Please Click Here For Sermon Video
There’s something about sunrises that can be perspective changing with the coming of a “new day”. My most memorable sunrise was again back in Seminary. I was on a study tour of the Middle East. I was on the Sinai Peninsula on Jebul Musa, the Mountain of Moses. For centuries people have journeyed to the top of Jebul Musa to await the arrival of a new day. I was soon to join their ranks. This mountain as Christian, Islamic, and Jewish tradition has it is the mountain upon which Moses heard God speak from the burning bush; the mountain where God passed by Moses as he hid in a crack among the rocks; and most of all the mountain where Moses received the Law of God, the Ten Commandments.
The morning started at 3 AM and the procuring of a camel to ride up most of the mountain. It was not a very comfortable ride. The camel’s saddle was nothing more than shaped wood covered by a blanket. To top that, the camel stunk and had fleas. All that discomfort aside, the ride was quite soothing. You see where the saddle is placed upon the camel’s back is actually a big mass of fat. As the camel walks that mass of fat sends you forwards and backwards and side to side and around in a circle all at the same time. All this swaying at three o’clock in the morning can make you sleepy. The only thing which kept me awake was this slight fear that the camel might decide to walk over the edge. We really had to rely on that camel’s ability to see in the dark and that the man leading it knew the path.
Apart from the discomfort and smell, the mesmerizing sway, the fear, and this building relationship I had with that camel, I soon began to realize that I was on a journey, a pilgrimage along with hundreds of other people on our way to the top of Jebul Musa, to the spot where Moses heard the voice of God and I began to wander if God would in some way speak to me. There I sat on the back of this camel looking up at the stars. It was very dark. The only human light was the orange glow of the cigarette of the man leading the camel. It was “dark as Egypt”, if you’ve heard that phrase actually referring to the Ninth Plague which was Darkness. Never had I seen so many stars.
As we bobbled and swayed for some reason I couldn’t get “How Great Thou Art” out of my head. It was like I knew all the words when I didn’t. Soon my thoughts turned to how it happened that I, me, was there in Egypt on the back of a camel riding to the top of the Mountain of Moses early in the morning. How did I get there? Why me? I did not deserve to be there. The feeling of awe which encompassed me moments earlier had changed to humble gratitude for I knew that nothing short of God’s special love for me had brought me to that particular point in my life - sitting on the back of a camel in Egypt riding to the top of Jebul Musa to watch the sunrise and to welcome the arrival of a new day. What a gift!
As he did with Moses and I am sure with everyone else who dares to listen on this mountain, God spoke to me. By showing me the stars God told me that he was the God of all creation and when I took note of where I was, I realized that I was there only because this great God of creation loved me and thought me special. On the same mountain where Moses was overcome with the awesomeness of God and heard the voice of God proclaim God’s love for his people, I too was overcome with God’s awesomeness and his love for me. Where Moses heard the words “Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet.’’ I learned the lesson that the ability to love your neighbor as yourself comes from knowing God loves us each and regards us each as special enough to give us good gifts.
Soon we arrived at the point where the camels could go no further and oddly enough, I found it difficult to leave this newfound friend behind. We then climbed some 1,000 steps to get to the top of the mountain and await the sunrise. There was a snack stand there and I got a candy bar and a cup of hot chocolate which unfortunately tasted like a camel. I huddled up with some friends and we kept warm while we waited for the new day.
As darkness faded and light filled the Sinai more and more people began to arrive. Italians, Germans, French, British, American, Japanese, and Korean - people from all over the world began to gather at the top. Soon the Koreans began to sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and the whole mountain became alive with this song sung in many different languages, a sort of Pentecost. As daylight approached and peoples from all over the world gathered around, I sensed that salvation was nearer to us than when we first believed. God was close to us on that mountain. In all those people from all over the world night was fading and daylight was already near.
There is something about the arrival of daylight, something about the rising of the sun each day that fills all who watch the sun rise with hope. There is no other time such as this when the beauty of creation becomes so evident. As the sun rose on Sinai the colors of the granite rocks blossomed from deep purple and blue to emerald green, to ruby red and blazing orange. All of God’s crown jewels were put there on display so that it might sparkle in the coming sunrise.
When daylight came, a new day arrived. The experience of the camel ride though just hours passed seemed to be fading. Now that daylight had arrived all who had climbed the mountain in darkness now began to rush towards the pathway down. I was soon caught up in this rush to leave the mountain. Somehow I failed to ask myself this question: would the religious experience of God’s awesomeness and love experienced in the night which had just faded before me have any effect on the new day that was now here? How would I live in this new day having heard the voice of God just hours before?
Our text this morning asks this same question of us. How are we going to live in this new day? All of us have been in darkness of one form or another. I don’t think that I would be exaggerating to say that all of us at times have been strangely awakened to the awesomeness of God. Nor would it be a lie to say we all have been struck with gratitude at knowing that we are where we are by the grace of God who loves each of us deeply. God has never left us. He has always taken care of us. God has been with us when it was night. How will this affect how we live each new day?
I said a few minutes ago that the arrival of a new day, the rising of the sun, can fill us with hope. This Cooperative Ministry formed a little over eleven years ago and was a ray of hope. I can’t imagine what would have happened to each of these four churches had you not listened to the Holy Spirit’s prompting you to join in ministry. A new day was upon us. I wondered why more churches in the Presbytery didn’t join with us. Three years in we went from two ministers to just me and some dedicated pulpit suppliers particularly Joel Jongkind. We adjusted and then Covid hit. The churches that made the news during Covid weren’t making it for the myriad of creative ways they came up with to continue to show love for one another and their surrounding communities. Nevertheless, the Pandemic put a pall of darkness over, a form of mass depression that lasted a couple of years. Now, just as that pall had begun to lift and life was getting back to normal, we find ourselves facing an inexplicable trade war with our former best neighbour. We had just begun to recover from the Pandemic induced economic crisis and now we’re wondering how much worse it’s going to get. And I won’t depress you with the state of the church today especially here in Grey and Bruce Counties. Where’s the hope? Where’s the sunrise?
Well, what Paul said to the Roman Christians back then speaks to us still today, especially today. Paul here focuses hard up front on loving each other, loving neighbour as yourself. But then he says, “Besides this, y’all know what time it is. How it is already the hour to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone. The day is near.” We know what time it is. I apologize for going Greek on you, but the Greek word for time there is not the one for tic-toc on the clock time. It’s the word for an age, an eon, an epic. We are in the age when following the Creation changing event of Jesus Christ, his resurrection, and God’s pouring out the Holy Spirit making alive those who follow him. We are the sunrise. We are the new day.
Even though it still looks dark outside with the way things are, our God is the God who deals in resurrection - new life. The way we always did things as congregations, well there’s only a glimmer that those ways will find their way out of this present darkness. If God in his great love for each of us has touched us and awakened us to his awesomeness, his faithfulness, his love for us, then we gotta get up and live this new day shining with the good news that God has not abandoned humanity. When it’s dark out, it’s the worst that humanity has to offer that seems to be running the show. But the darkness fades, flees from the light of the truth of God’s presence and love.
We know what the time is. We know the sun is rising because Jesus the Son has risen. The night will come to an end as we each take the time daily to sit with God and pray and read some scripture. Day comes as we each show our loyalty to him by loving our neighbours, our literal neighbours. We may not be able to get people through the doors of the church for worship, but we can be kind and befriend the person in front of us in the checkout line at the grocery store. Be kind and someone may eventually ask you why and there’s your chance to give account for the hope you have. So here and now while darkness lingers, get up and be light. Live for the new day. The sun is rising. Amen.
