Third Sunday in Lent - Year C

Exodus 3:1-15

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

As most of you know, our current home is deep in the country, surrounded by hundreds of acres of wilderness.  I chose this location as a sort of monastic retreat, a place of contemplation and spiritual renewal in the midst of a noisy world. 

One of the fringe benefits of living deep in the country is the freedom to spend as much time as we like in the great outdoors; and when the weather is nice, we like to gather wood from our forest and build a campfire. 

As the fire slowly consumes the wood, we love to look at the stars, and talk about life, the universe, and everything.  Often my children will ask me to tell them a story, and I will either make up one on the spot, or tell them a story from the Bible.  And one of our favorite stories from the Bible is the story of Moses.

I have always been fascinated by Moses.  According to the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses was not only an important religious leader, but also a lawgiver and a prophet, and the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed to him.

Although modern scholarship has helped us to see Moses as more of a symbolic author of the Torah rather then a literal one, he still stands as a spiritual hero of three great living religions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

I think part of the reason that we--and all of us--are drawn to this story is because on a deeper level, the story of Moses is all of our story, too.  Moses was a man caught between two worlds: a part of him was Egyptian, and a part of him was Jewish.  But then one ordinary day, Moses left his comfortable palace, curious to learn more about life outside of his royal home.  And he was shocked by what he saw.

He entered a world of human oppression, where the Jewish people, his own flesh and blood, were beaten every day, and died long before their time.  Blinded by rage, Moses attacked and killed an Egyptian slave-driver who he found beating an innocent slave, and he hid the evidence of his crime in the sand.  Word of what he had done spread quickly, and so he was forced to run away to Midian.  There in Midian, Moses married and began a family. Home and work kept him busy, and made him happy. In a way, he forgot about his people, and learned to relax and enjoy his new life.  This new life that Moses found is what we might call the good life. He has a steady job, a comfortable home, and loving friends and family. Moses has it all once he settles down in the wilderness.  

The years go by.  Moses is content with the pleasures and accomplishments of ordinary life.  And then one ordinary day, Moses gets up early and he goes off into the wilderness, leading his sheep. Hours pass without anything unusual happening.  And then suddenly, in the far distance, Moses sees (pause) something—something that will change his life, and the life of his people, forever. Moses sees a burning bush.

For several minutes he watches the flickering flames; then he realizes--as hard as it may be to believe--that the leaves and the branches of the burning bush show no sign of being consumed by the fire.  Amazed by this sight, Moses decides to investigate.  He starts walking toward the bush.  Suddenly, a voice fills the air, calling out, “Moses! Moses!” The sound of that voice fills the wilderness.  It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  And then Moses hears his own voice, filled with awe and wonder: “Yes, Lord, I am here.”  

The voice tells Moses that he is standing on holy ground and that he should remove his sandals. He does so, and then he drops to his knees as clouds of dust rise in the air.  The voice continues: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  Moses hides his face, for he is afraid to look at God. Childhood memories return to him, stories he had heard of how this God had entered into his ancestors’ history.  Moses knew of this God from the old stories, but he had never encountered God personally before -- not in his dreams or in his imagination, and certainly not in broad daylight, in the midst of an otherwise ordinary day.  Moses feels his heart racing within him.  The voice goes on: “I have seen the misery of my people. I have heard their outcry against their oppressors. I know their sufferings, and I have come to rescue them from Pharaoh. I will bring them into a good land, a land where the rivers flow with milk and honey. And you, Moses, you will lead my people out of Egypt!”

How do you think Moses felt at that moment?  Finally, he had put the past behind him, and started a whole new life.  He had moved on.  He was comfortable in his new home, with his wife and children.  And as far as in-laws go, Jethro wasn’t half bad. 

Moses no longer cared for the politics of Pharaoh’s Court.  He had shaken its dust from his feat, and had moved on.  He was happy at home in the wilderness.  But now, suddenly, on an otherwise ordinary day, God is speaking to him directly, God is calling him by name to leave his comfortable life, to return to Egypt, to the land of his birth, and deliver his people from bondage.

The God of his ancestors is calling him to become a hero.  Moses gives first one excuse and then another.   But none of his excuses can silence the insistent call, the voice from the blazing bush that does not burn.  God promises to stand by Moses, and that someday the free Jewish people will come to worship on this very spot.  God even reveals to Moses the awesome Name of God, God's Name as Lord of every generation, and the Name of the same God who meets us, this morning, right here, now.

Sisters and brothers, it is here that today's reading ends.  What are reading doesn’t tell us is that Moses accepts God's call to him.  No longer will his life be centered on his own human ego.  Instead, his life will be filled with personal growth, and spiritual transformation, and his concern will be for the business of heaven, and for what God wills for the world.  He will give himself up to a life of faith, and receive a great challenge and a great adventure. Yes, Moses will have difficult times ahead of him.  He will have good days, and bad days.  All this will make him feel anxiety and stress, but over time Moses will be transformed into a legend, into a hero—into a person ready, willing, and able to act for others.

Often he will feel overwhelmed by the presence of God, swept up by the powerful forces of sacred mystery, yet in the end he will be remembered as God's own friend.  And all this began on that ordinary day, a day like any other day, until Moses opened his eyes and saw a simple bush blazing with the glory of God, and the world was changed forever.

Well, unlike the burning bush in the story of Moses, the fire does slowly consume the wood that my children and I have gathered for our campfire.  

The time comes for our own sleep, and dreams of bushes that burn, but are not consumed.  And of a God who calls us each by name, who leads us both into the wilderness and calls us out again, and whose voice can still be heard in the crackling of a campfire.

And we (all), like Moses, hear our own voice, small and quiet, yet filled with awe and wonder, saying “Yes, Lord, I am here.” 

AMEN.