Still Blazing
a sermon based on Exodus 3:1-15
by Rev. Cindy Weber

 

"Gracious Lord, you who are always whispering to us, help us to listen" (Avery Brooke).

A while back I read about an Amish man who said, You people are always talking about trying to "find" yourselves. What we are trying to do is to lose ourselves.

There are some people who believe that their lives belong to themselves, and though they may not say that, though they may, in fact, speak loudly and frequently of an Almighty God, of a Higher Power, of a Personal Savior, you can tell by watching them, by watching how they spend their time and their energy and their money, that what they really deep down believe is that their lives belong to themselves.

There are other people who believe that their lives do not belong to themselves, and though they might not verbalize that belief very well, if at all, and though they may seldom speak of God, of conversion, of commitment, you can tell by watching them, by watching how they spend their time and their energy and their money, that what they really believe is that their lives belong to something Greater than, something Higher than, something Other than themselves.

This morning’s scripture reading is one that grabs hold of our attention, if for no other reason than that it causes us to question, along with Moses, to question who we are and what is God’s claim and call upon us. Walter Bruggemann says that, "The reason that we hold on to this old story and continue to ponder it is that either we are people who have had this extraordinary reversal of our life by God, so that nothing is ever the same again, or we wait for and yearn for such a moment that will break our life open. We hold this story because we know that there is more to our life than the ordinariness of life without the holiness of God."

Because we know the story so well, it’s hard for us to imagine how absolutely impossible God’s plan must have seemed to Moses. Go back to this place that you left 40 years ago, and call together the leaders of a people to whom you barely even belong, tell them that this God who they barely even remember is going to overthrow the powerful ruler that oppresses them and makes their lives so miserable that they can’t even see straight. Then go and tell that ruler to set them free. Then, once they’re free, create out of them an alternative community, one with different rules and different allegiances, one that loves and serves me.

One of the best things for us about this story, about this story where God calls Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt is that Moses didn’t want to do it. Five times he argues with God, "But God, who am I to do this? But God, they won’t listen to me. But God, I don’t speak so well. But God..."

And I say that that’s one of the best things about the story, because that’s what makes it our story. We see all of his fears and all of his inadequacies and all of his doubts and all of his objections and all of his attempts to weasel out of what God wants him to do just flat out there on the page, and we look at it and we realize that he is just like us, that we are just like him. And boom! It’s our story. It’s not Moses that’s standing there in front of the burning bush; it’s you and me. Except that it’s not a burning bush. It’s something else. It’s still the voice of God, but it’s coming to us in some other way, maybe through a verse of scripture, or maybe through a story that we hear on the news, or maybe through the words of a neighbor, or maybe through the quiet beating of our hearts. It’s still the voice of God, but it’s coming to us in some other way, asking us to do some other thing. Asking us to do something bold, asking us to do something risky, asking us to do something sacrificial, asking us to do something that does not compute, asking us to live in way that runs counter to the ways of the world, asking us to lose our lives in order to save them, asking us to wage peace, asking us to pursue justice, asking us to live as if we were already dead to the seductions and the ways of the world, asking us to do something that sucks up everything that we have and everything that we are.

Oh, yeah, like Moses, we hear the voice. And like Moses, we resist. "But God," we say, "I need more details." "But God," we say, "I don’t have time." "But God," we say, "that’s too risky." "But God," we say, "I don’t know how." "But God," we say, "That doesn’t make sense." "But God," we say, "We’ll never win that one." "But God," we say, "that’s not financially lucrative." "But God, we say, "I don’t have the skills (or the money or the time or the gifts)." "But God," we say, "I’ll have to get back to you on that one."

And while we’re spinning our wheels and sounding like Moses, God is being, well, God. Insistent, persistent, relentless in God’s purposes. "I have seen the misery of my people," God says. "But, God…" "I know their sufferings," God says. "But, God…" "And I have come down to deliver them, " God says.

It’s no wonder that Moses gave in. But it’s also no wonder that he was initially, at least, a reluctant partner. Who wouldn’t be? Joining ranks with God is no walk in the park. We make it sound so easy, so bright and cheerful. Just ask Jesus into your heart, we say, that’s all you have to do. But you know what? That’s not true. That’s not all you have to do. Ask Jesus into your heart, and you’ll find out that he is one high-maintenance guest. When Jesus moves in, he takes over. "Get rid of this, he says, "and get rid of that. Rearrange this part of your life and rearrange that. This is a big fat waste of time," he says. "And what’s with this? Why are you spending your money, my money, our money on this? C’mon, let’s get going here! Up and at ‘em! " One high-maintenance guest.

I heard a report on NPR the other day from an author who went to the Holy Land with his family and saw a lot of the historical, or so called historical Biblical sites. They went to this one place where they had a bush that they said was the actual burning bush. It just looked like a regular old bush, he said, but the funny thing about it was that there was a fire extinguisher sitting there right next to it.

I’d imagine that there were times when Moses wished that he had had a fire extinguisher at his disposal that day. He’s going along, perfectly content with his life, minding his own business, tending his father-in-law’s flocks, looking forward to a quiet night at home with the wife and kids, when God claims and calls him. "Behold, the storm of the Lord!" said the prophet Zechariah, who knew something of what it would have been like for Moses. "Pack up your family for a foreign land! Go forth and confront the powers that be! Create an alternative community out of a band of slaves." Yeah, I bet there were times when Moses wished that he could have used a fire extinguisher that day.

Just as there are times when you and I wish that we could drown out the voice of the Lord, "I have seen the misery of my people, I have seen the misery of my people." Times when you and I wish that we could extinguish the fire burning in our hearts, "I have seen the misery of my people. I know their sufferings." Tired, weary, I don’t want to do this anymore times. "I have seen the misery of my people. I know their sufferings. And I have come down to deliver them."

But the thing is, when it gets right down to it, even on those tired, weary, I don’t want to do this anymore days, we know that Simon Peter spoke for us when he said, "Jesus, where else could we go? You alone have the words of life." Yes, the thing is, when it gets right down to it, we know that this is what we were made for, to be one with God, to hear God’s voice in our heads and to feel God’s heart beating in time with ours and to respond to God’s callings.

Blaise Pascal, the philosopher-mathematician, had an experience that changed the course of his life. He wrote it out and sewed it into his clothes, and they found it on his body when he died. It read:

The year of the Lord 1654

Monday, 23 November,

from about half past ten

in the evening until about

half past twelve at night: fire.

God of Abraham,

God of Isaac,

God of Jacob,

not the God

of philosophers and scholars.

Certainty, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

He is only found along the ways

that are taught in the gospel.

Tears of joy.

I had parted from him.

Let me never be separated

from him.

Surrender to Jesus Christ.

The year of the Lord 2005 Sunday, 28 August, fire. Fire.

Yes, a bush is still blazing for each of us. God breaking open our lives with love. Listen for God’s voice. Listen for God’s vision. Listen for God’s claim and call. Listen for God’s heart of hearts: "I have seen the misery of my people. I know their sufferings. Let’s go and deliver them."