Faith, Commitment and Change
Exodus 3:1-15; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28

August 28, 2005

“GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN! YOU ARE AN OFFENCE UNTO ME FOR THOU SAVOUREST NOT THE THINGS THAT BE OF GOD, BUT THOSE THAT BE OF MEN.”

JESUS HAS JUST TOLD HIS APOSTLES IN SPECIFIC DETAIL ABOUT THE PLAN FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE AND DEATH ON EARTH BEFORE HIS RESURRECTION. PETER’S REACTIVE RESPONSE IS HEAVY, PERHAPS WITH OUTRAGE, DISBELIEF, SHOCK, SORROW, AND FEAR THAT SUCH A THING COULD BE CONTEMPLATED FOR THEIR MASTER AND FRIEND: FAR BE IT FROM YOU, LORD;”HE SAYS, “THIS SHALL NOT HAPPEN TO YOU!” A RESPONSE IT SEEMS TO US , NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

HOW DIFFICULT IT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR JESUS, SO AWARE OF HIS OWN FUTURE, WITHOUT THE TEMPTATION IMPLICIT IN PETER’S WORDS. HOW DIFFICULT FOR THEM ALL TO LIVE IN COMMUNITY IN THE COMING DAYS WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE. JESUS’ ABILITY NOT ONLY TO SPEAK ABOUT THESE THINGS, BUT TO SEE THEM THROUGH, REFLECTS PROFOUND UNDERSTANDING AND FAITH IN WHAT HE HAD CALLED THE “THINGS OF GOD”.

WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF OUR LECTIONARY READINGS FOR TODAY, I UNDERSTAND THE THINGS OF GOD AS HAVING TO DO WITH GOD’S VISION FOR THE WORLD, THE PURPOSE OF THE PEOPLE PLACED IN IT, AND THE INEVITABLE CHANGE THAT RESULTS FROM FAITH, COMMITMENT AND ACTION. THESE STORIES UNDERSCORE THAT COMMITMENT RESTS ON FAITH, AND THAT FAITH ITSELF SUSTAINS COMMITMENT. WHEN THE MARRIAGE OF THOSE TWO PRINCIPLES RESULTS IN ACTION, CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, WHICH, AS THE SCRIPTURES SUGGEST IS PART OF GOD’S PLAN.

AS BACKGROUND TO THE STORY OF MOSES, IT HAS BEEN ABOUT 300 YEARS SINCE JOSEPH, ONE OF THE SONS OF THE PATRIARCH JACOB, HAD BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL “CIVIL SERVANT” IN THE PHAROAH’S COURT IN EGYPT.TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PHAROAH AFTER BEING REUNITED FORTUITOUSLY WITH HIS FAMILY, JOSEPH HAD REQUESTED THAT THEY BE ALLOWED TO RELOCATE IN EGYPT WHERE HE COULD PROTECT THEM ALSO FROM STARVING TO DEATH DURING THE YEARS OF FAMINE. THOUGH TRADITIONALLY AT ENMITY WITH THE ISRAELITES, PHAROAH ALLOWED JOSEPH’S FAMILY TO RELOCATE TOEGYPT, WHERE THEY CONTINUED TO LIVE AFTER JOSEPH DIED.

AS TIME WENT ON, JOSEPH’S EXTENDED FAMILY CONTINUED TO GROW IN NUMBERS AND SUCCESS. FEARING THE INCREASING SIZE OF THE HEBREW POPULATION, BUT SHORT OF REQUIRING THEM TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY, THE EGYPTIANS EXERTED DOMINANCE OVER THE HEBREWS AND TURNED THEM INTO SLAVES, REQUIRING THEM TO PERFORM ALL THE MENIAL AND LABOUR-INTENSIVE WORK OF BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEEDS OF THEIR SOCIETY. IT WAS A WAY FOR THE EGYPTIANS TO KEEP THEIR IMMIGRANT POPULATION UNDER CONTROL, IN CONDITIONS OF POVERTY,AND NOT ORGANIZED ENOUGH TO OVERTHROW THE REIGNING POLITICAL STRUCTURE. LIFE WAS BRUTAL UNDER THE PHAROAHS’ SUCCESSIVE REGIMES, AND THE ISRAELITES WERE ANXIOUSLY LOOKING FOR RELIEF.

THE CONTEXT FOR THE ENTRANCE OF MOSES ON TO THE EGYPTIAN STAGE IS SET BY THE JEWISH HISTORIAN JOSEPHUS FLAVIUS, WRITING IN THE LATE 1ST CENTURY A.D. ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE EGYPTIAN DOMINANCE OVER THE ISRAELITES, A NOBLE ISRAELITE NAMED AMRAM WAS VISITED IN A DREAM BY GOD. GOD TOLD HIM THAT THE BABY HIS WIFE WAS EXPECTING WOULD BE RAISED “IN A SURPRISING WAY”, AND WOULD ONE DAY BECOME A FAMED LEADER, WHO WOULD RESCUE THE ISRAELITES FROM BONDAGE IN EGYPT . AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, ADVISORS TO THE PHAROAH WERE PREDICTING THAT A BABY WAS SOON TO BE BORN TO THE ISRAELITES WHO WOULD CAUSE THE DESTRUCTION OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION.

THIS ADVICE LED TO PHAROAH’S POLICY REQUIRING ANY NEWBORN ISRAELITE MALE BABIES TO BE DROWNED IN THE RIVER NILE.

JOSEPHUS SUGGESTS THAT, PERHAPS INFLUENCED BY HIS DREAM, AMRAM AND HIS WIFE WERE COMPLICIT IN THE ACCIDENTAL “DISCOVERY” OF THEIR BABY SON BY THERMUTIS, THE DAUGHTER OF THE PHAROAH. IN ANY CASE IT HAPPENED THAT HE WAS FOUND, NAMED MOSES BY THERMUTIS, NURSED BY HIS OWN MOTHER UNTIL HE WAS WEANED, RAISED AND EDUCATED IN THE PHARAOH’S COURT. GROWING TO BE A TALL, GOOD-LOOKING MAN MOSES REPORTEDLY BECAME THE HOPE OF THE ISRAELITE NATION AS A WAY OUT OF THEIR PREDICAMENT BECAUSE OF HIS SPECIAL STATUS WITH THE PHAROAH. FOR THAT REASON, MOSES WAS INCREASINGLY FEARED BY THE EGYPTIANS WHO ENTERTAINED SEVERAL UNTRIED PLOTS TO KILL HIM.

IN THAT VEIN, JOSEPHUS ACCOUNT OF MOSES ESCAPE TO MIDIA DIFFERS FROM THE EXODUS VERSION IN SIGNIFICANT DETAIL. IN EXODUS, MOSES FLIGHT WAS A RESULT OF FEARING FOR HIS LIFE AFTER HE ALLEGEDLY KILLED AN EGYPTIAN WHOM HE DISCOVERED BEATING UP A HEBREW COUNTRYMAN. JOSEPHUS, IN CONTRAST, RELATES THAT FOLLOWING SEVERAL SMALL ATTACKS ON EGYPT BY WARRING ENEMY NATIONS, IT OCCURRED TO PHAROAH AND HIS ADVISORS THAT THERE WOULD BE WISDOM IN TRAINING MOSES AS AN ARMY LEADER TO BE PLACEDAT THE HEAD OF A COMPANY OF ISREALITE SOLDIERS IN THE EVENT OF MAJOR WAR. THIS WOULD ENABLE EGYPT TO USE THE ISRAELITES AS SOLDIERS, SOMETHING OF A DISTRACTION FROM THEIR CONTINUOUS GROANING. THE HOPE WAS ALSO THAT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY MOSES WOULD BE SLAIN, THUS REMOVING HIM AS A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF DANGER TO THE PHARONIC THRONE.

IN ANY EVENT THERE SOON ROSE A MAJOR CHALLENGE TO THE EGYPTIANS IN THE FORM OF A TAKEOVER BID BY ETHIOPIA. MOSES WAS COMMISSIONED TO TAKE AN ARMY OF ISRAELITE SOLDIERS TO WAR AGAINST THIS THREAT. IT RESULTED THAT MOSES PROVED AN EXCELLENT COMMANDER, SUPERB TACTICIAN AND CAPABLE SOLDIER SUCH THAT HE AND HIS ARMY RETURNED VICTORIOUS. SO POPULAR AS A FURTHER RESULT OF THIS VICTORY, AND SOUGHT AFTER AS AN INDIGENOUS LEADER BY THE ISRAELITES WAS MOSES THAT THE EGYPTIANS FEARED GREATLY THAT HE WOULD LEAD HIS PEOPLE IN A TAKE-OVER COUP. SERIOUS PLANNING FOR HIS DEMISE WAS RUMOURED TO BE UNDERWAY, SUCH THAT MOSES, IN GENUINE FEAR FOR HIS LIFE, DISAPPEARED HIMSELF INTO MIDIAN. OVER TIME, HE MARRIED AND RAISED A FAMILY, AND WORKED AS THE SUPERVISOR OF LIVESTOCK FOR HIS FATHER-IN-LAW’S BUSINESS. POSSIBLY 40 YEARS WENT BY BEFORE THE INCIDENT AT THE BURNING BUSH.

IT IS, ARGUABLY, THIS MOSES, WHO FOR THE APPARENT PURPOSE OF SEARCHING FOR NEW GRAZING GROUND, DRIVES A FLOCK CLOSER TO MOUNT HOREB, COMMONLY SPOKEN OF AS THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD, THAN GRAZING STOCK HAD BEEN TAKEN TRADITIONALLY. THERE IS INFERENCE IN THE WRITING OF JOSEPHUS THAT ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY A DEVOUTLY PRACTICING HEBREW, MOSES HAD KEPT IN TOUCH WITH HIS FAITH THROUGH THE YEARS, AND HAD ALSO FOLLOWED SOMEWHAT THE FORTUNES OF HIS ISRAELITE COUNTRYMEN STILL STRUGGLING WITH LIFE IN EGYPT, ALTHOUGH MOSES PARTICULAR ENEMIES WERE NOW DEAD. WHETHER OR NOT MOSES’ MOTIVE FOR CLIMBING MOUNT HOREB WAS AS MUCH A SPIRITUAL SEARCH AS A SEARCH FOR SUITABLE GRAZING, MOSES IS NOT FRIGHTENED, ONLY MADE MORE CURIOUS BY THE APPEARANCE OF THE ANGEL IN WHAT SEEMS TO BE A BURNING BUSH. HE CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARDS THE BUSH UNTIL TOLD BY GOD TO REMOVE HIS SHOES. IT IS GOD THAT MOSES HEARS, AND WITH WHOM HE HAS THE ENSUING CONVERSATION.

THE COMMITMENTS IN THIS STORY SO FAR HAVE ALL BEEN MADE BY GOD: FIRST, GOD HAS COMMITTED HIMSELF SINCE TIME BEGAN TO THE WELFARE OF THE HEBREW NATION. TO THAT END HE HAS HAD COVENANTS WITH EACH OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB OVER THE CENTURIES. SECOND, ALTHOUGH MOSES DOESN’T KNOW IT YET, GOD HAS COMMITTED MOSES TO LEADING THE ISRAELITES OUT OF EGYPT, AND HAS COMMITTED HIMSELF TO LEADING THEM TO “A LAND GOOD AND BROAD, FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY”. GOD HAS HAD FAITH IN MOSES FOR POSSIBLY 80 YEARS, AND IS ABOUT TO SHARE THAT FAITH WITH MOSES. GOD TELLS MOSES THAT HE HAS INDEED NOT FORGOTTEN THE ISRAELITES IN THEIR PLIGHT. HE INTENDS TO RESCUE THEM BY GETTING MOSES TO FREE THE ISRAELITES FROM THE PHAROAH, AND LEAD THEM TO THE PROMISED LAND. HE NEEDS MOSES TO DEMONSTRATE HIS FAITH IN GOD BY COMMITTING TO THIS PROJECT.

THIS REQUEST MUST HAVE SEEMED A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TO MOSES. GOD HAS JUST ASKED HIM, AS IT IS DESCRIBED BY THE AUTHORS OF “A HISTORY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL AND JUDAH”, TO MOBILIZE ABOUT TWO-AND-ONE-HALF MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, RELOCATING THEM TO AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION THROUGH TRADITIONAL ENEMY TERRITORY…”MARCHING TEN ABREAST, THE NUMBERS WOULD HAVE FORMED A LINE OVER 150 MILES LONG, AND WOULD HAVE REQUIRED EIGHT OR NINE DAYS TO MARCH BY ANY FIXED POINT”. NOT, ON THE FACE OF IT, AN EASY THING TO CONTEMPLATE OR TO PERFORM.

AFTER RAISING AS MANY QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIONS AS HE CAN JUST SHORT OF INCURRING GOD’S ANGER, MOSES DEMONSTRATES HIS FAITH IN GOD, AND MAKES A COMMITMENT, SOMEWHAT RELUCTANTLY PERHAPS, TO DO AS HE HAS BEEN ASKED. IN SPITE OF THE DIFFICULTIES AND HARDSHIPS EXPERIENCED BY MOSES IN REALIZING THIS UNDERTAKING, HIS FAITH IN HIS GOD SUSTAINED HIS COMMITMENT UNTIL THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. THE BOOK OF EXODUS GOES ON TO DETAIL ALL THE CHANGE IN THE LIVES AND FORTUNES OF THE ISRAELITE NATION, AND IN THE LIFE OF MOSES, AS A RESULT OF THE FAITH AND COMMITMENT SHOWN BY GOD AND MOSES TOWARD S EACH OTHER AND THE HEBREW NATION.

OUR GOSPEL READING FOR TODAY CAPTURES THE CENTRAL EXPRESSION OF FAITH AND COMMITMENT INSPIRING CHANGE WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. AS WAS THE CASE WITH MOSES, THE COMMITMENT OF GOD IN PROVIDING HIS ONLY SON TO A LIFE ON EARTH, AND HIS FAITH IN JESUS AS THE ONLY PERSON FOR THIS MISSION WERE BOTH LONG-STANDING DETERMINANTS THAT FAR PRECEDE AND EXCEED THE LENGTH OF CHRIST’S TIME HERE WITH US. CHRIST’S ABILITY TO ACHIEVE HIS PURPOSE ON EARTH RELIED ENTIRELY ON THE STRENGTH OF HIS WILL, HIS FAITH IN HIS FATHER, HIS FATHER’S FAITH AND COMMITMENT TO HIM AND CHRIST’S WILLING COMMITMENT TO MEETING THE OBJECTIVES OF HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY.

IN TELLING HIS APOSTLES ABOUT THE EXACT PURPOSE OF HIS LIFE, AND HOW IT MUST NEEDS BE PLAYED OUT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES FOR THE WELFARE OF HUMANITY, JESUS HEATS UP THE CONCEPTS OF COMMITMENT AND FAITH BY PLACING THEM IN THE VERY TANGIBLE HUMAN CONTEXT OF HIMSELF. FIRSTLY, HE TELLS THEM THAT THE COMMITMENT THAT HE HAS BEEN ASKING PEOPLE FOR IN TERMS OF LIFESTYLE, BELIEFS, AND BEHAVIOUR DOES NOT PROMISE EASY LIFE ON EARTH. HE TELLS THE APOSTLES TO UNDERSTAND THAT TO COMMIT TO HIM IS NECESSARILY TO DENY THEMSELVES, WITH THE ATTENDANT RISKS THAT THE OUTCOME OF THAT COMMITMENT MAY MEAN TO THEM. AS HE SAID, “THOSE WHO WANT TO SAVE THEIR LIFE WILL LOSE IT, BUT THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT” BUT, WHAT IS IMPORTANT HE CONCLUDES IS ACTION TAKEN ON CHRIST’S BEHALF. JESUS TELLS HIS APOSTLES, AND BY EXTENSION HE TELLS US THAT WE MUST HAVE FAITH THAT OUR COMMITMENT, OR LACK OF IT, WILL, IN THE END BE REVIEWED BY GOD AND THE SON OF MAN TOGETHER WITH THE ANGELS, AND WHAT WILL BE IMPORTANT THEN WILL BE OUR WORKS PERFORMED ON EARTH.

IN OUR THIRD READING FOR TODAY, THE APOSTLE PAUL HAS WRITTEN TO THE CHURCH IN ROME WHICH WAS STRUGGLING WITH ITS IDENTITY AND SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND FAITHFULNESS, PERHAPS INDEED BECAUSE IT WAS CONCERNED TOO MUCH WITH THE THINGS THAT MATTERED TO THEM, AND NOT TO THE THINGS THAT MATTER TO GOD. RATHER THAN TRYING TO ESTIMATE WHO IN THE CHURCH IS MOST IMPORTANT, OR WHOSE ROLE IN THE CHURCH IS MORE SIGNIFICANT, PAUL TELLS HIS READERS, AND BY EXTENSION US, THAT OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD IS NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH GREATER OUR VALUE TO GOD IS BASED ON SOME WORLDLY STANDARD – PAUL SAYS EVERYONE BRINGS TALENT, AND SKILL AND CAPABILITY, EACH IN THEIR OWN MEASURE, TO BE MADE USE OF AS GOD WILLS. GOD HAS ALREADY MADE HIS COMMITMENT TO US THROUGH THE DEATH AND REDEMPTION OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST – A COMMITMENT THAT BINDS US FOREVER TO HIM. WHEN WE ‘SIGN ON” BY ACCEPTING CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOUR WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO BEING AVAILABLE TO SERVE GOD AS GOD REQUIRES. INDEED IN THE FAITHFUL CARRYING OUT OF OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, IN PAUL’S VIEW, WE ALREADY SERVE THE LORD. TO THAT END, IN OUR READING FOR TODAY, AND THROUGH MUCH OF THE REST OF THIS EPISTLE, PAUL PRESCRIBES A COMPENDIUM OF APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOURS FOR A FAITHFUL PRACTICING CHRISTIAN. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS APPLICATION OF COMMITMENT AND FAITH, PAUL WOULD AGREE, WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.

LET US PRAY: WE THANK YOU, LORD, FOR YOUR MANY BLESSINGS POURED UPON US, THE EVIDENCE IN OUR LIVES OF YOUR SURROUNDING AND ABIDING LOVE. WE ALSO THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUING COMMITMENT TO US AS YOU HAVE EXPRESSED IT THROUGH THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF THE LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF YOUR SON JESUS CHRIST. WE PRAY FOR YOUR CONTINUING FAITH IN US AND YOUR HELP IN KEEPING THE COMMITMENTS WE MAKE TO YOU. HELP US TO BE FAITHFUL IN OUR LIVES TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS. IN JESUS’ NAME WE PRAY. AMEN.

Preached by Tom Stickland
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan