Crossing Over Borders, a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Paul Barton, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, delivered on March 29, 2005, in Christ Chapel

Introduction: The Crossing Over Show
Some time ago, on my day off, I was switching channels to see what was on at 11:00 a.m. in the morning. Clearly I did not have much to do. I stumbled upon a day-time talk show called "Crossing Over." In this show, the guests are not celebrities who appear on the other daytime talk shows, such as on The Jane Pauley Show, or The Ellen Show, or Live with Regist and Kathy Lee, or the Tony Danza Show, or Oprah, or The View. No, these guests are really special. They are the dead! The host of the show is able to communicate with the dead. And he is benevolent enough to help people reconnect with their deceased loved ones so that they can have closure in their relationships. The host says profound things like, "Your brother wants you to know that he loves you very much." And then the camera gives a close-up on the tears streaming down the cheeks of that audience person. The host, supposedly, is involved in a redemptive act by being able to cross over the bridge of death to maintain a relationship with the deceased.

What malarky! The only good thing about the show is its title, which a clever marketing agent created. It is amazing how clever the media agents are at using language to convey concepts. So I am going to borrow from the media geniuses to play with this idea of crossing over.

Exegetical Treatment of the Exodus Passage
The passage in Exodus recalls the moment when the Israelites had crossed through the sea from the land of slavery in Egypt to the land of promise on the other side. Such a crossing is marked by one of the most important poems of exaltation and theology in the Old Testament. The poem, attributed to Moses but most likely written centuries later, recalls and gives thanks for God's liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It also anticipates their entry into to the promised land as they pass through the territories of other nations. Finally, the poem envisages an enthronement procession with God taking God's place of rule in the sanctuary, where God's reign over not only Israel, but all the nations. There is a lot of theological territory covered in these 18 verses.

It is hard not to imagine this passage the way Cecil B. DeMille did in his movie version of this event. There is Moses standing at a promontory, watching the Egyptians being swallowed by the violent, chaotic waters of the sea. It must have been an awesome sight for the Israelites to have witnessed such an instantaneous and vivid liberation from their captors. However, I prefer to imagine this passage as being reenacted and recited in the liturgical life of later Israelites. In the same way that we reenact God's redemption of humanity and the created order through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at the Lord's Table, especially during the Easter season, the Israelites reenact their liberation and salvation through God's miraculous power during their passover feast and in other occasions throughout the year. So this passage is not only something that refers to a historical event; it is also that witnesses to the cosmic redemption that God has accomplished in this event. Somehow, the entire cosmos is changed through God's act of liberation, the liberation of the Israelities and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A Border Theology
The Song of Moses, also called the Song of the Sea, and followed immediately by the Song of Miriam, is an excellent example of Border Theology. The Red Sea established a natural border that separated Egypt from the land across the sea. To move through that natural border was also to move across a political border. On one side of the border, the Israelites were slaves, subject to the authority of ruling class, without the ability to determine their own destiny. On the other side of this border, the Israelites were free persons, but also subject to the ambiguities and temptations that come with freedom. So in crossing this natural, and political border, the Israelites had crossed a historical and a cosmic border. For this event marked a definitive moment in the history of this people. Moses recalls God's act of political liberation of a subjugated people. We see here most clearly that God has sided with the poor and has demonstrated a preferential option for the poor. God has chosen this undeserving people of Israel, not solely to demonstrate God's sovereignty and power, but to demonstrate the magnitude of God's love and grace. God saves the helpless Israelites from subjugation and annihilation, and in return the Israelites give witness to God's saving power so that all the nations might tremble and know the powerful, liberating might and grace of God.

We see in today's passages God's power to overcome subjugation and demonstrate God's love in dramatic and surprising ways. We see God's willingness to cross cosmic boundaries in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we witness again, not only the redemptive acts of God in history, but also the cosmic ramifications of this historical act. In Jesus' resurrection, as in God's deliverance of the Israelites, we witness, and give witness to, the continued and continuing efforts of God to bring about liberation from the powers of death, from the powers of anti-creation.

The Nature of Borders
The sea that separated Egypt from the Sinai region created a natural border between the two lands. However, most borders are much more complex. The border separating Mexico and the U.S. consists of a river and a desert. The border is populated by coyotes, and I don't mean animals, bandits, border patrol agents, persons trying to cross the border illegally, and long-time residents on both sides of the border. The U.S.-Mexico border is like two tectonic plates in the earth's crust. Each plate represents a large mass pushing against the other, with tremendous pressure at the point where they meet. These two plates rub up against each other, sometimes to the point of creating tremendous earthquakes. The border is like that, two nations rubbing up against each other, each one putting tremendous pressure on the other.

The world looks different from the border. From the border, the centers of power are far away. The central governments over a thousand miles away in Mexico City and Washington D.C. are making laws and policies that determine the quality of life for persons along the border. The international treaty agreements made by the presidents and congresses of these two nations affect the condition of the border. They affect the condition of the environment, the prevalence of illnesses, the economies, and the culture along this border. Along the border there are no Cathedrals of Saint John the Divine, no New York Metropolitan Opera, no Broadway, no Saint Louis Golden Arch, no Golden Gate Bridge, no Statue of Liberty. Instead, there are thousands of colonias filled with persons living with adversity, and living with adversity with dignity. As Daniel Groody has stated, "It is in such adversity that faith is truly revealed."

God looks different from the border. God is revealed in unique ways from the border. A border theology examines how all the doctrines of God and humanity make sense in light of a border reality. For example, what does the border reality tell us about the justice of human beings and the justice of God? Our laws prohibit persons from crossing the border illegally, yet our economy practically begs persons to enter our country through any means possible. "Our nation virtually posts two signs on its southern border: 'Help Wanted: Inquire Within' and 'Do Not Trespass,"' says Pastor Robin Hoover of Humane Borders. We want laborers who will work for low wages, but we don't want to be responsible for their health care and the education of their children. What does God's justice say about this contradictory position our nation takes on immigration?

The border is often a place of chaos. In fact, God used the very forces of chaos, the depths, to allow the Israelites to escape from Egypt and then used these same forces of chaos to destroy the chaos of the Egyptian enemy. Jesus' crucifixion and his resurrection are other types of borders that God uses to demonstrate the power of God's love. In fact, God's love is never delivered in sugary-sweet ways, with puffy cotton-candied clouds. God uses the stuff of nature, the very chaos of nature to achieve liberation from suffering and bondage. God uses the chaos of nature and borders to reveal Godself in new ways to us: the depths, the violence of the crushing waters, the wooden beams that make up a cross, the blood dripping from Jesus' body, the crows of a rooster, the tomb.

And in this border crossing, of the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai, and of Jesus from life to death and lift again, God is using border crossings as ways to reveal God's love and liberation against the forces of sin and death.

For the women encountered the risen Jesus in the Markan passage, they experienced Jesus as the risen Lord in a period of chaos. Jesus the Christ meets them in their chaos and suddenly their relationship to Jesus is transformed, and their understanding to God is transformed. In fact, they leave the tomb trembling, astonished, and afraid, because they have not yet gained clarity about what had happened. For the Israelites who were pursued by the enemy, the Egyptian army, God met them in their chaos and delivered them, and their relationship with their God was transformed.

God looks different on the border. God meets us on the border, and there are people and persons giving witness to the power of God's liberation from the border. In the midst of the chaos of the border, God comes and does something redemptive, and changes the nature of our relationship with God.

Conclusion
Some people would say that the Anglican Communion, and other mainline denominations as well, is in a period of chaos and confusion as it struggles with theological differences regarding sexuality and the Biblical interpretation. Some may feel like the Israelites, pursued by the mighty army about to overtake them. Some may feel as if they are being swallowed up by the turbulent waters of the depths, especially seminarians as they struggle to find their footing in this slippery issue. And some may be witnessing to the liberating power of God. We are in a period of theological debate that involves theological crossings for the sake of dialogue and unity.

I wish that we could witness to such sudden and vivid acts of redemption as clearly as they occurred with the Israelites deliverance and the women hearing that Jesus had resurrected. Instead, we are in the middle of passing through this period of theological and ecclesiastical turmoil. We are called to pass through this period with a trust in God's guidance and liberating activity in the midst of this conflict. And for our part, we are called to cross over our theological borders so that we can maintain our relationship with persons on the other sides of the border. God meets us on all kinds of borders--political, theological, ecclesial and denominational, religious and cultural. And God is at work in surprising and particular ways as we cross over these borders.