“Here I Am” – Exodus 3:1-15 – August 28, 2005

We just returned from our vacation at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This particular season the temperatures were hotter than normal. The water temperature was 83 degrees. The above average conditions caused a higher percentage of jelly fish to be lurking in the water. One afternoon a woman close by cried out that she had been stung. Her stomach was red from the sting of the jelly fish and she said it really burned. “What should I do?” she exclaimed.

I had read in the morning paper about the presence of jelly fish in the area and my brother had read the same article. I had only skimmed it but he had read it in complete detail. He said, “The paper said to put white vinegar on the infected area.” So I suggested they make a quick trip to the grocery story for some relief. “That won’t be necessary,” my brother added. “The lifeguards have some at their post.” So the woman hurried to the lifeguard for some help.

My brother’s attention to detail help bring relief to the woman in distress. He had restored the needed information to bring aid to someone that was suffering. Someone was in trouble and there was a response, “Here I am.”

I believe that when it comes to our faith there is a flare for the dramatic. People are impressed with the faith of those who rescue folks from burning buildings or save someone who is drowning. We don’t think in terms of those who provide little details that can also bring help to those who are suffering.

When Moses was encountered by God in the burning bush he said, “Here I am.” He was challenged to bring help to the Hebrew people. They were suffering from oppression and needed a leader to liberate them from their peril. God told Moses he was standing on “Holy ground” because his mission was “Holy work.”

The information my brother provided to help the woman on the beach was also “Holy work.” Each day you too experience some burning bushes but the size and energy are not what matters. What matters is that you respond by saying, “Here I am.”

To meet the needs of others God first has to get our attention. Moses had been lying low after he fled from the Egyptians. At this point we find him shepherding in the hill country of Mt. Horeb. He was alone, tending to the sheep when he encounters the burning bush. Needless to say that would get your attention too. Moses is primed for listening because of his solitude. God tells Moses that he has heard the sufferings of His people. Moses has been chosen to liberate them.

Twenty five years ago I left the big city of Columbus, Ohio and moved to the rural area of Union, County, Ohio. I was appointed to serve three, small country churches. Until then I had always lived in large cities. I was a suburbanite who was totally unfamiliar with the congregational life of the rural Midwest. Just a week earlier I was a sales manager for a medical supply company. Now I was a student pastor, preaching and pasturing to three churches. Like Moses, I had doubts about my abilities to preach, teach, and be a pastor to total strangers. My burning bush was a remote corner of the earth, totally foreign and mysterious, one that both surprised and intimidated me. Nevertheless, I would have both the financial support and living accommodations to provide for me during my years in seminary. It was all too unbelievable. But, God, had my attention.

God is always challenging us in acts of ministry. Not only does challenge us but God also provides the resources we need to respond to help God’s suffering people. Although I have been called to “professional ministry,” that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t challenge you to acts of ministry as well. There is suffering everywhere. People are lonely, sick, lost, all in need of compassion.

When the burning bushes of life appear in our path we find ourselves in tension. On the one hand we want to stay as we are, maintaining the status quo, not rocking the boat. It is only natural to want to protect ourselves. Life is a scary thing. None of us want to take risks that cause us to change our ways or go beyond familiar territory. Suppose Moses declined or suppose I refused? I will leave that to your own imaginations. Suppose you have been challenged to respond to someone in need but instead of getting involved you hesitated because of your own agenda. Sorry God, I’m too busy. Sorry God, I don’t know these people. Sorry God, I have a career, a family and personal goals.

I like the way that God addresses this problem to Moses in the film, “Prince of Egypt.” God raises God’s voice and tells Moses to go.” The more I reflect on this story the more I am convinced of the importance of “Holy ground.” To be on Holy ground means to leave our agenda and accept the will of God.

We must remember that Moses was not perfect. He had killed an Egyptian. He was raised as a person of privilege who was indifferent to the peril of his own people in slavery. No, Moses was not perfect. Either am I, and either are any of you. Like Moses, we all have our limitations. All of us are messed up in some way. Perhaps this is the first step; acknowledging the fact that we aren’t perfect and that our lives are messed up. Henri Nouwen once said, “All good healers are wounded healers.”

Those who realize this are often the first to come to the aid of others. Like Moses, who was drawn up from the water and dependent on foreigners for his upbringing, God wants us to realize that we too are dependent on others to help us. Our society teaches us to be self sufficient, but we forget that we have had to depend on others at times in order to survive. God wants us to remember that we cannot go it alone in this world. We need others and others need us!

It shouldn’t surprise us that God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush. The bush was on fire. What God needed was a man on fire. Somehow God needed to transfer that energy to Moses. What it took was a surrender of the will for Moses. It meant sacrifice. It Meant risk. It meant faith.

God, however does not leave Moses to lead the Hebrews alone. “I will be with you,” God says. God assures Moses that this would not be a solo mission. God is with us too. As I look back on my twenty five years of ministry I can’t remember a time when I had to tackle a challenge by myself. There was always someone there to help; a teacher, a friend, a family member, a neighbor or co-worker. As God said, “I am with you.”

On the evening of that August Sunday, twenty five years ago, when I delivered my first sermon, I received a phone call from the lay leader of one of my three churches. At that point I had been in ministry less than 48 hours. He called to say that his mother had died and he wanted me to help with her funeral. I assured him I would be there but I didn’t have a clue as to how I could possibly perform a memorial service without any experience.

The next day I received another phone call from a retired pastor in that area. He was a cousin of the family and they had also asked him to help with the funeral. I had never met the man in my life but he graciously led me through the entire process. Ten days later I had another death in the church but this time I was on my own.

I didn’t realize it at the time but looking back I realize that God was with me, especially in the early days of my ministry. Someone asked me yesterday, following the memorial service that was held here, “How was I able to lead a service so soon after my vacation?” I replied, “I guess it was just another burning bush.”

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio