For the past several weeks, I’ve been preaching from this same Bible story, the story of Moses at the burning bush. Today I’m going to preach on this story one more time; and today’s focus is on Moses’ response, after God says he’s sending Moses to Pharaoh.
Moses’ response is to ask God, “Who am I? Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Who am I... Could it be that Moses doesn’t know who he is? Could it be that he just can’t see himself the way God sees him?
How many of us really know who we are? How many of us can really see ourselves the way God sees us?
Maybe we know who we are in the eyes of society…. Or in the eyes of our coworkers.... Or in the eyes of our classmates… Or in the eyes of our neighbors, or our friends, or our family.
But how well do we really know who we are in the eyes of God who created us?
Moses didn’t see himself the way God saw him.
Moses saw in himself someone who was torn apart. A Hebrew by birth, but an Egyptian by upbringing. This made Moses feel like he only half-belonged in either world. It made him feel that he didn’t really fully belong anywhere.
And maybe that’s how others viewed him. To the Egyptians, he wasn’t really an Egyptian, because he was born a Hebrew. But to the Hebrews, he wasn’t really a Hebrew, because he had been raised in the royal palace.
And by being torn in two in this way, Moses wasn’t whole. He was broken. Split apart, into pieces.
A class I took in seminary - I’ll tell you the name of the class in a moment - helped me understand how Jesus, also, grew up among people who felt torn apart, in a similar way. Jesus was a Galilean Jew. The Galilean Jews weren’t considered to be real Jews by the Jews in Jerusalem, because they were Galilean.
But because they were Jews, Galilean Jews were also looked down upon by their Roman oppressors.
So there wasn’t really a place where they could feel that they truly belonged. They weren’t welcome here, and they weren’t welcome there.
Maybe this feeling is why Moses ran away to Midian. He didn’t feel that he truly belonged among the Hebrews, and he also didn’t feel that he truly belonged among the Egyptians. In neither place was he fully accepted for who he was.
So he fled to Midian, where he ended up caring for sheep “beyond the wilderness.”
That class I took in seminary was actually titled, “Hispanic Theology in the United States.” Now, what does “Hispanic Theology in the United States” have to do with Moses and the Galileans feeling torn apart?
In class, we learned that the situation faced by Galileans like Jesus is similar to the situation faced by immigrants in the United States, especially those from Latin America. They also find no welcome - neither here nor there. Even 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants - they’re made to feel that they don’t really belong … they aren’t fully accepted by society here, and they aren’t fully accepted by people in the lands of their parents and grandparents.
But because Jesus experienced something similar, Jesus gets it. Jesus knows what that’s like. Jesus knows what it’s like to be caught between two cultures. And Jesus knows how difficult it can be to figure out who you really are in the midst of all that.
And Moses was in a similar situation. Moses could not see who he really was, because he had been so torn apart, but God was trying very hard to let Moses know that God did know who Moses was, because God was the one who created Moses, the one who creates all people, giving them the ability to speak, the ability to hear, the ability to see…
It’s like Moses is saying to God, “I’m not who you think I am,” and God responds, “No - I know exactly who you are. It’s you who don’t know who you are.”
It’s like Simba and Rafiki in the Lion King, right?
Simba meets Rafiki and says: “Who are you?
Rafiki: “The question is, Who are you?”
Simba: “I thought I knew. Now I’m not so sure.”
Rafiki: “Well, I know who you are!”
Simba: “I think you’re a little confused.”
Rafiki: “Wrong! I’m not the one who’s confused. You don’t even know who you are.”
And then Rafiki shows Simba the vision of Mufasa, and Mufasa says to Simba: “You have forgotten who you are. Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. Remember who you are…”
God tells Moses: “Look inside yourself. See what I see. There’s a lot more there than you realize. And all that you are - just as you are - is exactly who and what I need… You want to know who you are? You are the one I created, the one I love, the one I have chosen…” That’s who you are.
Moses heard those words, but it was just so hard to believe. And many today find those words hard to believe. Because we’ve been told otherwise. Because we’ve been torn apart.
And, sadly, sometimes it’s been the church that has torn people apart, and made God’s words hard to believe.
The church has said far too often: “You don’t belong here, because you are gay. You can’t be a leader here, because you’re a woman. We’re going to place limits on you, because of your disability.”
And the church has torn people apart. The church has excluded people. The church has failed to see people the way God sees them, the way God has created them.
A fellow Disciples pastor and author, Brandan Robertson, leads Missiongathering Church in San Diego. At one point, he really struggled to understand who he was - something he talks about in his book, Nomad.
But Brandan has learned to see himself as God sees him. Brandan understands who he truly is in God’s eyes… and now Brandan is helping others do the same. In a recent speech shared on social media, he said:
“LGBT people are already the church. You don’t have the power to exclude us from participating in Christ. The table, the kingdom, and the power is God’s and God’s alone, and God has welcomed us in... To my LGBT siblings in the church, let me say this: We are already the church. You do not need to wait to be included. You already are just as you are.”
Who are you? You are the one whom God loves. That’s who you are. You are the one whom God welcomes, the one whom God has created, just as you are.
Who are you? You are the one whom God has chosen. Chosen for what? Well, that’s what you need to figure out. But God didn’t create you for no reason. You aren’t an afterthought. You aren’t a mistake. There is a purpose to your life.
In last week’s sermon I shared a few verses from Isaiah 43, and I want to share them again.
“Thus says the Lord, the one who created you, the one who formed you: ‘I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… and you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.”
The one who created you considers you precious… and honored… and worthy of love.
If you want to know who you are, start by remembering that.
It may not be easy. Like I said, these words may be hard for you to believe. We’ve been taught that love is conditional, that love depends on how righteous we are.
That’s what Moses thought. Moses kept objecting to God’s call. “Who am I, Lord?” Moses said. “My Lord, I’m just not good enough… My Lord, just send someone else!”
If we had kept reading in this story, we’d hear that, at this point God actually gets angry. God gets angry with Moses, because even after all these assurances God has given him, Moses still doubts his own ability, still doubts his own worth.
Now, of course Moses isn’t perfect. Of course I’m not perfect, and you’re not perfect. I know that. You know that and God knows that.
But that does not mean you aren’t worthy of being loved.
And that does not mean you were created without a purpose.
You are worthy of being loved. And you have been created with a purpose - a purpose only you can fulfill.
Eventually, Moses figured this out.
There is a purpose only you can fulfill, because no one else has your exact combination of skills and talents and abilities. The body of Christ has many parts, and your uniqueness has made you uniquely suited to the calling God has placed upon your life.
So, remember that. When you wonder, “Who am I,” remember that you are loved by God, cared for by God, welcomed by God; and chosen by God.
Because that’s who you are.
