Bricks

The story of the Exodus in the Bible...that story has been on the move in my mind lately with so many different perspectives on what that story means to me today.  So many reminders of rescue.

We've talked about Exodus a couple of times in church, and the past couple of weeks this word has been repeating itself over and over in the back of my mind:

Bricks.

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt and spent their days making bricks for the buildings of Egypt.  It was their identity, their worth, their life.

But then the Lord rescued them.  He brought them out of Egypt and they had to learn how to be free.  They had to learn.  Because when you've been a slave for so long it's hard to know how to be free.   When all you've known is making bricks, it's hard to know how not to make bricks anymore.  (Amen and AMEN.)

The Lord takes them to Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments happen.  With all these thoughts on Exodus and bricks, I skimmed a book I read a long time ago that explained the Ten Commandments in a different way than I had ever heard them explained.

"...the third commandment...not to "misuse the name of the Lord your god."  The Hebrew word for "misuse" here can also be translated "carry."  God has redeemed these former slaves and is now inviting them to be representatives in the world of this redemption and the God who made it happen.  They are how the world will know who this God is.  God's reputation is going to depend on them and how they "carry" God's name.  The command is certainly about the words a person speaks.  But at its heart is is far more about how Israel carries herself as those who carry the name of God.  The fourth commandment is to take a Sabbath, a day each week, and not do any work.  In Egypt, they worked every day without a break, being treated as objects to be exploited, not people.  The Sabbath is the command to take a day a week to remind themselves that they aren't in Egypt anymore, that their value doesn't come from how many bricks they produce.  Their significance comes from the God who rescued them, the God who loves them."  

But Israel forgets.  (Israel is kind of dumb sometimes.)  

When the Israelites forgot their history, forgot their story...when they forgot who paid their ransom, who parted the sea...They repeated history.  Except this time the oppressed became the oppressors and the Israelites perpetuated the very system they were saved from.  They had slaves.

There were bricks being made all over again.

They forgot who rescued them.

They forgot the Name they carried.

Every time in my life that I have forgotten the One who saved me, who ransomed me--I started making bricks again.  I found my worth in futile things.  I lived half-alive.  I made bricks with jealousy and comparison.  With anger and bitterness.  With depression and isolation.  With feelings of worthlessness and fake smiles and Sunday school answers.

brick
by
brick
by
brick
I perpetuated the same battles I had so badly wanted rescue from.

Because I forgot the One who rescued me.  I forgot the Name that I carried.  I forgot that I wasn't in Egypt anymore.

At some point I realized I had a choice.  I did't have to make bricks anymore.

I don't know where you are today, what bricks you're making or what Egypt looks like for you.  But I do know this:  you can be rescued, or you can make bricks the rest of your life.  You have a choice.

So whatever it is: debt, depression, an unhealthy pattern of thinking, loneliness, an unhealthy relationship, addiction...whatever it is, hear this:

When you decide to let the Lord lead you out of Egypt and you get to the Red Sea-whatever that looks like to you-He will part it and you will walk on dry ground.  You have to get there first, but when you get there you will get through it.  And your only job is never to forget the One who saved you, who delivered you.  Don't forget the rescue or you will become a slave all over again.  Don't forget the Name you carry, your Rescuer.  Because all of life comes from Him, and if you forget that, bricks will be made.  And listen to me--you are not made to make bricks.  You are made to live redeemed and promised, fully alive and rescued.

"And may you remember-no matter how weary you might feel-that you are the dust and the brushstroke, the weak empowered, the broken made whole, a human megaphone for the glory of God."  

You are not the same person you once were.  You are not the bad decisions you've made or the regrets that weigh heavily on your heart.  You are not the lies you tell yourself late at night.  You are not your addiction or your failures.  You are not your failed relationship or your 9-5 job.

And maybe you've left Egypt.  Maybe you're wandering in the desert and you're wondering why you ever left, because Egypt was comfortable for you.  When you are somewhere between the prayer and the promise, keep walking.

Because Egypt isn't all there is.

You don't have to make bricks anymore.