Homily for the Third Sunday in Lent
The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour
March 20, 2022
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We never really know, do we, when we might encounter God. Sometimes we feel quite certain that we have been with the Almighty, but other times we doubt if it even happened. Just like Moses, it can catch us totally by surprise. Bob Deffinbaugh says, “Little did [Moses] know that here he was going to come face to face with God. I think of him tending his sheep here as something like Peter going fishing (John 21:2ff.), thinking that the past was over and that life had settled into a routine.” (https://bible.org/seriespage/3-burning-bush-exodus-31-15
Moses, if you will remember, had worked hard to understand who he was. Just as we do, he had reconciled his past and present, and was working toward the future. He had left a profitable and comfortable existence as an elite Egyptian, choosing to embrace his Judaic heritage. On this day, Scripture tells us he had married into the family of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and was keeping his father in law’s flocks in the wilderness. It must have been a peaceful and ordered existence, one in which Moses believed he knew what to expect—at least within the parameters of overseeing livestock.
He had left his problems in Egypt behind, and was as content as a human could be. But God had bigger plans for Moses, just as God tends to do with each one of us. “The God of the burning bush is a God who commissions people to participate in His purposes. While God is going to be directly involved in the deliverance of His people, He will do so through human instruments.” (Ibid.) Moses had already done a fair amount of work trying to understand who he was. As he stands before the burning bush, it is time to discern who God is. "I am who I am,” says God. “"Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”
Deffenbaugh says this answer leaves Moses unable to dwell on his own preoccupations with all of this. “God’s answer seeks to refocus Moses’ attention from looking at the sendee (Moses) to the Sender (God). What is important is not the instrument in God’s hand, but the One in whose hand the instrument is being held. God therefore promises Moses that His presence will go with him as he obeys his calling: “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. . .” ((https://bible.org/seriespage/3-burning-bush-exodus-31-15)
It is easy enough to think that this passage is all about Moses. Most of us have seen “The Movie,” so we have that striking visual image of this moment.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Charleton+Heston+burning+bush&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS921US923&oq=Charleton+Heston+burning+bush&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i13.44233j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
But, John Holbert says that this would be a huge misunderstanding. “No, Moses is hardly Charlton Heston. He is, in fact, you and me—less than eager to speak the truth, more than eager to leave the task to someone else. But sometimes, the task is ours and only ours, and we, and only we, must be the agents of God.” (https://www.patheos.com/resources/additional-resources/2011/08/its-your-call-reflections-on-exodus-3-john-holbert-08-22-2011)
What does it look like to be an agent of God? Do we get a special trench coat and hat? And perhaps a communicator with a direct and dedicated line? Moreover, do we have to be good all the time in order to keep our agent status?
The Gospel lesson gives us the straight talk about who is in and who is out. When we are busily looking at others and trying to figure out if they are worthy, the parable of the fig tree reminds us that we are all sinners. Thankfully, God’s Grace is of the everlasting and patient variety. Heather Riggleman explains it this way: “Jesus wants us to live our lives for God. He wants us to ensure we stay deeply rooted in His Word, in His Presence in all that we do. As He tends to our branches, He expects a fruitful return of His investment because He willingly paid dearly through the death on the cross. It covered our sins and in return, He wants to see each of us adding to the Kingdom of God with our hearts, our speech, and in all that we do.” (https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-can-we-learn-from-the-parable-of-the-fig-tree.html)
We also might consider the Psalmist’s perspective of gratitude: For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *my lips shall give you praise. So will I bless you as long as I live *and lift up my hands in your Name.”
This morning’s lessons are a gift to us in our progress through Lent. First, we are reminded that God will reach out to us when we least expect it. We will probably not be ready, and we are even less apt to be eager. If we are in relationship with God at all, we will likely not feel worthy or gifted enough. Just as Moses tried to point that out to Yahweh, that will not matter. Jesus really does meet us where we are, and Jesus absolutely does provide what we need to enter into a deeper relationship, and to draw others into relationship as well.
It’s not easy work, this dealing with other humans. Moses, long after this moment, will be asking God to deliver him from dealing with stiff-necked people. Instead, time after time, Moses will be given what is needed to draw the Israelites into a community that worships the God of their ancestors.
The Collect for this Sunday in Lent tells it like it is. There is nothing inherently within any of us to help ourselves in the ways in which we need to be helped. Only Jesus Christ can keep our physical and our spiritual selves safe from the evil that “assaults” our souls and bodies.
Remove your sandals.
This is Holy Ground, indeed.
Amen.
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