From the Pastor |
Exodus 3: 1-15
Who am I? What can I do to solve the massive problems of this world? I mean… how can little ol’ insignificant me… make any real difference? What can I do? How can I end world hunger… or violence and wars? Who am I to do it? That is a question we have all asked at one time or another. Over the past several months, we have been inundated with many images and examples of police brutality… of the senseless violence and racial injustice that plagues this nation. There have been so many instances of riots, looting and violent clashes between angry civilians and law enforcement… there have also been countless peaceful protests happening daily in the largest cities down to the smallest communities. The Black Lives Matter movement has grown to encompass people of all demographics. The issue of racial injustice has been brought to the forefront of our minds and has led to a great deal of posturing and arguments from all sides. During this crazy, volatile year… many of us have, in fact, been asking this very question: Who am I to go out there and battle injustice and racism in America? What could I possibly do to solve these issues? The thing we, as followers of Christ, need to realize is that these protests and riots are so much more than angry laments over the senseless and tragic deaths of people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, and Elijah McClain. The protests and riots are an outcry against the demonization of people of color… against police brutality and racial profiling… against the overwhelming evidence of systemic racism, injustice and oppression. There are many people in our nation crying out, and these cries are an echo of the cries God heard coming from the Hebrew slaves in Ancient Egypt… Moses was a Hebrew child… and as we heard last week… he was saved from death by the acts of civil disobedience performed by several women… One of whom was Pharaoh’s own daughter who took Moses in and raised him as her own… as the grandson of the Pharaoh. He grew up with the wealth and power of the Egyptian royalty… yet he was angered when he witnessed the grave injustice bestowed upon the Hebrew people. So angry that he killed an Egyptian guard who was beating a Hebrew slave. When word got out about what he had done, Moses found his life was in danger, and he fled Egypt… eventually settling in Midian… hundreds of miles from Egypt on the other side of the Sinai Peninsula. There he married… had a son and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. It seems that life was good… peaceful… probably pretty quiet. At least for Moses… But for the Israelites in Egypt…not so much. But God heard their cries which brings us to our reading for today: The call of Moses. For many of us, this story is hard to hear without picturing Charlton Heston kneeling on the ground… speaking to the bush with awe and reverence. But that scene from the 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, is the simplified version of this story. A story so familiar to us that it is easy to just skim over it and miss the important pattern that makes up the call of Moses and many others to service for God. First, it is important to note that God had to get Moses’ attention… and Moses had to respond: “Moses… led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” [vs. 1-3] God could have set fire to a bush right in front of Moses… but that’s not what happened. It was in his sight… but far enough away that Moses had to go out of his way to investigate this strange phenomenon. And that is what he did. His curiosity took hold and he went to get a closer look. It was then… only after God had Moses’ attention… and Moses responded… that God spoke… making God’s presence known. And that is the second thing. Moses had not been brought up with the Hebrew traditions and stories… He was not raised in the Hebrew faith… God has to instruct Moses about where he is (on Holy Ground) and who is speaking: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” [vs. 6] Moses did not yet know God… Yet God called to him. Once Moses realizes who is speaking to him, it is time for the third part of our story: The Lord announces the reason that God has appeared to Moses: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” [vs. 7-8] I can just picture Moses at this point, face down in the sand, listening to this wonderful announcement that The Lord recognizes the people’s oppression and has decided to finally act to end it. After witnessing the injustice and oppression first hand… Moses is surely thinking, “YES! Way to go LORD! That’s great!” But unfortunately for Moses, their conversation takes an abrupt turn when God says: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” I can just see Moses’ eyes going wide with that “Say What?” expression coming across his face. Because that is the reaction we get… Moses hears announcement and immediately responds with “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” [vs. 11] This is the fourth part of this call story… the objections… The clear indication that Moses DID NOT want to do this… It begins with that question “Who am I?” “What can I possibly do?” Think about it… Moses was a fugitive from Egypt… he had a family to worry about… his job was tending the flock… who was he to go before Pharaoh with the demand to free the slaves? God simply responds, “No problem… I’ll be with you!” Yeah… Right! That wasn’t enough to convince Moses to get moving… The arguments are only beginning… Moses asks… Well… then… who are you? What name should I give to show you sent me? While our reading ends God’s answer: “I am who I am…” or “I will be what I will be…” [vs.14] Moses’ objections did not end… he continues to argue that he is not the right man for this task: What if they do not believe me? ... But I don’t speak well… Please send someone else! Well… those objections did not work very well for Moses… and they don’t work for us either. Moses is no different than you and me… too often we are not very enthusiastic to speak the truth, ready and eager to leave the task to someone else. When we hear God's call to service, we tend to meet it with reluctance, fear and doubt. But sometimes… like Moses… God doesn’t take no for an answer…the task is ours to do and we must act as agents of God. Today, God hears the cries of all who are oppressed. God sees their misery… Christ himself said he came to fulfill the scriptures: “… to proclaim good news to the poor... to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, [AND] to set the oppressed free.” And we ask… who are we to take on these issues? What can we do to make a difference? Who are we? We are followers of Christ. As Christians… we have already heard the call to follow… but it doesn’t end there. WE are the body of Christ in the world today. We are called to continue to act as Christ would… to fight injustice, bring healing and to demand that the oppressed be set free. We need to look more closely; to listen more intently… to search out the world around us for signs that God is trying to get our attention… then we need to respond and be willing to hear and answer God’s call for us. Then we can begin to really listen and hear the cries of people who are oppressed or in need that we might normally fail to hear. We are called to go forth, with God, to identify and work to dismantle the systems of injustice and oppression that are all around us… to bring freedom to others: Freedom from racism, and oppression… freedom from inequality in our justice system and our work environments and opportunities… freedom from hunger and poverty. Who am I? I am a follower of Christ Jesus… called to be an agent and servant of the Lord. A spokesperson for the Almighty who clearly says: “Let My People Go!” Amen
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Yeon Shin
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