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So we are diving back into the story of Moses and Pharaoh, and we are coming in on a pretty amazing moment, so let me ask you a question to set the tone…
What’s your call story?
As someone who has been pursuing ordination in the UCC for the past few years I have had lots of time to explore my call story, it is a major element of one’s path to ministry. As Christians, we may not think about it in those terms necessarily “call story”, but call remains one of Christianity’s identifying features. Why are you following Jesus Christ? How did Christ call you? There are quite a few stories from our gospels that describe Christ doing that, calling to people, to his friends and disciples, “come, follow me.” I have a theory that each of us, clergy and laity alike, are all called, and though some of might not know the how and the when, our calls are individual, unique, like a fingerprint…, or DNA! Yeah, I like that one best, our calls to Christianity are like the very makeup of our existence, each of us unique, and complex… and largely unknown to the world around us, and even to ourselves… And this moment from Moses chat with God is evidence of that fact. And I think many of can relate to what we see in this brief piece of Moses story.
Let me try and explain a different way… When I was in seminary, as you might expect, concepts and elements from ones faith journey, from ones process of ordination, or path to ministry, were highlighted and our call stories were no exception. For the first few weeks of the first semester of my time at Andover Newton, I must have told my call story 20 or 30 times. Professors were using the stories as icebreakers for their classes. I was so sick of telling my story by the end of those first few weeks… Anyway, there was one story shared that I still remember to this day. I honestly don’t remember the name of the man who told it, maybe it was Andrew… and I never had another class with him, but I will always remember his story… Christ came to me in a dream, and told me I am supposed to be a minister and to follow him! I was struck by two emotions immediately, the first like a flash, awe. If you saw this man’s face when he recounted that dream, you would know that this was his Truth, Capital T. Every moment of his life since that dream had been dedicated to it, and every moment following would as well. It was well… awesome, and I felt Awe.
There are lots of reasons to feel awe when we read our passage from exodus this morning too. Moses is sitting beside a burning bush that is not burned up by the fire, and if that’s not enough, God’s voce is booming out from it. Ok so that’s miraculous and escapes modern ability to explain. If we allow ourselves to accept the bush alone, we should feel awe. But there is more. God speaks to Moses and gives him a job, to free the enslaved Hebrew people from Pharaoh’s grasp, by talking… that’s it, just talking and wielding a Rod. It’s clear, its specific, its definable, it’s a call like I witnessed in that one sentence call story in my seminary classroom. God is speaking directly to Moses, and Moses hears God’s voice.
But things aren’t that simple are they… Remember how I said I felt two emotions when I heard that other man’s call story, the first was a flash of Awe. But the second was a dull, lingering jealousy. In that moment, I was so jealous of the clarity and immediacy of that other man’s call, because mine is messy, and long, and confusing. And I’m still a little jealous to this day… What that other man found wrapped up in a dream, what he could articulate in one sentence, I find dropped throughout my life like a trail of breadcrumbs picked at by passing birds and squirrel, and covered in drifting leaves… My call definitely started with my parents, who taught my brothers and me about common sense, logic, and compassion, but who never even entered a church except to witness to my journey and to bring my aging grandmother. My call absolutely comes from my grandmother, who brought me to church as a little boy, and introduced me to the pageantry, liturgy and music of Episcopal worship, to the stories, characters, and significance of the scriptures… My call comes from those youths from my church that reached out and took action when I was skirting some difficult times in my teens, it comes from the pain of divorce, and the joy of fatherhood. My call comes from that small congregational church, where I felt God’s welcoming presence, and from the amazing woman that brought me there, who is now my best friend and my partner for life. My call comes from the places where my faith life, and my private life clash and I am forced to explore the difference and find Gods voice.
Though the call we hear from God in this morning’s passage is clear and immediate as only God’s voice can be, Moses’ response gives it the depth and complexity of human life. Where God gives direction, Moses piles on fatigue, and fear, where God gives specificity, Moses gets lost in doubt. I would bet that Moses heard that same call that God speaks from the bush, echoing through his memories. Did Moses recognize that call in that baby sent floating in a basket, in his childhood in Pharaoh’s court, did he feel that call in the memory of recognizing the injustice of slavery, or in the loss of his life in Egypt as he fled through the desert, did he see it in the eyes of his wife and father in law, would he have been able to answer God’s call if he hadn’t lived those things, seen those things, and felt those things?
Like Moses, I believe that our calls are complicated, tied to our every moment of experience. As Christians we are all called, but each of us is called to follow Christ as only we can. Someone I was speaking with recently mentioned that they often wonder how they can make a difference, how they are supposed to contribute to God’s work today. I jokingly said that this sermon would have all the answers, and of course it has no answers, but maybe there is something we can take from my rambling thoughts this morning…
I have looked for God’s call when I felt lost, ignored God’s call when it was too much, or too inconvenient, I have clung to God’s call when drowning in the pain or confusion of life, and I have accepted God’s call when I’ve felt strong enough and confident enough to do so. No matter how I relate to Gods call, the call remains, in that I have unwavering faith! There is no one definite way to answer God’s call, no one way to follow Christ, because there is no one call for everyone, but one unique call for each of us. God knows us better than we know ourselves, knows our potential, knows our gifts, and our weaknesses. Though we may not know how to answer, or what we might have to offer, God has faith in us, unwavering faith in us, and we just need to answer the call, bring what we have, nothing more, nothing different, and nothing less.
Amen