Read Psalm 77:16-20. 16When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. 17The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. 18The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. 20You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
On the great Passover night, when the children of Israel fled from Egypt, God didn’t lead them along the coast. He led to them toward the sea. And as the Egyptian army pursued panic rose in the hearts of the people. Chariots behind, the sea before. God’s command? Go through the sea. His way was through the sea. And it always is.
In ancient times the sea was terrifying. It represented everything evil in the world. The sea was unknowable and untamable. It was the chaos monster full of demonic creatures. That’s where God told them to go, into death.
You probably know the rest of the story. God controlled the chaos and parted the sea. The waters were afraid, the deep trembled. The Egyptian horde drown that day, and the children of Israel would be led like a flock out of their bondage, never to be slaves of Pharaoh again. But only the sea, only their baptism into death could save them.
Christ’s own way was through the sea of the cross. In Christ this is our way as well, always through the sea. Through the death of self. Through the crucifixion of the flesh. Through the path of suffering. Through the darkness, the chaos, the defeat, the failure, the weakness. Through a path where the footprints of God are often not seen (regardless of what that “Footprints” poem says).
To live is Christ is to follow Christ into the baptism of the cross, where the “I” can become “not I, but Christ.”
Prayer. Jesus, I know I have to follow you into the sea today. Lead me as your flock, and give me faith even when I can’t see your footprints. Amen.
To Live is Christ 