14th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17), 3 September 2023: Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
Last week our readings began the story of Moses; between then an now Moses has grown up and become sensitive to the abuse of his people. He killed an Egyptian who was abusing the Israelites, and fled. He has now married the daughter of a priest of Midian and has a son. The verses just before the section we read today says,
After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cry for help rose up to God from their slavery. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them. (Exodus 2: 23-25)
We are following the actions of two actors: Moses and God. The account we have today is the story of how Moses comes to act for God. It is not a forgone conclusion that Moses will do what he did.
There is a bush burning, but not being burned up. Moses stops. He pays attention. It is only when he stops to examine this mystery that God calls to him. And Moses is by no means certain about this assignment: while the promise of the “land of milk and honey” is nice, Moses’ question, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” is not unreasonable. I’m pretty sure Moses knew Pharaoh would not say, “Oh, yes, of course, I know your people are treated unjustly, feel free to go”. That’s not how it works. All God says is that “I will be with you”. And we sense that soon Moses will be acting on behalf of the Lord.
Moses’ second question is more interesting: who should I say sent me? Who are you? Not just “the God of your ancestors”, but “What is your name?” God’s answer has been one of the great translation challenges: “I AM WHO I AM”. Or maybe, “I AM WHAT I AM” or “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE”. Tell them, God says, “I AM has sent me to you”.
But God continues: 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’: This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations. I AM is here and will be here. I AM will be with Moses as he does the hard work of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.
Answering the call is not always easy: in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus promises his disciples that following him will be hard. His followers will need to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. There was no easy way to the Son of Man in his Kingdom.
The story of salvation that Jesus promises is abstract, but Exodus is deeply practical. It is not an accident that the story of the Exodus gave comfort to enslaved people in the United States: the journey out of Egypt turned out to be hard, but the Israelites did come to the land of milk and honey. In our faith lives, we think both about creating the Kingdom of God on earth-working for justice, helping those in need-and eternal salvation. They are two sides of a coin.