Exodus 3:7-12 Common English Bible (CEB) 7 Then the LORD said, I ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. 8 I ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. 9 Now the Israelites cries of injustice have reached me. I ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them. 10 So get going. I m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. 11 But Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt? 12 God said, I ll be with you. And this will show you that I m the one who sent you. After you bring the people out of Egypt, you will come back here and worship God on this mountain.
Love, a Moving Sanctuary The story of Moses is one of my favorite biblical narratives not only for the theme of justice and liberation, but also the example of how love can appear and function in many ways. There s a quote by an author named Theodore Volgoff that says, Love is sanctuary, a safe haven and place to rest. This is not the typical idea that most people think of when mentioning love. Most of us, including myself, tend to think of a romantic love, a fantasy love. This form of love focuses on the feeling, the physical reaction to experiencing something euphoric. The character Moses lived his early life also identifying with this form of love. Moses was previously the adopted son of Pharaoh s daughter and lived a life of royalty. Moses put his sanctuary in his lifestyle and family privilege, temporary things that provided this euphoric response. You could say he was the sucker for the fool s gold version of love. The story explains that it wasn t until Moses was in his adulthood, that the reality of his true identity, being Hebrew, impacted him. He had a hard time seeing the mistreatment of the Hebrew slaves knowing that they were his own people and that his sanctuary was their torture and oppression. And so after killing one of the slave overseers who kept brutally beating a slave, he fled Egypt from Pharaoh s rage into the desert seeking to find a new identity and a new sanctuary.
As the story goes on he meets his soon to be wife, finds a new community, and a new identity. Moses was content; he had found a new sanctuary. But then he met God on a mountain. His usual routine of taking the flock out for a stroll and tending to them took an interesting twist when he saw a bush on fire that wouldn t stop burning. Verse 3 says, Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn t burning up. And so he goes to investigate this bush out of amazement, and instead encounters God. God laments to Moses about the cries of the oppressed slaves in Egypt and declares that now is the time to answer those cries and rescue the people, bringing them to a new land of freedom full of milk and honey. And then God says to Moses, So get going. I m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. I can only imagine that Moses is triggered by God s instructions. He now has to return to an unsafe place, full of traumatic memories, the continued oppression of his own people, and additionally to challenge Pharaoh? It s only expected that his response in Verse 11 would be, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?. As stated earlier, Moses only understood sanctuary to be a reflection of all the things he loved and a sense of security. So God s request not only called him to leave his idea of sanctuary, but also to go lead a liberation quest in a place unsafe for him.
How many of us have been and/or are currently in a place just like Moses? We value our personal sanctuaries and want good things for all people, but we are afraid to walk into a place where our sanctuaries have no power. We are scared to lead or participate in a mission that juggles the livelihood of many. Or maybe we re not sure that we are able to make enough impact to liberate those in danger and oppressed. We are wondering if there is a way to bring those in danger to our physical sanctuaries instead of venturing into their battlefield. But then God answers Moses. God said, I ll be with you. And this will show you that I m the one who sent you. I don t think Moses understood fully what God was saying to him at that moment. The narrative continues with Moses expressing his doubts and fears the entire time on this journey. And while it s easy to judge Moses, I appreciate the transparency of Moses. He reminds us that we re human. Even in the midst of our good deeds, good intentions, and desire for world peace, we can still be terrified of being called to do the hard work of standing for justice in dangerous times. It is absolutely a journey that stretches and tests you. However, what Moses would soon realize, was that God s promise of companionship and support was sanctuary. God s love goes beyond having a deep connection and sense of care and happiness. It s not just a stationary feeling. God s love is an action. And the promise I will be with you, was God s love functioning as sanctuary.
You see love is the courage that fights for justice, the compassion that feeds another, the patience that walks the long journey with another, the empathy that allows the capacity to suffer with another and the comfort to provide rest for another. Love is sanctuary, and when we re called to love one another, we become vessels of sanctuary. Moses was being called to be a moving vessel of sanctuary for a group of people that were labeled as unworthy of their humanity. Moses soon began to realize as he walked into this calling that his real sanctuary was God s love, because love is more powerful than any physical thing, it exists in forms beyond just a feeling, and it is sustainable if we simply live it out. Accepting love as his sanctuary transformed his being. The more that Moses lived into his calling, his capacity held more courage, patience, compassion and empathy. He understood that a stronger force was guiding and protecting him. God s love is calling out to us to be living, moving sanctuaries in a time where hatred and evil is causing destruction. We are fighting hatred in the form boundaries. Boundaries are being established to further limit the movement and liberation of those marginalized and oppressed. Specifically, our immigrant brethren are crying out for sanctuary in an imprisoned space. This means we need to be moving sanctuaries, going across boundaries into these battlefields and being the love that is needed. Our calling may not look like it did for Moses. It may be the assurance of transportation so that families can continue to take care of needs and
responsibilities while dealing with the anxiety from the detainment of a loved one, Sanctuary. It may be providing financial support in the form of food, clothes, and paying bills, so that children don t feel the pressure to drop out of school to support family needs after a loved one has been detained, Sanctuary. It may be the comfort of a companion in what can feel like lonely times when you follow the law and go for your immigration check-in not knowing if you ll walk back out that building or be detained for deportation, Sanctuary. It may be standing in solidarity and resisting unfair rent increases that threaten the livelihood of families who fled here to escape the violence of drug cartels, gangs, and genocide that our very own country has played a role in. At some point in our lives or our family s histories, we have all hit hard times. We too were faced with mistreatment, and had it not been the love of someone else functioning as sanctuary for us, we may not be here today. Through love, we are equipped and called to be living sanctuaries for each other and those in need. And in the midst of our fears and doubts in this journey, God s love will continue to be a living sanctuary for us. I ll be with you. That s God s promise to us. That s love s sanctuary for us. Someone else right now needs that same promise. For a loving sanctuary to turn to them and say, I ll be with you. The question becomes, Will you go? Amen.