Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 30th August 2020

Exodus 3.1–15                           

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 

Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’ 

But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’ God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”:
This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations. 

Romans 12.9–21                             

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 16.21–28

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ 

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 

‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’ 

Reflection:

I cannot help but feel strangely drawn this week to again reflect on the Book of Exodus. This book tells how God took pity on the Israelites and liberated them from the Egyptians. It also recounts their consequent journeys in the wilderness. If you haven’t read Exodus recently it’s probably a good book to revisit and investigate. The story begins about 400 years after Joseph, his brothers and the Pharaoh he served have all died. The Israelites have been in Egypt for several generations and a new Pharaoh comes to the throne who is threatened by the number of foreigners (Israelites) in the land and as we read last week, he takes hard measures to reduce their numbers and stop them multiplying. Terrible times, as he orders midwives to kill all male new born babies. The book tells of the call of Moses by God, the confrontations with the Pharaoh and his consultants, the subsequent release and flight of the Israelites. The crucial event was revelation of God to Moses and God giving the Law to the people via Moses. 

Our reading today comes from Exodus 3: 1- 15: and is a story about an encounter between God and Moses.  Moses has just been as a outlaw after killing an Egyptian who Moses saw beating a Hebrew slave. God is not deterred by Moses mistake and is more than able to transform Moses into an instrument of salvation despite Moses protests and excuses as to why he wouldn’t be suitable.

The drama of this scene peaks when Moses asks what seems an innocent question. Up to this point, it's been pretty much your standard encounter with a deity! - a manifestation (a burning bush that is not being consumed by the fire), a voice calling ("Moses, Moses..."), an appropriate show of humility (taking off the sandals in recognition of being in the presence of Yahweh ), followed by a huge promise from God ("I will deliver my people from bondage"), reticent hesitation ("I can't do this"), and divine reassurance ("yes you can, I will be with you").

And then as Moses is processing all that he has been asked, and all the doubts and worries, he questions God-  "Suppose I go to the Israelites and tell them all this great news and they're sceptical and don’t believe me. What if they ask who this God is who sent me? What shall I tell them?" 

Perhaps this is an innocuous, understandable, even reasonable question. I can only begin to imagine being in Moses position and facing the daunting task that God is putting before him.  But you may remember a couple of weeks ago I was talking about the importance of names. Everything at this point centres on names and, particularly, the power of names to reveal the character of a person. Remember Jacob, the heel -- literally -- who received his name because he was grabbing his brother's heel as they came out of the womb and never stopped grabbing for all that he could the rest of his life, until he wrestled this same God and was given the new, life-transforming name of Israel.

I wonder if that's what's going on here, we are being shown the significance of a name. Moses is asking this divine presence in whose midst he is standing for its name because to know the divines name will be empowering. Which is what makes God's answer so perfect: "I AM WHO I AM!" 

I love God's answer. Notably, the Lord’s divine name, Yahweh, has a future cast to it as well, rending it even more elusively, "I will be who I will be." Which I think means, that what God is actually saying is that you can't really know who God is unless you're willing to agree to be a part of God's mission in the world. Which is what Moses ultimately does, going to Egypt, confronting Pharaoh, leading his people out of Egypt, taking them through the parted waters and into the wilderness. And there, on the other side of things, Moses doesn't need to ask for God's name anymore, as he learned it first hand, though his own experience. In the case of "I am who I am", we have both a mystery and a declaration that God will be God with and for the people at all times and places. "I AM WHO I AM."

Moses has understood who God is, you see, only by following God on the path God set for him and thereby learning the nature, purpose, and truth of this God. And the thing is, this doesn't stop -- or even begin -- with Moses. It was true of his ancestors -- Abraham taking off for a new land in his old age; trusting God for the journey and even in obedience being willing to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac, father of Jacob and the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob fleeing God in every which way only to be called by God to sire a nation. And it will be true of his descendants, as well, from Old Testament prophet and priest to New Testament disciple and missionary. I suggest that this is the way it is even today. 

David Lose writes, ‘To know God, you have to go with God. Faith is a full contact, participation sport. You just can't sit back and expect to really know God, you have to get up off the couch and get in the game, take a risk, try something marvellous, reach for something you thought unachievable, step out onto the winding road the end of which you can't see from your doorstep.’

Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

I wonder where you believe God is calling you. What task might God have set for you? What mission are you called to? What path have you been set upon? It doesn't have to be spectacular. It doesn’t require you to be anyone other than yourself. God uses ordinary people, people who have made mistakes and/or perhaps lived life unaware of their potential to make a huge impact for the kingdom and do extraordinary things.

When done in faith, there is no small gesture. Even a crumb of God’s love and power working through us can transform, save and heal. It is our job to prepare the ground- It is God’s work to bring the seeds sown to maturity. Last week I spoke of prayer being the preparation –It is prayer that will prepare the ground for Gods transforming power to work and grow. But I wonder if entwined with prayer is a spiritual awakening- a hearing of God call our name- a new awareness of his presence before us and within us. And a willingness to respond in humble obedience. Not boasting of who we are or what we can do, but, a boasting of what God can and will do.

The great I AM is indeed, working through each of us in both small ways and large for the health of the world. To see characters in the Old Testament such as Moses, can give us confidence when we feel called to a particular task which we perceive as too difficult. Remember, God continues his promise saying "I will be with you" and God stands elusively out in front of us, beckoning us forward into a future that we cannot yet see but which God is fashioning both for us and through us.

Let us pray: God of all creation, the great I AM, grant us a fresh understanding of who you are and your call upon our lives. Thank you for the way you reveal yourself to us. May we have hearts open to hear your call and spirits willing to obey you and to receive your transforming power. Amen