SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, August 30, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ –

This weekend a lovely couple was married here – safe distance, masks, holiness. In my remarks to the couple I shared some comments by the Swiss theologian, Karl Barth who states that marriage is a call. We’re often more familiar with a summoning to serve to the church, or to the defense of the nation, but he believed that people who married were ‘called’ to each other. They respond, in obedience to God, to a divine command. And in their marriage they become one – a new singular entity with its own identity, purpose and dignity – an end in itself.

Our text this week catches up with Moses who is on the far side of the desert tending his father-in-law’s sheep and he’s summoned. In fact, he was called through a burning bush that was not consumed. That was the medium for the God of the patriarchs to summon Moses to liberate God’s chosen people. The story is picturebook ‘call story.’ Moses encounters God. God speaks. Moses objects. God assures him he will be with him and Moses is given a sign. The back and forth between Moses and God is entertaining until we think of the times we’ve been summoned for duty for which we feel unprepared or unwilling. But we can take heart that God, who is faithful, promises to be with us. As we encounter hurricanes, pandemics, riots and pandering, God is with us. Words we need to hear.

Tune in –