Reflections on "Calling People" Exodus 3: 13-15; John 11: 17-27

  I was not sure about the link between John 11 and the sermon, but it worked really well from my perspective. An unintended benefit may be that it took a text that is often only thought of as a memorial service text and cast it in a different light.


When I saw "Jesus Christ, Superstar" the disciples had this really cool little chant.  I had assumed it was part of the sound track, but it was not.  I guess the cast just created it for that particular production.  I wish I could have remembered it because it would have fit perfectly with the sermon theme.


The sermon reminded me of how I often can find expression for what I am thinking about the biblical texts in a song or line from a play.

“Calling People” Sept. 4, 2011; Exodus 3; Clergy Renewal series

Introduction: I have been fascinated with this story from Exodus longer than I have been preaching.

a. Burning bush. Voice of God (what kid wouldn't want to be the voice of God shouting out from the bushes?). Drama!

b. When I studied it in seminary, I became intrigued by Moses demanding to know God's name – if the people ask the name of the God who sends me, what shall I tell them your name is?

1. Moses, seemingly trying to get out of becoming /God's chosen leader trying to put up obstacles, and getting God's answer, "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be" in return.
2. God answering in such a mysterious way that suggests the power and presence of God in ways we can only imagine.

c. I had never paid much attention to what followed, but recently I noticed what else God has to say about God's name.

1. "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."

2. “I am who I am” who be forever linked with the phrase “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob”
3. Not “I am who I am” and "God the great," or "God the Almighty," or "God the creator," or "God the boss” or “God and fill-in-the-blank with a superlative."

         4. No, God chooses to be linked with the people with who God has chosen to be in relationship.

d.  part of me wants to ask “God, couldn't you find some better people by which to define yourself?”

     1. Abraham – never seems to fully trust God; lies on more than one occasion; sends his wife to sleep with other kings when necessary; and although God tells him to, as a father I have to wonder about a guy who is willing to sacrifice his son on an altar.

     2. Or Isaac – well, Isaac is not that bad a choice; he does get duped by his wife and son and played for the fool, but...

    3. Or Jacob – who is always cheating someone or being cheated; steals from his own brother; runs away when things get tough; chickens out when it's time to return to make things right with his brother.

    4. Couldn't God do better than to choose to be linked to these three?

  e. God could have, but instead God chooses to be defined by these far from perfect people.

Move 2: “Jesus Christ, Superstar”

a. One night while in Seattle on Clergy Renewal, I found myself at the Village Theater in Issaquah, WA.

     1. Regional theater putting on the production of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

     2. As we look to the stage, we see a fence rising up from the front edge of the stage.

     3. What could be an alley sits behind the fence with broken down buildings.

     4. It seemed like a mix of West Side story scene and war-torn Beirut.

     5. As the music starts to begin the show, the cast arrives to conquer the fence – some climbing over it; others cutting a hole in it to climb through.

     6. The cast looks like a tough group of people that might be wandering the streets today.

     7. In just a few moments, it is clear that this production will not have long, white flowing robes or any sense that it is from biblical times.

     8. The setting is now, in a pretty tough neighborhood of a city.

b. Not the first production to transport its setting to another time and place.

1. I can well remember seeing Oedipus Rex, a Greek drama, set among the Aztecan people of Mexico – now that's a long evening!
2. But there is a power to this setting of “Jesus Christ, Superstar”
3. As Jesus and his followers play out the story a message is loud, but unspoken.
4. Jesus' story can be played out in any generation.
5. Jesus' disciples can come, indeed they will come from any generation and any place.
6. From 1^st century Jerusalem to 21^st century city streets, Jesus chooses to live among the people and call people to follow him.

c. Disciples find it hard to be disciples, but Jesus still chooses to work through the disciples.

c. The disciples portrayed do not figure it out any better in the current setting than they did in the original context.

Move 3: Story from the Gospel of John.

a. Often read at memorial services to proclaim the resurrection.

1. Frances' service this week.
2. But notice that the story is more than just Jesus proclaiming the resurrection.
3. If all that mattered was the the miraculous raising of Lazarus as proof of the resurrection, Jesus could have easily just swept into town and brought Lazarus back to life.

b. But Martha matters.

      1.This grieving sister needs to be comforted.

2. Jesus wants to share the hope of the resurrection with her personally.
3. For Jesus, it was also about the people. matters.

Move 4: I had a chance to do some really neat things while on Clergy Renewal:  hike in Ghost Ranch, NM; go up on the tram to walk in the snow near Salt Lake City; hike up to Multnomah Falls in Oregon; watch the fireworks on the 4th at the foot of the Washington Monument; take the tram up the mountain in El Paso to see how closely the borders or New Mexico, Juarez, Mexico and El Paso are; and watch the salmon swim upstream in Seattle, WA (to name just a few things).  But without a doubt, the best thing I did was spend time with people -- some family; some friends I see fairly often; some friends I haven't seen in two decades; all people with whom I had a shared history.  At the end of the Clergy Renewal, the people were what gave that time its shape and meaning.

a. God chooses to give shape and meaning to what God is doing in our world through people.

Conclusion: AS we approach our Lord's Table this morning and declare that we are united in Christ with those who have come before, those who will follow us, we can dare to make this claim because we follow a God who chooses to live among and be known by people.

Real people.

People like us.