06/03/2026
In the In-Between
Sermon at PYUMC - May 31, 2026 – Rev. Kristen Roth Allen
Exodus 15:22-27 NLT
Summer is almost here, and that’s the perfect time for a good road trip. My grandparents and most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my dad’s side lived in Kansas when I was growing up, so every other summer my family would make the long trip from the mountains of NH to the wheat fields of KS. It was a long, long drive, and we loved it. When I was twelve, we traveled all the way to Seattle, with stops at Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. What fun that was!
Some road trips aren’t so much fun, they’re just necessary – dropping off a car in FL for a loved one, or moving from one state to another. After graduation from theological school in KY, Bill and I made the trip back to NY – and a minivan held everything we owned.
Some road trips are not wanted – in fact, they are scary. Refugees from the Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, Venezuela, Haiti, and many other places are on gathering the few things they can carry and getting on the road, even this very day, because it’s not safe to stay where they are. You may remember learning in school about the Trail of Tears, the forced migration of the Cherokee people in 1838. The American government forced 20,000 people to march the 1,200 miles from NC to OK. On the way, 5,000 people died. And do you know? There were Methodist pastors that marched right along with them, because they felt so strongly that these people needed the love and care of God on this terrible trip.
Well, summer is a time when many people take road trips: for a change of scenery, a chance to see something new, or to venture into the unknown. Today and next week here at PYUMC we’re going to explore one of the greatest road trips of all time: the epic journey of God’s people across the wilderness from the Red Sea to Mt. Sinai, on their way to the Promised Land. From the sea to the mountain: now that was a road trip!
Let’s remember the context. The people of Israel were slaves for 400 years in Egypt. Then came Moses, a Hebrew raised as a prince in Egypt, but destined to leave and return for his people. There was a dramatic conflict with Pharoah, who finally agreed to set them free. But at the last minute, he changed his mind and sent his army after them, leaving this group of a million or so people trapped, with the Red Sea at their backs and a fierce army heading toward them. Maybe you’ve seen the movie, The Ten Commandments, and you can picture Charlton Heston holding up his staff and the Red Sea parting in that dramatic scene. The people of Israel all passed through on dry ground, and the waters closed behind them over the Egyptian soldiers pursuing them. They were saved!
But then what? What happened next? That’s what we’re going to explore in the next two weeks. The trip the Israelites took in Exodus was full of the joy of newfound freedom as well as full of life-and-death challenges. They had already left behind the familiarity of Egypt, but had not yet made it to the Promised Land. Traveling that in-between territory taught them a lot about who God is and who they were. This in-between time raises several good questions for us: Who do we become when we find ourselves traveling the in-between? What can we learn from the in-between? And how does God guide us in the in-between?
Here at PYUMC, we are on a road trip through a territory of in-between. God is leading us, like he led his people the Israelites, to a new place. I will be going to a new place this summer, as my husband Bill and I take on a new ministry assignment in Houghton. And you will be receiving a new pastor, with all the changes that brings. How can we let God use this in-between time to teach us and shape us to be more like him?
Perhaps you are also in an in-between time in your own life. You’ve left something familiar, but what’s next hasn’t arrived yet. It could be a relationship, a job, your health, or even your faith journey. How can you let God lead and shape you through this in-between?
The reality is, the in-between is uncomfortable! Even when change is good, or wanted – change is still uncomfortable and uncertain. We just want it resolved. I’ve heard it described as swinging from one trapeze to another, and being in that spot where you’ve let go of one trapeze and are reaching for the next one…but haven’t quite grabbed hold of it yet. Now that’s uncomfortable! So together, we are going to discover wisdom from the Israelites’ epic road trip in Exodus that will help us all on our journeys into the future.
Maxie Dunnam, the former President of Asbury Theological Seminary. has a little formula he uses to explain this passage we read from Exodus 15 (The Communicator’s Commentary: Exodus).
· From Triumph to Trouble
· From Trouble to Testing
· From Testing to Teaching
From Triumph to Trouble
22 Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. 23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). 24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.
God’s people have gone from the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and the utter destruction of the Egyptian army (arguably the most powerful military force on the planet at that time), from this amazing delivery from certain death - TO . . . a desert . . . with no water for three days . . . and then when they find some water, it’s bad (“bitter”), and not drinkable. Triumph to trouble.
When Bill and I go backpacking, we have a rule we never violate if the weather is hot and dry – NEVER RUN OUT OF WATER. We always leave a little extra, because the next water source could be dried up, or polluted, or marked wrong on the map. We learned that the hard way, by running out of water and then not finding any where we thought it would be.
Can you imagine not finding any water for three days in the desert? And then not being able to use the water you found? That’s really dangerous.
You know what’s interesting? God is the one who led them into that really dangerous situation! Think about that: God brought them from Triumph to Trouble. That’s a good challenge to beliefs about God that he’s just a really nice Father who wants to make it easy for us all the time. But would a good father make it easy for his children all the time? Would they grow up to be responsible and healthy and strong and able to handle life if they had it easy all the time?
Sometimes, God leads us into the wilderness, the uncomfortable in-between. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, it says in Matthew 4:1. But Mark puts it this way: “Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:12).” Driven by God into the wilderness, to face the temptation of the devil for 40 days. Do you ever feel like God has led you from triumph to trouble? Into the uncomfortable in-between? If you haven’t, just wait . . . it happens to everyone. God doesn’t let us stay on the mountaintop. He sends us on to the next valley. As much as we’d like to stay on the thrilling high points in our lives, it’s just not possible to remain there. We have to keep moving. God calls us to keep growing. And sometimes God leads whole groups of people into the wilderness. That’s what happened to Israel. Sometimes it’s not a personal thing, it’s a communal or group thing.
Here’s something I really want you to hold onto: If you find yourself in the wilderness, it’s not necessarily because you took a wrong turn. God led the Israelites into the Desert of Shur. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. God has led my family and PYUMC into a new place. In our individual lives, the next point after the top of the mountain is the trail that leads down the other side.
From Trouble to Testing
After triumph has turned to trouble, then trouble gives the opportunity for testing. Maxie Dunnam writes, “The proof of faith, the testing, always comes in the barren desert at Marah, not in the oasis at Elim.”
So much of our lives are lived in the in-between place. We’re not comfortable…we’re not settled…we’re not where we want to get to…we’re waiting…we’re wondering if we’re in the right place or going in the right direction. But this is the time to pay attention! This is the time that God can really shape us. This is the time of testing, when we learn that we can really trust the LORD!
We can trust God to guide us in the in-between. When the people of Israel began traveling through the wilderness, God promised to be their navigator. He stayed in front of them, as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, showing them which way to go.
I want to share with you some of ways God has led me to this new place where I’m going. Last summer, Bill and I were contacted by friends in Houghton, asking if we would allow our names to be given to the search committee at their church there. At first we didn’t really even consider it (we could think of a million reasons it wouldn’t work!)…but they asked us to pray about it. And when someone you respect asks you to pray about something, you gotta pray about it! So as we prayed over that next 24 hours, we began to sense that maybe God was saying “go knock on that door.” We just had the beginning of a sense that maybe God was stirring up something new. So we took the next faithful step and said “yes” to our names going to the search committee.
But one of the reasons we thought we shouldn’t consider leaving where we are now is that we had recently moved my mother-in-law to a nursing home just 3 minutes from our house, and we didn’t want to leave her behind or go through the difficult process of moving her. But the next day after we said “yes” to giving our names to the search committee, my sister-in-law called us to say that she and her husband had come up with a plan to do some renovations in their home and bring her to live with them. Wow! That seemed like the hand of God at work. Throughout the summer, the daily devotional my husband and I follow was exploring some of scriptures around Moses and the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness, and I was listening carefully, as God has often used those stories of Moses to prepare me for a big change or a new calling.
The search process moved slowly (which was fine with us, as we were in no hurry), so it was just after the New Year that we submitted our resumés to the search committee. We started the new year very intently seeking God’s guidance for our future. I challenged everyone in our church, on the first Sunday in January, to ask God to give you a Bible verse or passage of scripture which would guide you through 2026 (New Year. New Word.). I chose this one: Whether you turn to the left or the right, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). I was really claiming that verse as a way of trusting that God would guide us in this particular area.
Two days after that sermon, I went to the monthly Community Prayer Service. The theme was also God’s guidance, and everyone was given a different word, written on a star, in their bulletin, representing the star with which God guided the Magi to Jesus. I opened my bulletin, and found my “star word” was Change. That made me stop and wonder! As well, I had volunteered to do a reading at the service, and this seemed to speak right me to me too.
Here it is:
New Roads by Ruth Burgess
When the star had stopped
and they had seen the baby
they took a new road.
When the decorations come down
and we have heard the story
we can take a new road.
New roads can be scary.
New roads can be exciting.
New roads are risky.
It is time to go.
Star-maker,
Light-bringer,
Holy Spirit of adventure,
come with us this year on our road. Amen.
Back at the office, I read the information that came with my star word. It contained a prayer that ended with: “…may you follow the new way home that God will provide.” Later this spring, after we found out we were search committee’s final choice, and the day we were working on setting up a date for the final interview, the closing verse in my morning devotional was my “star verse” for the year: Whether you turn to the left or the right, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). And finally, when we had made the final decision to accept the call to this new church, we called each of our staff members to tell them personally. When my husband told one his staff, she answered, “I know. I had a dream last night that you left our church to become the pastor at Houghton Wesleyan Church.”
I don’t tell you all that to say that I’m special, or that Bill and I got miraculous attention from God. I tell it to you so you can know this: we can trust God to guide us in the in-between. In your in-between time, God will give you the wisdom you need to navigate through the wilderness, just as he did for Moses and the Israelites. When they got to the springs with the water that wasn’t drinkable, what did Moses do? He cried out to God for help. That’s the best response for all of us! That’s the test: will we reach out to God and trust his guidance? 25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. Moses turned to God for help. There was no other recourse, and there was no easy escape at this point. And God delivers with some sort of local plant: the Lord showed him a piece of wood. I don’t know the scientific explanation, but God guided them through! It was a chance for them to see that God is the deliverer. In your in-between, friends, God will guide your life situation. In this time here at PYUMC, God will guide our church.
Then the people of God move from Testing to Teaching.
This is how you survive the wilderness: It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you. We survive the wilderness by letting God teach us: to listen carefully to God and be obedient to him. To do what is right in God’s eyes, paying attention to commands and keeping all his decrees. It takes faithfulness and patience and humility to hang in there to see the deliverance of the Lord.
When we learn to do that, it opens the way for God’s blessings: then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you. Notice that promise is present tense – I AM the Lord who heals you. It will always be this way. We can always look to God. The healing may come on a schedule or in a way we didn’t expect, but we can always look to God.
Are you worried about anything in the in-between you may be walking through? Are you in a moment of transition and you can’t see the next steps? Have you left Egypt, but you haven’t arrived at the Promised Land? What is God calling you to learn to do and be in this time? I have a friend who always says, “Just take the next faithful step.” Keep walking - keep coming to church - keep feeding yourself spiritually - keep talking to God and listening to God. We want this to be a season of deep prayer at PYUMC, so please pray for me, and for our church.
Where does God bring the Israelites after that? 27 After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water. This oasis called Elim had 12 springs, 70 palm trees, and they camped there near the water. It was lush and green, and there was not just one spring – there were 12! And 70 Palm trees – God’s special number (7) x 10! This was a place of abundance. Because God is a God of abundance. That’s a really important thing to remember when you’re in the wilderness!
Road trips are a funny thing. So much of our lives are lived in the in-between. This in-between gives us a chance to let go of some old things and take up some new things. We don’t always like that, and sometimes we resist it. The unanswered questions and the uncertainty are hard. We’d rather travel through the wilderness as quickly as is absolutely possible! But remember, God is the deliverer. God is the healer. As 1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Just because you’re in the wilderness doesn’t mean you took a wrong turn. God will use this time in our lives to increase our faith and trust in him. In the in-between, just take the next faithful step. Just keep walking!
