The Bush Still Burns today

Exodus 3:1-12
Romans 12:9-21
“The Bush Still Burns Today”
Year A
August 31, 2008
repreached on August 27, 2011


Moses and Bush
It seems Moses came back to earth. It was quite an event, and he was given the royal treatment all over the world. The best seat at the Olympics, he met with the heads of state in Europe. They chartered a special plane to America. It landed at Kennedy Airport in New York. Moses was told that upon arrival, he would be met by the president of the United States. Moses became agitated, and said that he absolutely would not meet with that man. His guides tried to explain that he should be honored, no trip back to earth would be complete without meeting the most powerful man in the world. Honored – replied Moses – no I don’t think so – you know what happened the last time I talked to a bush?

Why I am telling that joke today
That’s actually a pretty old joke now – I first told it in 2002, then I told it again in 2005. When this scripture came up I figured I better tell it one last time. In six months that joke will have to be retired.

The last time Moses talked with a burning bush
Our text is of course about the last time Moses talked with a burning bush. He has had to escape Egypt, and he ends up back in the desert. He meets a woman, marries her and works for her father Jethro. Today he is in the land of Midian – After all of Abrahams struggles with getting a male heir – he actually has a third son by his second wife after Sarah dies – that is Midian. Jethro’s family is descendents of Midian. Moses is now a shepherd, taking the sheep out. In his daily duties he wanders into new territory, near Mount Horeb.

He probably didn’t even know he was near God’s Holy Mountain
Mount Horeb is thought to be the official home of God on Earth. In his later years, Moses will travel many times up that mountain to talk with God, but in this story – he probably had no idea of where he was

A Strange sight
Until he noticed a bush – a bush that was burning, but was not being consumed. It was as if he had walked into the edge of what was understood in the human world and what he didn’t understand about God’s world – and God was present in both worlds at the same time. God was part of the earthly world of death and destruction representing in the fire, and yet God was part of the eternal world which never changes and is never affected and can withstand any challenge of this earth – represented in the bush that would not burn.

How many times in our lives do we have an encounter with the divine?
How many times have we stood on the edge of the earthly world that we understood and gazed at the very eternal presence of God at the same time? How many times have you experienced the pain of death and the joy of life at the same moment? Hoe many times have you experienced the hope of the future and the despair of the past or present at the same time? How many times have we felt anxious and scared and excited at the same time? How many have you experienced the bitterness of your tears and the sweetness of your laughter in the same day? If you sit down and think about it – every moment of our lives is filled with both good and bad at the same time. Because every moment in our lives is a glimpse of the glory of God. Every moment, is a holy moment where we are standing in the presence of God. Wherever God is, is holy and God is everywhere.

In those encounters God is always asking us two things – be thankful and obey
In those moments, God instructs us , like Moses to talk off our shoes and recognize that we are standing on holy ground.
God tells Moses that God had heard the cries of his people and it is time to respond. And he will send Moses to do something about it. Moses response is a lot like ours – I am not good enough, I am not the right person, I am not prepared – why don’t you ask someone else.
God responds to you because you are not good enough, you are not the right person, you are not prepared is exactly why I am asking. God not asking us to do what we are not able to do – Acknowledging that you are in the presence of God only requires us to be obedient – to take off our shoes and to listen.

What is obedience to God?
Obedience to God is not doing something – it is waiting waiting to be transformed, readied for something new.

10 rules of Romans
Our Romans scripture has been a perfect backdrop for my sermon – because Paul is trying to help us understand what it means to be obedient to God. To trust and obey in every action. Paul tells us to do things like treat everyone as a friend, help when help is needed, laugh when people are happy and cry with them when they are sad, do not give into evil ideas and love everyone ,even those we may consider to be enemies.

3 rules of John Wesley
John Wesley actually took Paul’s ten rules and turned them into three- Do no harm, do what is Good, Love God in all things. Repeat those with me – We will be studying more about those rules in the coming months- as we think about who God calls us to be as a church.

1 rule What is impossible for us alone is possible for God
In the meantime there is only 1 rule to remember – that what is impossible for us alone is always possible for God.
Story of the holy Shadow
You may not know it but the angelic council meets every Wednesday from 3-5. The angels are not allowed to make decisions for God – but they do get together every week to discuss our lives and to decide which one of us humans should get the reward for obeying God and doing the most good in the world. Last week they found the perfect candidate. They had decided on a reward – but God told them to make sure that they asked her first.
An angel representative flew to her to tell her that she had been granted the gift if healing. She told the angel that she was flattered, but didn’t want the gift. This caused a special meeting on Thursday to decide what to do about this refusal. They decided to give her the gift of conversion, so that all whom she talked to would automatically join her church. She still refused. On Friday the angels were in a real flux – what divine gift could they give that she would accept – the finally decided that they would give her the gift of being a good person always. It was only after this third refusal that they remembered God’s advice to ask her what gift she wanted. (remember I told you this was an advisory committee – not capable of the deep thought that it required to instruct God). The asked her and she responded that she wanted the gift of doing good, but not knowing it. The angels talked about it and realized they would never have thought of that – but it was a fair gift and granted it. The woman walked along throughout her life – and wherever her shadow fell – people would just know they were touched by the grace of God. She is probably in this room right now. The world has been changed because of her – and yet no one ever knew her name – they only see her shadow or love and grace.

Remembering that it is not about us – but always about what God can do
That woman has a wonderful lesson for us – that God’s grace in the world is never about us, about what we can do, or even about the gifts that we have been given. God’s grace is always about God. The beauty of God, the everlasting presence of God, the love of God for all of God’s people. If we are willing to obey God – then God’s bush still burns brightly in the world. Burning us – yet never consuming us. We can experience those moments of sadness and joy, pain and happiness, those moments of life and death. And know that everything that we see and experience is a reflection of God.

The cross is the burning bush
The bush still burns for the world today in the form of the cross of Jesus. We are still standing on holy Ground – the ground of the church. God still calls each of us to take off our shoes and listen and obey. Amen.

Knowledge and People

Knowledge and People
August 21, 2011
Year A
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Matthew 16:13-20
10th Sunday after Pentecost




First line of knew him not
I was attracted to the exodus text because of the first line – Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. Is that sort of like getting a new bishop, who doesn’t know anything about you, and having to start building a relationship all over again. Or talking to an old district superintendent weeks before he leaves, and promises of what is going to happen being made, and just as things start to progress, getting a new superintendent who really doesn’t want to hear your story?

Explanation of why he didn’t know them
For the Israelites, it was. They had built such a good relationship while Joseph was alive, and now things were about to take a big turn for the worse. History really does say that the pharaoh – Hyskos- while Joseph was alive tended to like to have a relationship with his Semitic neighbors. He was very sympathetic to their needs. But as a new dynasty arose, the Semitic people became a threat. What happens if their enemies attacked , the Jews were so numerous that if they sided with the enemy – they were a force to be reckoned with. In this case, they had to be controlled – so they were put into slavery.

Genesis was the story of the first family. Exodus is the story of how that family fell on hard times and how God delivered them. This is also a story of knowledge. Who you know and what you know about them

Scripture says that pharaoh knew them not. But the good news is that God did know them. God knew their situation. God knew exactly what it would take to deliver them.


Where is God in this story?
Interestingly enough – this is the story of Moses. How Moses was born in extenuating circumstances that should have killed him. How he survived, how he was raised in the best possible household, how he had the best possible education, how he used it to bring his people out of the oppression put on them by the new Pharaoh. Someone pointed out to me that if you read the story – the characters of the story are Moses, Moses sister, Moses mother, the princess of Egypt, and her family, there are the two midwives who are supposed to deliver and kill Hebrew babies, and yet they are more afraid of God then they are the pharaoh- and they let the babies live. Nowhere in the story is the voice of God. Nowhere in the story is the name of God even mentioned. And yet – God’s presence is obvious. You read between the lines of the story – and you know that Moses survival against the odds is nothing but God.

It is a lot like our lives. When we forget to pray to God, we forget to call on the name of God. Sometimes even in the church, we look at our business that we do, and say that there is no way that God could be in the midst of that. That is all the decision of man. And yet when you step back from it and you look at things a little closer, you realize that the only way that you made it through, was through the grace of God. When you look at the individual lines of history – you say I don’t hear God’s name nowhere. But when it is all said and done no one but could have cleaned that mess up.
It was God who told the midwives to do the right thing, it was God who told the mother to protect her baby, it was God who made sure the baby was found by the right person, it was God who told pharaoh’s daughter not the kill the baby, it was God who kept him safe in the enemy household, and it was God who called him to deliver his people from oppression to freedom.
And it is God who is head of our lives, our church , and our nation.
Whatever we need to be delivered from our oppression, be it in our mind, body or spirit – God is sending it to us right now. Leaders may not really know our needs – but God does. The news said that Michelle Bachman claimed she knew what needed to be done so that we could pay $2 for gas. Wherever there is a mess – there is always a solution from God.




Solution to confusion is Jesus
The good news is that the solution – usually involves Jesus Christ. God’s ultimate solution for the mess that we make of our lives. God’s answer to all of the problems of the world.

This is a confession
Matthew 16 is a pivotal verse for our times. It is also pivotal in the life of Jesus. He has been in ministry to his nation for three years. And he has taught us everything that he knows. Now all there is to do is to go to Jerusalem to the cross, and to make sure that his disciples are prepared to continue to spread the good news in his absence. In the remaining chapters you will see that he pulls away from the crowd and spends time with his disciples. In this lesson, it is not what Jesus teaches that is important to us, it is Peter’s response. Jesus tells Peter that he will make him the rock of the church. Now there is a difference to the way Catholics and Protestants interpret this verse. Catholics believe that Jesus was saying that Peter is literally the rock of the church. The Vatican is built upon the grave of Peter. The only way to be a bishop in the Catholic Church is to be touched by someone who has been touched by Peter. Peter is the rock. But for us as Protestants it is not the person of Peter that is important. It is Peter’s confession. Jesus asks Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter answers that you are the messiah – the son of the living God. It was not Peters’ common sense that could give that answer. It was the spirit of God who had to tell him. It was Peter’s answer that made the difference. Peter could have said that he was a prophet, or a good teacher, or a peacemaker, or a worthy leader. God revealed that this was his son. The messiah the savior of the world. Jesus knew the right question to ask to lead Peter in the right direction. And he continue to asks us the church the faithful disciples the same answer.

Jesus challenges us with a question
There is a story of a neighborhood in a large city – it was a neighborhood of immigrants. There were Christians, Jews and Muslims all in this neighborhood. The kids of the neighborhood struggled to understand one another and what made them different. They came to know the rabbi’s family because – he would pay the kids in the neighborhood to do what he needed on Fridays and Saturdays when he was not allowed to do the work themselves. The kids came to know what it meant to be a Jew by working for him. But they also realized that more than any adult – they liked to be with the rabbi. While others adults were giving them orders and telling them what to do. The rabbi had a different technique. Instead of saying this is what you need to do, he would ask – what would happen if? Is that the best decision that you can make? What are the alternatives to doing this.
It was in his questions, that they were able to come up with their own answers. They not only understood better, they were challenged to use their heads to think.

Jesus challenge to the church
Jesus uses the same technique to challenge the church. For the protestant church, Jesus didn’t put his faith in one person, Jesus put his faith upon the church. We are the rock upon which Jesus builds. It is in our confession of who Jesus is, that we come to know who we are – and what we are supposed to do. The politics of people are always a mess. But the politics of Jesus Christ is always salvation. Jesus says that if we understand that, then we are given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. If we know for ourselves that Jesus Christ is Lord – then we have been given supernatural power to change to world. The power is in our confession, not in ourselves. God is present in our faith, not in who we are.

Mystery too deep for church to understand
I began this sermon about mentioning new bishops, and new district superintendents, and even new pastors. New leaders are always a part of what it means to be united Methodist. Not a bad thing, not a good thing. Just the way we are. H. G Wells – writes a story called the soul of a bishop. The bishop is talking with an angel about his plans. And he says tell me the truth. Give me God’s plan for my life, for the church for the future. He wants to get a special revelation. The angel laughs at him and asks where he should put the special revelation. The bishop points at his bald spot and says why in here of course. The angel laughs and says inside of your head. No I can’t put it there – there is nothing inside of there to hold it. Whether we are a bishop, a pastor, or a lay person. It is not about what we know – because the reality is that none of us know much. It is about what we confess – that Jesus Christ is the messiah – the son of God. The head of the church – and of all that we do. Let us pray…..

Clean hearts, clean words, clean love

August 14, 2011
“Clean Hearts, Clean Words, Clean Love”
Romans 11:1-2a; 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Year A






The lesson of race from south Africa

There are a lot of lessons that I bring home from my trip to South Africa. I am still processing a lot of those lessons. The one thing that I struggled with throughout my whole trip – was the definition of race and the meaning of racism. I learned that the definition of race that I grew up with as an black person in America, does not necessarily apply in South Africa. Most of the people that I met, were very proud to day that their identity was as an South African, regardless of what their culture was. I met black people, Indians, whites, and colored (those of mixed race), and even though they were deeply concerned about their heritage, they would always insist that they were South African.
This is the second time that I have attended the world Methodist conference, and it is a conversation that I feel that I have to be a part of. As an African American, oppression, predjudice, racism is so much a part of my – our story. But it is a story that is repeated everywhere, in all parts of the country. I still ask God, why is predjudice and racism so much a part of the human story.

Bishop Chacour’s talk
One of the most compelling speakers of the week – was Bishop Elias Chacour. Bishop Chacour is a Palestinian Christian. He told of a story of why he could hate the jews for what they did to his family – and why he cant afford to hate them. He told a story of how racism is alive and well in his world. And in spite of it he is a faithful Christian. He told us that in many ways he was just like Jesus – being born in the same land.


Jesus is just a person
Interestingingly enough – Matthew 15 tells a story of how He and jesus are not brothers. They may look alike, they may have been born in the same land. But one of them was born a jew and the other a Palestinian. Jesus makes it very clear that his mission is to the lost sheep of the house of isreal and no one else. If you read the entire book of matthew, you will find that of all of the miracles that he does to transform lives, there are only 3 times that he reaches out to those who are not jewish. Of those three – one takes place after his resurrection when he finally tells the disciples to make disciples of all nations.

The Canaanite woman’s wit
The story of the cannannite woman might seem a little strange to us as Jesus tells her that he cant give the food to the children to the dogs. Is he really calling her a dog? The jews thought of all gentiles (anyone who was not like them as dogs). This was not just any gentile, but a gentile. Hebrew scriptures particularly tell Jews, not to associate with cannonites. They were to claim the promisland and to totally destroy all cannonaites. Not to get to know them, not try to understand them, not to relate to them. But to kill them without question. Just as they do to the Palestinians today. So it was the least he could do to call her a dog. Jewish religion is concerned with being clean. The only person capable of true cleaniliness are jews. Everyone else is dirty – thus dogs.
The woman made a simple request of Jesus – he had saved others, please save her daughter. She even acknowledges him as he son of david. And he refuses her request, and calls her a dog.


Was Jesus a racist
Was Jesus a racist? Is the new testament really saying that a personal predjudice okay? Or is it helping us to understand that Jesus was born in a particular time, place and situation. The story of the messiah comes out of the human story. And no matter where any of us are born – we cant escape the story of human predjudice. There is a place in all of our hearts where our predjudice begins and ends. Being a person of faith means being aware of where our faith begins and where it ends, and who is not included in our definitions of us and them.



We are all born baby
Bishop chacour himself said that many people find it hard to believe that he could be Palestinian and Christian. And yet he is proud of his heritage. As a matter of fact, the canannites would have been dogs to the jews, but they became some of the most loyal and faithful Christians in history. Since most Palestinians are muslim, bishop chacour said that many people ask him if he was born Christian. He explains to them that no, he was not born a Christian – he was born a baby. A newborn baby – fresh and innocent from heaven. He has to be taught how to walk, how to talk and how to be a Christian. Just like any other baby born anywhere in the world.
In the eyes of God we are not classified as jewish, or muslim or Christian. God doesn’t care if we are Methodist, or Baptist. All God cares about is whether we are faithful.
Matthew 15 is not a story of Jesus’ Jewishness – it is a story of what it means to be faithful. In America we tend to intellectualize faith as something that you learn, and that you commit to as long as you are being served. In the middle east – where our faith began – faith is a decision. A decision to be loyal no matter what. A decision to remain steadfast no matter what the circumstance. A decision to never take no for answer, to stay on course, to be always be loyal to the promises of God.

Stay faithful to the God that stays faithful to us
God never abandons us – faith is making a decision to never abandon God. All throughout the new testament Jesus outwits any who question him. In this story he meets his match – He says that he cant take the food for the children and feed it to the dogs – she comes back and says even the dogs get the crumbs from the table. In other words I might be a dog, I might be unclean, I might not fit into your in corwd, but I am still a child of god – worthy of salvation. What else could jesus say to that but great is your faith? Her daughter was healed.

She understood the messiah better than the disciples
The disciples didn’t understand anything that jesus was talking about, the learned Pharisees couldn’t make sense of him, the crowd did not know him – but this outsider had enough faith to know that he and he alone had the power to save her. He was the messiah – her messiah, the messiah of the jews and the messiah of all. I saw a sign yesterday which said that Jesus is capable of saving anybody from anything. If we just have the faith that it will be so.

Bishop Swanson’s story of standing firm
Last Friday – we attended evangelistic services at the churches throughout the area. I visited Kwamushu church, in a township. The church is so full of young people, that they cant fit them all in once church. Our preacher for the service was bishop james swanson – the bishop of dallas. His sermon was on faith – and how important it is for us to stand fast. He told a story of how he graduated in the top of his class and always believed that he would go to college. But because he was black, his counselor never even told him to go to college. He thought it was like high school. When it was time for school to start, you showed up, registered and showed up for class. So on the first day of school, he kissed him mother goodbye, took the bus and got in line to register for classes. When the clerk told him that he had not been accepted, the he could not register, he refused to get out of line. He had told his mother he was going to college, and he was determined not to disappoint her. He told the clerk that he was not getting out of line until she registered him. Finally he talked to someone in the admission office. It took him a year to take the ACT, send in his application and do all of the other things he needed to so. But he did get into school, and he was given all the scholarships he needed to pay for it. He went from a unknowing black student in the south – to a bishop of the united Methodist church. All because he had a need, patience, persistence and faith. Faith is a commitment to stay loyal to the promises of God no matter what, no matter how, no matter who.
God never gives up on you – so why should you ever give up on God? Jesus can save anybody from anything. But we have to remember that God wants to save anybody.

The limits of our faith
If Jesus was a product of a time, place and situation. If he can call someone a dog, then so can we. We might not call others dogs, but we all have an opinion. Our faith has limits. There are some people who we think are only worthy of God’s crumbs – while we deserve the whole meal. If God loves me, then he can’t possibly love them. If I am right, then there is someone in our world who must be wrong. If I am an insider, then you must be an outsider. Jesus proves that our faith has limits. Just as Jesus, we have to be aware of where those limits our. So that God can give us the power to overcome them.
Romans – we are all sinners
Romans 11 tells us that even the children of God aren’t worthy of sitting at God’s table. God made sure that at some point we would sin. No matter where we are in life, no matter what country, what culture, we are sinners. Sinners, so that we could learn the lesson of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is the source of our faithful loyalty.

A jews decision to remain faithful
Elie Weisel is a jew, a chosen of God who went through the holocaust. He tells the world of the horrible things that he went through in the holocaust. He tells of his anger at God at who could a God of love allow such things tohappen to him, when others are seemingly living a very good life. He tells of he moment when he ask himself why he should believe in God. And finally he realizes why not. Faith is not about what happens in life, faith is a choice, a decision. Faith is a decision to remain loyal to God no matter what, no matter where, no matter who. Faith is a choice that I will remain steadfast. Faith is belief in a God who remains faithful to me, even when I am faithful to God. Amen.