St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” The ultimate self-revelation of God is in his hiddenness. Contrary to what most of the world seeks and desires, God is found in the overlooked, the marginalized and underprivileged. God is found amid the left out, cast out and the lonely. God is found among those who suffer and struggle – those whom Jesus himself calls the “least of these.”

The journey out of self destruction into God’s deliverance is not an easy one. Transformation can be difficult, messy, even painful. Often, we need to overturn the false idols in the temples of our hearts to make room for true worship and the new beginnings we seek through God’s grace and mercy.

In the book of Exodus God saw and heard the cries of his enslaved people in Egypt and acted in mercy and power to set his people free so that they could live in a land of promise and be a people of promise. God sees and hears those who cry out, “We confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” He sent us a deliverer, his very own Son, Jesus, who came to set us free. In the book of Exodus and the Gospel story of Jesus, our freedom came at great cost; the sacrifice and shedding of blood of a lamb (Exodus) and the sacrifice and shedding of blood of the Lamb of God (Jesus). Jesus did all of this to free you and me. Surely we ought to thank, praise serve and obey him. This is most certainly true.