I am sending you
Exodus 3 (selected verses)
3 Moses led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ 4…God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 5 Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 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… 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ 11 But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ 12 He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’
13 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?’ 14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.”’ 15 God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you 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”:
This is my name for ever, and this my title for all generations.
Moses in the eyes of the world was a failure. Raised in Pharaoh’s household, receiving the finest education Egypt had to offer (which was the finest education the world had to offer at that time) – he spent his adult years taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep. A low skill, boring, smelly job. No wonder the bush on fire in the desert drew his attention – not because it was on fire but because the fire did not burn up the bush and then go out. Moses was not so dis-engaged that he failed to see this as strange. And there he met God.
God declared that he had heard the cries of his people, had seen what was going on – and God “had come down” to do something about it. That something was to send Moses. Moses who had the perfect resume for coordinating a liberation movement (that is said sarcastically).
What Moses was good at was making excuses. “Why me, why choose me?” God never answers that question in either this chapter or the next. God never explains why Moses was chosen. God chose Moses and God will not un-choose Moses. God will not accept, “Send someone else.” Again and again this is the truth about God’s working in the world – God chooses the weak, the unimportant, the ignored, the unseen to bring about God’s desired transformation of the world.
When God gets our attention and invites us into his mission, God knows exactly what he is doing. For the God who chose – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – as unlikely as they were – chose Moses—as unlikely as he was – has chosen us. Chosen us not to lead a nation to freedom – but chosen us to be God’s person where we are – to proclaim hope to the hopeless, comfort to the hurting, and the promise that God is with us.
PRAYER:
O God, you call people, unlikely people, to join you in your mission in the world. You have called us, unlikely as we are, to join you. We thank you for this call, give us the courage to say “yes” to your invitation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.