This sermon, which is the fourth in a sermon series on the Book of Exodus, was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday September 13, 2020. Worship program here.
Readings for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19 – Year A)
Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
About ten years ago I had the enormous privilege of attending a gathering in San Jose that featured a world-famous spiritual leader named Tenzin Gyatso, who is more widely known as the 14th Dalai Lama. It was such an honor to be in his presence and I remember the experience of simply being in the same room as him – breathing the same air as him – more than anything he said, but I do remember him speaking to us about the importance of intentional and prayerful breathing; and how intentional breathing can indeed be a form of prayer, especially when we appreciate each breath with deep gratitude as a gift from God. The Dalai Lama’s remarks about prayer and breath reminded me of the Anglican poet and priest George Herbert who described prayer as “God’s breath” within us. As you may recall, the Hebrew word for breath is ruach, which is the same Hebrew word for “spirit” and “wind.” It’s the same word used in our reading from Exodus this morning as it describes perhaps the most dramatic event of the entire Old Testament: the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. The author says, “Moses stretched out his hands over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind (ruach) and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided, [forming walls on the right and left as the Israelites walked safely across on dry ground].” The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind. I’ve been thinking a lot about wind and hearing a lot about wind these last several days. It’s really the wind that guides the direction of these destructive wildfires. It’s the wind that determines whether one place will be destroyed and another place will be spared. In this passage, it was wind that brought salvation to the Israelites and destruction to Pharaoh’s army with water. It has been wind that has brought salvation and destruction with fire these last few days. I’m not saying that God chooses intentionally which places to destroy and which places to save, but there is this mystery of God’s spirit, God’s ruach in the wind. There are also many stories of saints redirecting fires by praying to God to redirect the wind. I believe this mystery is associated with our own intimate connection to the wind with our very breath. The strong east wind that divided the Red Sea was that same Spirit (ruach) that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation, God’s mighty breath, which also breathes in each of us animates us, just as it animated Adam in Genesis. May we be mindful of that divine power within us, within our very breath; that power that, according to the psalm, the sea fled from when it beheld it; the power that caused the mountains to skip like rams and the little hills like young sheep; the power that caused the earth to tremble. We have that power within each breath we breathe; and each breath we breathe is a gift from God, God’s ruach. So take a few breaths with me now. I hope you’re inside and the windows are closed so you’re not breathing in unhealthy air, but breathe with me, with gratitude for the healthy air we have, and notice the sound you make when you breathe because that’s the sound of God breathing in you and through you.
As we’ve been reading through Exodus (the Book of Names), we have seen how God’s Name is salvation (Yeshua); God’s Name is “I am who I am [and I am a God who listens to the cries of those who are suffering];” and last Sunday we learned how God’s Name is also Mighty Victim [who gives and forgives in order to free us from all violence]. Today I want us to look perhaps at the most mysterious name of God that is revealed in the Book of Names. The name is so holy, awesome, and mysterious that most translations don’t write it out at all. Take a look at the Exodus reading in the bulletin or in your Bible and notice that “the LORD” is written in all caps: capital “L” – capital “O” – capital “R” – capital “D.” This “LORD in all caps” never shows up in the New Testament because it’s the English way of translating this mysterious Hebrew word, this mysterious Hebrew name of God, which is four letters: basically equivalent to our “Y”, “H”, “W”, and an “H” / yud, heh, vav, heh. It is usually pronounced “Yahweh.” It’s where we get the word “Jehovah,” which is the Germanized version of the name. Some understand this name as a version of the name that God gave to Moses when he said, Eyeh Asher Eyeh – “I am who I am.” Most of our Jewish brothers and sisters don’t pronounce this name at all, lest it be said in vain. (Remember the third commandment). But our Jewish brothers and sisters also paradoxically point out the mysterious truth that we say this name (“Yahweh”) every time we take a breath; because they believe that “Yahweh” is the sound of our breathing! The sound of the sacred name was an attempt to imitate and emulate human breath. So that means that the first word that you ever spoke when you came out of your mother’s womb was the Name of God. And the last word you’ll ever speak will be the Name of God. So you don’t have to worry about trying to say a prayer before you die and before breathe your final breath because your final breath will be a prayer, the very name of God, which you are saying right now. Everyone’s final breath will be a prayer. As St. Paul says, as he quotes Isaiah: “Every tongue shall give praise to Yahweh.” Franciscan priest Richard Rohr says that this intentional breath prayer, this saying of the name of God will change your life.
We’ve all experienced anxiety around breathing these last several months and especially these last few days with such unhealthy air due to the destructive wildfires. We remember the cry of George Floyd, who said, “I can’t breathe,” which meant he could not pray the name of God before he died. We are concerned about spreading water droplets through our breath as COVID-19 cases increase. And I know many of us are struggling to simply breathe as we endure panic attacks in the midst of overwhelming fear, terror, and loss. We need to catch our breath and pray the name of God: “Yahweh.” And may we understand every breath we breathe as a prayer to God, a prayer for our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones, firefighters, leaders, for the earth, the animals, the sick, and the lonely. May we breathe our prayers for them all now because by doing that, we tap into that same divine power that dramatically liberated the Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh’s army. And we tap into that power that will open up a way for us to cross over safely to the other side of these terrible crises. And on that other side, we will tap into that divine breath power again when we will lift our voices like never before to sing so loudly that the heavens and earth will ring with the harmonies of Liberty; and our rejoicing will rise as high as the listening skies, resounding as loud as the rolling sea.
But in the meantime, let us remember to breathe. Breathe in God’s grace and love for you so you can breathe out that same grace and love for the world. Breathe in God’s forgiveness so you can breathe out forgiveness. That’s the message of this morning’s Gospel: Breathe in God’s grace for you so you can breathe out God’s grace to the world. Jesus expects us to forgive not just seven times, but seventy-seven times, which is his way of saying “all the time.” And we can do that by understanding our breath as prayer, which George Hebert called “the breath of God.” Amen.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 