Forces Beyond Imagination
First Reading : Exodus 25:10-22
Second Reading : Exodus 3:4–9
If you could harness the power of God? Briefly, even if for a moment… would you?
That was the question on the Nazi’s minds in 1936, in the fictional film, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
American Archeologist, Dr. Indiana Jones is briefed and tasked by two Army Intelligence agents that Nazi German forces are digging in Egypt, searching for the Ark, which Adolf Hitler believes will make their army invincible. Our hero Indiana travels to Cairo, Egypt, where he realizes that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location.
Against all odds, he recovers the Ark, a golden, intricately decorated chest as described in our Exodus reading, but the Nazis discover him and the ark and seize it for personal gain.
Jones is captured, of course- he escapes, and then covertly boards a German U-boat which takes the ark and the German scientist and army to an island in the Aegean Sea, where the Nazis intends to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. On the island, Jones ambushes the Nazi group and threatens to destroy the Ark. But he surrenders after the enemy deduces that Jones would never destroy something so historically significant, also surmising that Indiana Jones wants to know if the Ark's power is real…. Who can blame him?
The big scene- which we’ll get to at the end of this sermon- all builds up to this point- where the Nazis are about to test the power of the Ark- and it feels hopeless for Indiana and his love interest-we watch on the edge of our seats as the Nazis slowly open up the wooden shipping container that holds the ark– unsure- but curious- is God’s power real?
What is the Ark of the Covenant?
So what’s the backstory here? Why are the Nazi’s chasing after some old stone box. Why is this box even in the bible?
Let’s set the stage..
Exodus- which is where we focused our readings today- that’s the book that holds the story of the Isrealites departure from Egypt, where they had been enslaved, and their fleeing to the Promised Land. The book of Exodus sets this guy up named Moses- as an unlikely leader of the Jewish people.
The story goes that Pharoah wants the baby boys of the Israelites killed (basically to control the rising numbers of his slaves), Moses’s biological mother and sister puts him a basket among the reeds of the Nile, Pharaoh's daughter finds the baby, saves it, and has Moses’s mother become his wet-nurse. Moses knows the story of his heritage, and grows up basically half Egyptian/ Half Israelite. He becomes part of Pharaoh's family, but watches his people be brutally mistreated.
He kills or strikes an overseer (we don’t really know)-flees to a nearby land called Midian, where he tries to settle, gets married- and tries to build a new life and basically just move on from his trauma and nagging guilt.All the while- the Israelites are remaining enslaved- Pharoah dies-and Moses and his wife have a kid which they name- “ Gershom” which translates to “I have been an alien living in a foreign land.” Interesting right? Talk about foreshadowing. So in Exodus- the Israelties are “groaning” and God remembers his covenant with Abraham,
Issac and Jacob- from the book of Genesis. And basically God’s like- hm should probably do something about that. So that’s where we get to our second reading today: We have a Moses- God encounter in a land called “Horeb” - Hebrew for wasteland. Maybe the writer is trying to say that Moses running away- only led him to a wasteland?
And yet- it is in the wasteland of Midian, that God calls holy ground.
So, we find Moses in this holy wasteland, observing a bush on fire that is not being consumed by it-and it is from that seed of curiosity, that God is revealed, and God’s plan for Moses and The Isrealites is birthed and God’s like Moses- you gotta go face Pharoah and rescue these thousands and thousands of slaves. Easy right? Yeah, right.
Dramatic Pause for Fun Facts:
The name 'Moses' means 'to draw out' in Hebrew, which is symbolic of his role in drawing the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
In some Jewish mystical texts, the Burning Bush is interpreted as a symbol for the entire Jewish nation, burning with suffering yet never consumed.
Okay back to it- So many of you know how the whole thing with Moses goes, there’s some plagues that happen,
Pharoah relents- Israelite slaves are freed,
Pharaoh changes his mind,
Moses parts the Red or “reed” sea- the Egyptians drown, the Israelites wander in the wilderness- they’re hungry, they’re mad-God sends manna, (which scholars think likely would be locust’s shells are are edible),
The Israelites turn from God- told they’re gonna wander 40 years in the desert and instead of ending up at the Promised Land immediately as originally planned. Talk about a detour.
God gives Moses those pesky little ten rules from God called the commandments and eventually we find ourselves back at the first reading for today Exodus 25- which is this book in the bible full of crazy symbolism and really exact instructions on how to build holy things, God’s like build me a tabernacle- (“A dwelling place for God)- and make me a chest for my rules.
I just got back from chaperoning middle school youth from our presbytery and I now understand a lot better why a parent might want a golden box for their rules… RULES ARE GOOD. And God, who is this parent figure- wants these Rules to be safe, treated with respect because they keep the kiddos from screwing up too much- from wandering too much in this desert land…
In fact ⅓ of Exodus is focused on this part of God’s instruction to Moses, which is a crazy amount to really detail to the Israelites how important it is to turn to God in worship. For so long, the Israelites were enslaved builders for Pharaohs false Gods, and in Exodus 25, We see God detailing to Moses how God desires a worshipful and service focused relationship with God’s people. God goes at this point from being a God who is met on the top of mountains- to a God who is traveling alongside the people in the wilderness in this tabernacle- his metaphorical feet resting on this ark of the covenant, with the commandments, a golden jar of manna, and Aaron’s budding rod from earlier and hanging out together in this aron-this chest which was carried throughout the 40 years of wandering.
Which brings us back to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. So now we know what the ark is- what Moses' role was with the ark- and the historical and emotional context of the ark and how hugely significant this all is in terms of religious archeology-Which brings us back to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark-So Indiana Jones- as a scholar- knows that the Ark goes missing somewhere after 2 Kings. It just simply stops being mentioned in the Old Testament. From it’s construction in Exodus- we have this montage of mysterious experiences -The Ark is carried around the town of Jericho once a day for 6 days before the Israelites blew horns and Jericho just fell down. It causes the River Jordan to run dry as Joshua is leading the people towards the Promised land so they can cross towards it.
There’s this storyline building of mystical divine powers attached to the ark here- There’s a sassy driver of a cart that is carrying the ark who tried to touch the ark to keep it from falling off the cart and he got struck dead by God for touching it. The last mention of it is in the story of good and righteous King Hezekiah- who either hid a bunch of religious artifacts from Solomon's Temple from invaders or destroyed them because they were turning into idols for worship- No one knows what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. Did it ever exist- was it purely mythological? Did Alexander the Great take it in his conquests and hide it in the sands of Egypt like Indiana Jones discovers?
No one can say-
But for an archeologist like Indiana Jones- finding the ark would be a career-find.
The find of history really, and while we never really fully grasp whether Indiana Jones is deeply religious. Indiana holds reverence for the Ark- and seems to believe in it’s holy power beyond that of a box that holds stone tablets, a jar of bread and a stick. Indiana also realizes as an archeologist that the Nazis are hoarding precious art, artifacts and items of cultural significance and attempting to rewrite history—
So, religion or not- Indiana Jones is desperate to preserve the Ark and feels a sense of protection over it against the sin of man. So back to the big finale of Raiders of the Lost Ark-
We find that the Nazis have tied Indiana Jones and his love interest Marion at the testing site and watch as the Nazis ceremonially open the Ark but are disappointed to find only sand inside. After a moment of silence, Jones realizes what’s about to happen and instructs Marion to close her eyes to avoid looking at the opened Ark. Spirits, flames, and bolts of energy pour out of the Ark, and kill everyone whose eyes are open and holding weapons, before resealing itself shut.
Upon the silence and silence of the wind, Jones and Marion open their eyes to find the area cleared of bodies and their bindings removed. Humility perhaps, or the fact that they had no personal interest in using God’s power for their own personal gain, is why they are spared. The ark is boxed up, and taken away by the US military…. Before being placed in an Area 51 looking governmental facility- amongst countless other boxes…
Why on earth did Indiana Jones and Marion close their eyes and survive?Maybe it’s because they knew there were forces beyond their wildest imagination at play..
Maybe it’s because Indiana Jones had a divine intervention- maybe God placed wisdom on his heart? Maybe when he had all hopes lost- he found faith…
As humans, we cling to the physically tangible, and in our faith- we’re asked to suspend our rationalizations and take those big jumps.
Jumps from what is physically before us- an empty box full of sand-
To what is intangible but curious- the power of the divine-interrupting the stagnancy of our lives…
But if we were to just gaze upon the physical pieces of the stories in the bible- then a scientific case could be made.
We could study, conduct experiments in labs- build iron proof cases for or against the presence of God-
If we had the sandals of Christ, the Holy Grail, the rod of Aaron, the Ark of the Covenant- we’d be tied forever to God.
Sure, it’s a form of idolization. But it’d be cool right?
Look around our sanctuary-
You’ll notice there’s no religious figures in the stained glasses,
no Mother Mary statues at the doorway, no Jesus- no construction of an ark in this sanctuary and that’s by design.
All we have is this table- for the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper,
and the baptismal font- for the sacrament of Baptism and this brass cross at the center.
Because in some schools of thought in Reformed Presbyterian tradition,
we want to keep the focus on these three elements when we’re in worship.
And that school of thought probably was (and still is) a main leading design
element in many houses of worship.
Same things when we went into the Mosque in Jefferson-
the entire focus and design of the building is to reverently point oneself towards Mecca-
Side note- I think it’s important to have a beautiful space to worship, and that’s why I love this beautiful sanctuary-
but also why I love the explosion of color in our chapel where you’re literally sitting inside the Creation Story- totally enveloped by God’s love.
But what’s that commandment, the number one?
You shall have no other Gods before me?
Maybe that’s why there’s a theory that King Hezekiah destroyed the Ark of the Covenant-
because people were beginning to leave offerings for the physical ark, instead of praying to God.
We see that modernly- where people were more upset with the fire at the Notre Dame that the world fundraised one billion dollars for it’s reconstruction
-within a single day.
but the city of Paris is emergently bussing the unhoused off the streets of Paris this week to the corners of France so that tourists and athletes in town for the Olympics don’t see these people.
France raised 1 billion dollars for the Notre Dame in a single day. That was an unexpected expense- there was no capital campaign planning- no budgeting in advance- there was a communal act of giving- it was incredible- it was magnificent- unprecedented! I felt relief- the Notre Dame will resurrect. It is a world treasure, and should be resurrected- it should exist. As a Christian- I love the intricate carvings and designs in the stained glass spanning three-four stories high.
Yet- I can’t help but find myself wondering-
why is it so easy to raise a billion dollars for a building for people to pray in,
instead of for the people who need the building?
Have we lost control of the storyline here?
Sometimes religious artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant blur that line…
Just last year The Vatican even gave a splinter from the supposed cross Jesus hung from to King Charles for his ordination as King of England.
Can you imagine being the courier of that to Buckingham Palace? Like one of the Swiss guards in their old-funky uniforms knocking on the door and being like hey- I got this for you.
If we could place only a finger on a splinter from the cross…
We could be like kings.
You shall have no other Gods before me…
But we want to be King.
The have ownership and power.
We want to be King of the Ark.
King of the TikTok views.
King of our Krewes.
It feels good, you know? To have just a splinter of that-
a taste- that’s all we’re asking-
I don’t want alot of God’s power, but I want God’s power to shrink my pores, maintain my blond highlights and lipflip, and preferably keep my family healthy and safe.
Trying to possess the power of God aint it. It aint for us to possess-
God’s power and force is beyond our imagination, greater than our
*Wildest dreams* -
And straight up- better than you or I could ever try to create.
Amen.