Holy Ground, Holy Purpose

August 31, 2014 Exodus 3:1-15 Holy Ground, Holy Purpose 12th Sunday After Pentecost Year A What are some of the problems of the world? We are living in some interesting times. There are so many different things going on in the world today. What are some situations going on in the world that you think need God’s attention…… The good news is that if you see it as a problem, God also sees. Sometimes when we hear the stories of the bible, we can start to believe that these stories are outdated, and say nothing about the world today. Nothing can be further from the truth. The God that we worship is a very hip and up to date God. He knows what is going on in the world – and he has a plan to fix this world up and to make everything right. What exodus says about what God can do 3. A Wonderful Experience. (v.7-10) (God replied with the following responses) A) "I have seen" (v.7a) B) "I have heard" (v.7b) C) "I know" (v.7c) D) "I have come down to deliver you" (v.8a) E) "I have seen the oppression" (v.9) We have all heard this story of Moses and the burning bush. It can be easy to be fooled into thinking that this is an old story, and that there is nothing new that we can learn from this story. But today, I want to encourage you to think about this story in a whole new way. I want to focus on things that we have not thought about. God is the center of this story not Moses. Story starts with God’s awareness of the world, not Moses answering God’s call. The message for today- God still appears to the faithful, God still has a plan. God still wants you and me to be apart of that plan to change the world. The importance of vision In the story, Moses had a vision to see beyond the ordinary, and to recognize God in the situation. Do we have that same vision? When we look at the world – what do we see? Do we see the situation, or do we see God’s future unfolding before our eyes. In order to see God, to have that special vision, you have to see with your eyes, but also see with your faith. The bush was burning, but was not consumed. Moses was able to see what was there, but to look beyond it and to recognize the presence of God. Is the world coming apart, or is the world coming together. It all depends on our vision. 5475 Mrs. Tan’s Vision Of Cross The New Grace Christian Church in the Philippines has a distinctively massive Cross outside its sanctuary. One mid-morning in 1976, Mrs. Julia L. Tan was returning home from a God-honoring project in Manila when she saw a beautiful, shining Cross over the church’s existing cross structure. Disbelieving her own eyes, she thought it must be a case of “double vision.” The shining Cross disappeared. But in another minute, the Cross again appeared over the roof of the church. This precious experience proved a great comfort and assurance to her in the ministry. Mrs. Tan co-founded the 5,000-student Grace Christian High School and Grace Bible Church, and started the Grace Gospel Church and Grace Christian Church. She still actively serves the Lord having completed over 50 years of educational service in the Far East by 1980. Count Zinzendorf owed much of his spiritual fervor to the casual sight of a picture of the crucifixion, with this simple inscription at the bottom: “All this for thee: how much for me?” In 1845, in the First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention was organized. As a tribute to the faith of the founding fathers, the church placed this inscription in the building: “Men who see the invisible, hear the inaudible, believe the incredible, and think the unthinkable!” The best way to see how God is at work in the world today, is to make sure that we see Jesus clearly. If we see Jesus in the world, we also see God’s plan. We come to know Jesus by reading the revelation in the bible. By practicing prayer, and most importantly by living our lives the way Jesus calls us to. If we do that – we will be blessed with a special vision – to see God in all things. And to know God is there, in places where others cant see him. The significance of taking off shoes the story – God tells Moses how to indeed stay close to God. He tells Moses to take off his shoes. In Middle Eastern culture, you always take off your shoes before entering a house. In a mosque, before you enter in you have to take off your shoes. It is disrespectful to bring the dust of your shoes into someone’s space. The dust from the ground represents a sinful world. You remove you sin as a sign of respect. But there are other stories in the bible of people removing there shoes. In Ruth when her husband dies, a relative must present his shoes to the judge in order to vouch for Ruth in court. But God has another reason for asking Moses to remove his shoes on holy ground. It is not so much a sign of respect. Shoes are a part of our persona- our presence to the outside world. You may walk around the house in your stocking feet, but when you go outside in the world – one of the things that you have to do is put your shoes on. That is a part of making yourself presentable to the rest of the world is putting your shoes on. God tells Moses to take your shoes off – take of the mask that the rest of the world sees. Become vulnerable, be yourself. Present nothing to God –but your innerself. One of the most dramatic and world-renowned shifts from "I" to God is the conversion of C. S. Lewis. This little man, who held the chair of medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, sat in his study without typewriter or secretary and penned the great masterpieces, which made him perhaps the most broadly read Christian writer of our century. C. S. Lewis was an agnostic, but was Surprised by Joy--the title of a book in which he tells about "The Shape of My Early Life" as Christ replaced the "I" in his life. C. S. Lewis describes the exchange between self-will and God's will in Beyond Personality (and his words are a challenge to you and to me): "Christ says, 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your money and so much of your work--I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self instead. In fact I will give you myself, my own will shall become yours. Donald Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, Resource, 1992, p. 162 Yahweh and abba It is interesting that in this story- we learn God’s name I am who I am – or Yahweh. A name so sacred, that we are not supposed to even pronounce it. And yet Jesus calls God Abba- daddy. You can’t get any closer than a father to a son. Jesus takes all the pretense away in his relationship with God. There are no secrets, no walls, no shoes. He has given his whole self to God, and he came to help us understand that we too can do the same. As a matter of fact, if we are to be what God calls us to be – we have to be present with God. 3. A Wonderful Experience. (v.7-10) (God replied with the following responses) A) "I have seen" (v.7a) B) "I have heard" (v.7b) C) "I know" (v.7c) D) "I have come down to deliver you" (v.8a) E) "I have seen the oppression" (v.9) G) "I will send you" (v.10) (God is fully aware of what we experience in life. He is able to handle anything that we might face.) The God who gets things done In his conversation with God, Moses first ask who am I that you would ask me to carry out this important task. God replies, I will be with you. You are important enough for God to want a relationship with you, you are important enough that God wants to know all about you, you are important enough that God has entrusted you with the most important thing in his heart – to save his people. God wants to know if you are up to the task? Are you ready for the relationship? Are you able to be close to God? God’s name is I am who I am – or more importantly I will be who I will be. The world that God created will be so. You may not know that Yahweh also means the one who causes things to be. Our God is the one who knows how to get things done. And we live in a world that needs him desparately. We were able to identify so many things that are going on in the world today. Yahweh knows how to make a difference and make the world a better place for all of us. He is choosing you to help him out – do you chose him?Let us pray. Amen. Children’s Sermon….. Yahweh by B. Kathleen Fannin Passage: Exodus 3:1-22 • Lectionary: Proper 17 Item 1 of 1 | Back to Results "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?' 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." ' " Theme: Self-esteem. Visual Aid: White posterboard with "YHWH" written in capital letters. As the children come up to the front of the sanctuary, I place the posterboard face down in front of me. Following my usual practice, I begin with a question. "Does everyone here have a name?" This brings laughs and giggles as the children nod. Of course everyone has a name! At this point, with a small group, I will ask each child to tell me her/his name. "Have you ever forgotten someone's name?" Several children indicate they have. "How did that make you feel?" I ask. "Dumb!" Nancy responds. "Embarrassed!" offers Matt. "Once I forgot my OWN name," says George, causing more giggles. "Has anyone else ever forgotten your name?" I ask him. He nods affirmatively. "How about the rest of you? Has anyone ever forgotten your name?" Several more children acknowledge this experience. "How did that make you feel?" I question. "Like I wasn't very important ..." "Like they didn't recognize me ..." "Like they didn't care about me ..." "And how do you feel when someone remembers your name?" I continue. "Good!" "Yes, it feels good to have someone remember our name, doesn't it? Our names give us identity. Our names tell us we are somebody; we exist. "Did you know that God knows the name of every one of you?" This brings everything from assured nods to looks of surprise. "And we know lots of names for God, too, don't we? What are some of those names?" "Father!" "Lord!" "Creator!" "God!" "Jesus!" "Love!" Out of the mouths of children ... And then one little girl of about ten really gives me a surprise. "Yahweh," she says quietly. I know immediately that this child has been paying attention in church or Sunday School or both. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I find myself responding to each reply. "Yahweh!" I repeat in startled wonder when it is pronounced by the girl. I reach down in front of me to pick up the posterboard. As the children look at what I have written, they look puzzled. "This looks funny, doesn't it?" I ask. They nod. "Why?" I question. After a moment's thought, one of the older children says, "There aren't any vowels." "That's right," I tell her. "The Hebrews didn't use vowels in their writing very often. This is an English translation of the Hebrew letters they used to write 'Yahweh,' the name of God." "After a while, the name of God became so sacred that the Hebrews wouldn't even pronounce it when they were reading scripture. They would substitute the name 'Adonai' instead. 'Adonai' means 'Lord.' "Well, what have we learned together this morning?" This is always a risky question with any group, but perhaps particularly with children because they tend to be so honest. "We've learned the name of God," Jerry responds. "And what is that name?" I ask the group, holding up the posterboard for all of them to see. "Yahweh!" a number of them reply. "So, we've learned the Hebrews' name for God was 'Yahweh.' What else have we learned?" An uncomfortable silence follows. "What if I call you the wrong name or can't remember your name?" I ask. "Oh, yeah!" Marian says, "I like for you to know my name and not mess it up when you say it." "And if I did mess it up, what would you do?" "Tell you how to say it right!" she assures me. And I have no doubt she would. "Are you telling me your name, your correct name, is important to you?" She nods vigorously. "In fact, each of your names is important to each of you, right?" I ask the entire group. Numerous little heads bob up-and-down affirmatively. "Sometimes we get down on ourselves. Sometimes we don't think we're worth much. If that ever happens to you, I hope you'll remember that you are important to God. In fact, you are so important, and God loves you so much, that God knows you by your very own name." Cows In Church, B. Kathleen Fannin, CSS Publishing Company, Inc, 1999, 0-7880-1346-7 Extra Illustrations…… NAME OF GOD...? If you’re in Lake City, Fla., one of these days and happen to run into a 50-something fellow with a sandy moustache, a receeding hairline, and aviator glasses, you may be in the presence of I Am Who I Am. Really. But that’s because Columbia County Court turned down his first request for a new name: God. The former Charles Haffey says he wanted a new identity because of lingering feelings of anxiety over his military service in Vietnam. (Source: 10/15/02 News Headlines from The Christian Science Monitor) Text Illustration: Life Examples: Moses: God’s Pattern for Success (Ex. 3:1-4) One of the greatest differences between the world’s message about success and God’s is this: The world seeks a single formula to produce one set of results for all people, while God’s plan is far more creative, far more individualized, and far more personal. Moses did not have a vision for success early in his life, although as an adopted son of Pharaoh he enjoyed a certain degree of privilege. After murdering an Egyptian, however, he ran for his life and then spent forty years tending sheep. But one day the Lord revealed Himself to Moses and gave him a specific life mission. Many of us go through difficult and even devastating experiences, and then one day come face-to-face with the reality of God. Is this the pattern that god seems to be implementing in your life? If so, stick with His plan, regardless of how unorthodox it may seem-The Promised Land lies in that direction! -The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible A Living Sacrifice There is, I think it is true to say, something a little bit depressing about Labor Day weekend. For Labor Day weekend signals the psychological end, at least, to summer with its periods of refreshment, and the start again, for many of us, of the more hectic rhythm of life and work at school, in college, at office or, in home. So let me ask you: How is your work? Are you giving of your self at work? Is work a place where you sacrifice for a cause? I find it helpful to remember the story of the little girl who, in the process of growing up, discovered that more than anything else she wanted to be able to mow the lawn. But each season she was told that she was too young. The great day came, however, when her parents decided that, at last, she was old enough to do the task. She did it with surprising skill and great delight, and having finished admiring her work, she began to cast long, envious glances across the fence at the neighbor's lawn, which also needed cutting. The neighbor, seeing her interest, said, "Sally, would you like to cut my lawn?" And the little girl enthusiastically said 'yes.' "Well, let's see...how about $3.00?" said the neighbor. The little girl's face fell, and she turned away, shaking her head. "What's the matter?" asked the neighbor. "I only have $2.00," said the little girl. Brett Blair, wwweSermons.com. Adapted from a sermon by Rev. C. Wayne Hilliker: "Living A Life That Matters" Back to Results | Item 1 of 1 Text Illustration: IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN A basketball in my hands is worth about $19 A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million It depends whose hands it’s in A baseball in my hands is worth about $6 A baseball in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth $19 million It depends whose hands it’s in A tennis racket is useless in my hands A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands is a Wimbledon Championship It depends whose hands it’s in A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea It depends whose hands it’s in A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands It depends whose hands it’s in Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce salvation for the entire world. It depends whose hands it’s in As you see now it depends whose hands it’s in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because It depends whose hands it’s in.(Author Unknown)