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Sermons

"GOD OR EGYPT?"
OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE TEXT:
ISAIAH 31:1-3

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 26, 2007

SCRIPTURE LESSON: "Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord! Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words, but will rise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. The Egyptians are human and not God; their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble and fall, and they will all perish together." -- Isaiah 31:1-3 (NRSV)

PRAYER: "Father, help us to look to You, in order that we might see truth -- and reality. Lift our eyes above the insubstantial things of this world, that we might cling to the rock -- of eternity. Amen."

MESSAGE: Throughout 2,000 years of Biblical history -- plus 2,000 more years since the times of the Bible, God's chosen people have had a love-hate relationship with another people -- the Egyptians. Egypt. On the one hand, during their formative years, the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob might have perished through starvation had not the Egyptians provided them with food during a seven-year famine. On the other hand, the Hebrews paid dearly for that food. They were enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years as a result of accepting it.

God, through Moses, ultimately led His chosen people out of Egypt via a series of great miracles. But as the desert grew hot and the way difficult, the Israelites grumbled: "Let us go back to Egypt. At least we had food and security there." Even though they hated the Egyptians for enslaving them, the Hebrews found it hard to trust God for tangible, everyday needs -- like water to drink and food to eat in a hot, harsh land. Despite its drawbacks, Egypt, they knew, could provide these basic, worldly substances. God was spiritual -- insubstantial. Egypt, though difficult to deal with, was tangible -- solid.

Over the next several centuries following the Exodus, Egypt, for the people of God, took on symbolic significance. It represented worldly power -- human strength and stability. Even today, although Egypt is by no means the strongest nation in the world, its uniqueness as the longest continuously existent nation on our planet -- almost 5,000 years of distinct identity as a particular people, culture, country -- is widely heralded. Great nations and civilizations have risen and fallen by the hundreds -- but Egypt goes on.

Returning more directly to the Bible's narrative, we come to the time of the prophet Isaiah. Around 750 B. C., almost a thousand years after Jacob and his sons originally went down into Egypt to avoid starvation -- the people of God were again hard-pressed by external circumstances. It looked as though the tiny nation known as Israel was about to be swept from the face of the earth. Powerful empires had arisen to their north and east, and were hungrily looking toward their crossroads country. How could they be saved from extinction? Who would help?

Oh, certainly, they still believed in God -- to some extent. But they weren't talking about prayers and worship services here. These enemies were about to come at them with spears, and chariots, and horses. They needed real help -- weapons, manpower, munitions, supplies. Egypt was next door -- perhaps an alliance could be forged. Yes, there would probably be a price to pay -- but better alive and in bondage than dead. And so the king of Israel called upon the king of Egypt. And the prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Spirit of God, gave warning. His warning is our scripture text today. Isaiah reminded the Hebrews that there was a God in Israel -- a God who could save His people, if only they would rely upon Him.

Isaiah was ignored and ridiculed. God had no chariots and warriors. Egypt did. So an alliance was formed. And Israel soon ceased to exist -- not to again be truly re-established until more than 2,600 years later -- in the year 1947 A.D. Because God's people relied on Egypt, but not on God, they suffered humiliating, long-term defeat.

People of First United Methodist Church -- on whom do you rely? On the worldly strength of "Egypt," or on the eternal might of God? What is more valuable to you -- a hundred dollar bill, or a fervent prayer? What is real in your life? 100 shares of AT&T stock -- or the gospel of Luke?
When we come together as the people of God on Sunday morning, professing to believe in and worship someone named Jesus, I truly hope we're not just playing church. I'm not. Oh yes, I live in the world -- and I'm not so naive as to ignore the necessities of life today. But I also know that this world, with everything that seems so important in it, is an insubstantial shadow in comparison with the reality of the Kingdom of God. I want to invest myself in that which is solid, substantial -- lasting. I hope you want to do the same.

I don't often quote other preachers at length, but let me read you a fairly long excerpt from an excellent article I took from Wayne Christianson in Moody Monthly magazine to make the point in better words than mine:
"It may be in a moment, or after years of waiting, but soon I shall stand before my Lord -- perhaps this year. Then, in an instant, all things will appear in new perspective. Suddenly the things I thought important -- tomorrow's tasks, the plans for dinner with friends, my success or failure at pleasing my boss -- these will matter not at all. And the things to which I gave but little thought -- sharing Christ with the man next door, the moment -- how short it was -- of earnest prayer for the Lord's work in far-off lands, the confessing and forsaking of that secret sin -- will stand as real and enduring.
Five minutes after I'm in Heaven, I'll be overwhelmed by the truths I've known but somehow never grasped. I'll realize then that it's what I am in Christ that comes first with God, and that when I am right with Him, I shall do the things which please Him. I'll sense that it was not how much I gave that mattered, but how I gave -- and how much I withheld. In heaven, I'll wish with all my heart that I could reclaim the thousandth part of the time I've let slip through my fingers, that I could call back those countless conversations which could have glorified my Lord...but didn't.

Five minutes after I'm in Heaven, I believe I'll wish with all my heart that I had risen more faithfully to read the Word of God and wait on Him in prayer -- that I might have known Him while still on earth as He wanted me to know Him. A thousand thoughts will press upon me, and though overwhelmed by the grace which admits me to my Heavenly home, I'll wonder at my aimless earthly life. I'll wish...if one may wish in heaven...but it will be too late.

Heaven is real. Hell is real. Eternity is but a breath away for each of us. Soon we shall be in the presence of the Lord we claim to serve. Why should we live as though salvation were only a dream -- as though we did not know the truth?

There may yet be a little time. God help us to live now in the light of a real tomorrow." End quote.
And the word of the Lord came to the prophet Isaiah: "Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help, and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong -- but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord."

People of First United Methodist Church -- you are the royal sons and daughters of Almighty God. You're God's chosen people of this day and time. Why live as though you were mere dust and clay of the earth? Why rely on Egypt...when God is eagerly waiting to meet your needs? Amen.

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