this was my first Sunday back at St. Andrew after a 4-month sabbatical. I have been wanting to preach a sermon tying the Ted Lasso story and the burning bush story together for quite some time. In all honesty, the sermon I ended up with did not quite meet the hopes I had for the sermon (this is often the case!). I had preached a version of this sermon in August at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Corsicana, TX, when I was the guest preacher there. It had been my home church during my time in seminary.
I love the Ted Lasso story and the burning bush story! I had never noticed that Moses notices the burning bush and goes over to see about it. As noted from the Jenista comment, others have seen the role of curiosity in this story from Exodus. I hinted at it but perhaps was not explicit enough, that curiosity might be a way to help us bridge differences, particularly when it comes to some of the great divisions we now have over difficult issues.
“A Holy Curiosity” September 22, 2024; St. AndrewPresbyterian Church; Matthew 16:21-28; Exodus 2: 23 - 3:6 Mark 9: 2-9; Exodus
A moment of Personal Privilege: This pulpit has seen a lot of action this summer! Apparently, the spotlight has been burning bright because I noticed Friday when I stood in the pulpit that the light bulb that shines on the pulpit has gone out, literally!
As I have heard about this past summer’s worship here at St. Andrew, I almost wish I had been here for it — almost!
There will be more opportunities for me to share about my sabbatical time and hear about what has been happening here at St. Andrew the last four months, but on my first Sunday back, I wanted to give my thanks to this congregation for its care for its pastors that provides for us to have sabbatical times periodically.
thanks to the Personnel Committee for making it part of how St. Andrew embraces its ordained staff;
thanks to the Session for approving my sabbatical plans;
thanks to all the wonderful preachers who filled the pulpit this summer
thanks to the Ruth Anderson fund for providing for most of the activities that took place at St. Andrew this summer;
thanks to Stephen Plunkett and Alison Plunkett McStravick who generously suggested the use of funds from the Margaret and Steve Plunkett memorials to provide financial support for my sabbatical plans.
thanks to the sabbatical committee for their guidance of the whole process;
thanks to the staff for their work in making the sabbatical run so smoothly that St Andrew's activities did not skip a beat this summer;
finally, thanks to my colleague Dr. Lisa Patterson for her tireless work leading into my sabbatical time and throughout the last four months.
Even as I have been blessed by the wonderful opportunity to go on sabbatical, St. Andrew continues to be blessed by the many talented people who make things like a sabbatical such a wonderful and meaningful time for me and this congregation.
Exodus 2:23 - 3:6
23After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. 24God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.
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. 2There 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. 3Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4When 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.” 5Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6He 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.
Introduction: Perhaps you have heard of the hit Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso, in which the title character is an American football coach, who is exported to the U.K. to manage a British football, that is, soccer team.
I was a little late to the Ted Lasso phenomenon. People kept telling me i would love it, but I kept thinking, who wants to watch a soccer show in England about a football coach from America?
But, it became one of the Covid TV binges my wife Leslie and I had.
and, I did love it.
In a particularly moving episode, Ted Lasso and the antagonist Rupert—the vindictive former owner of the soccer team—place a significant wager on a game of darts.
At the beginning of the scene, Rupert asks Ted if he liked darts, to which Ted replies, “they’re ok.”
Fast forward, and Ted’s last turn arrives and he needs a perfect sets of throws to win.
At this moment, Ted pauses to switch hands and move from throwing with his right hand to throwing with his left hand.
then, he shares the following lesson.
“Guys have underestimated me my entire life and for years I never understood why – it used to really bother me. Then one day I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw a quote by Walt Whitman, it was painted on the wall there and it said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that.” (Ted throws a dart.)“So, I get back in my car and I’m driving to work and all of a sudden it hits me – all them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. You know, they thought they had everything all figured out, so they judged everything, and they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me – who I was had nothing to do with it. Because if they were curious, they would’ve asked questions. Questions like, ‘Have you played a lot of darts, Ted?’” (Ted throws another dart.)
“To which I would have answered, ‘Yes sir. Every Sunday afternoon at a sports bar with my father from age ten until I was 16 when he passed away.’ Barbecue sauce.” (Ted throws a double bullseye to win the game.)
(https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/04/08/be-curious-not-judgmental-a-leadership-lesson-from-ted-lasso/; “Be Curious, Not Judgmental: A Leadership Lesson From Ted Lasso” Connie Whittaker Dunlop
As I have reflected on Ted’s comment about curiosity, I have thought about the role of curiosity in our lives of discipleship.
Move 1: Moses embraces curiosity and it changes his life.
a. As you have probably figured out over the last 8 years, the burning bush one of my favorite biblical stories.
1. I have preached on this story and taught on it numerous times.
2. Lots of wonderful themes - the power of the God who remembers God’s people;
the God who hears our cries;
the God who calls us into leadership.
the God who is always working to redeem and save us.
Lots of wonderful themes, but instead of any of them, I thought we’d reflect on the role curiosity plays in the story!
b. the story does not begin with Moses at the burning bush;
1. it begins with Moses noticing the burning bush and going over to see about it.
He is curious about the burning bush and won’t be satisfied until he learns more about it.
2. I suppose any of us might notice a burning bush around us.
3. But think about how Moses could have responded
Maybe, I better throw some dirt on it
or, let me run get some water to drown out the flames.
or, I better evacuate the place.
or, I need to move the flock away from danger.
2. Instead, the burning bush makes him curious.
he wants to know more about it.
Moses says, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”
He wants to dig deeper to figure out what is happening and what he can learn from this burning bush.
4. As Meg Jenista notes in her commentary on this story: “Out in the middle of nowhere, Moses sees a strange bush, burning but not burning up. In a moment of curiosity that instigates the unfolding of God’s plan, Moses decides to turn aside and investigate further. https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2023-08-28/exodus-31-15-3/; Meg Jenista, calvin seminary)
3. When Moses’ curiosity takes him over to the burning bush, God responds by calling to him from the burning bush.
c. Moses’ curiosity opens him up to new possibilities.
1. all that follows -
Moses developing a personal relationship with God.
Moses becoming the leader of the Israelite people.
Moses lifting his staff to part the Red Sea at God’s command.
Moses bringing the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai
all of what follows happens because Moses’ curiosity takes him over to the burning bush.
2. Some frustrating and scary stuff happens to Moses through the years as well.
I bet there were times Moses looked back and wished he had not been so curious.
But he was curious.
4. And before all is said and done, Moses will have played a critical role in God leading them out of slavery in Egypt and God’s saving action in redeeming the Israelites
Because he was curious about the burning bush.
Move 2: In the story from the Gospel of Matthew, we see Peter’s lack of curiosity.
a. Jesus tells them what he is about the face.
shows the disciples what is going to happen
his suffering
his death
his being raised from the dead.
b. Peter’s response? A decided lack of curiosity.
1. Peter wants no part of what Jesus is telling them and showing them.
2. No questions like “Why do you have to suffer?”
“Why do you have to die?”
or, “What do you mean you will be raised from the dead.”
No exploring or learning more.
No curiosity.
3. Peter does not like the sound of what Jesus is saying, so instead of asking more about it,
instead of trying to figure out what Jesus is saying, he shuts down the conversation by immediately rebuking Jesus.
4. maybe you know that tendency, you run into an idea or problem that you don’t want to deal with or work on, so you just shut it down.
c. Jesus responds to Peter by calling out Satan and telling Peter he is a stumbling block.
1. it seems to me the stumbling block for Peter is his unwillingness to engage Jesus and discover what Jesus is trying to teach him.
2. A little curiosity and Peter might have learned what Jesus was going to do and accomplish by dying on the cross.
A little curiosity and Peter might have come to understand why Jesus needed to die on the cross;
a little curiosity and Peter might have grasped the enormity of what is going to happen when Jesus is raised from the dead.
d. Now I know curiosity is not the answer to everything.
1. Death on the cross and resurrection are pretty overwhelming concepts to understand or live into whether we are curious or not,
2. but I find it instructive that Moses’ curiosity opens him up to the possibilities God has for him, possibilities for redemption and God’s saving grace.
and Peter’s lack of curiosity leads to Jesus rebuking him.
Move 3: think about how curiosity could be one of our tools for discipleship.
a. how curiosity might help open us up to the possibilities for what God is doing in our lives and our world.
1. when we are dealing with the God of the burning bush and the God of resurrection, we need to learn how to break out of out of our set patterns so we can discover what God desires of us.
that new thing that only God can do.
2. We need to discover how to create space to allow our curiosity to lead us instead of immediately responding in ways that shut things down.
if not, we confine God to the box of what we know instead of participating in what God can and will do.
b. We Iive in a divided world these days.
century-long divides that lead to fighting in Eastern Europe and the Middle East;
political divides here in the United States that separate us and make opponents of friends and family.
1. lots of Christians weighing in on which position best represents God’s position or reflects discipleship in Jesus Christ.
2. Many conflicting opinions of where God is in all these differences and conflicts.
3. But instead of being curious, we too quickly resort to just seeking proving our positions correct and judging others as incorrect.
4. Instead of seeing possibilities for new understandings and discovering new paths God has for us, we quickly respond to with narrow answers that shut down possibilities.
how do we create the space to allow God to be at work among us and even among those with whom we might disagree?
No one of us has a monopoly on the will or way of God.
5. yesterday at the Grace Presbytery meeting (welcome back from sabbatical!), the presbytery’s youth leadership led worship.
One of the young women commented that the Presbyterian church always seems to be curious about things!”
I hope she is correct.
I hope we as a church can continue to be curious enough to engage each other to engage the world, and engage God in ways to reveal what God is calling us to do and what God is calling us to be!
c. Speaking of curiosity, do you remember God’s answers when Moses asks God what God’s name is?
God replies “I am who I am,”
or “I will be who I will be.”
2. A pretty curious answer that speaks to the infinite possibilities of who God is and what God will do.
3. a name that says “You cannot confine me.”
4. A name that says, “Do not limit me to what you think it possible, but give yourselves over to what I can do through you.”
5. a name that points to the God who is ever before us full of possibilities,
the God who calls us to be curious and live into that which we may never have imagined.
conclusion: Just like in the time of Moses, I have no doubt that God hears our cries;
God remembers us.
Perhaps we should join Moses and be a little curious about what God is doing so we can discover God’s call for how all of us can be part God’s work to redeem and save the world.
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