When I was at theological college, we had preaching classes. In one of these, the lecturer showed us clips from four different films, each depicting the scene that we\u2019ve read about this morning. So many film makers have given us their version of this story, ranging from Charlton Heston in the 10 Commandments all the way through to the animation of Prince of Egypt. It was fascinating to see how different directors had emphasised different elements of the scene in the shot choice, how they\u2019d decided to depict God\u2019s voice, the way in which they\u2019d imagined Moses\u2019 emotional responses. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a moment and focus our imaginations on being there, in that place, at that time, with Moses. I wonder how you see this playing out in your mind\u2019s eye, how you would feel in Moses\u2019 place, what your reaction is to hearing God\u2019s voice and seeing the bush burning but not burning. I wonder how you experience the weight of the holiness of the presence of God. If you\u2019re wearing shoes or slippers, take them off. <\/p>\n
In this holy place Moses asks two questions that human beings through out the ages, and all over the world have asked, and this morning we\u2019re going to explore those questions, and God\u2019s answers.<\/p>\n
The first question I\u2019d like to focus on is this. Moses asks God, \u201cWho am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?\u201d It\u2019s the first three words of that question that are at the heart of it. Moses asks God, \u201cWho am I\u201d. It\u2019s not particularly surprising that Moses was uncertain in his own identity. <\/p>\n
He\u2019d been born as the son of a Hebrew slave, a foreigner. A Hebrew by descent, but an Egyptian by place of birth. He\u2019d been entrusted to the river Nile in a basket by his mother, to escape the death ordered by the King of the land, found by the King\u2019s daughter and raised as an Egyptian prince, in the palace. He must have been aware of this dual identity, when he\u2019d grown up he\u2019d seen an Egyptian slave master beating a Hebrew slave, and had killed him for it. When he found out that he\u2019d been seen he fled to Midian, where he met a Midianite girl and had a son who he named Gershom, which in Hebrew sounds like \u201ca foreigner there\u201d. Now he\u2019s working as a shepherd. So, who is he \u2013 prince or shepherd, slave or free, Hebrew or Egyptian, murderer or freedom fighter? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not surprising he asks God, \u201cWho am I\u201d<\/p>\n
On the face of it, God\u2019s answer isn\u2019t particularly helpful. God tells Moses that God will be with him. But in the wider conversation, it is clear that Moses is the one that God has called, the one that God is sending, and the one that God will be with. None of these things depend on who Moses is, but there is, in them a more secure foundation for Moses\u2019 identity than anything else. Who we all are, more than anything else, are those created by God, called by God, sent by God, and those with whom God is present. These things about us are far more important and foundational than our nationality, our ethnicity, our sexuality, our education, our age, our wealth, our poverty or our past glories or shames. As those who are in Christ, we find our deepest selves in the reality of God\u2019s call on our lives, just as Moses did.<\/p>\n
I find it interesting that the sign that God gives Moses is a promise that the people of God will worship God together on this mountain. It takes my mind to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Matthew 4:8-10 says this, \u201cThe devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. \u2018All this I will give you\u2019 he said \u2018if you will bow down and worship me.\u2019 Jesus said to him, \u2018Away from me Satan! For it is written: \u201cWorship the Lord your God, and serve him only.\u201d\u2019 <\/p>\n
The first two temptations that Jesus faced challenge his security in his own identity, they both begin, \u201cIf you are the Son of God then\u2026.\u201d This third temptation challenges Jesus\u2019 security in his understanding of God\u2019s identity. The temptation to worship Satan in order to achieve Kingship challenges the Father\u2019s place in Jesus\u2019 heart. It asks the question of Jesus, who is God?<\/p>\n
This question is the second one that Moses asks God. He does it slightly indirectly, \u201cSuppose I go to the Israelites and say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name, then what shall I tell them?\u201d In short, having asked, \u201cWho am I?\u201d Moses now asks God, \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a perfectly reasonable question, not just in Moses situation, as someone who wanted some reassurance before going back to the place where he was wanted in connection with a murder inquiry. If we are to trust that our deepest understanding of our selves is to be found in God, then it\u2019s really important that we understand who God is. <\/p>\n
God answers Moses by telling him God\u2019s name, \u201cI am Who I am\u201d. This is the great name, that is so holy that it is never said, or even written down in the Jewish faith. It is represented by four consonants without any vowels \u2013 YHWH. We usually pronounce it Yahweh, in past ages it has been pronounced Jehovah, however we say it, this name asserts God\u2019s fundamental nature.<\/p>\n
God was. God is. God will always be. The only being that is uncreated \u2013 God is \u2013 eternally, before and beyond all time and place. God is completely independent. God does not depend on anything or anyone for God\u2019s identity or existence. In fact, God\u2019s being is the source of existence and identity for everything and everyone else. God is the prime mover, the uncaused cause, beyond, beneath, through all things. <\/p>\n
As well as this name, God reiterates that God is the God of the ancestors of the Hebrew people, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This isn\u2019t just about linking back to the peoples\u2019 history, it is about God claiming to be the God of relationship and covenant promise. God says, I am the God of Abraham, I am the one who called him, who blessed him, who talked with him, who promised him an inheritance and a great people who would be a blessing to the whole world. I am the one who had that relationship with Abraham, who made those commitments, and will keep them. I am the promise maker and promise keeper, that is who I am.<\/p>\n
And what about God\u2019s attributes, what is God like? Well we see some of them in this conversation with Moses -God is holy, in some sense set apart from creation in purity and majesty. But also intimately involved in creation \u2013 hearing the cries of God\u2019s people, with a heart to rescue those who are oppressed and in slavery. God is the one who brings freedom. <\/p>\n
But this is not all that we can say about God. When Moses heard the voice from the bush, he was afraid to look at God. Several hundred years after Moses another man was sent by God to bring freedom to God\u2019s people. In John\u2019s account of his life, we read of this man saying, \u201cBefore Abraham was, I am\u201d and then, a little later, \u201cAnyone who has seen me has seen the Father\u201d.<\/p>\n
This man was Jesus, God\u2019s son, come to live among us. He shows us what God is like because he is God, he even claimed God\u2019s name for himself. In Jesus we see God\u2019s compassion, heart for those on the edge, hatred of sin, self-sacrificial love, and resurrection power. Also in John\u2019s account Jesus talks about another Advocate he was going to send, the Holy Spirit, who would remind and teach his followers of all that Jesus had said and done, all of which was designed to show us who God is. God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, is a God who loves to show us who God is.<\/p>\n
So, what of us. It seems to me that many of us go through life with some insecurity or misunderstanding about who we are, especially in this time of identity politics. It feels like this passage gives us a timely reminder of the truest answer to this question, that we are loved, called, and sent by God as we are in Christ. And who is God? Not some grumpy old man on a cloud. Not Santa doling out gifts to the good little boys and girls. Not a figment of our imagination. We can spend a life time digging into the riches of the truth of God\u2019s name \u201cI am who I am\u201d, allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal more about God to us, as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the very image of the invisible God. And then, at the end, when we see God face to face in glory we will know as we are fully known and will know for certain in all fullness who we are, and who God is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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