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.