Exodus 1:18-14; 3:1-15
The pastor stepped into the pulpit with the full intention of helping the family of the deceased young man that the funeral was not only a celebration of his life but the assurance of something better. While lifting up the obvious joy that the boy had brought into their community; telling stories of his mischievous actions, the boy’s extreme honesty to the point of a crass frankness, and entertaining disruptions during worship, he also hoped to assure the family and friends that the boy was now better off. The pastor, with his vast knowledge of historical theology, informed the group of friends and family who had gathered that -according to the medieval theologian Peter Lombard- the young boy would be joined to Christ happily resurrected in the prime of his life -30 years of age- free of any impediment, scar, or imperfection to include the "burden" he had faced as a special needs child born with down syndrome.
The family of the child remained uniquely composed from that point in the sermon on, even at the graveside service, they remained quiet and calm. The next few Sundays came and went and the pastor realized that the family had not been attending worship since the funeral of their son. The pastor, in hopes of ensuring the family was coping with the death of their son and, of course, planning on returning to church, called their home to ask how they were and that they were missed. The conversation was honest and forthcoming, The father shared the highs and lows of the passing few weeks. As the conversation came to a close the pastor asked when they could expect the family’s return to worship. The father advised the pastor that he would not be returning and when asked why he calmly informed the pastor that if God could not recognize his son as a precious gift for who and what he was in life, he had no need or desire to be accepted into such a heaven or find his son in such a place either.
We all have our own perceptions of what characteristics and traits are useful or good. Appearance, intelligence, athleticism, wealth, charisma, sense of humor, and the list could go on and on.
Our story for today is about Moses, a man who has risen from the depths of a birth into a life that should have been destined for slavery and servitude. A life that very well may have shortened his life expectancy because of the grueling and tedious nature of the physical labor he would be expected to perform. And we discover in the first chapter of Exodus, he wouldn’t even get a chance to live a life of slavery because the Egyptians had decided to eliminate the threat of rebellion by limiting the numbers of the Hebrew slaves through the execution of their infant children. Moses rises from this morbid destiny, set adrift in the Nile and taken in by the Pharaoh’s own household. Having risen to a noble status, elevated to a position of power, in the prime of his life, he kills an Egyptian who is abusing a Hebrew slave and his future takes a drastic turn. Moses is taken from the most elevated position a Hebrew slave could imagine and with a single action he is betrayed by not only the Pharaoh -who seeks to take Moses’ life- but the very Hebrew people he defended. Informed by a Hebrew slave that Moses has no authority over them when Moses is advised; “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” Fleeing from Egypt, cast out by both the Egyptians and their Hebrew slaves, Moses resigns himself to a life of Shepherding. Shepherding, the tedious exhausting work of bedouin and tribal people.
Moses settles in Midian and regardless of his past life of privilege he humbly resigns himself to his new life and new home. Moses is content with how the events of his life have unfolded, he is satisfied with the hand he has been dealt knowing full well that the humble life of a Shepherd, as a member of a humble tribe, in the humble land of Midian will suit him just fine, despite the once great heights he reached, those days are long gone and he is at peace. When God calls out to Moses he is no champion, no hero, no force to be reckoned with. Moses isn't even an underdog. Moses is well past his prime, devoid of any characteristics one would see as useful or good. If this were a Rocky Balboa movie Moses wouldn’t be Rocky, Moses would be Mick and he would be stepping into the ring instead of coaching the underdog. Moses isn’t an underdog, Moses is an impossibility. And Moses is being given a mission to rescue another impossibility; a tribe of Hebrew slaves.
A people who came to Egypt following another Hebrew that rose to great heights; Joseph. They came seeking food and security. But the Pharaoh has long since forgotten Joseph and enslaved the Hebrew people. They too have risen to great heights only to find themselves sentenced to a life of hardship and hopelessness, groaning and crying out to a God they most certainly have either forgotten or believe has forgotten them. This isn’t an underdog story, this is a story of human limitation. It is a story of the idol we make of human characteristics and traits.
It is therefore ironic when Moses asks God for a picture ID and a social security number when he asks “What will I tell them when they ask me; What is the name of this God?” Moses knows full well that the god of Egypt has a name, in fact the gods of Egypt have many names; Pharaoh for one, Ra, Horus, Osiris, Ma’at, and many more. If Moses is to win the confidence of the Hebrew people he must prove that he has the authority and power to lead them out of Egypt in the face of the first great superpower the world has ever known. Moses knows full well that is a power and authority that he himself cannot communicate by his own power or charisma. And the only assurance he receives from the God is simply I. AM.
Egypt has risen to a power unrivaled in the known world.They credit the reward of their empire and power to the gods whose monuments rise into the horizon communicating not only the unrivaled power of Egypt but the unrivaled power of their gods. Against this intimidating force and power, Moses, the last guy we would pick for our kickball team shows up with a stick and a God named I. AM. A name that means, quite simply, you cannot and will not discover the definition of my features, the limit or extent of my power, the nature of my very being, or the very proof of my existence.
My Hebrew professor once said that in this passage God is simply saying “You can’t bottle me up and sell me like snake oil”
Moses is told to just give the simple assurance that the God, the I AM just…. is? Not exactly the best battle plan is it? If we are quite honest I don’t think very many of us would take up this task, I would certainly need a bit more convincing. But God’s plan is specific; lifting the most unlikely, the greatest impossibility, against the greatest possibility and by far the most likely, according to our own listing of most valued traits. Because God finds strength in the places we define as frail, God finds goodness in the places where we identify the greatest evil, God finds unrivaled power in the pits of mortal existence. God is the One that determines the height of greatness and the places where that greatness will be found in this world. And the reason is quite simple, God, the I AM doesn’t come to us in the form we seek or the places we seek. God cannot be defined by the parameters with which we measure success, power, or greatness.
Last weekend, as most of you know, I attended my father’s final Sunday as a called parish pastor. I sat through two services. I watched my father preside over the sacraments twice, preach twice, and cry more than twice. I will admit to you, my eyes swelled with pride once at each service; during the meal. Whenever my father presides over the bread and the wine he distributes the elements to the gathered and when the last is served he himself sits behind the altar, bows his head, and receives the bread and the wine from a member of the congregation. With a reverent head bowed and a reverent hand outstretched he receives the bread and the wine as that member stands above him presenting that bread and wine to him.
Now that is my father’s practice but it is a reflection of a theology I have grown to admire and share with him. It is an understanding of my unworthiness to serve the I AM and an invitation for the I AM to work through any and all means in this world, especially the means I am incapable of calling worthy of that service. Some would call it humility and I have heard others refer to it as piety.
I would call it an awareness. It is an awareness of not only my own unworthiness but our human inability to fully appreciate the ability of the I AM that exceeds our own comprehension, allows us to exceed our own expectations working in us, through us. The I AM that is revealed in the most ironic and impossible places because we are too incapable of seeing them as anything but a dead end. And when we think we have seen it all, from Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Saul, to David we are once again amazed when God picks the greatest impossibility and the most certain dead end to reveal the great I AM
The Christ on the cross.
Amen
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