God gave heed to the misery of his enslaved people in Egypt. And God used his mighty hand, over the course of nine plagues on the Egyptians: frogs, gnats, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, deep darkness. And it culminated with the most tragic plague of all, the death of the firstborn of Egypt. That is what it took to secure the freedom of the people of Israel.
And what it took to secure OUR freedom was the death of another firstborn – the firstborn son of God, Jesus Christ. And with his mighty hand, God raised his son Jesus from the dead, awakening us to the depth of God's love and the beauty of God's plan – eternal life. Through the grace won for us by Jesus' death, we have been freed from the guilt of our previous sins, freed from the fear of God's wrath, freed from the finality of death. And in our baptism in the Triune God, we have aligned ourselves with the God of freedom, to become the next generation of deliverers from slavery.
Moses had the staff that turned into a snake – what can WE expect from God as we reluctantly take on this mission? We HAVE the signs – the hearts that are changing, the healings that are occurring, the relationships that are reconciling, the momentum that is building for freedom. We HAVE the words – the original, powerful words from Jesus and the apostles, and the newer, eloquent words from people like C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, and Charlie Kirk. And we HAVE the assurance, as God's adopted children, that final victory will come to the side of freedom – that everything else we need will be provided, so that God's people will be free...for eternity.
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sweep away our reluctance and enable us to be effective agents of freedom, drawing all people to you. Help us to use our freedom for your purposes, in Jesus name, amen.