God for All Generations — Exodus 3

A text – Exodus 3:1-15

3:1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
3:3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”
3:4 When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
3:5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
3:6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7 Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,
3:8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3:9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
3:10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
3:12 He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
3:13 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”
3:15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

A Reflection:

It has been said for 25 years, by people who study culture and populations all over the world, that the vast majority of North American churchgoers have become practical atheists; that is, that we may believe God created the universe, but we think our practical workaday lives go on without God’s interest or involvement. Many of us believe that, if God exists at all anymore, God just watches from a distance.

It was different for Moses. He knew God and an act of God when he saw it. And even though he didn’t want the job God was giving him, he thought about this job with God all the way through, to the last detail.  Moses knew God was real and involved; he’d had two upbringings, each of which took seriously the power of God/gods.

Look at the last sentence in this passage: This is my name forever, and this is my title for all generations.

For all generations. If you think about the difference between Moses’s upbringing and that of most of today’s North Americans, you would be able to name many factors that would make his life of faith very different from anyone’s today. But to us today, it doesn’t matter too much how the vast majority of North Americans behave or what they believe. Think about you yourself and what you believe. Do you believe God is God for all generations? I do. And if I do, then God’s interest and calling of me is real.

We are God’s people in this particular time and place, just as Moses was for his time and place. You, too, have the opportunity to seek encounters with God’s action in the world and God’s calling of you. It may not take the form of a burning bush, but seek an encounter with the God who is not just present for all generations but has something for you to do. Listen to that call.

A Prayer:

Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving a purpose in your creation. Help us to listen to find out what it is. Help us to be brave, like Moses, and get on with it.   Amen.