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…..