However,
before resuming our exploration of the remaining “I Am…” sayings, this Sunday,
July 10th, I want to examine the basis for Jesus’ sayings in the Hebrew
scriptures (Old Testament). Jesus’ “I Am…”
sayings resonated deeply with his Jewish audience because they reflect back to
the story of how God called Moses to the task of liberating the Israelites from
slavery in Egypt. This story is
contained in the book of Exodus, chapter 3:
“[God said] ‘Come, I
will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ …But
Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of
your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall
I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am
who I am.’ God said further, ‘Thus
you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has
sent me to you.”’” (Exodus 3: 10, 13)
In
the ancient world, a person’s name was more than just a label, differentiating
one person from another. Instead, names
were vitally important because they told us something about who that person
was; what character and values informed who they were as an individual
person. So, what are we to make of God’s
self-identification as “I am who I am”?
We
know from astronomers that we live in just a small corner of a vast
universe. For instance, the sun is just
one of 1011 stars in our galaxy, the “Milky Way,” and that galaxy is
just one of 1011 galaxies in the universe. Some astronomers calculate that there are
probably 1017 planets in the universe which are similar to our
Earth. The universe is a vast, vast
place, and we know that, as the Creator, God would be even greater. The theological term for this is transcendence. God transcends all of Creation, even though
the universe is so vast.
Yet,
at the same time, God is also immanent.
This is another theological term, which means that God is also close to
us. In fact, the Divine seeks us out and
wants to be in a loving relationship with us.
After verse 13, where God identifies God’s name as “I Am who I am,” God follows up by
providing a history—a resume, so to speak—of God’s relationship with the
Israelites, “‘Thus you [Moses] shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God
of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:
15a) As Rob Fuquay writes in his
book, “God wants to be recognized. …God
is not hiding. God doesn’t avoid us. God
wants to be known. That’s the story of
the Bible.”[i]
God
seeks us out and invites each of us to enter into a Divine relationship, in
which we know and love God. This is what
happens in Exodus 3. God seeks out and
invites Moses to enter into this knowing, loving relationship. As Moses discovers, this relationship is one
of vocation; that is, it is a relationship of partnership with God.
God
begins by explaining, “I have observed the misery of my people [the Israelites]
who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have
come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that
land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.…” (Exodus
3: 7-8b). God has seen; God has heard; and God knows
the sufferings of Moses’ people—the Israelites.
God is moved by the suffering and will deliver the Israelites from the
Egyptians, giving them new freedom in a rich and bountiful land.
At
this point, Moses must have felt exhilarated, hearing that God was planning for
a revolution in Egypt which would free the Israelites from captivity and
slavery. But, then comes a great
reversal. God says to Moses, “So come, I
will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt” (v.
10). God is planning a revolution, but
Moses is invited to be the chief revolutionary, the leader of this revolt, with
all of the risks associated with being a revolutionary. God invites Moses into a specialized vocation—that
is, into a partnership—to lead the people of Israel out of slavery and into their
own Promised Land.
Moses
is cautious. He knows the risks
associated with leading a revolt in Egypt and he makes excuses, trying to get
out of this assignment. Yet, with each
excuse that Moses makes, God’s responds by simply re-assuring that God will be
there, guiding, strengthening, and sustaining Moses through all of the trials
and tribulations, until ultimately the Israelites are released from their
bondage. God will be there.
Despite
Moses’ fear, objections, and excuses, ultimately there is only one option for
Moses: to accept God’s call to this
partnership. And so, Moses finally
accepts his vocation to become the revolutionary leader of the Israelites.
Now,
the key to understanding the true meaning of Exodus 3 is to see that while
Moses’ call by God was exceptional, the fact that God called Moses to a special
vocation was not exceptional at all.
Indeed, God seeks out each of us, inviting us to enter into a divine
relationship, which forms the grounding for our own vocation, our own call to
partnership with God. Each of us is
called by God to a special vocation, and our only faithful response is to
accept God’s call, knowing that, regardless of how difficult the task, God will
be there to guide, sustain, and protect us.
In reflecting on the
concept of God’s call within the context of Exodus 3, Walter Brueggemann, the
eminent biblical scholar writes:
“In our time, the
notion of [God’s] call has often been trivialized, institutionalized, and
rendered innocuous as bland calls to ‘obedience’ and to ‘ministry.’ Moses, however, knows better than this. A right sense of call (and its dangers)
derives from a right sense of Yahweh’s [God’s] intention. And when the call of Yahweh is made safe
through trivialization (which Moses refuses to do), it is because Yahweh’s
intention has already been distorted and domesticated.”[ii]
Come, join us this
Sunday, July 10th, at Christ United Methodist Church, as we examine who God is
and how God seeks to be in a loving, Divine relationship with us, defined by
partnership. Christ United Methodist
Church is located at 4530 A Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our classic worship services are at 8:30 and
11:00 on Sunday mornings. This week, I
will continue to offer my short-term study of these “I Am…” sayings, between
the two worship services at 9:45. We
will use Rob Fuquay’s The God We Can Know
as our resource.
Everyone is
welcome and accepted because God loves us all.
Schedule of
Upcoming “I am…” sayings sermons
July 17th – “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
July 24th – “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (8:30
service only)
July 31st –“I am the True Vine” (Pastor Bob Neben preaching)
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