Leaving Home | Exodus 13:17-21

I am finding, more and more, great similarities between the Book of Exodus and the multitude of stories that drive the massive migration toward our southern border these days. In our passage this Sunday we follow the Isrealite people as they journey through the desert, led by columns of fire and smoke—seemingly dangerous phenomenon—but also their lifeline. 

And I can't help but think of the treacherous journeys that immigrants and asylum seekers make in the deserts of Central America, following coyotes—often dangerous individuals—as their life line to get them from where they were, to the safety that they are desperately pursuing.

We are starting a new worship series this week called "Quest" where we dig into the spirituality of traveling. Pilgrimage is a deeply valuably spiritual practice, and we can make any traveling we might do into pilgrimage. But I can't help but also think about the life-or-death pilgrimages of refugees across the world.

Those journeys are just as sacred and spiritual. Those journeys are as blessed by God's presence as our pilgrimages might be. We are not meant as human beings to always remain home. Human history reveals to us that we all descend from people who journeyed from place to place.

Our spiritual forebears who began this journey following columns of fire and smoke journeyed for a long time. They created a tabernacle that allowed them to bring God with them wherever they went. They left home, but they also were seeking a new place to call home. The refugees of our time, the asylum seekers and immigrants all bear a stark similarity to those who made perilous journeys in scripture.

We are going to talk about traveling as a spiritual practice in our time together. We are going to explore how we can grow more deeply in relationship to God even as we make journeys and experience newness in new places. 

But let us not forget our siblings who also journey with God, but might be fleeing the mouth of a shark. I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we dig deep into the story of the Isrealite journey!