He Is I Am

Sermon on Jesus is I AM

Text: Exodus 3:

Theme: Jesus controls all as God himself.

Goal: to motivate people to trust in Jesus who is God-powerful

Need: we often demote Jesus to our own personal faith mascot.

Outline:

Intro: How we act when Jesus becomes our mascot.
Jesus is HUGE
Jesus said I AM to his followers
Jesus said I AM to the Chief Priests
Conclusion: Jesus…. The baby in the manger is GOD. Glory is all his.

Introduction

If you’ve ever been to a pro game of any kind you know what happens between periods. When you’re at home you make a trip to the fridge to get some more snacks, but when you are at the game you don’t have that luxury, so they entertain you with all kinds of different things. One of the main attractions would have to be the mascots.

I went to a Grand Rapids Griffins game one time. That’s a AHL hockey team. They cleverly named the mascot, Griff. I’m sure it took many executive meetings to agree on the name.

But during down times on the game, Griff would go out on the ice and shoot T-shirts into the stands, or get people to do silly contests on the ice, or just try to get people riled up for the game.

That’s the job of the mascots, isn’t it? They get the fans pumped up to cheer on the team.

Or its just the team name that you cheer for. This is one of the only places in the world were two simple syllables makes you either the enemy or someone’s best friend. Go Leafs! Fans wear the logo with pride, but what does it really change?

Today is the first Sunday of the season we call advent. It’s the four Sundays before Christmas that we prepare ourselves for Christ’s birth. We have a lot to pay attention to this advent season if Jesus has turned into our mascot instead of the person that he really was.

How do you know if you have made Jesus your mascot? One of the tell tale signs would be that Jesus Christ has lost all of his mystery, his power, and there is nothing about him that really astounds you any more. If you are just “okay” with Jesus, then its possible that he works more as a mascot for you.

You might cheer for him when you show up to the events like a worship service. He might give you some way to feel good during those down times in your life. You might wear the clothes and jewelry that have his logo, the cross, and you might send cards that cheer his coming. But when it comes to being in absolute awe at the feet of Jesus, you feel a little behind. Perhaps mascot Jesus has made his way into your heart, but the God-Man-Savior-Lord Jesus Christ is still waiting in the wings to change you life.

This year for advent we are going to get back to the basics of who Jesus is. And we hope that by looking and seeing this real Jesus you will be filled with wonder again. Perhaps get rid of the Jesus-mascot, and love the Jesus that we could never completely comprehend.

Now, Exodus is kind of a strange passage to chose if we hope to get to know Jesus better.

In the passage, God confronts Moses. He wants Moses the Egyptian fugitive, to head back to Egypt, tell the Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of their slavery. He’s been away from Egypt for years and years already, so he has tons of worries on his mind. He doesn’t think he can be persuasive before Pharaoh. He’s afraid of what the Egyptians might do to him. And most surprising, he questions whether the Israelites willingness to trust that his message of freedom really comes from a true and powerful God.

Thinking ahead Moses asks what he should say if they wonder which God has told him to rescue that entire nation.

I want to focus on the answer that God gives to him. Verse 14 says, God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.b This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.[1]

In creative writing courses teaches tell students to avoid being words like is or am. They aren’t very dynamic. John is sleeping has less punch than John sleeps. Obviously God’s grammar works differently. He says his name is I AM.

I am. He doesn’t tell Moses that his name is Incredible, or Creator, or Ruler. He doesn’t give any attributes or describers. He tells Moses his name is just Being. Existence.

This in itself is huge. This is no Sun God, or Water God, or anything like that. Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, Calvin and Scholte just IS. He is the God of existence and he is that God that exists.

I AM also shows that he is eternal. He is constantly Am-ing. There is never a time when He is not. There is never a time when he is not. There is never a place where he is not. He is the God of existence and the God of Existing. You can’t get around him. He Is. That’s what God decided to name himself. That’s about the greatest thing about our God. He is always being.

Christmas is about Jesus, right? What does that have to do with this God who calls himself, I AM?

If we go to the New Testament book of John we discover that Jesus has used the same words about himself that God used about himself. Jesus ties himself to I AM, to the God the Jews new as the creator. Jesus said: I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light of the World. I am the Gate. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am the Vine.

In each and every one of these, Jesus is not just using a metaphor about himself. He is intentionally using the name of God to make a point. Jesus is I AM. Jesus is one with the Father. He is the same as I AM.

Isn’t that one of those things that should make it impossible in our lives for him to be only the mascot that we cheer for, or the logo that we wear. Jesus Christ, the little Jewish baby born at Christmas was GOD. He was the God of all existence.

John’s whole gospel is filled with messages of the godness of Jesus. The first verse of the book says in the Beginning was the Word, Christ, the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD.

Then again at the end of the life of Christ, he says, “I AM.” This time you can tell the weight of what he is saying. Look at John 18. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”a [2]

He says, I am he and everyone falls over. They aren’t amazed that he is Jesus of Nazareth. They are appalled that Jesus would say I AM. They are disgusted that Jesus blaspheming God, by saying that he, a lowly person is the same as the eternal God. You can almost feel their revulsion and horror that Jesus has said I AM!

Jesus is God. This just absolutely baffles me. I think about it this way. How tall is God? Well, when he was full grown his height probably wasn’t more than 5’10”. That’s how real God in human form is in Jesus Christ. That’s the hugeness of Jesus. That’s reason enough for us to promote Jesus in our lives from our mascot to the real guide of our life.

When a person truly accepts the bigness and the godness, the divinity of Christ, don’t you think it would make a difference in their lives? Do you sense that believe in Jesus Christ means believing that he isn’t just some swell guy who said some pretty important things? Don’t you think that accepting the words of Christ would change your life from being one that respects a group of teachings, and it would turn it into a life of dedication and service to Jesus Christ. After all, he is God of all things.

Think about this as we go from here. If that baby in the manger is I AM, the always existing God. Then that baby that would coo and cuddle, that baby that was so fragile, that baby that was so weak it even needed its mother to even hold its head up or it would fall over in a heap. That little baby deep down had understanding of the times before time, and knew what it would be after time. That little baby had perfect love and justice and mercy and judgment. That little baby in the manger is no ordinary baby. Baby Jesus is. Was. And Always will be.

Christmas is about him coming into the world. Shouldn’t our celebration be more about giving ourselves to that God, than about giving our gifts to each other? How will you celebrate the allpowerful, eternal, all knowing, baby in the manger? With your whole life?

Amen?

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b Or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 3:14

a 2 John 6:39

[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jn 18:1-9