I am who I say I am - A post for Trinity Sunday
Short talk on Exodus 3: 1-15; Matt 28. 16-end. Evensong on Trinity Sunday.
• I read an article yesterday in the Guardian that made me laugh. It was about a woman from Sheffield who deliberately chooses not to wear shoes.
• She never wears them and she’s done this for years now. She writes:
• “Intense is the best way to describe the first time I walked barefoot outside. Every step sent new sensations through my feet and toes. It was exhilarating.”
• Listening to our reading today I don’t get the sense that Moses feels exhilarated by having to take his sandals off, when he’s asked to by the burning bush that is God.
• And yet for Moses, taking footwear off was an entirely appropriate thing to do, as this was the ritual observed in the Egyptian temples.
• Indeed, it is still customary to remove shoes before worshipping in Synagogues and mosques. It’s seen as a sign of respect and deference; an acknowledgment that you’re stood on ground that has been designated as Holy.
• How strange then that in our churches, it’s quite the opposite. It’s actually disrespectful to have feet that are bare.
• I wonder…are we missing out on experiencing the intensity and breadth of sensation that our shoeLess woman in the Guardian talks about. Or are we just missing out on having cold feet. I wonder.
• There’s something about having bare feet in a public, formal space, that feels uncomfortable and intensely vulnerable. With my feet touching the earth instead of my shoes, I can’t help but be connected to my human-ness. I am an earthly creature. I am flesh and blood. Skin and bones. I think but I also feel.
• Our God is also a feeling God. This is what it means to have an incarnational God.
• God says to Moses: “I am who I am.”
• I am who I am. In other words, God is who God says God is. When we ask the question who are you God? The answer is Jesus.
• Who am I? I am mother. I am teacher. I am ordinand. Today, on father’s day, I’m reminded that I am daughter. I am sister. I am friend. I have multiple identities. We all do.
• We worship a God who also wears several hats. In a Christian religion already full of giant leaps of faith – virgin birth, resurrection, why not a God who is three in one?
• At Pentecost last week we heard the story of God rushing in and hovering over the disciples heads as tongues of fire. We call this dynamic, empowering identity Holy Spirit. But it’s just one of the facets of God’s character.
• Today we heard the story of two mountains. One with an untouchable fearsome god. One with Jesus, who is so real and human that the disciples could reach out and touch him.
• The God of Mount Sinai says, “take off your sandals, you are on Holy ground.”
• Jesus says, “take off your sandals, and let me wash your feet.” He came to show us who God really is, and walked the earth beside us, and since then ALL the ground is Holy.
• God of mount Sinai says “Do not come any closer.” Jesus says, “I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• This is part of our commission. To trust that when God says, “I am who I say I am,” we take him at his word. God is Jesus. Jesus is God. And we experience them both via the Holy Spirit. With or without our shoes on.
• Let’s pray:
• Take us to the mountain, God. Take us there. Let’s kick off our shoes. Let us look you in the face. And then let us go out and tell everyone we meet about the wonder of you. Let us go forth and be bold, courageous builders of your kingdom, and do what we were made to do. Amen.
• I read an article yesterday in the Guardian that made me laugh. It was about a woman from Sheffield who deliberately chooses not to wear shoes.
• She never wears them and she’s done this for years now. She writes:
• “Intense is the best way to describe the first time I walked barefoot outside. Every step sent new sensations through my feet and toes. It was exhilarating.”
• Listening to our reading today I don’t get the sense that Moses feels exhilarated by having to take his sandals off, when he’s asked to by the burning bush that is God.
• And yet for Moses, taking footwear off was an entirely appropriate thing to do, as this was the ritual observed in the Egyptian temples.
• Indeed, it is still customary to remove shoes before worshipping in Synagogues and mosques. It’s seen as a sign of respect and deference; an acknowledgment that you’re stood on ground that has been designated as Holy.
• How strange then that in our churches, it’s quite the opposite. It’s actually disrespectful to have feet that are bare.
• I wonder…are we missing out on experiencing the intensity and breadth of sensation that our shoeLess woman in the Guardian talks about. Or are we just missing out on having cold feet. I wonder.
• There’s something about having bare feet in a public, formal space, that feels uncomfortable and intensely vulnerable. With my feet touching the earth instead of my shoes, I can’t help but be connected to my human-ness. I am an earthly creature. I am flesh and blood. Skin and bones. I think but I also feel.
• Our God is also a feeling God. This is what it means to have an incarnational God.
• God says to Moses: “I am who I am.”
• I am who I am. In other words, God is who God says God is. When we ask the question who are you God? The answer is Jesus.
• Who am I? I am mother. I am teacher. I am ordinand. Today, on father’s day, I’m reminded that I am daughter. I am sister. I am friend. I have multiple identities. We all do.
• We worship a God who also wears several hats. In a Christian religion already full of giant leaps of faith – virgin birth, resurrection, why not a God who is three in one?
• At Pentecost last week we heard the story of God rushing in and hovering over the disciples heads as tongues of fire. We call this dynamic, empowering identity Holy Spirit. But it’s just one of the facets of God’s character.
• Today we heard the story of two mountains. One with an untouchable fearsome god. One with Jesus, who is so real and human that the disciples could reach out and touch him.
• The God of Mount Sinai says, “take off your sandals, you are on Holy ground.”
• Jesus says, “take off your sandals, and let me wash your feet.” He came to show us who God really is, and walked the earth beside us, and since then ALL the ground is Holy.
• God of mount Sinai says “Do not come any closer.” Jesus says, “I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• This is part of our commission. To trust that when God says, “I am who I say I am,” we take him at his word. God is Jesus. Jesus is God. And we experience them both via the Holy Spirit. With or without our shoes on.
• Let’s pray:
• Take us to the mountain, God. Take us there. Let’s kick off our shoes. Let us look you in the face. And then let us go out and tell everyone we meet about the wonder of you. Let us go forth and be bold, courageous builders of your kingdom, and do what we were made to do. Amen.
Indeed. Let us go out in full force and tell others about Him. There are people that need to hear from you and me out there. There is somebody that you only can reach with the Word...may God be in the centre of it all.
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