"So Far as it Depends on You a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, September 3, 2017 Exodus 3:1-15 & Romans 12:9-21 so far as it depends on you (Romans 12:18, NRSV) It s another tough week when it comes to choosing a text for study this morning. Our kids are studying one of the great and foundational stories of our faith from the Hebrew Scriptures: Moses encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Burning Bush. And we are going to study that text as well. But there is also this passage from Romans; these wise and beautiful words from the Apostle Paul. Throughout his ministry Paul traveled around the ancient world establishing new churches and writing to those newly established congregations offering them advice, encouragement and correction. Paul s letters are the earliest Christian documents we possess even earlier than the gospels. Paul s letter to the Church at Rome was written around 57-58 A.D. The earliest gospel we possess the gospel according to Mark was written in 70 A.D. We re going to begin backwards this week with the reading from Romans. Formally the portion for study this week picks up where we left off last week. But I have expanded the reading to include last week s portion so you can hear Paul s radical instructions to the congregation in Rome. Read Romans 12:1-21 Now, we turn out attention to the book of Exodus. Last Sunday s studies took us through the infancy narrative of the prophet Moses. We got to see how God s vision for justice was implemented by willing participants the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and 1
Puah, Moses mother, Jochebed, 1 Moses sister, Miriam, and Pharaoh s nameless daughter. A lot has happened in the text between where we left off and where we are. Moses got himself into trouble in Egypt and had to flee to Midian. There he meets Jethro, the priest of Midian, and marries one of Jethro s daughter s, Zipporah. Moses has settled down, gotten married, started a family, and now he s got a job tending his fatherin-law s flock. But while Moses has escaped his troubles, things are not good for the people of God, back in Egypt. They are still trapped in slavery; still brought low, still pressed down from the weight of suffering and oppression. They still cry out to God in their anguish, and God takes notice of them (Exodus 2:23-25). In the story we are about to hear, Moses has gone way, way out, beyond the wilderness to the mountain of God called, Horeb. We remember this mountain as Sinai. 2 It was probably a sacred place for the Midianites. It must have been hot out there in the Sinai Peninsula. 3 It must have been the kind of hot where you can see waves of heat hovering above the earth. It would have been easy to see mirages and other apparitions. 4 So when Moses suddenly comes upon an angel of the Lord and a bush on fire, he may not have trusted his own eyes at first. Read Exodus 3:1-15 1 Numbers 26:59. Jochebed implies, glory of Jehovah or, Jehovah (is her or our) glory. Jochebed is the first person in Scripture to have a name compounded with Jah or Jehovah. www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/jochebed 2 Sinai and Horeb are often considered to have been different names for the same place. Some theologians believe they may have been different locations. 3 Kathryn Matthews, Spirit-Led Living http://www.ucc.org/weekly_seeds_spirit_led_living 4 Kathryn Matthews, Spirit-Led Living http://www.ucc.org/weekly_seeds_spirit_led_living 2
High up on that mountain, far beyond the wilderness, far away from home, Moses life is changed forever. He s standing on holy ground now. God tells him to take off his shoes; to get in touch with the Ground of Being, because he s going to need all the help he can get. It only takes a sentence for God to reassure Moses: this is no mirage. This is the God of his ancestors. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who makes promises and keeps them. Theologians call this moment a theophany the manifestation of God to a person. People of faith call it a burning bush moment. A hit of immanence. A brush with the holy. That moment when God awakens us with glory. When the light breaks through the clouds at just the right angle. When someone reaches out to us at just the right time. When simple blessings overwhelm us with their goodness. Those are burning bush moments. Moments of clarity. Moments when in the encounter with the holy we suddenly know something new and very clear about ourselves. This burning bush moment could have been a lovely story. It could have been a reassuring moment in Moses life about how awesome it is that the God of the Universe heard his peoples cries and had a plan to save them. But there is much more in it for Moses. 5 Because this is the story of his call; his commissioning. This is the moment when God put him on notice: the life he once led is over. Moses was just doing his chores, wandering around with the sheep out on the edge of the known world, when all of a sudden he encountered the Living God who gives him a new and larger purpose for his life. 6 That s the thing about paying attention. You never know where it will lead. One of the greatest stories of human liberation all started in one moment of paying attention. That s how God works: God gets our attention, God opens our eyes, God shows us how 5 Kathryn Matthews, Spirit-Led Living http://www.ucc.org/weekly_seeds_spirit_led_living 6 Kathryn Matthews quoting Brueggemann, in Spirit-Led Living http://www.ucc.org/weekly_seeds_spirit_led_living 3
our lives are connected to the lives of others opening our hearts to the sufferings of the world, and God persuades us that we have a responsibility to do something about it. And that can be a terrifying thought. So far as it depends on you These are the words that get my attention this morning. What does depend upon us? I like it that, when Moses gets his marching from God, he has the chutzpah to push back. I like it that he asks: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? It s a good question, and God s people have been asking it for generations? Who am I that I should endeavor to minister to God s people in the midst of their suffering? Who am I that I should reach out to the lonely? Who am I that I should be called into ministries of justice and witness? Who am I to proclaim good news in days such as these? Who am I that I should respond to the needs of the world? Who am I that I should care about what s happening in Houston? In the halls of Congress? On the streets of Philadelphia? So far as it depends upon you These are the words that get my attention this morning. They come from Paul s teaching to us teaching the early Christians how to be Christian. And the words he shares remind us that to be a Christian means to distinguish yourself as being different than this world. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that transformation will be evident in how we live and what we say and how we treat the people even the ones who get on our last nerve. So far as it depends on you 4
In some ways, these are the same words God spoke to Moses: cannot do. So far as it depends on you, Moses, you are called to do the thing you think you tending sheep. So far as it depends on you, Moses, you are called to more daring things than So far as it depends on you, I will speak to you out ofburning bush and golden sunset and call you to take a stand, and I will disturb your sleep until you hear me call to you. And this is my promise to you: I will be with you. I will be with you always. The God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah calls us to the same kind of daring to do the thing we think we cannot do with this same level of support: I will be with you. I will be with you always. Thanks be to God. Amen. 5