The events of the Red Sea are recounted. The Egyptians were foolish in their pursuit
of the Jews after they had given permission to leave. The author sees God as in control of the
situation, His sovereignty extended to the foreknowledge that this would all
happen. If you look back to the actual
event you will see that the Lord had the nation double back in sight of the
Egyptians so that they would think they were aimlessly wandering and dithering
about what to do and where to go. This became
the impetus for Pharaoh’s folly of going after the nation and ultimately to the
further judgment of God on the nation and its army. All of creation participated in the exodus,
God summoned its participation in the deliverance of His people from their
bondage. Do we believe it to be under
His command and control today?
If I called in the leadership of the parish and “gave them
power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out
to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal”, they might look at me a bit funny
and call the bishop to tell him I had lost my mind. The disciples, however, had seen that Jesus
possessed the power and authority He was giving them but how did they know that
He had given it to them? They walked in
faith. They realized, though, that they
had reached their limit when Jesus told them to feed the five thousand, they
had no way of doing that and had no faith that it could be done. Jesus, however, had both the power and the faith
to do this very thing. At the end of the
day all were satisfied but none could have explained how it occurred. If they could, we would have the explanation.
Is it possible that Paul could be commending the “weak” to
whose “failings” he refers? Of course
not, but their weakness and their failings become a way for the strong to show
love. To please the neighbor (a strange
word, please) Paul says is for a purpose, to build the neighbor up, that he
might become strong. Jesus served in
just this way, He did not please Himself in this life, but submitted to the
Father, He served us, bore with us and ultimately bears us today. How can we serve the weaker neighbor that
they might be built up in Christ? Where are
we pleasing ourselves at the expense of pleasing our neighbor? The goal of all this is simple, “that
together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” The foolishness of weakness is,
to the strong, an opportunity to obey the command to love and serve. We too were once foolish and weak.
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