During this time of unrest and increased awareness of racial concerns, I’ve seen many instances where people have mentioned the idea of separating the Black Lives Matter “movement” from the “the organization” because of particular beliefs and values posted on a certain website.
I will not name that website here because I want to be clear when I say there’s no singular “Black Lives Matter” umbrella organization. Are there organizations with BLM in their name operating in Texas? Yes, there are many; but not all have the same mission statements or values and shouldn’t be conflated because that’s an unfortunate distraction from the movement.
Black Lives Matter as a movement is intentionally decentralized because of what was done to civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and others (see FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operations for more information).
The movement can’t afford to be derailed by assassination. During the civil rights movement, King faced the same issues.
There were detractors who didn’t want to hear “Black Power” chants at his protests, just as many don’t want to hear “Black Lives Matter” today. Those detractors spent more time arguing about the merits of protest chants than the actual issues the people were protesting such as systemic racism, police brutality and redlining to name a few.
Asserting that every BLM group is akin to what you see on a particular website, then using that as a standard to critique them all is on par with what King described as the biggest stumbling block to the civil rights movement.
King said that he was gravely disappointed with those who hindered the movement saying, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action.” King later wrote, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
While people were and are debating about marketing tactics and what language makes someone comfortable, the issues of systemic racism and injustice remained unresolved. Let’s not make the same mistake.
So, when you hear or see Black Lives Matter, I invite you to actually look at the people and listen to those working toward the movement. Resist holding on to a perception or stereotype; or labeling them atheist, Marxists or communists.
Don’t assume a connection with a particular group that has the most popular website, but instead remember that the societal problems and issues mentioned above still persist.
There are multiple organizations with Black Lives Matter or BLM in the name, and there are multiple BLM organizations in the Houston/Galveston area, each working toward diverse goals to save and improve lives.
I know and attended seminary with some of those working with these organizations in the Houston area. They’re Christians, they’re pastors. So, be intentionally informed, be curious and be open to the movement.
Black Lives Matter.
The Rev. Johnnie Simpson Jr. is senior pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Dickinson.
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.
Striving and Suffering for Christ
27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
For the time that is ours to share together I would like to talk a little bit about “I ain’t never scared” that is a line form a rap song I like. When I remember the song with that same name I am fresh out of college and this song is out instant pump up music, gets you going. I thought about this song when I was preparing this sermon.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians a church in Philippi, written around 50 CE located in eastern Macedonia or what we call northern Greece right now. A small town by our standards today with an estimated population of 10,000 at the time. The city was founded by immigrants, known for its gold mines but by the time this letter is written those mines would have been mined out. By the time the letter is written as well the Romans would have taken over the place and would be holding the important government positions. Acts 16 tells us that Paul started a church there around 49-50 CE
The Philippians church treated Paul well in making sure that the pastor was taken care of while he traveled. They sent him funds and someone to travel with him by the name of Epaphroditus who got sick and almost died. When Epaphroditus went back to Philippi, he came with this letter from the Apostle Paul.
Paul was put in jail while in Philippi, because he casted out a demon in a woman that was helping her tell fortunes and make money for some local businesses around there. Paul casted out the demon, the businessmen lost their cash cow so they had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown in jail. Jail seems to be a common theme for those who oppose the status quo in pursuit of the greater good. Paul wrote this letter we are reading from prison, which is not anything new. Martin Luther King wrote his famous letter from a Birmingham Jail, while you guessed it, in Jail. Nelson Mandela was arrested as well and wrote while in jail. It is not unusual when people in power abuse a situation to try to detract people from upsetting the apple cart by putting them in jail.
Paul is in jail possibly going to be executed, the church is having some turmoil, and the city that the church is in has been gentrified, taken over. This group of people out here following some man named Jesus have started to change the city and the people in power don’t like that. This should be expected sometimes though John 16:33 says "These things I have spoken to you, thatin Me you may have peace.In the world youwill have tribulation; but be of good cheer,I have overcome the world.”
Living this life in Christ will not be easy but that does not mean we need to lay down and just take it, greater is he who is you than he who is in the world. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and do the work that Christ has called us to do. Even though things are rough we have Jesus Christ on our side. This passage of scripture is often quoted at funerals to make people feel better, to live is Christ, but to die is gain, and Paul does say that, but when you read on he says that he would rather stay here, in the flesh to do the work of the Lord. We can’t use what is supposed to happen with eternal life to not be good Christians and do work in our natural lives. Salvation is not just about the sweet by and by, we as believers need to work on making heaven here on earth as well. The gospel should be stamped on our lives lived out in single minded loyalty. That means that our devotion to Christ should be over our devotion to anything else, including the government. Salvation is a gift, not a goal, there is work to do. Just getting saved and going to church and doing nothing else is like trying to stand in a garage and call yourself a car. Just because you are in the building doesn’t mean you are actually doing the job. It is work to be done out here:
Isaiah 1:17New King James Version (NKJV)
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
James 1:27New King James Version (NKJV)
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Paul doesn’t know if he will live or die, Paul doesn’t know if the Philippians will be faithful to the gospel, but he does know that Christ will be glorified. Wayne Hardnett Jr. better known as Bone Crusher released a chart topping song in 2003 “Never Scared” featuring Killer Mike and T. I. to paraphrase the hook he said that he was outside of the club and someone thinks that he’s a punk. Bone crusher has to go to the trunk of his car for some assistance in the matter, because Bone Crusher had something with some power in the trunk of his car that could help in the situation he had no reason to be scared. Well Paul didn’t have a car with a trunk to go to but he had something inside of him that gave him courage. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul’s courage comes from prayers and the help of the Holy Spirit. With prayer and with the help of the same holy spirit, we can keep on doing the the work of the Lord we don’t have to be scared, and even if we are scared we don’t have to freeze.
19And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.20So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darknessto the one,and it gave light by nightto the other,so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and theLordcaused the sea to gobackby a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dryland,and the waters were divided.22So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dryground,and the waterswerea wall to them on their right hand and on their left.23And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that theLordlooked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.25And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for theLordfights for them against the Egyptians.”
26Then theLordsaid to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”27And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So theLordoverthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.28Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen,andall the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.29But the children of Israel had walked on drylandin the midst of the sea, and the waterswerea wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30So theLordsaved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.31Thus Israel saw the great work which theLordhad done in Egypt; so the people feared theLord, and believed theLordand His servant Moses.
The Book of Exodus comes from the Latin and Greek words that meant literally to come out. Just as side note, when I say Greek while referring to the Old Testament it is not always a mistake. The Jewish people of Old Testament spoke Hebrew however the books of the Old Testament were translated into Greek before we got the Bible we have in English. That Greek translation of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint or LXX in print. Sometimes in the New Testament scriptures where the author is referencing an OT passage and it doesn’t quite match up word for word, that is why. Pastor why would someone translate that OT into Greek if the people spoke Hebrew. The answer to that question is a question, why do so many people speak English here? Stuff got translated into Greek because Greek was the dominant language at the time. So the Book of Exodus title came from Latin and Greek words that meant the way out, but the Hebrew people called this book something different. The Hebrew name for the Book of Exodus translates into names. Names because in this book the people of God solidify the name of their nation, Israel. In Exodus we learn about the name of their leader Moses, and we learn some of the names of God as God shows up to the people.
God had been talking to Moses at first then started showing himself to the people, while they were still in bondage but the 10 plagues came and Pharaoh finally let the people go, and held on to his word for now. During the plagues Pharaoh kept saying he would free the people but as soon as Pharaoh got some relief he went back to oppressing the people of God. Now Pharaoh has said that the Hebrews can go, and kept his promise long enough for them to pack up and leave. Exodus 13 tells us that a cloud guided them by day and a pillar of fire guided them by night. God moved the cloud, and when the cloud moved, the people moved. They didn’t stay in one place, they moved when God told them to move. I don’t know if some church folk could operate in that mindset these days, the age of we have never done it that way before, the age of keep it the same, the age of I don’t understand why we need to that. When God moved the cloud, the people moved with it. Sometimes the environment changes and uncertainty is scary, but sometimes we have to be comfortable, being uncomfortable. I would imagine that some people who left Egypt, did not have it that bad, or as bad as others, and even if they had it bad, it was safe because it was predictable. God is trying to move us to another place, but are we willing to follow to the cloud?
Are you also willing to follow the cloud when the path is not certain? The route to the promised land was not taken through a straight route, matter of fact the end of chapter 13 says that the cloud did not take them through a particular route because that was Palestine country, and God did not want them having to fight a war, and being trying to start a new life. So they were led by the Red Sea, and just about that time Pharaoh changed his mind and started chasing them again. When Pharaoh came, he came with all of his resources and the people of God started to complain to Moses. Saying, they didn’t have enough graves in Egypt? You brought us out to the desert to die? Mind you Pharaoh is the one trying to hurt them, Moses is the one trying to save them do they speak ill of Pharaoh, no they do not, they clown Moses. Not only do they clown Moses, they speak good about Egypt, saying they never wanted to leave in the first place. I wouldn’t believe this to be true if I hadn’t been working in churches as long as I have watched how some church folk treat one another and how they treat their pastors. I wouldn’t believe this situation was possible if there weren’t churches that would rather close their doors than change their music or invite people from the community into their building for more than community service programs. I wouldn’t believe this passage was true if I didn’t neighborhood after neighborhood change and the church in the neighbor hood look nothing like the neighborhood it sits in. That passage I’m talking about is the start of Exodus 14 if you want to read it later. They speak well of someone who doesn’t have their best interest in mind and long for the one that persecuted them. Sometimes change is scary, sometimes change is hard, are you still willing to follow the cloud? Pharaoh had plenty of resources, and used those resources to come ofter the people go God, and when the going got tough, they turned on one another.
Pharaoh was looking to put them back into slavery, another strange part of the text, but not that strange when I look at our American justice system. The 13th amendment of the United States Constitution, section 1 reads Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Pharaoh was trying to re-enslave these people, because there was a countrywide benefit, and there is one in our own country. Slavery in the US was ended by the civil war but for profit prison has become a major industry and has taken its place. I believe someone should pay their debt to society but why should a corporation be able to sue the state they have a for profit prison in if the prison is not full? Why should I as a 7th grader in Northview Middle School in Indianapolis Indiana have to have a counselor put me in special program because she is scared I am going to end up in prison? When I was in middle school, they had come up with a calculation that if a child was in 7th grade, in a single parent home, and not doing well in Math and Science, they were going to end up in prison. People knew that because that was how these for profit prisons made their money, calculating how full they were going to keep their prisons. If the prison is not full, they sue, then the legal system makes harsher penalties, in some states now, an after school fight between kids is a felony Pharaoh is trying to put you back in slavery.
People get put in jail, making items, doing construction, performing trades, for a company only to get out of jail and not be hired by the same company they were building things for in the prison. Pharaoh is trying to put you back into slavery. People go to jail, serve their time, then get out and are told, you need to find a job or else we will put you back in jail, only to apply for jobs and not get them why? Because they have a record, Pharaoh is trying to put you back into slavery. So I perk up when I hear a politician use phrases like “law and order” or a “war on xyx” because those terms mean that people that look like me are trying to be stuffed back into the jail system to never get out while people get rich off of their work. Pharaoh is trying to put you back into slavery, you need to keep following the cloud.
All of this happens, and the cloud and the angel have now moved to the back of the caravan, to protect the people from Pharaoh and his army. Moses stretched out his hand toward the Red Sea and the sea split allowing the people to walk on dry land. Walk where they have never walked before, in a way they have never walked before. We are in unfamiliar territory now, a divided nation over politics, a pandemic that has made things even more complicated, we have had to learn new vocabulary, operate different. Everything has changed, church has changed, shopping has changed, eating out has changed. Even if you never stopped, I guarantee the store has. You don’t want to wear a mask? Talk through this Plexiglas, you don’t want to social distance, cool carry out only Ma’am and Sir. Life is different. But through all the changes, just like the cloud and the Angel and the pillar stayed with the people of God and was even their rear guard. God will have our backs too. We will walk on dry land in places where there wasn’t any we will be protected and Pharaoh will loose. The text says their wheels were clogged, a better translation is that their wheels were removed. God removed the system and support that allowed them to chase after the people of God trying to put them back in slavery.
They feared the Lord, they learned that the Lord was who he said he was. God told Moses in the burning bush I AM THAT I AM, or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE, God is here to provide protection, we will see it to the end. Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea, a play on words some scholars say it was really the Reed Sea, or a Sea of Reeds, but it is also a play on words because it also means in the translations “the sea of the end” the end of pharaoh. The victory was so decisive that even the enemy had to acknowledge the Lord God Almighty. The best thing was that the people of God didn’t do anything to earn the protection and the presence of God, God did it because he loved them. God loves us. God is with us in times of uncertainty, God is with us when the enemy is chasing us, God is with us when he takes the enemies resources away.
12Now theLordspoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,2“This monthshall beyour beginning of months; itshall bethe first month of the year to you.3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house ofhisfather, a lamb for a household.4And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house takeitaccording to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.5Your lamb shall be without[a]blemish, a male[b]of the first year. You may takeitfrom the sheep or from the goats.6Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.7And they shall takesomeof the blood and putiton the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.8Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened breadandwith bitterherbsthey shall eat it.9Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails.10You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.11And thus you shall eat it:[c]witha belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. ItistheLord’s Passover.
12‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I amtheLord.13Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where youare.And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroyyouwhen I strike the land of Egypt.
14‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to theLordthroughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
The passage I read for you is the Lord telling Moses and Aaron how to celebrate the Passover, a festival practiced yearly in Jewish households along with Christians who also practice these customs. The Passover is annual and in certain books of the Bible the passage of time is marked by Passovers. That is how we know Jesus earthly ministry was three years, because the Gospel According to John has Jesus celebrating Passover three times. Passover also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is mentioned in many books of the Bible, Exodus, Numbers Deuteronomy, Joshua, 2nd Kings, 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Passover, is also where we as Christians get communion from. The Lord’s Supper or Last Supper as we called it was Jesus having a Passover meal with the disciples. The bread we eat is like the unleavened bread the people of God ate, and the cup we drink from was the third cup of a four cup meal in Passover, the cup of deliverance. This story focuses on Moses role in the Passover. Moses is important to our people I am reminded of the spiritual, “Go Down, Moses,” because the plight of the Hebrew people in the Bible has similarities to the plight of the African Slaves and their descendants. Also Harriet Tubman, the great liberator of slaves — she was called “Moses.” There is a lot of foundation in Exodus to our modern day. Scholars say that some of the traditions practiced in the feast of unleavened bread we practiced by some other religions at the time and as with other times this claim is made I say the same thing, I’m not concerned with who did it first, I am concerned with who did it best. In the text the Lord is telling Moses and Aaron how to celebrate Passover but there is one tiny problem, the people of God are in bondage.
I read chapter 12 before preaching but the story starts a little earlier than that, everything was all good in Genesis, Joseph saved the Egyptian kingdom during the famine, the powers that be loved Joseph and his people, Joseph’s people the 12 sons of Israel became the Nation of Israel and the 12 tribes and there came into power a Pharaoh that did not know Joseph. He didn’t care about what Joseph had done for the country, he just viewed these people as a threat and decided to deal harshly with them.
Exodus 1:8-14 NIV Says
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor,and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites13and worked them ruthlessly.14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
Then the Pharaoh wanted the midwives to kill the Hebrew boys when they were born to further weaken the people of God, because attacking the male children would insure that the name and heritage would not continue. I think about this passage when I see what is happening to our black boys in school, hit with harsher punishments, athletic prowess valued over academic achievement, young children charged as adults when their white counterparts are given the benefit of the doubt. That pharaoh had a plan in place to try to eliminate the Hebrew race but God saw differently and the midwives allowed the male children to live. Because of that we are met with Moses, a leader for the people, the one to help the people of God get free.
Pharaoh was still determined to oppress the people of God, I find Pharaoh interesting in the text because if Pharaoh was here today, somebody might want to call Pharaoh racist, and Pharaoh might say he can’t be racist, because he has Hebrew relatives. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house with him, but yet he is attacking the Hebrew people with systematic oppression. Hebrews made that economy what it was, Hebrews helped them through the drought but yet and still they are being oppressed. Forced to make bricks without straw, pastor what does that mean, well in making the bricks back then, they were made out of clay, and you put the straw in the middle so that the clay would hold up and the bricks be stronger. Well making bricks without clay would be like making concrete today without rebar, its not going to be strong enough to hold up anything. Pharaoh is punishing them but is also punishing himself because everything built with those poor standards is not going to last. If you plan to run anything, lead anything solely on I hate the other people it will not last. The Egyptians put quotas on the Hebrew people and then when the Hebrews did not make the quota they beat them and kept the quotas high. There came a plague in the land, which is a common theme in the Old Testament, whenever there was a crooked or evil king, there seemed to be plagues right behind them. Whenever leadership was unethical the land that leader controlled suffered.
There were plagues over the land before the plagues Moses had told Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh would not, politicians are funny when it comes to free labor huh. So the plagues came. First the water turned to blood, then there were frogs, then lice and gnats, then flies all over the place, then people had boils, that was followed by hail, which was followed by locust, then darkness, those nine plagues had hit the land and Pharaoh would say that he would let the people go, lying to get the plagues to stop but would then go back on his word and keep the people oppressed. Making it worse, funny thing about the Hebrew in the Old Testament whenever you see someone’s heart hardened, that was something we would call today a hard head. Someone that is stubborn, we call children repeatedly misbehaving hard headed. Can you imagine that for a second, a hard headed ruler of a country in the middle of a plague constantly lying and making things worse? Bring plague after plague on the people, damaging the land? All these plagues coming, nine of them so far, and plague number 10 is going to be the death of the everyone’s firstborn. God has told them it is about to get worse before it gets better and here is what you need to do.
Start working while it is still bad.
The first thing that makes me happy about this passage even in the midst of all this suffering is that the word of deliverance came to the people of God while they were still in bondage. They were still in the middle of the plagues but God had told them how they were going to be protected. You have to see your way out of a situation before you can ever actually get out of the situation. What if the people of God had said, I want to see if it works for my neighbors first before I try it myself or what if they had said, we have never done it this way before, why are trying to change things up now? That kind of thinking is one of the reasons churches, business, and other organizations are failing now. If you do the same thing over and over you are going get the same results, God is her showing these people what to do get a miracle and they have to do it while they are still suffering. The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, not a committee meeting nor case study. We have to be willing to step out on faith while things have not improved yet.
Start working with the community.
The text tells them to get an unblemished lamb, less than a year old, take the blood from that lamb and spread it on the doorpost, if you can’t get one on your own go in with your neighbor. Uh oh, there goes that community thing again. A lamb is a precious commodity in the community, more valuable than older sheep because there are still potential future money to be made off the lamb if you let it grow older and use its wool. That is why the text said if you can’t get one, go in with your neighbor, we have to be willing to work together even when times are bad if we want to accomplish work for the kingdom. Every time God does a miracle in the Bible there are instructions and this time he says if you can’t follow the instructions on your own get some help. Now is not the time to be prideful, now is not the time to be stuck and say well we can’t do it by ourselves so we just won’t do it at all. Get some help. I weep for churches that don’t want to work with their communities, that don’t want to work with other churches, that are more concerned about their church history than learning their neighbor’s story. We have to be willing to work with others, that is the only way we survive.
Start working and be ready to move.
The text tells the people to wear certain gear while they eat and not to waste anything, they have to be ready to move. The people of God had to have their belts on and walking staffs ready to go, because after this last plague the environment would not be one the people of God wanted to stay in. Roast the food instead of slow cooking, eat is all, what you can’t eat, burn up. We don’t have time for the bread to rise, nor leave leftovers. This is not a sit down meal where we sit around talking until the restaurant closes. We have to be willing to move when God tells us it's time to move, we have to be willing to go when God tells us it is time to go. Now is not the time to hold on to things we really have no control over anyway God says go, it's time to go! God gives us instructions before the miracle, not because he needs our help, no, no, no. God gives us instructions so that we can participate in our own deliverance. God knew who his people were, God didn’t need blood on the doorpost for that. This was for the people to once again do what God asked them to do. I ask my children to do things sometimes that I know they cannot complete by themselves. I want to see the children make an effort, and if they make an effort, I will do the rest. I could absolutely do it, but they would not appreciate it as much. If they do the work, then later they want to do more, and more, and then when they do more, I do that much more for them. Are we willing to participate in our own deliverance our are we willing to just let the church and the work of the kingdom die by the wayside?
I am happy at this text even in the midst of the death and destruction and plagues, and horrible plagues because even will all that going on, there is still grace. The people of God did not earn their salvation in this trial, God gave it to them. This was the grace of God keeping them through oppression, slavery, beatings, this was the grace of God keeping them through Water turning to blood, frogs, and lice, gnats, flies, pestilence, boils, hailstorms, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. That same grace kept our people through slavery, and reconstruction, and Jim Crow, and the new Jim Crow, kept us through segregation, and police brutality and dog whistling language, and will keep us through this pandemic. The people of God are being oppressed and the only thing that is protecting them is the blood of the Lamb. They are using lambs during the passover but there is another lamb that blood was used to save us. Blood spilled on Calvary that we can have life and have it more abundantly. The Lamb who was slain Jesus Christ son of the living God. We don’t have to worry about death passing by our house anymore because the blood of the final lamb was shed for us and gives us just the protection we need.
