"A Call to Adventure"
Sermon Presented August 28, 2005
Exodus 3:1-15
There are few personalities in the Hebrew Scriptures more familiar than Moses. We recall how, because of the Pharaoh's order to kill all Hebrew boy babies, his mother places the infant Moses in a basket on the banks of the Nile River so that he won't be killed. There, Pharaoh's daughter finds him and asks Moses' own mother to be his nurse him. Moses grows up in the Egyptian palace, where he is safe and privileged. As a young adult, he becomes so angry when he sees an Egyptian beat a Hebrew that he kills the Egyptian and hides his body in the sand. But his crime is observed and now he's on the run!
From Egypt, he flees to Midian where he marries the daughter of a priest of the tribe of Levi - a descendant of the same priestly tribe as Moses' own parents. Years pass and the plight of the Hebrews worsens. They groan under their slavery and God hears their cries. God chooses to act through Moses - who is tending the sheep of his father-in-law. Hear the story of God's call to Moses as written in Exodus 3:1-15. (Read text.)
The Hebrew people came to Egypt because of Joseph. Because Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams and supervised an elaborate plan to store excess grain for the coming years of famine, he became the second most powerful person in Egypt. During the time of famine, Joseph's family was invited to Egypt and given food, land, and a place of prominence. However, after Joseph's death he was forgotten and his descendents were made slaves by the Egyptians. Even in slavery, the Hebrews multiply rapidly and the Egyptians begin to fear their great numbers. Thus the plot to kill the Hebrew boy babies is hatched. The plight of the Hebrews goes from bad to worse as their oppression and their cries to God increase.
God's plan begins with calling the right leader. God chooses a person who will risk, one who trusts enough to keep going until the task is completed, one who will be obedient, one who is compassionate, and one who can engage the followers with the vision. God chooses an Israelite with knowledge of the ways of the enemy to lead the Hebrews out of bondage.
The text tells us that one day while Moses - the future leader - is shepherding his father-in-law's sheep, the angel of God appears to him in a bush that looks like it's burning but isn't consumed. Moses tries to figure out this phenomenon but turns away and hides his face when God speaks to him. The reason for God's presence is to offer Moses a new adventure of purpose as the deliverer of God's people.
God needs Moses for the task! God needs a human agent to bring deliverance to the Israelites. God promises to send him and accompany him. God also promises to give him a sign AFTER the deliverance is accomplished!
What are Moses' qualifications for the task? He doesn't appear to be religious, having been raised in the Egyptian palace where many Egyptian gods were worshiped. He isn't a public speaker - in fact he's afraid to speak publicly and uses this as an excuse. He's a murderer and is now tending someone else's sheep - not a noble past or present by anyone's standards. But God chooses him anyway possibly because he knows the enemy, and possibly because of his willingness to seek adventure. The God of Moses' father - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob calls Moses to a worthy and grand adventure.
I've found that God chooses many unlikely candidates for tasks - at least they are people I wouldn't choose! Thankfully God's criterion isn't the same as ours. A willingness to answer God's call and an understanding that we can't do it without God's help are primary requisites.
What does God ask Moses to do? God asks him to risk; to trust God enough to lead the people of Israel out of slavery into the Promised Land. I believe Moses had a choice to either accept or reject the offer. He wasn't coerced or zapped or threatened.
God calls Moses to see things differently and to see himself differently. God calls him to move from shepherding sheep to becoming the leader of a people. God calls him to save God's people - a task he could never envision on his own. God promises newness, and Moses is to bring about newness by motivating the Israelites and standing up to the Pharaoh.
Had Moses realized the obstacles he would face, he might not have gone. There are always obstacles to reaching a worthy goal, and not everyone is willing to tackle them. When we think of Christopher Columbus, and Lewis and Clark, we realize that their worthy goals of exploration and adventure helped them overcome the great obstacles to the success of their missions.
Moses is also willing to question God. He needs to confirm the call and the caller. He knows that if he is to lead the Israelites, he must be able to tell the captive people who sent him. "What's your name?" It's a legitimate question in that polytheistic environment. "Which god are you?" God's answer must surely frustrate Moses: "I am who I am!" or "I will be who I will be!" That's God's reply. It's as if God says: "If you want to know my name, come with me and spend the rest of your life finding out."
It's only natural to question God when we need reassurance. But we never get a complete or completely satisfying answer to our questions. We must live with our questions and as we search - as we live with God - more and more will be revealed to us. However, we will never receive perfect knowledge or understanding! We will always have questions. At some point we usually arrive at the place where we are comfortable with our limited understanding. We can never completely comprehend God.
The more we understand God, the more mysterious God becomes. The more we know, the more we realize we don't know. It's that way with parenting, computers, physics and especially our understanding of God.
God's appearance to Moses is one of revelation, empowerment and direction. Even though Moses recognizes his inadequacy to fulfill the assigned task, he hears that God will direct and empower him.
One thing Moses understands from his conversation with God is God's compassion for the people and God's willingness to become involved. God acts because of the suffering and hardship being imposed on the people by the Egyptians. God acts because of love.
Moses' experience with God leads him back to Egypt and into danger. He may no longer be on the Egyptian "10 Most Wanted" list, but the danger is real. Just as God shows compassion by calling Moses to deliver the people, Moses shows compassion by accepting the call.
The author of one of my commentaries called Moses a "prophet and a visionary." But the vision he has isn't his vision, it's God's vision. I believe that Moses would have been content to take care of sheep forever. God gives the vision because of concern for the Israelite people. God gives us visions because of God's concern for us.
To accept God's vision, Moses must care enough about those in slavery to risk danger to save them. For us to accept God's vision, we must care enough for others to sacrifice our time, emotional energy and finances. If we are indifferent to the cries of the poor, the homeless, the disenfranchised, the grieving, the seeking, the mentally ill or mentally challenged, we will be unreceptive to God's vision. Those who care about the needs of the hungry can participate in the Crop Walk and the meal program at St. Ben's. Those who are concerned about the mentally challenged can be here next Sunday to worship with the Broken Walls Christian Community. Those concerned for the grieving and the seeking can spend time with them, listening and praying. Making God known to the community and the world is accomplished through the compassionate actions of God's people.
Next month the Vision Team will present what we believe is God's vision for Roundy. To follow God's vision for us will take a spirit of adventure as well as a commitment to move into uncharted waters. The adventure will be ripe with possibilities as well as risks.
God told Moses that he would know that it was God speaking to him after the Exodus - after the people were safely out of Egypt. When they gather at Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) to worship, then Moses will be sure that God gave the vision. When we gather for worship five years from now, we will know whether or not we have rightly discerned God's vision for us. We will never know until we try. I invite you to catch the vision! I invite you to embark on a new adventure!
