[Propertalk] Proper 17 sermon - The Names By Which He Is Known

[Joe Parrish]

The Names By Which He Is Known

Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22


from the book
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle A


David
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When I was about six years old, I made friends with a boy named Danny. At
the lake community where our family spent our summer vacation, the house
where Danny's family stayed was right across the street from the house where
we stayed. Because we were not year-round neighbors, the families did not
know each other at all, but Danny and I eventually met and began to play
together. 

One day, when we were playing catch together, the ball got away from us and
rolled over near where my sister happened to be sitting. Not knowing my
sister's name, Danny called out to her, "Hey, David's sister, could you
please toss us that ball?" 

My sister, who was seven years older, was amused by the appellation, and so
it stuck. From that time on, among the kids in the two families, she was
known as "David's sister."

And the pattern grew. Next there was "Danny's brother." Then "Danny's other
brother." And then, of course, there was "Danny's mother" and "Danny's
father," as well as "David's mother" and "David's father." We even had
"David's sister's dog." 

The pattern continued for several summers as our families vacationed across
the street from each other. It was a playful way that the members of the two
families referred to one another. 

What we did playfully for a few years, however, is what Israel did quite
seriously for centuries. Danny's brother, Jeff, was not known by his own
name: He was known as Danny's brother. And, likewise, the Lord was not known
by his name: He was known as Israel's God. 

Our Old Testament text for today is a portion of the famous burning bush
event. Moses, who was a fugitive from Egypt where he had killed a man, had
settled among the Midianites. There he met and married a woman, and he lived
with her family, caring for the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro. 

One day, while he was tending the flock, Moses' attention was suddenly
captured by a strange sight. 

The occasion reminds us, of course, of the marvelous versatility of our God.
He appears to and calls Isaiah in the temple, but he is not limited to
working in such a designated sacred space. He calls Gideon in his hiding
place, the fishermen and the tax collector at their work, young Samuel in
his bed, and Saul/Paul right on the path of his well-meaning and zealous
opposition to God. So, here, Moses is walking along, literally minding his
own business, when the Lord gets his attention with this strange phenomenon.


The sight that Moses turned aside to see was a bush: specifically, a bush
that was on fire. Yet while it appeared to be burning, it was not burning
up. Moses moved toward it to take a closer look, at which point the Lord
called out to him from the bush. 

The Lord began by calling Moses by name. We may take that for granted, and
yet it remains an unnecessarily personal touch. Calling someone by name may
be required in order to get a person's attention, the Lord already had
Moses' attention there at the bush. He could have begun speaking without
personally naming Moses, much as the angel over Bethlehem began speaking
without calling the shepherds by name.

Interestingly, the Lord speaks Moses' name twice. Obviously, most
salutations do not repeat the person's name, but it is a pattern that occurs
several times in scripture. And the repetition -- "Moses, Moses!" -- seems
to convey a certain affection and urgency: Samuel, Samuel (1 Samuel 3:4);
Martha, Martha (Luke 10:41); Simon, Simon (Luke 22:31); and Saul, Saul (Acts
9:4). 

Next, the Lord introduced himself to Moses. This strongly suggests that
Moses had not heard the Lord speak to him prior to this occasion.
Introductions are the sort of thing that only occur once between two people,
unless they have forgotten each other; and that doesn't happen with God.

While the record we have of Moses' early life surely assumes God's
providential hand in his life, there is no earlier indication that God had
spoken to him. This appears to be the first time. And on the numerous
subsequent occasions when the Lord spoke to Moses, he did not introduce
himself again as he does here in this, their first meeting.

This encounter at the burning bush is especially distinctive, for in the end
the Lord introduces himself twice.

At the outset, God introduces himself this way: "I am the God of your
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then,
as the episode unfolds, God calls Moses to return to Egypt as the instrument
of his deliverance, and Moses responds with resistance. He feels unqualified
and ill-equipped, and so he raises a series of objections. And among them,
Moses expresses this concern: "If I come to the Israelites and say to them,
'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is
his name?' what shall I say to them?"

God had called Moses by name. And God had introduced himself to Moses. Still
Moses did not know God's name. 

This detail may elude us in our reading, for we may have lost, in our own
practice and prayer, the distinction between names and titles. We use his
titles freely -- God, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Father, and such -- and we may
use them as though they were his name. But Moses perceived the fact of the
matter: He did not know God's name. 

On this occasion, therefore, God disclosed his name to Moses and, by
extension, to his people: "I AM WHO I AM.... Thus you shall say to the
Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 

Several eventful months later, Moses was back on that same mountain to meet
with God. With the Israelites camped below, God gave to Moses there on that
mountain his commandments, which would form the basis of his covenant with
his people. Included among those fundamental commandments was this
high-ranking instruction: "You shall not make wrongful use of the name of
the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name"
(Exodus 20:7). And, somewhat later, the penalty phase of this important
command is revealed: "One who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put
to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well
as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death" (Leviticus
24:16). 

So it is that the Old Testament people of God had a sense for the
importance, the holiness, and the power of God's name. They knew it as
majestic (Psalm 8:1), as their protection (Psalm 20:1), as their source of
help (Psalm 124:8), as their refuge (Proverbs 18:10), as their pride (Psalm
20:7), and as worthy of praise (Psalm 113:3). 

That wonderful name was revealed to Moses at the burning bush. And that
episode presents us with a noteworthy sequence of events: a sequence that
may be a universal pattern. 

At the end of the episode, Moses knows God by name. It's personal and it's
powerful. But at the beginning of the episode, that's not the case. God
knows Moses by name, but Moses does not know God in that personal way. In
order to introduce himself to Moses, God says, "I am the God of your father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." 

In short, before Moses knows God by his name, he knows God by other names:
specifically, the names of other people. 

This is not a mystery; this is quite natural. We understand this sequence
from our own day-to-day human interactions. For when we introduce ourselves
to another person for the first time, we often do it in reference to some
third-party. Since we are unknown to the individual we're meeting, we
identify ourselves, if possible, with someone who is known to them. 

To a friend of my daughter, I introduce myself as "Angela's dad." To a
friend of my wife, I introduce myself as "Karen's husband." To the nurse
outside a patient's door, I introduce myself as that patient's pastor. 

If I say, "Hello, I'm David," that might mean nothing to one of my
daughter's friends. When I introduce myself as Angela's father, however,
then I make a connection. Such was God's approach with Moses. He did not
begin by introducing himself by name; Moses didn't know him yet. Instead, he
began by introducing himself by other people's names: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.


This is, you know, always the nature of our experience with God. You and I
were not born with a knowledge of the Lord; we came to know him. And we did
not come to know him in a vacuum; we were introduced to him by someone else.
We were taught about him, led to him, and nurtured in our relationship with
him by someone else. Indeed, probably by dozens of other people. 

Before he is known by his name, he is known by someone else's name. Before
he was my God, he was the God of my father. Before I know him as my God, I
might know him first as "Danny's God." 

See, then, how our testimony circles around to become our responsibility. 

When I bear witness to God's work in my life, I discover that his work has
been done through so very many people along the way. Some of them have an
idea how God used them in my life. Some others have no idea. But they are
the names by which he was known to me: He was their God before he was my
God. 

And now he is my God. He and I have been introduced. It is a personal
relationship. I know him by name. 

Since he is my God now, there is a good chance that he will be known by my
name. There are a great many people who don't know him yet, but they know
me. And for some, I may be their only association with him. 

Likewise with you -- for some friend or family member or neighbor or
coworker -- someone in your life who does not know the Lord personally only
knows him right now as your Lord. You and I are among the names by which he
is known. Amen. 

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