep life from being taken from us! Simply put, this is where everything begins or ends: How are you knowingly disobeying God today; and what are you going to do about it? Preacher Henry Blackaby writes:
“The first funeral I ever conducted was for a beautiful three-year-old. She was the first child born to a couple in our church, and the first grandchild in their extended family. Unfortunately, she was spoiled. While visiting the little girl's home one day, I observed that she loved to ignore her parents’ instructions. When they told her to come, she went. When they said, ‘sit down,’ she stood up. Her parents laughed, finding her behavior cute.
“One day their front gate was inadvertently left open. The parents saw their child escaping out of the yard and heading toward the road. To their horror, a car was racing down the street. As she ran out between two parked cars, they both screamed at her to stop and turn back. She paused for a second, looked back at her parents, then gleefully laughed as she turned and ran directly into the path of the oncoming car. The parents rushed their little girl to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.
“As a young pastor, this was a profound lesson for me. I realized I must teach God’s people (and learn myself) not only to recognize His voice but also immediately to obey His voice when we hear it. It is life.”
Step One in ruining your life: WILLFULLY DISOBEY.
(II)
Step 2: REFUSE CORRECTION.
As mentioned, there are TEN PLAGUES in total that God unleashes against the Egyptians – and the order is: Water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock diseased, boils all over the body, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn.
Now, scholars tell us that these plagues were not just random attacks – like God just sat back and said, “What will I do to them now? I know, frogs!”; but rather, that they were specific attacks against various Egyptian “gods”. For instance: The plague of locusts that destroys all the crops is an attack against ANUBIS the Egyptian god of the fields. Frogs are an attack against HEQT – a god who was half-frog, half-woman. (Make up your own joke! But, anyway...) Frogs being sacred in Egypt, the injury of a frog was a capital offense – punishable by death! For those of you who have ever watched the movie series “The Mummy” (which, I think, they show on TBS just about every other day!) you’d be familiar with the god attacked in the boils and sores on the body – that’s a shot at IMOTHEP – he’s the god of strength and healing.
In other words, God here is not just working to set the people of Israel free but to challenge the Egyptians beliefs. This is not only socio-political movement but a theological debate. Basically, God is showing Pharaoh all the ways he is WRONG in his thinking. The question being: Will he acknowledge this and change his way?
The same question that is asked of us every day.
Ask yourself: When was the last time you changed your mind about some major issue? When was the last time you apologized? When was the last time you thought a new thought? When was the last time you thought differently of some person or some group? When was the last time you were wrong – and admitted it?!
People who live well are those who are OPEN TO CORECTION. Conversely, people who ruin their lives are those who refuse to ever be wrong, to ever think a new thought, to change their way. Which are we? The great Albert Einstein once said: “Don’t tell me what I do right. I already know that. What I need to know is what I’m doing wrong.” Are we willing to live with this same kind of wisdom and humility?
There’s an old Yiddish proverb (which I’ll slightly clean-up here for mixed company, but...) it says: “If one person calls you a donkey, ignore it. If two people call you a donkey, forget about it. But if three people call you a donkey... buy yourself a saddle.”
How is God trying to show us ways we are wrong but we’re resisting it? Step Two in ruining your life: REFUSE CORRECTION. Which leads us into...
(III)
Step Three: DIG IN YOUR HEELS.
In all of this, of course, one primary thing Pharaoh does is, despite the obvious truth of God’s authority and his error, he digs in – he’s stubborn, rigid – he refuses the obvious, and it does him in. As his advisors even say to him half way through the plagues:
Basically: “Don’t you get it? It’s over! Let it go!”
But no, Pharaoh DIGS IN HIS HEELS – to his own demise. Now, sometimes being persistent and determined is a wonderful, important, noble thing; however, more often than not, being stubborn and rigid – particularly when you’re insisting on holding fast to something that is bad for you – is just plain foolish! But we all do it so often: Lock on to something and refuse to let go even when it’s hurting us!
Pharaoh’s example is a great warning to all of us of the destructive force of all those ways we stubbornly dig in and hold on and refuse to let go of something that is destroying us! How often do we fail to let go of some injury, some failure, some loss, some way life didn’t go the way we want – and it takes life from us?
It’s like being ANGRY: People who hold on to anger ultimately only hurt themselves. As it has been said: “Being angry is like drinking poison and then waiting for the other guy to die.” Comedian Buddy Hackett once remarked: “I’ve had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? Because while you’re miserable carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing.”
People who can’t let go can’t live – life passes them by. Consider the following:
Historians tells us that, in 1660, in England, when King Charles II came to power, he sought revenge against those who had killed his father, Charles I, and had taken his place in the monarchy. Unfortunately, the lead conspirators against his father, most notably Oliver Cromwell, had died and been buried for over two years. But that didn’t stop Charles II from holding a trial, having the deceased charged with treason and their bodies exhumed from the grave. At which point, he then had the dead bodies hanged, drawn and quartered – and Cromwell’s body finally also beheaded, the head kept on a post outside of Westminster Hall for 25 years!
Talk about holding a grudge! But the lesson is clear: Those who can’t let go and move on are doomed to live only with death! How are we making this very mistake? What do you need to LET GO of because it’s destroying you?
Step Three in ruining your life: DIG IN YOUR HEELS. Which brings us to...
(IV)
Step Four: LIVE FOR YOURSELF ALONE.
Of course, in the midst of all this, one of the fundamental issues that is running behind this whole story is that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed – the Israelite slaves; but Pharaoh doesn’t care about them, he cares only about himself, thus his life is running contrary to God, contrary to blessing. Basically, he’s so consumed with himself – his needs, his desires, his wants – that it’s doing him in. If he would get out beyond himself, live for something more – most especially, following God, devote himself to helping those in need, his life would be on the right track. And this points us to the fourth lesson here:
That so often we all get so caught up in ourselves, in our issues, our needs, our troubles... It’s the constant temptation: to LIVE FOR OURSLEVES ALONE. And it’s deadly – it keeps us from God! The solution: Get out beyond ourselves. Most especially, get out beyond our issues into helping those in need.
You know, there’s a story that is told of a wise old master who wanted to teach his troubled apprentice an important factor of living life, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” spit the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man.
At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Don’t be a glass. Become a lake.”
If you don’t want a bitter life, become a lake. Get out beyond yourself to a whole wider perspective. Most especially, follow God, go where God is: out in the lives of the poor and the oppressed.
Step Four in ruining your life: LIVE FOR YOURSELF ALONE. And finally...
(V)
Step Five: REFUSE THE GIFT.
In the end, it’s very interesting how our text today closes: Pharaoh lets the Israelites go and he says to Moses, “Bring a blessing on me too.” It seems he realizes something of the error of his ways. But the story’s not over...
The Israelites start to leave and Pharaoh starts to rethink his decision: “Hey, we can’t let these slaves go! We need them! Our economy will collapse without them!” So he sets off to recapture them. And, as we will see, God will handle this by drowning the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.
Pharaoh had this moment to stop, to change, to repent, to be saved; but he missed it. He eventually fell back into his old ways and was utterly destroyed!
The opportunity was wasted, refused.
Well, every day, in Christ, you and I have exactly this same opportunity: to stop, to change, to repent, to be saved. It is the “GIFT” of each new day. As the saying goes: “Today is a gift – that’s why they call it the present.”
Don’t let the gift, the opportunity, of today be lost. Carpe diem. Seize the day! Simply put: You want to finally ruin your life? Then listen to this sermon, think about this text, say, “Yeah, this is something I need to do”; but in the end, do nothing! Think about how your life could. And should change; but make no change. Do that enough times, and one day it will be too late, everything will be taken from you! This is the day! Don’t REFUSE THE GIFT! Make some change, somehow live better, today! One author writes:
“Don’t wait. It could result in something you regret for the rest of your days. I realized this anew when I read an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. If this doesn’t get you off the dime, nothing will. A lady named Ann Wells writes:
“My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister’s bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. ‘This,’ he said, ‘was her favorite blouse.’ He discarded the tissue and handed me the blouse. It was exquisite – silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached.
“’Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion.’
“He took the blouse from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the funeral home. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me.
“’Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion,’ he said. ‘Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.’
“I remembered those words during the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister’s family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadn’t seen or heard or done. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. I’m still thinking about his words, and they’ve changed my life.
“I’m not ‘saving’ anything anymore: we use our good china and crystal for every special event – like losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the fact that it’s Tuesday, or the first shower of spring.
“’Someday’ and ‘one of these days’ are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
“I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add luster to our lives. To change, to risk, to repent, to grow.
“And every morning when I open my eyes I tell myself that is special. Today is a gift I will not waste.”
One of the great leaders of the church in the middle ages, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, in observing his own life, came to the following conclusion – he said: “No one can ever do me true harm except myself. I find that any lasting pain I carry I have suffered by my own hand.”
The ruin we so often bring upon ourselves. Don’t make the mistakes Pharaoh, king of Egypt did. Do what you know God wants you to do. Be open to correction. Let go of what is destroying you. Get out beyond yourself. And seize the day!
Where did you find the Blackaby illustration. It was brilliant.
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