So Get Going Sunday, September 03, 2017 - 9 AM

Get Going! – Exodus 3:1-15 Bascomb UMC / September 3, 2017 / 9 AM Focus: That God can burn within US and we are not consumed but sent on a mission! Function: To challenge the people to “Get Going” and do what we are called to do. 5 Purpose Outcomes of the Church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service (Scripture was delivered as part of the Children’s sermon) Happy Labor Day! A weekend to celebrate work? Labor unions? What? I like to emphasize the sacredness of ALL work. When God put Adam into a prepared garden there in Eden, God still expected Adam to work. Work is good for us, necessary for us, and I pray we do God’s work while we do work to the glory of God. Without work, could we really enjoy rest? I know what they say….. preachers only work one day a week. Well then, let me earn my pay today by asking you about your work! Preachers used to be a respected group but now have fallen in status. Who do you esteem the most! Doctors and Nurses? Teachers? Soldiers and First Responders? But we should also praise the care-givers and pray for our politicians. Maybe we respect doctors because they never seem to get off work and we dislike lawyers because they make work about everything. When a doctor was in conversation with his lawyer friend at a party their conversation was constantly interrupted by people asking the doctor for free medical advice: “look at this mole – is it cancer?” “why does it hurt when I do this?” “can you give me something to make me sleep?” After these constant interruptions, the doctor was exasperated. “Why is it different for a lawyer?” "What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice outside the office?" “Everything I do can be considered work and they know, wherever we happen to be, I can still send them a bill." The doctor decides to give that a try. The next day, the doctor prepares three bills for those jerks at the party… and when he takes them to his mailbox, sure enough, he finds a bill from the lawyer. Now even though this is the only REAL workday I have – it is a holiday, so I won’t keep you long. The burning bus story is SO famous that you may wonder what I could possibly “lift up” in this story that you don’t already know. The main point (I will return to at the end) is that Moses saw a bush burning that was not consumed. This is not a burning bush (lightning could do that) but a flame of fire from the midst of a bush that was not consuming it! Moses turns aside to see why the bush was not consumed. He was not frightened or repelled by the sight but drawn toward it. Moses is curious and God makes use of that curiosity. Curiosity leads to call. It is only when God sees that Moses actually moves to satisfy his curiosity that God calls to him. Moses allows himself to be drawn into the sphere of the unusual sight that communication takes place. Moses has a dialogue with God. We can respond to God’s call or we can ignore it; it’s up to us! In the narrative God self-describes as the “God of your father…” Moses is familiar with his religious heritage and here God makes a reference to Moses’ own father. The Yahweh whose name is revealed in the following verses is the God who is to be identified with the God of Moses’ own family. That heritage is important for YOUR children. Is their God the God of their mother and father? Barna research says that 1 in 3 Christians want “one-on-one” discipleship and I believe that begins at home. Live out your faith (warts and all) with your children. I titled this sermon: “Get Going.” That’s what God told Moses. Now does that work only for our sacred tasks rather than our secular work? Well notice, God uses nature as a vehicle for “clothing” the spiritual with the earthly. The natural does not “stand apart” from the divine but serves as an instrument for the full purpose of God. You see in this story both holiness, passion, and mystery (in the fire) and the very “down-to-earthness” (in the bush). The word of God comes “out of the bush” from God while still being tied to the earth. All of your work should glorify God because we are dedicated to service out of love and gratitude. So God says; “Get Going.” God is very sensitive to Moses – his fears and his concerns. Moses is not a slave to the divine will. “Those who are brought close to God retain their integrity. We are never expected to be passive. God calls active, and sometimes, even opposing respondents. We see here a true “address and response,” a genuine “give and take” between God and Moses. The human partner has a say in shaping the direction and outcome of events. God’s creative work in Moses’ life to this point has shaped a human being with skills and experiences suited for the task ahead. The giftedness that Moses brings to this moment is not negated. Moses is ready to act and embody the Word of God in the world in a unique way only he can do. You are unique and God will call you according to that very uniqueness! I call it “passion.” Where do you feel your “fire” your “passion?” And remember, Moses was not a preacher, not called to a strict religious task. God’s goal was not reform, not to make life more bearable in Egypt, but removal (deliverance) from the situation. God chooses Moses for social and political activity. Teachers, doctors, social workers, soldiers and politicians do that same work. Moses was called to a very earthly, very community-based job! And deliverance for God is finally not only from something, it is to something, moving the people from redemption to new creation. The promised land is in fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. This is not utopia, but God’s historical goal was then, and is today, a creational end. They are on their way to “the garden of the Lord.” So are we! Jesus opened up a pipeline of Holy Spirit power. So the main point I return to at the end is that a bush burning was not consumed it just burns and burns with Holy Spirit fire. That’s evangelism! There’s a story entitled “An Unusual Sunday at Liberty Methodist Church.” On a cold Sunday morning in March of 1928, there was a fire that threatened to consume the old wooden church building. A person driving by the church noticed smoke coming from the building and announced, “The church is on fire!” There was an immediate commotion and a very risky and enthusiastic attempt by two brave men to put the fire out, which only threatened a portion of the roof. Their attempt was successful and the fire was extinguished, but by the time it had fizzled out, there was a very large crowd gathered outside the building, greatly exceeding the normal attendance for worship. A member’s reflection afterward says it all: Some members had thought it much too cold to walk to church on that day, but somehow before the fire was brought under control, the church yard was full of people and in those days, communications were limited to just a few battery-operated phones. Someone made the remark, “Maybe we should set a fire to the roof every Sunday if it will draw a crowd this large.” “Set your church MEMBERS on fire and people will come for miles to watch it burn.” BENEDICTION: The Great “I AM” - The most common translation from our text today is, “I AM WHO I AM” or “I will be who I will be.” or “I will cause to be what I will cause to be” or “I will be who I am / I am who I will be” the best option may be that: I will be God for you. The force is not simply that God is or that God is present but that God will faithfully BE God for them. God will be God with and for the people at all times and in all places. There is no sacred or secular with God’s relationship. God can be counted on to be who God is; and God will be faithful. Israel’s own experience with God in its history will confirm the meaning of this name. Let it be so with you! Page 5 of 5