Wonderful service and sermon - Exodus 2

Pastor MP spoke of being close to heaven, like the separation is thin between our world and heaven. It is a great analogy. Heaven is not just a future place, it is here with us now, close by.

I remember the guide at Yellowstone said the earth's crust is thin there, that is why there are so many geysers and boiling pools. Lots of water and lots of heat. When MP spoke of the thinness of earth to heaven that is what I thought of. It seemed analogous to me.

I also felt like the separation between us and God was thin at the service. I was greatly moved by the worship time and the sermon too. Perhaps the exercise before coming helped. I got in a two hour walk before church and really had not cooled down by the time we got there a few minutes late. I planned poorly and I did not get back home until after 9:30 PM. I showered quickly. I had not really cooled down yet. I needed at least two quarts of water to replenish what I sweated out. But I felt great in church. I now wish for the hills of Israel. If we go next year I will appreciate them more. They help with the aerobic experience. Houston is so flat.

Yesterday I mentioned how much I appreciated how the playwright quickly and efficiently set the scene for the rest of the play in Emma, based on the satirical book by Jane Austen. He had opening speeches by major characters to tell us about themselves and others we would soon meet. I also admire the way the writer of Exodus sets the stage for the rest of the story. I admire how efficiently all the stories in the Bible are set up. There is so much packed into a few sentences.

The first chapter of Exodus sets up the situation of the Israelites in Egypt. "Then there arose a pharaoh who did not know Joseph." The words are pregnant with meaning. Also they do not say so much. Is that a new dynasty? Was there some kind of violent political intrigue? I guess we will never truly know.

The second chapter introduces us to Moses. We find out why he was cast into the Nile in the last few verses of Chapter 1. He is miraculously saved from dying of exposure. Did his mom plan this all out?

We then find he is unwilling to forget his own people even thought he is living lavishly in the palace. When exiled to Midian, to a people closely related to his own he again shows that he has a heart for the powerless, for those unjustly treated.

God sees that he has a heart for the task God chooses for him. Or is it Moses who sees what God already knew, since God knows everything beforehand? He knew Moses heart before Moses did,

So after two chapters the scene is set for the rest of the story.