Devotion: “Violins on Television”                                                                                                             March 9, 2010

Exodus 14:26-31

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.  Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

“What’s all this fuss I hear about violins on television?” began Miss Emily Litella, Gilda Radner’s Weekend Update character on Saturday Night Live. “Why don’t parents want their children to see violins on television? … I say there should be more violins on television, and less game shows, it’s terrible the way things …,” she continued, until Chevy Chase gently stopped her. “Emily, its violence on television, not violins, violence.” “Oh,” she replied, “well, that’s different. Never mind!”

Now, Emily, if you think violins, I mean violence, is terrible on television, what about in the Bible, for instance, in the book of Exodus? It came from all sides. Pharaoh inflicted endless suffering and pain on the Israelites. It started with the death of all firstborn males. Then the Israelites were forced to make bricks without straw, and if they didn’t produce their daily quota, they were struck dead on the spot. There’s no doubt that Pharaoh was a harsh leader, even a genocidal maniac, but let’s take a look at what God did. When Moses asked Pharaoh to free the people so they could go out and worship the Lord, God actually hardened Pharaoh’s heart, causing him to refuse the request. In response to Pharaoh’s refusal, God sent numerous plagues on the people of Egypt, ending in the death of all first-born Egyptian males. And then he caused the entire Egyptian army, heroes, chariot drivers and all, to drown in the Red Sea as the Israelites made their escape! What kind of God does this? Not the loving, forgiving God we all know and love. Or was it?

It depends how you look at it. If God was simply punishing the Egyptians, then the violence would seem cruel and heartless. But … if God’s purpose in everything he did was to win the Israelites over, to show how much he loved them, to establish his covenant with them, “well, that’s different.”

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you try in endless ways to draw us to you. Yet we are stubborn and hard-hearted, resisting you in every way. Help us to look for your hand in all the events of our lives, and to depend on you for deliverance when we need it most. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen.

Written by Alice Cummings, Associate in Ministry, Director of Worship
Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 18500 County Road 101, Maple Grove, MN 55311  
www.lordoflife.org, 763-420-5015, alicec@lordoflife.org.                                                                                                             

Scripture quotation is from The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.