"It's Not about You..." - Sermon for Confirmation Sunday

It’s Not about You…
Confirmation Sunday (Narrative Lectionary 4)
September 29, 2013
Exodus 2.23-25; 3.10-15; 4.10-17
Grace, Mankato, MN

It will be no surprise that our Confirmands are very bright young people. Now, we don’t do public examinations anymore, but if we did I know they would pass with flying colors. For example, Confirmands: Was the Bible written by God or by humans? [Yes!] Here is another: Was Jesus fully God or was he fully human? [Yes!] One more: In Holy Communion, are the elements bread and wine or body and blood? [Yes!] Do you see what I mean; aren’t they brilliant? I mention this today because our texts pose some provocative questions and there’s one I’ve been chewing on all week: Who needs the other more, God or Moses?

Our journey through the story of the Old Testament this fall has taken a giant leap forward. Jacob, the stealer of the blessing from his brother, Esau, and his father, Isaac, has married and sired 12 sons, 10 of whom conspire to sell one of them, Joseph, into slavery into Egypt. With God’s help, Joseph rises in prominence and helps save Egypt from a devastating famine. The famine forces Joseph’s family to Egypt where he is ultimately reconciled with his brothers and reunited with his father. The whole clan moves to Egypt where they flourish as a people, that is until a king who does not remember Joseph fears the Israelites and makes them slaves. Enter Moses, who is saved from infanticide by Pharaoh’s daughter, raised in her household, but flees because he has been seen killing an Egyptian and now makes his livelihood tending sheep. Whew!

Our story for today tells us that God sees the plight of his people and remembers the covenant he made with their ancestors. This doesn’t mean God has forgotten his chosen people or the promises, but that God is now going to act. God appears to Moses in the burning-but-not-consumed-bush calling him to active duty. What follows is one of the most interesting exchanges in the Bible. Interestingly, most commentators put down Moses, describing his response to God from “reluctant” to “conniving.” However, I don’t think Moses is acting unreasonable; he is simply asking good questions. You see, nowhere in the story does it indicate Moses has had any contact with the God of his ancestors, I think he has every right to ask who it is that is calling him to do some pretty outrageous things. In fact, I think that the life of faith is lived more in the questions than it is in the answers.

I also think that some of the most stimulating questions are the ones that can be answered, “Yes!” So, who needs each other more, God or Moses? Yes! Certainly, Moses needs all the help he can get to do what he needs to do, but clearly God needs Moses because for some reason, God has chosen to work through human agents. Moses has a pretty good life going. He’s married, has a family, and a steady job. Why would he want to leave that? And what about this God that is calling him to this crazy venture? When God tells Moses that his name is “I am who I am,” is he revealing who he is or not? Yes! God tells us he is a God of relationships, living and active, close at hand yet incredibly mysterious and beyond knowing. Then there is this one last question: is this story about Moses or is it about God? Yes! The Bible makes clear there is never a story about God when it’s not about us, and there’s never one about us that it’s not about God.

This is where I tell you Confirmands that today isn’t about you … and yet it is. Today is about a God who called you and set you apart in your baptisms, about parents, family, and congregation members who have journeyed with you along the way. And yet, it is about you because God needs you as much as you need God, and it is not only good but necessary that you ask questions of this God, because that’s how faith grows. Remember as you are called by God to serve others: God does not call the gifted; God gifts the called. Who are you? You are the ones loved by the God who was, who is, and will always be with you. Thanks be to God! Amen.