That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:30).
The story of what happened at the Red Sea is the definitive salvation story of the Hebrew Scriptures. In the Hebrew mind, “salvation” was not a topic for abstract theological discussion. Salvation was understood through a story.
There we sat, lined up neatly on the front pew of the church. An imposing figure stood before us and tried to muster a gentle voice as he told us about Jesus and how much Jesus loved us. This speaker was more at home with projected oratory than with gently speaking to a pew full of children. His name was R. G. Lee. In the church of my childhood, R. G. Lee was one of the most revered preachers in the country. I don’t really remember his talk. Either I’d heard it all before from my own preacher-father, or I was simply not paying attention. Seeing how we were perched on the front pew right in front of R. G. Lee, I don’t think it was a matter of being inattentive.
After his brief message, Dr. Lee went to one end of the pew on which we were seated. He paused in front of every child, one-by-one, placed a hand on their shoulder and asked, “Do you want to ask Jesus into your heart today?” I think that during this time we were all supposed to be praying. I cheated. I kept turning my head and peeking as he made his way closer to me. Within a few moments he was standing right in front of me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned down next to my ear. “Do you want to ask Jesus into your heart today?”
“No,” I said. Maybe I said, “No thank you” so as not to sound totally reprobate. I felt strange telling him that, but for some reason I wasn’t ready to do what he was asking me to do. Maybe I was intimidated by Lee’s austere presence. I don’t know what it was. I just didn’t say yes that day. I said “no” to R. G. Lee.
Sometime later, I don’t know how long, my Dad used different words and asked the same question from a pulpit in Columbia, South Carolina. Back in those days I heard my Dad do this every week. For some reason on this night, I said “yes.”
I grew up with religious language that said I “got saved” on the night I said “yes” in Columbia. But I’ve come to believe that salvation was also at work when I said “no” to Dr. Lee. I say that because salvation isn’t something we do; salvation is what God does. Eugene Peterson notes that in the scope of the Red Sea story (Exodus 14) all the critical verbs have God doing the action. The people complain and cry out, Moses gives some instruction, but it is God who rescues and saves. Salvation is God’s work.
I’m thankful for stories about how I came to know and follow Jesus. But I’m also thankful that salvation is God’s ongoing work in the world. The real story is always God’s story, and it’s a story that’s happening right now. It’s God’s work becoming real in the details of your lived experience. What does your salvation story sound like?
Prayer:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted . . . the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.” Amen. (Exodus 15:1-2, 11, 13)
The story of what happened at the Red Sea is the definitive salvation story of the Hebrew Scriptures. In the Hebrew mind, “salvation” was not a topic for abstract theological discussion. Salvation was understood through a story.
There we sat, lined up neatly on the front pew of the church. An imposing figure stood before us and tried to muster a gentle voice as he told us about Jesus and how much Jesus loved us. This speaker was more at home with projected oratory than with gently speaking to a pew full of children. His name was R. G. Lee. In the church of my childhood, R. G. Lee was one of the most revered preachers in the country. I don’t really remember his talk. Either I’d heard it all before from my own preacher-father, or I was simply not paying attention. Seeing how we were perched on the front pew right in front of R. G. Lee, I don’t think it was a matter of being inattentive.
After his brief message, Dr. Lee went to one end of the pew on which we were seated. He paused in front of every child, one-by-one, placed a hand on their shoulder and asked, “Do you want to ask Jesus into your heart today?” I think that during this time we were all supposed to be praying. I cheated. I kept turning my head and peeking as he made his way closer to me. Within a few moments he was standing right in front of me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned down next to my ear. “Do you want to ask Jesus into your heart today?”
“No,” I said. Maybe I said, “No thank you” so as not to sound totally reprobate. I felt strange telling him that, but for some reason I wasn’t ready to do what he was asking me to do. Maybe I was intimidated by Lee’s austere presence. I don’t know what it was. I just didn’t say yes that day. I said “no” to R. G. Lee.
Sometime later, I don’t know how long, my Dad used different words and asked the same question from a pulpit in Columbia, South Carolina. Back in those days I heard my Dad do this every week. For some reason on this night, I said “yes.”
I grew up with religious language that said I “got saved” on the night I said “yes” in Columbia. But I’ve come to believe that salvation was also at work when I said “no” to Dr. Lee. I say that because salvation isn’t something we do; salvation is what God does. Eugene Peterson notes that in the scope of the Red Sea story (Exodus 14) all the critical verbs have God doing the action. The people complain and cry out, Moses gives some instruction, but it is God who rescues and saves. Salvation is God’s work.
I’m thankful for stories about how I came to know and follow Jesus. But I’m also thankful that salvation is God’s ongoing work in the world. The real story is always God’s story, and it’s a story that’s happening right now. It’s God’s work becoming real in the details of your lived experience. What does your salvation story sound like?
Prayer:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted . . . the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.” Amen. (Exodus 15:1-2, 11, 13)
(Photo: Dr. R. G. Lee, 1886-1978)
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