Pastor Cara Scriven, Puyallup UMC
A few nights ago, Patrick and I realized that our family has lived in our current home for almost four years. As we did some quick math, we realized that this is the longest we have lived in any one house or apartment in our 20 plus years of marriage. Each time we moved, we had to adjust to a new place, people and customs which was never easy. Reminiscing about our past, made me think about the biblical story of the Hebrew people.
The story begins with Jacob who has 12 sons. Eleven of them despise their father’s favorite and youngest son, Joseph, especially when he parades around in his coat of many colors. Joseph’s brothers decide to remove Joseph from the equation by selling him into slavery.
When a famine strikes the land, Jacob has to decide whether or not the family will stay where they are or go to Egypt where they have heard there is amble food. The future of the family depends on Jacob’s choice. He ultimately decides to take the family to Egypt, a foreign land, where they do not know the customs.
Jacob’s family overcomes a significant crisis and change in their lives. There must have been great grief when Jacob announced they were leaving. And yet, in time they would adjust as Egypt slowly became their home. The Hebrew people thrived in this new place so much, that they grew so large that their numbers threatened the new king. Because of this, the king forces the Hebrews into slavery.
Generations later, the Hebrew people cry out to God because of their suffering. In response, God sends Moses and once again the Hebrew people are on the move. Leaving all that they know to wander in the desert. This change is a rapid one, but one they believe God is leading. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, they enter into the promise land.
Much like the Hebrew people, we often have to leave what we know and enter into a place that is foreign to us. Refuges do this when they leave their homeland for a new country. High School seniors do this when they go to college leaving behind their homes and families to make their own way in a new place. We also experience this when we move to new homes and even when we change careers.
We as a church are leaving what we know and entering into a new phase of being a faith community. We are leaving a place full of hugs, high fives, potlucks, and music that fills our building. From here, we are moving into a place that is foreign to us—a digital place. Where our hearts come together to worship, but our bodies do not. Where music is shared, but we do not hear each other’s voices. A place that feels alien to us and we lament having to leave what we know.
Every time the Hebrew people left what they knew, God led them. Just as God led the Hebrews, God is leading us as well. While we might not have a cloud by day and fire by night literally leading us, I do trust that God is guiding us each step of the way.
The Hebrews eventually arrived in the promised land and so will we. It will not look like what we have known before and some may claim it is not the place we should stay. Yet, God will go before us. We will find peace. We will make a new home in a foreign land. And God will be with us, just as God is with us now.
May you find hope in a God that continues to lead us to new places.