2-week Bible study on Exodus 3 Week 2- The Holy Name Carroll First UMC August 30, 2020

 

2-week Bible study on Exodus 3

Week 2- The Holy Name

Carroll First UMC August 30, 2020

Names have power. To know someone’s name is to know something intimate about them. That was even more true in the past. At one time if you met someone named Shoemaker you knew something about them. I am told that the root of Plocher in German has to do with being big and fat, so you know something about my ancestors.

You can understand, then, why the name of God is such a big deal. In today’s story, God reveals the divine name to Moses in a rather dramatic fashion.

Moses’ name means “to pull or draw out,” which reminds us of the story of the princess pulling his reed basket from the Nile.

 After growing up I the palace, at 40 years of age, Moses became a fugitive from the law, a murderer, married to a pagan priest’s daughter. 40 years later, at 80 years of age, Moses was still a hired hand on his father-in-law’s sheep ranch. He saw a bush that was on fire. But the fire was not burning up the bush. Mystified, and somewhat mesmerized, Moses approached the bush.

What happens?  God says, “Moses.”  It might not surprise you that God knows your name, but Moses lived before the incarnation, before Jesus said, “you are in me and I am in the father.” Before Jesus said, “I have not called you slaves… I have called you friends.”  Additionally, Moses grew up with the religion of Egypt. They had a whole family of Gods like Ra, Osiris, Isis, and if you like the movie “The Mummy” you recognize Anubis. These Gods were to be feared and to hear one’s name on the lips of God was at least surprising, and maybe terrifying.

This also explains why it makes perfect sense for Moses to ask, “When I go to pharaoh to demand that he release the slaves, which God should I say sent me?”

But it is none of those gods.  It is the one God, known to his ancestors as Elohim – which is the plural for “EL” which means God.  Elohim is the God who is both one and many, like the trinity. Adonai is the plural of the word ADON which means lord. So, God is both the lord and the lord of lords.   But those are titles or adjectives, like pastor, teacher, or doctor The name Moses heard that day was different … we should hear that name with fear and trembling … with reverence and awe … for it is the personal name of God … not a title or an adjective … but the very name of God as given to us by God Himself!  It is so … so … [pause] … amazing … so revealing … so powerful… so unique that it begins to reveal the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth of who God is.

 

 The name God revealed to Moses is the tetragrammaton. I know that is a mouth full. But it is not complicated. Tetra means what? Four, right?  Gramaton simply means letters.  So, a tetragrammaton is a four-letter word.  Not a four-letter word like the ones polite people don’t say, but a very, very powerful., very revealing 4 letter name. The name of God consists of four Hebrew letters from right to left “Yod – He-- Waw—and He” … which we transliterate into English and reads left to right is “Y-H-W-H.”

That is the tetragrammaton. And it is so holy that the Hebrews would not say the name but would go to great lengths to not say the name of God. They used beautiful phrases like “The Blessed one” and “The Holy one.” Anything to avoid defiling the holy name of God. When the scribes wrote the tetragrammaton, they took a bath beforehand, and destroyed the pen afterwards so it could never be used to write common words again.

Our problem today is that instead of being so awed that we don’t even pronounce the name of god, we use god’s name flippantly. It is everywhere once you become sensitized to the improper use of the word god. It has, in a way become the four-letter word that only has three letters.  The third commandment literally translated means “You shall not attach the LORD’s name to emptiness.” Which pretty much describes the frequent exclamation of God today: they are empty.

 

 The tetragrammaton is so holy and that powerful that we don’t find it in our Bibles. What we see is the word LORD or GOD in small capital letters. You will find that 6,800 times in the Old Testament.  Each of those represents a use of the Tetragrammaton.

Now, notice there are no vowels in Hebrew. So, the Latin scribes and English translators had to insert vowels to make it a word. Many Latin scribes inserted the vowels from “Elohim” a title for God in Genesis.  That becomes the name “Jehovah,” which was the common usage for many years. Then textual and archeological research of the 19th and 20th Century started leaning toward the way the Christians wrote it in the second Century which used the vowels from Adonai, (another title for God in Genesis) which then became the word “Yahweh.”

 

So, back to our story. Moses is standing at the burning bush barefoot, hiding his face in respect… that same felon, pagan marrying,  ne’er do well who at the age of 80 is still his father in law’s hired hand…is commanded by a burning bush to take on the greatest king of the day, Pharaoh, and the bush says “I will be with you.” And moses says “right.”  He used every excuse in the book and finally pulled out the big gun. “Which god shall I tell them you are God does not give him a title like Lord or creator.  But God gifts Moses with the very personal name of the most high. …. with the name that is above every name! The name of God himself. “capital Yod … capital He … capital Waw … capital He.” What we know as Yahweh.

What in the world does it mean? The common consensus today is to translate “Yahweh” as “I AM WHO I AM.” But that does not capture the whole thing. Since we don’t really know what vowels to use, if we shift the vowels around or use vowels other than “a” or “e” you can get names that mean: “I SHALL BE WHAT I SHALL BE” -“I SHALL BE WHAT I AM” –or – “I WILL BECOME WHAT I CHOOSE”  You can see how all those names make sense right?

Now there is one more step here.  Stay with me now. “I was never ‘no’ good at all that grammar stuff” but experts tell us that YHWH is not a noun like God or Adonai or Elohim. YHWH is a verb.  Further it is an action verb that wraps back on itself so that God is both the source of the action and the result of the action.  I know… hang in there I’ll get you there. 

 If YHWH is an active verb where God is both the cause and the result of the action, YHWH does not mean just I am who I am… which sounds kind of lame.  It is more like, “I am the one who causes what I am to be.  Or I am the one who causes being to be.  I am the one who created creating. Or I am the verb “to god;" I always was, I am, and I always will be “godding.” “

Think about creation, which is not static but always changing, dying, birthing, morphing, evolving, eroding, moving… the soil depends on the plant to keep it healthy, as much as the plant depends on the soil. The trees need our carbon dioxide as much as we need their oxygen. Everything is moving, everything is interconnected, creation is about the business of “creationing.” 

 Similarly, God is like an infinitely opening flower, opening and opening more, and opening again, and opening always, and God has caused and is the         living changing beautiful flower from the beginning and forever.

YHWH is the God who invented and is the energy behind all Godding;

and is the only and most Godliest God that ever Godded anywhere, anytime, anyhow, and any way that anyone has ever Godded.

Follow that? I think my theology professor would be proud of that sentence…   Let me say that one more time

 YHWH is the God who invented and is the energy behind all Godding;

and is the only and most Godliest God that ever Godded anywhere, anytime, anyhow, and any way that anyone has ever Godded.

 So, what do we do with that? I always aim to have a so what at the end of the sermon? What is there to say?  I certainly don’t expect you to remember that convoluted sentence. There is only one thing to do… AWE… stand in AWE before our God who is YHWH. Beyond all time, beyond all space, beyond all knowing, beyond all understanding… stand in awe that we are able to commune with such a holy God this morning.

Exodus 3 On holy ground Carroll FUMC August 9, 2020

 

Exodus 3

On holy ground

Carroll FUMC August 9, 2020

 

Occasionally we hear of a safe haven baby. A baby that is left at a police station, fire department of hospital designated as a safe alternative to abandoning a child

Moses was a safe haven baby… well not exactly because they didn’t have “safe havens” in ancient Egypt.

 

Let me give you some background on today’s story

Remember the Israelites ended up in Egypt because Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and the pharaoh bought him. Joseph became second in command of the nation and brought his family to Egypt during a famine.

After many years, Hebrew population became so large, a pharaoh who didn’t know joseph’s story became afraid of them. So, He enslaved them and treated them badly.

Still being afraid that they might rise up in rebellion the pharaoh ordered all the Hebrew baby boys to be killed upon birth. The midwife who attended Moses birth couldn’t do it. She gave Moses to his mother. And mom took care of him for 3 months. I suppose he became too noisy and she couldn’t hide him anymore. She put him in a reed basket and set him afloat along the banks of the Nile.

Pharaoh’s daughter “just so happened” to find the basket and the baby. Now, you might say it was a coincidence that Moses’ own biological mother was asked to nurse him. But there are way too many coincidences in this story. I think we have to call a spade a spade. They are God-incidents.

 

One day Moses went out to walk among his people (the Hebrew slaves) He came across an Egyptian task-master abusing a slave. His temper got the best of him and he killed the Egyptian and buried the body.

 The next day Moses was confronted by two Hebrews who had seen the murder. He thought surely the pharaoh would find out, if he didn’t know already. So, he fled to the desert.

Moses ended up in the land of Midian which is modern day Saudi Arabia.

Moses married Zipporah the daughter of a priest named Jethro. Moses became a trusted shepherd for Jethro. That pretty much brings us up to today’s story.

 

Fast-forward 40 year. … Moses is now 80 years old…still watching his father-in-law’s sheep. It was a normal day and he kept one eye on the sheep and the other on the weather and surrounding terrain. Something caught his eye. It looked like a reflection, but not quite. He walked to the top of the next hill where he could still see the sheep and could see that it was a bush on fire. Now this was different. Something besides sand, and rocks, everywhere. But there was something strange about it. The bush was not being consumed. In other words, there were flames but they were not damaging the bush in any way! Strange indeed.

Moses took a couple more steps toward the bush and heard a loud voice, “Moses.” I’m pretty sure he ignored it the first time because the only living things near were the sheep. He was sure Jethro would toss him out on his ear if Moses admitted that the sheep called his name.

When his name was called again, he knew it was the Lord. So, he averted his eyes out of respect. Moses. Moses, again the voice called. “Here I am” he said.

“Come no closer, take off your shoes, for the place you are standing is holy ground.” Moses immediately did as he was told.

What an interesting situation. Moses is standing barefoot in the desert talking to the living God as if they were fishing buddies. There are three things we have to notice if we are to really hear this story: the place, the holiness, and the response.

 

First is the place, Mount Horeb is described as: “The mountain of God.” And we know that Moses would return to Mount Horeb to receive the 10 commandments, but he doesn’t know that yet. As far as Moses is concerned it is one mountain among dozens, on day just like any other day in his 40 years as a shepherd … Except God has never spoken out of a burning bush.to him…until today

I love that God speaks to Moses in the ordinary even humdrum business of shepherding. Moses was dusty… he had to be. He was hot. He had to be. Wouldn’t you know, the hottest day of the summer God invites Moses to a campfire. Moses wasn’t even wearing his Sunday go to church duds. And God still came to him

God came to the earth, to the ground, to the dusty, rock littered Midian desert to meet Moses because that is what God does.

God is not a God we have to seek out in a temple or the highest mountain or the deepest sea. Our God is not too mighty to step into our daily lives. In fact, that is exactly what Jesus was all about, God’s walking the same ground we walk and living as an ordinary person except he was God.

The question is where on earth (literally) where on earth is our burning bush? Or maybe the question is would we recognize the burning bush as God, or would we just roast marshmallows?

Maybe God is present for you on this ground where to we come to worship each week. Maybe when you are on the vacation standing on the ground exactly where the plains become the Rocky Mountains. Maybe God is trying to get your attention when you are praying, but you are too busy talking to hear. Is it doing the dishes, or taking out the garbage, or doing your homework, or doing laundry, or playing video games, … or maybe God is speaking to you, like Moses, at your place of work or at school? Where is it. Where on earth (literally) is your burning bush?

 

The Second thing we have to see is that when God does appear, (notice I said, WHEN, not IF) When God appears, everything becomes holy. The ground on which God walks becomes holy ground. The time becomes holy time. The air becomes holy air. Whatever God touches becomes holy. Whoever encounters God becomes holy.

What is holy? The Latin work is “Sanctus.” To be holy is to be set apart for a special use. It does not mean perfect. It means set aside. The ground becomes holy ground, the bush becomes a holy bush, the air becomes the holy breath of God.

When we stand before God, human, dusty, dirty, smelly, broken, sinful our unholiness becomes more obvious. The extent of the nighttime tornado’s damage does not become apparent until daylight. The sparkle of the diamond in the rough cannot be seen until the light comes. So, Moses hid his face, or averts his eyes. Instinctively, Moses knows that the holiness of this place, the holiness of this bush, the holiness of this moment is too great for him. The natural and appropriate response to being in the presence of the holiness of God, being on holy ground, breathing holy air, is awe. There are no words, there aren’t even any songs, there is nothing we can do or say that won’t seem lame as we face our holy God. We stand before h9liness in pure and simple awe.

 

Finally, God calls for a response. Even before God asks Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, God’s awe-filled presence demands a response. “Moses, take of your sandals for you are standing on holy ground.” Take of your shoes, because you are standing in God’s back yard.

Taking off one’s shoes is an act of humility. We may take off our shoes when we enter some homes, out of respect for the family. Removing one’s shoes before worship still occurs today among Muslims and among worshippers in some of the Asian religions. Taking off our shoes is a way of literally bearing our “soles.” And I do mean both “soles” and “Souls.”

Additionally, the removal of the shoes is an act of putting away the defilement of the world. Moses feet would have been dirty from trampling across the desert following the sheep. You can only imagine what his sandals had on them.

For us it might be the residue of our wrongs or the residue of our failure to do right. It sticks like bubblegum to our soles, and we can feel the stickiness as we walk. We leave a little sticky footprint everywhere we go. Our dirty footprint has no business coming with us when we step onto the ground made holy by God’s awesome presence.

So, God says shed your past and step up.

Abandon what you have done, and step up.

Release the guilt and shame that comes with those shoes and stand pure in my holy and awesome presence.

We come to holy ground and remove our shoes as an act of humility ad repentance.

 

Moses had gone from facing death to facing the living God.

Moses went from being abandoned by his mother to being claimed by his heavenly father.

Moses went from being a killer who takes life to a servant who offers his own life to the almighty God.

 

How is your life changed by standing on to holy ground? How will your life be changed by standing awe filled in front of the living God How can your life be changed by the simple act of taking off your shoes and coming humbly vulnerable before your creator and savior?