The Other Side of the Water

After Pentecost (Proper 7) | Year A | New Testament Reading – Rom. 6:1-11 | TJ Torgerson

Can you recall a time in your life when everything changed? You knew that from that moment on life simply was not going to be the same. Perhaps it was something tragic like the death of a loved one that meant the end of something good. Perhaps it was something worth celebrating like a marriage.

With changes like this, we do not always realize how things will be different, just that they will be different. We anticipate the good things about marriage but maybe do not consider the difficult things. Our individual lives are full of moments that change everything. It can be as simple as getting a new pet or a new job. However, there are also historical events that change everything, such as the events on 9/11/2001 or 7/4/1776.

For the Nation of Israel, there was a big event that changed everything: the Exodus. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. God sends Moses and everything changes, but within all the things that happened during the Exodus, there was really one moment that signaled that everything had changed. Something had ended and another thing began. That moment was the crossing of the Red Sea.

They left Egypt, but Egypt still pursued them. Pharaoh had sent 600 chariots to bring them back. The Israelites had the Red Sea at their toes and the Egyptian armies charging toward them. That is when Moses says, "Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD that he will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again." (Exd. 14:13 NET) Moses lifts his staff and the sea parts. The Israelites cross over on dry ground, and the enemy that pursued them is destroyed in the water.

Israel was now on the other side of the water. Everything had changed. They were no longer slaves. They couldn't go back if they wanted to (and sometimes they wanted to). It was that moment on the other side of the water that they knew they were no longer slaves. Sure, it took some time to figure out what they were now, but they knew they were no longer slaves. The crossing of the Red Sea was an event that changed life for the Israelites but it also changed things on a historical scale.

Many years later, there is another event that changed things on a cosmic scale. This time, instead of a particular people group being enslaved in a foreign country, all of humanity is enslaved to sin and to death. This time, instead of sending Moses, God comes personally, God incarnate—Jesus Christ.

Jesus, in his life, death, and resurrection, conquers the cosmic powers of sin and death. Jesus grabs sin, that scaly, lizardy creature, by the throat and drags it into the grave—sin is defeated. Then he turns to death and says, "I am coming for you next!" And on the third day, he is resurrected to the new and glorified life, crushing death beneath his heel. Jesus, through his death and resurrection, breaks us free from the bondage of sin and death.

Just like Moses led the people to the banks of the Red Sea, Jesus leads us to the edge of the water. The life of bondage to sin and death is behind us, and the water is at our toes. Will we enter the water? Many of us have entered the water—that is exactly what we did at our baptism.

By faith, we entered the water, and in that, we were identifying with and participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cosmic event that conquered sin and death. Through the water of baptism, we enter into a new reality, a new life.

Now, we stand on the other side of the water. We see Egypt in the distance and a great body of water between us. We are now dead to sin—how can we live any longer in it? Of Course, it is going to take us time to figure out just exactly what, and who, and whose we are—but we can be sure of one thing: we are no longer slaves to sin; we are dead to sin.

Sometimes in life, there are moments when everything changes. Wouldn't it be strange if we had one of those moments—that changed life as we know it—and we didn't actually change how we lived? What if we got married and continued to live as if we were single? That would end very badly, to say the least.

If we, standing on the other side of the water, continue to live in and think as one bound to sin—when we, in fact, have died to sin—it will end badly. Today, I would encourage you to remember your baptism, remember when you first put your trust in Christ. Imagine yourself standing on the shore of the Red Sea. You are not alone; you are surrounded by others who have also been freed from bondage. And as you look out into the water, you see those things that once held you captive—the sins, the struggles, the addictions, the bad attitudes, the unforgiveness, the bitterness. All of it dead.

We are on the other side of the water.