( Sermon Exodus 14 and Mark 16 ) [ German Sermon ] [ Announcements (German)436.27 KB ]
What a difficult path it was in the desert! Why did they have to take this diversion to the Reed Sea? Only the bare necessities had been packed. After 430 years of slavery, the Israelites were escaping Egypt. Pharaoh had not let them go entirely voluntarily. Only after the death of all the firstborn, they left. God led his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Once Pharaoh realised what the exodus of these slaves meant, he chased after them with his fighters, horses and chariots.
A difficult journey - that was also the case for the three women in Jerusalem. All their hopes dashed; Jesus was crucified. Died like a felon and was laid in a tomb. The only thing that remained for them to do, was to anoint the corpse.
Somehow, they reached a dead end in the desert. Behind them Pharaoh with his army, in front of them the sea. Of course, then came the complaints and questions, the reproaches to Moses, who had led them out: "Why all this, actually? Wouldn't slavery have been better than death in the desert?"
In Jerusalem, too, the women are at an impasse. Behind them the cross and the senseless death of their loved one. And in front of them the heavy stone. The grave. End of the road. And on the way come the worries and questions "Who can roll the stone away from us? And how can we go on without Jesus?" Their future is destroyed. They had put all their hope in him. Now everything was bleak. Lonely, empty, dead.
Suddenly a way out is in sight in the desert. Ahead of them.
A wind comes up and the waters recede. A path opens up in the middle of the sea. With high walls to the right and left, walls of water. What seemed impossible becomes possible. But also, a bit scary. What if the walls collapse? What if it all comes back? The water, a flood, the end?
In Jerusalem, too, a way out seems to be in sight. The stone is gone. The tomb is open. What seemed impossible becomes possible - and a little scary. Who did it? What if someone removed the stone with evil intent? Are they themselves in danger too?
And then a bright light, in the middle of the sea. God's pillar of fire beams at the Egyptians, dazzles them, frightens them, unsettles them.
God saves the Israelites from the enemy.
... but this also happens: many people die in the floods. People with weapons - and yet also God's children. When the angels rejoiced over the salvation of the Israelites: God also wept over the Egyptians, the perpetrator victims. That is found in a Jewish legend.
God saves. Using wind and sea and everything around us and in us.
And God weeps. Over every wasted, lost life....
Then a light, there in the middle of the tomb. A man in white robes sits on the side. And the women are frightened. And they hear the voice of the man in white robes in the middle of the tomb. It says: do not be frightened. He is not here. In the grave. In death... God saves. He raised Jesus from the dead. . . the women stand there, stunned. "This can't be? No one dead here? Incredible. It is unbelievable!"
The women in the desert dance, they beat the kettledrums and sing a song of praise. They see and believe it: God saves. God gives life. All enemy power perishes and with it all the injustices that happened.
Everything that destroys is itself destroyed. Destroys itself.
And God gives life. Against all power of death. A way out of hopelessness. ... and it continuous. Into the promised land. Into new life.
The women at the tomb flee, trembling, their voices failing. They cannot comprehend what has happened. It takes time to grasp it. They need to learn not to be afraid. To get up, to go on. Into the promised land. Into a future with God. Into a new life.
The people of Israel in the desert and in the sea, the women at the tomb in Jerusalem. Two stories from a distant time. We hear them. Today, in Pretoria, in April 2021. And in different places in our world, we hear them today too.
A difficult path lies behind us. Perhaps even still ahead of us. Another difficult path. As so often in life. Like so many in the course of time.... In the history of South Africa, in the history of the many who have come here and started a new life. Who have travelled many a road in the country in search of a better life, a future. For all the people here. It was and is a long road to freedom. Time and again.
Difficult times too, in our personal lives. We had to accept many restrictions last year. Even worse: many people have died, so many people are grieving, many have felt deeply what loneliness means. Families faced challenges in planning together for home office and home schooling and missing playdates. We could not see each other and celebrate Easter together. So many experienced economic hardships, had to readjust and rearrange their lives. And surely there have been questions and worries, reproaches, lack of understanding, hopelessness and the phrase "I am done. I cannot and do not want to carry on anymore."
And then the number of infections goes down; there are relaxations on lockdowns. We are experiencing it here. Unfortunately, not everyone yet is experiencing this. Still, we do not know what will happen here.
But ... to all of us ...today light is breaking through ... here and elsewhere. The sun rises. Easter morning.
And people sing hallelujah.
Trombones play "Christ is risen". Bells announce the new life.
It goes on. It happened back then. In the desert. And at the tomb. So, it is today. Here. And so it will be tomorrow:
God saves. He gives life. Contrary to all despair and the power of death.
This news is going around the world right now. It cannot be stopped. Not only in the churches, but also at home on the screens or with telephone devotions, the message is being heard: "The Lord is risen. He is truly risen. Halleluja."
And then there are the seemingly small messages, yet with so much power: An Easter nest on the doorstep, a flower handed over the garden fence, a phone call: "I'm thinking of you!", a Zoom meeting with loved ones far away.
And after the holidays? Everyday life will catch up with us again. However, the Easter message of hope remains. It brings light to the path that lies ahead of us. The God of life is stronger than all powers that seek destruction, all circumstances that leave people dependent, He is stronger than pandemics that temporarily frighten people, depress them physically and emotionally.
For me, to believe and trust in Easter means to celebrate Easter in such a way that we as a congregation connect with the experience of salvation of the Jewish people, that we dare, perhaps sometimes even with weak and wobbly feet, to set out from the area of death and fear, to courageously move on. The way is forward... with each other.
We support each other and seek the fullness of life. We keep the longing for it alive and let ourselves be touched by God and take other people with us into this hope that a liberated life is possible.
For the journey continues.
Even in the desert, after the rescue at the sea, a long road still awaits the Israelites. Hunger and thirst, a golden calf, 40 long years of troubles.
And in Jerusalem the women are afraid and keep silent.
The path continues. And God is with us on it. God saves. He gives life. God changes what can no longer be good, into that which is good. God cares. He cares for his people in the desert. For the women at the tomb. For us. Here and today.
And for all those who celebrate with us today.
The Lord is risen. For you and for me.
Christ is risen indeed.
Amen