A Bush and a Cross Exodus 3:1-15; Matt 16:21-28

I like the story of President George W. Bush walking through an airport when he meets an elderly man with a long beard, wearing robes and sandals and carrying in his arms two tablets of stone. Excitedly, Bush runs up to the old man and asks;

"Sir, are you Moses?"

The man carries on walking so Bush chases after him, once more asking;

"Sir, are you Moses?"

Still the man carries on walking without responding to the question. But persistently, Bush carries on his pursuit, saying to the old man;

"I don’t know if you are Moses or not, but if you are Moses, you aren’t exactly friendly."

At this the old man stops and looks Bush in the eye before responding;

"Of course I am Moses, but you and I both know that the last time I talked to a Bush I spent 40 years wandering around in the wilderness."

Yes indeed. The calling of Moses through the Burning Bush was something that changed the life of Moses. Furthermore, the calling of Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and on a journey to become God’s people was peculiar in the extreme. For Moses was about as suited to such leadership as perhaps today, Simon Cowell would be suited to opening up a Charm School.

There is an old story of a church looking for a new pastor. The Selection Committee had spent hours one night looking for the right person and were ready to give up when they came upon this letter of introduction from a candidate;

"To the Ministerial Nominating Committee. It is my understanding that you are in the process of searching for a new pastor, and I would like to apply for the position. I wish I could say that I am a terrific preacher, but I can’t - actually, I stutter when I speak. I wish I could say that I have an impressive educational background, but I can’t - no college or seminary, just the school of “Hard knocks.” I wish I could say that I bring a wealth of experience to the job, but I can’t - I have never been a pastor before ( unless you count the flock of sheep I have been shepherding). I wish I could say I have wonderful pastoral skills, but I can’t - sometimes I lose my temper and have been known to get violent when upset. Once I even killed somebody, but gracious folks that you are, I am sure that you wouldn’t hold that against me. I know that churches these days want young ministers to attract young members, and I wish that I could say that I am young, but I can’t - actually, I am almost 80,,, but I still feel young. With all that which might go against me, why am I applying for your position? Simple. One afternoon recently, the voice of God spoke to me and said I had been chosen to lead. I admit, I was a bit reluctant at first, but… well here I am. O look forward to hearing from you and to leading you into an exciting new future. Yours sincerely,"

The Selection Committee looked at each other aghast. The chairperson asked, “Well what do you think?” the question seemed totally unnecessary. A stuttering, uneducated, inexperienced, arrogant, old, clearly neurotic ex - murderer as their pastor? The man must be crazy. The Chairperson eyed each of the committee before she added, “It is signed Moses.”

Certainly Moses was an unlikely choice to be God’s leader in the epic that was about to unfold. Everything about him was wrong. That is except for the fact that he was able to sense the presence of God in a way that few others would have. In a burning bush, he sensed the presence of God and dared to realise that he was on Holy ground. It’s a bit like Elizabeth Barrett Browning puts it in her poem, "Aurora Leigh";

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.

And that is the big question. Do we like Moses see God’s presence in our world or are we oblivious to the presence of God?

Now the important thing about God’s call to Moses through the burning bush, is that it is a call for Moses to be involved in God’s work of liberation. At this time, the Hebrews are like many a minority community in the world since, the victims of oppression. They are treated as slaves, as lesser people by the power that is Egypt. Their contribution to that society just generations before is as it were airbrushed out of history. Their situation had about it a hopelessness that has its parallels in the position of non European races in South Africa not so long ago. Like them they had little reason to expect things to change. But in the story of Moses, we see the God who is on the side of the victims of injustice and who demands a change of perspective and a change of situation. We see in this story no quiet acceptance of injustice but instead a refrain that breaks forth time and time again with ever increasing crescendo;

Let my people go!

And in the story of Moses and the Exodus, we see the giant of oppressive power brought to its very knees. And it is no accident that where people are deprived a fair deal in life, this story is recalled as a message of hope. This is particularly true in the context of South America where the extremes of poverty and ostentatious wealth live in close proximity with the position of the powerful maintained by death squads and misuse of state power. For to the communities marked by liberation theology, this story says that God is to be found as present in the struggle against injustice and cruelty and part of our path of discipleship is to cooperate with this Divine work of liberation.

And yet, I cannot help but be uncomfortable with some of the way in which the story later pans out. We later hear of plagues which wreak havoc, of the horror of the deaths of the first born sons of the Egyptians and the drowning of many of their conscript army. I find myself shuddering at the thought that God’s liberation may be for one people and not for another. I struggle with the seeming indifference of the Biblical accounts to the victims who happen to be Egyptian. And perhaps my reason is not just that it seems unfair for collective guilt to have been imposed in the past. For I think part of my unease is contemporary. I am uncomfortable when collective guilt is directed against a people on mass. After all did we not see something of that in the video of the London suicide bomber who was prepared to condemn a whole people for what he saw as wrongs perpetuated in our names even if we were opposed to those actions.

Too often in history, it seems to me that wrongs have been righted by means that have produced their own wrongs. And circles of ever increasing hatred and violence are the result. Yes, the Scriptures commit us to opposing injustice but surely we are not called to that damnable lie that ends necessarily justify the means.

And it is here that our Gospel Reading fits in. Peter has not long before acclaimed Jesus as “Messiah.” He has seen Jesus as the one who will bring victory to his people over those who have imposed on it the long night of wrong. But he has failed to understand the ways of God in bringing the triumph of right. He still sees a victory won by the killing and destruction of enemies. No wonder he is unable to understand the Kingship of Jesus where the weapons of power will be love and forgiveness. No wonder he is unable to understand a Jesus whose victory will be seen not in killing others but in being killed himself. But surprising as it is to him, his whole understanding of God has to undergo a mega transformation.

Soon he will learn the power of self giving. Soon he will see in the cross the way of God bringing salvation to the world. For in the Cross is God in Christ offering a sufficient sacrifice that draws us away from demanding further shedding of blood. The need for vengeance is gone as is the need to punish ourselves as so many do. The Cross proclaims with power that Christ has taken on himself all the wrongs and sufferings of the world and no longs to share his risen life with each and every one of us. For to him, we are all special and valuable.

So this morning we meet the risen Christ afresh at the Table. And then we go into the world. And as we go into the world, we go seeking the sensitivity to the presence of Christ that was Moses’, the willingness to serve God despite our limitations which took some time for Moses to reach, the passion to oppose injustice and all that dehumanises which God revealed to be the Divine way to Moses, and finally with the appreciation that in all things we need to be guided by the way of Jesus who values and loves even those whose humanity we too often deny.


This sermon was preached in Bideford on September 4th at a Communion Service