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Sermon March 20, 2022
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Third Sunday in Lent
http://lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Lent/CLent3_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__March_20__2022
Video: https://youtu.be/EA0ZR_mS4UU
God said to Moses, “I AM Who I AM.” Exodus 3:14
Please be seated.
I know you’ve heard me talk about my mother’s parents, who lived in upstate New York. Fulton was the name of the town. We’d go there every summer, often one way by bus. My father would often come later and we would go home by car. It was a very long ride before Interstate 81 was built. But I’d be so excited about seeing my grandparents, that I would hardly sleep the night before.
Now in those days, we weren’t allowed to watch TV during the day, unless we were sick. Oh, maybe Captain Kangaroo in the morning, but that was it. TV watching began at about 5pm and there were always cartoons on. At my grandparents’ house, Popeye cartoons came on in the afternoon. I’m Popeye the Sailor Man, the cartoons would start with a very distinctive song, ending with a Toot! The song was from the 1930s and includes the lines:
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.
I yam what’s I yam,
And that’s all what’s I am.
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.
Today, we hear God tell Moses, I AM who I AM. I’m not meaning to imply that God is Popeye. But to look at the simplicity and truth in this statement made to Moses. Who are you in the burning bush, God? Who are you, talking to me and asking me to challenge all-powerful Pharoah? Who are you, asking me to lead the Israelites out of bondage? Who are you speaking the vision of the promised land? What is your name? What god are you?
Remember, the beliefs were that there were many gods, so Moses is asking, which one are you? The people will want to know. And God simply says, I AM who I AM. God is who God is, nothing more, nothing less…God is.
And God has asked Moses to do something that seems nearly impossible, at least in Moses’ vision of himself. Remember, Moses was saved by Pharoah’s daughter and grew up in the royal household, but then he murders an Egyptian when he sees him mistreating an Israelite. Moses flees to Midian and there marries Zipporah. Jethro, his father-in-law, sends Moses to tend the sheep, which meant he was away from the family for a time.
Then here is this burning bush, but not burnt. Here is this sacred ground. Here he encounters God and God asks Moses to lead a people away from a cruel oppressor. Moses does not feel ready nor prepared for the work God would have him do. Yet, God assures Moses that God will be with him. God knows Moses can do this. God knows that Moses is the right person.
A number of times, I have taken a Strengths Finder survey. It is based on a book, Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Mr. Rath and Donald Clifton were tired of hearing about what was wrong with people. They’d also discovered that “people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.” (p. i).
Using the Gallup organization’s 40-year study of human strengths, Mr. Rath and Mr. Clifton came up with 34 of the most common strengths people possess. Strengths Finder includes these top 34. You get a code in the book, which allows you to go online and take a test, which then gives you your top five strengths. The book explains each strength, gives some examples, lists ideas for actions you can take to best use this strength, and lists some ideas for how to work with others who have this strength.
In many ways, this information helps us affirm “I am who I am.” For just as God is who God is, so we, made in God’s image, are who we are. We are who we are….
Now, we could use this as an excuse for all sorts of bad behavior, saying, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” But I don’t think that’s what God wants for us. I think God wants us to be just who we are…to know who we are. To bring our best, to bring our God-given strengths into the world. None of us is God. None of us has all 34 strengths identified by Mr. Rath and Mr. Clifton. We have been created with different strengths. We do need each other.
We need each other and our different strengths, our differing strengths, in order to accomplish God’s work.
One of the things we need to ask ourselves is whether our strengths match what we do in our lives. Do our strengths match the work we do? Are our strengths being used in our church community?
That’s what God is asking us to do. To look clearly at ourselves. To know the strengths and talents God has given us. To align our lives with those strengths and talents, so we can do God’s work. And so we can also know our limitations and our need for each other.
And so we can be ready to see the burning bush…to stand on holy ground…to hear God speaking to us…to be sent to Pharoah…and to free ourselves and each other.
Amen
