Burning Bushes

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
March 11, 2007; 3rd Sunday in Lent, Year C
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Exodus 3:1-15) -- 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. 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. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." 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." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 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.

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, 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. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 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."

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?" 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.'" 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.

_______________________________________________

There are moments when an experience changes our reality. Amazing moments when we glimpse deep things and begin to understand more clearly. As we reflect on those experiences, they shape us and they shape the direction of our lives.

Moses was just taking care of business -- watching his father-in-law's flock -- when something caught his attention. He stopped long enough with enough attention to let it speak to him. He encountered God. Out of this momentary experience he began to understand the nature of the Divine and his own sense of calling.

Moses continued to reflect upon the mysterious Name of God revealed to him in this experience. The Name is never adequately translated -- I am what I am or I will be what I will be. Moses begins his relationship with this imageless God who is radically free, holy and mysterious -- a God who cannot be controlled by incantation or magic or even prayer. This God listens to the cry of the oppressed and acts in history. Moses learns, God's passion is liberation -- to free the oppressed. From this experience at the burning bush, Moses enters into a relationship of trust with mystery. He will be able to walk into the wilderness trusting an imageless God who is radically uncontrollable. The history of his tribe, the people of Israel, will be shaped by this encounter.

There is a tribe of people in North America who have a story of a divine encounter. According to the Sioux legends, a White Buffalo once appeared from the sky and transfigured into a beautiful Indian woman. She gave to the people the seven sacred ceremonies, a holy peace pipe, and all of the ancient knowledge they would need in order to prosper peacefully. On her departure, she promised to return one day to purify the land. The birth of a White Buffalo calf would herald her return.

On August 20, 1994 a White Buffalo calf was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. Native Americans hailed the birth as a fulfillment of prophecy and a sign that the great Spirit would be returning to restore balance and harmony to this land. On November 26, 2006, the White Buffalo was struck by lightning and died.

Choctaw medicine pipe carrier David Carson reflected on this event: "What is the meaning of the White Buffalo's death by lightning? The old world is finished. The ancestors have sent a sign." Carson and his wife "divined" the following five guidelines as their reflection on this experience:

"1. Reconfigure your life by cutting away excess...
2. White Buffalo made the ultimate sacrifice of his life so we remember the sacred in all of creation...
3. Protect the earth and use technology in a more conscious manner...
4. Offer gifts and talents to be of service to the challenges of planetary transformation...
5. Do not feed dark thoughts..." (1)

These thoughts have inspired and directed Native people in the wake of a profound experience.

Mary, a young maiden living in occupied Israel 2000 years ago experienced a messenger from God. "You will bear a child who will be holy," was the message. It was a dangerous message for an unwed woman who was betrothed. Her good name and her relationship with her fiancé were at risk. Nevertheless, she embraced the message with an enthusiastic "Let it be." As she reflected upon her experience, she longed for the coming of a Savior for her oppressed people. She visioned that the lowly would be lifted up and the proud brought down, the hungry filled with good things and the rich sent away empty. She embraced the birth of this child as the fulfillment of the promises begun in Abraham and Moses.

When he grew up, Mary's child seemed to be the Messiah that so many had longed for. Peter and some disciples, Mary Magdalene and a troop of women followed him as he healed the broken and cast out demons. They participated in his work of reconciliation, especially directed toward the outcast and sinners. His radical table hospitality scandalized the scrupulous. He taught and fed multitudes. Being with his compelling, compassionate love felt to them like being with God. He proclaimed the coming of a new kingdom where life would be just and fair and generous, the way things would be if God were ruler and not the Emperor.

It didn't work out. The Emperor and the religious authorities would allow no rivals. He was brutally executed as a condemned blasphemer and capital criminal.

As Mary Magdalene, Peter, the apostles and Mary began to reflect upon their experience, they knew him and his cause to be alive and vital even beyond death. They "divined" guidelines as their reflection on their experience of his resurrection. Live free of fear, completely liberated even from fear of death. Continue the work of reconciliation, especially toward the least of these. Practice radical hospitality and know his presence in the feeding at the table. Heal the broken; unite the divided; live in his Spirit of love and compassion. Their lives were completely changed by their experience and by their reflection upon these events.

There are moments when an experience changes our reality. Amazing moments when we glimpse deep things and begin to understand more clearly. As we reflect on those experiences, they shape us and they shape the direction of our lives.

Everyone has these moments. You have had moments of resurrection, the visitation of a messenger, a lightning strike that challenges meaning, a burning bush that creates understanding. These things happen to all human beings, if only we are awake to the experience.

I've had these experiences. Many of them have found their way into sermons like this. I remember a time in my grandfather's tree when I looked into the complexity of the bark of the tree and it seemed to open into a vision that simultaneously included the smallest detail of ant, leaf, and limb as well as the blue clarity of sky, clouds and birds. It seemed like I could see everything at once. I remember a time in Centering Prayer where I disappeared in a timeless infinity where God was all and all was God. I recall many times of singing a hymn and looking at the faces in this congregation, feeling overwhelmed by love and gratitude. I have received communion and known myself being nourished by the very life of Christ and united to all humanity. I have watched someone die and felt the presence of complete peace. Maybe this sounds funny, but I have watched Mr. Rogers on public television speaking to my children and nurturing them with a gentle, Christ-like Spirit of wonder and goodness. These things have changed me, shaped me, and shaped the direction of my life.

You have your own constellation of experiences that have grasped your attention and shaped you. These things happen to us all.

When I am awake, these things seem to happen all the time. But mostly I'm asleep, or too preoccupied with my own flock-tending to even notice the bush is on fire.

I'll close with the help of Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

And truly, I reiterate, . . nothing's small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim:
And, -- glancing on my own thin, veined wrist, --
In such a little tremour of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more, from the first similitude.

* Bk. VII, l. 812-826

_____________________________________________

(1) Miracle, published in Spirituality & Health, March/April 2007, p. 41

________________________________________________________

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and it's life and mission, please contact us at
P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

This sermon and others are on our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Please visit our partner web ministry also at www.ExploreFaith.org