Acts 9:1-6; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

The Reverend Paul DeLain Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, April 18, 2010

During this Eastertide at Morning Prayer we have been reading through the Book of Exodus. The journey of the Israelites out of slavery, through the Red Sea, is a metaphor of our baptism. This week I was particularly struck by a line in chapter 14 of Exodus. It is that moment right before the people pass through the Red Sea. They have been joyous in their escape from Egypt but now they stand in a dangerous situation. Pharaoh’s army is on their heels. They stand on the shore of the sea. Where do they go? What can they do?

They immediately give up hope. They say to Moses, “What, there weren’t enough graves in Egypt? You brought us out here die?” And then Moses says the line that struck my heart, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” (Exodus 14:14)

When I read that scripture I realize how often I give up hope. How often I try to do all of the struggling on my own. I forget that I have been baptized. Now I am marked as Christ’s own forever and yet I still live in fear. How often I forget to keep still and wait for the LORD to lead me.

We are not good at keeping still. Sometimes stillness and silence make us uncomfortable. But often it is only in the stillness and silence that we can hear from God. It is there when we slow down, set everything aside and just get quiet that we begin to notice our breath. We begin to reconnect with that inner voice that is in conversation with God.

How many times we all stand at the shore and wonder how we will make it through. We stand at the shore with our past coming up on us and it seems impossible to go forward.

God is going to lead us through those waters. It is through those waters that God is redeeming us. We need to learn how to be still and let God fight for us.

Claire and Laura will go through the waters today. In this moment God will begin the work of grace in their lives. In the waters of Baptism they are being given over to God. It will be our responsibility as the community of disciples to teach them that God will fight for them when they learn how to keep still and listen. Like all of us Claire and Laura are going to face many situations where there seems to be no hope. We have to be there teaching them the faith so that they know how to leave that shore of doubt and trust God.

Peter and the disciples weren’t being still and weren’t looking for Jesus. When he shows up they do not recognize him. They see him when they let go of what they are doing. They let go and let Jesus help them fish. They recognize him as they are fed. And Jesus doesn’t only help them catch the fish. He goes ahead and cooks it up for them. Jesus makes them breakfast and then they see him for who he is.

We see Jesus through the sacraments. This morning as Claire and Laura receive the sacrament of baptism, they aren’t going through a simple ritual of blessing; they are being transformed into disciples. This morning as we make Eucharist we aren’t simply receiving blessed bread and wine to share as the gathered community. We are receiving the very presence, the body and blood, of Christ. The bread and wine are transformed as we pray and believe.

When the Israelites pass through the Red Sea the first thing they do is worship God. They sing the songs of Moses and Miriam. Life for them doesn’t become perfect but God will continue feeding them with manna from heaven.

When we are baptized then we are called into the worshipping community. We join those thousands of thousands of angels, living creatures and elders which we hear about in the Revelation to John. We join them in the Eucharistic sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that goes on eternally. We fall down with the elders and worship.

Later in the Revelation in Chapter 8 we see what happens once all of God’s seals are opened and the truth of Christ is revealed. Silence. There is silence in heaven for about a half an hour. Can you imagine sitting here right now for 30 minutes in silence? What would happen? Who knows. But I think some deep revelations about ourselves, about each other and about God would emerge. I think we would hear God in a new way.

Instead we will take a little slice of silence right at the end of the Eucharist as we extinguish the candles. It is an arcane practice that is not necessarily proper to the liturgy but I like it. It gives me a chance to get quiet. After all the prayers are said, the songs are sung, and the miracle of the sacraments are witnessed, then we get quiet. We listen. We hear. We have passed through the waters once again and we stand in awe of our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.