Exodus 3:1-15
3 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. 2 There 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. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When 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.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He 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.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
13 But Moses said to God, “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?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord [‘I AM’], the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.
A
‘cutting’ of tree wisdom (Genny Tunbridge)
What kind of plant was the burning
bush, and what meaning does it have?
Jewish commentaries interpreted it as
symbolising the experience of the enslaved Israelites. Reading between the
lines a bit, scholars deduced that the bush must have been a thorn bush -
thorns representing the savage prison of slavery:
“Just as this bush was
the thorniest of all the trees in the world, in that any bird that entered into
it could not manage to exit without tearing itself limb from limb, likewise was
the slavery of Israel in Egypt the most oppressive slavery in the world.”[1]
There were theories about what kind
of bush: a type of acacia, or a variety of blackberry prone to catching fire in
the summer heat? But the exact species is less important than the fact that
this was not some lofty, majestic tree like the cedar of Lebanon but a humble
shrub, lowly as the downtrodden, humiliated Israelites. The flames too were
symbolic, representing the peril of the Israelites’ captivity in Egypt.
Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, their plight is often referred to in terms of
blazing heat - ‘the iron furnace’ (eg Jeremiah 11.4).
God speaking from within the
burning bush was therefore understood to be a sign of the Lord’s compassionate
presence with the Israelites, identifying with them in their suffering;
and the bush unconsumed by the flames represents God’s protection. God calls
Moses to help his people not from on high but from a place of fellow-suffering
and saving solidarity.
Introduction to the theme (Al Barrett)
We’ve spent the last four weeks celebrating God’s good
creation, lamenting our disconnection within it, and exploring possibilities
for a different way of inhabiting our planet. This week, we’re shifting our
focus, from creation as a whole, to some more specific human relationships
within it: those that have been shaped, and distorted, by unjust power
relationships based on the different colours of our skin – what we call ‘race’.
At least three things have happened this year that have made
it more urgent than ever for us, as a multi-coloured Christian community in multi-cultural
Birmingham, to make this a vital focus for our reflections on Christian faith
and discipleship.
Firstly, on 25th May, a 46-year-old black man,
George Floyd, was murdered in Minneapolis by white police officers, who brutally
restrained him and knelt on his neck while he repeatedly gasped “I can’t
breathe”. The Black Lives Matter protests across the world in response to
Floyd’s killing were on a scale rarely seen by any previous generation.
Secondly, it became clear early on in the COVID19 pandemic
that, in the UK, people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds
were dying at a higher rate than those from White ethnic backgrounds. This
highlighted, among other things, stubborn links between race, poverty, poor
housing and working conditions, and worse access to healthcare. The way our
country is organised makes you more likely to be poor, and to die, if your skin
is black or brown.
And thirdly, in response to the ‘Windrush scandal’ in which
the government has been stripping British subjects from the Caribbean, many of
whom have lived and worked in this country for 50-60 years, of their
citizenship and right to remain here, the Church of England held a debate in
its February General Synod in which the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised for
the Church’s history, and its present reality, as ‘institutionally racist’.
Not long after this, a book was published offering much more evidence to
support that, by a black Anglican priest, Fr Azariah France-Williams: Ghost
Ship: Institutional Racism in the Church of England.
The time to face racism in our country, and in our churches,
then, is well and truly overdue. It’s a question about our past (the
historic entanglement of British history, and the history of British churches,
with the transatlantic slave trade), but also about our present. Racism
isn’t just about individual acts (using hurtful words, or discriminating
unjustly) and individual people (the nasty skinheads who do Nazi
salutes). Racism is what we call systemic: it affects our assumptions
and attitudes, our habits and relationships, our communities and gatherings,
our structures and strategies.
In Hodge Hill, a small number of us, black and white, began a
conversation last year, where we began reading two books (White Fragility
by Robin DiAngelo, and We Need to Talk about Race by Ben Lindsay), and
meeting together to share our responses and reflections, and our experiences of
racism in our own lives. We had planned another session in late March, which
the COVID lockdown put a stop to. But we had resolved, as a group, that this
was a conversation that could not, must not, lose momentum. Black members of
our church congregation continue to experience racism as a daily reality in the
world, and have experienced it in churches too, including our own. We pride
ourselves here on being an ‘Inclusive Church’ – but we still have a long way to
go, especially if we tell ourselves ‘we’re alright here’, or ‘I don’t see
colour’. We have a long way to go to be genuinely anti-racist in our
shared life and worship, and public witness and action as a church.
So we’ve given ourselves a month – certainly not our last chance,
but not our first either – to spend a significant amount of time together,
paying attention to the critical issue of racial justice, in both the world and
the church. During this month, we will have the opportunity to hear black
voices lead our reflections on Scripture, and on the life of the world, the
life and mission of the Church, and our diverse, unique experiences of life.
Some of those black voices will be from within our local church community here
in Hodge Hill. Some of them will be from the wider Church – ministers and
theologians from Anglican, URC and Methodist churches. And there will also be
some space (both within these weekly resources, as well as in the various
opportunities for us to meet and talk together that we offer every week) for
white voices to be heard, responding to what they/we have heard from our black
sisters and brothers.
What are we hoping for, from this month? As Fr Azariah puts
it: ‘[b]lack and brown people are not asking for white protectors, but they are
asking for partners who see, hear and speak up for the full human flourishing
of black and brown people. They are asking for partners who will fight
alongside them against racism in the arena, not just cheer them on from the
safety of the stadium seats: white people who speak up, listen up and look up,
whether or not those people of colour are in the meetings.’[2]
This is a chance for us to listen to each other, especially to voices that have
been less heard, and for each of us to respond, from our unique life-story and
location, in solidarity together, engaging in the particular work that God is
calling each of us to: to do justice, to love with kindness, and to walk humbly
with our God (Micah 6:8).
And if we do, we may discover, like Moses, that we are
standing not just on common ground but on holy ground: where we
are fully present to each other, and where God is fully present to us. In our
community-building work here, we often repeat a quote first expressed by a
group of native Australian activists. It is profoundly relevant for this work
together too:
“If you have come here to help us,
then you are wasting our time.
But if you have come
because your liberation is bound up with ours,
then let us work together.”
Reflection:
‘The God who sees’ (Revd Dr Sharon Prentis)
Sharon is Intercultural Mission Enabler and Dean of Black,
Asian and Minority Ethnic Affairs in the diocese of Birmingham
I
am not by nature, someone who has green fingers. However, earlier this year I
managed to grow, much to my delight, a variety of vegetables and flowers in my
garden. Like many people, the last few months has made me think differently
about things such as, “how I define myself” and “what makes me who I am?”.
Learning to garden in a time of disruption helped me realise there are many
other things I could do.
In
the story of the burning bush in Exodus 3, we see God begin the work of
liberation, of the people of Israel out of Egypt, by disrupting Moses’ routine
in the desert. At the time of the story Moses is 80 years of age, and for the
last 40 years he has lived in exile. A man who was destined to be a Prince of
Egypt is now a shepherd. The first half of his life was spent in luxury, the
second in relative obscurity. I would imagine that any individual, especially
someone who had the opportunities like Moses would have wondered occasionally
how things might have been. To go from Pharaoh’s court to being a shepherd must
have been a difficult transition and caused him to lose hope. These though,
were the condition for a huge shift in his expectations. For it is in the
desert, he sees the burning bush and after 40 years of herding sheep that must
have been a sight!
It
is sometimes in the difficult places that our attention is drawn to what we
must see. Here in that difficult place away from the false comforts of Egypt,
bought at expense of the enslavement of others, is where God catches Moses
attention. God calls him by name first, then calls him into a sacred encounter
through the symbolic act of removing his sandals. This recognises something
extraordinary is happening because Moses is named by God the divine ‘I AM’:
Moses,
Moses I know you take off your shoes and worship me and through that worship I
will completely restore you and there you will discover your destiny.
In
God’s statement of being called ‘I AM’ Moses understands his own identity and
his destiny or call. God reminds Moses
of his ancestral heritage and God’s presence with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
ordinary folk, people who did not lead exemplary lives. People who had to live
with the reality of their own brokenness. Moses is about to join the great
company of the chosen: Abraham who lied, Isaac who did the same and Jacob who
stole his brother’s inheritance. It is important to remind ourselves that God
uses imperfect people to bring about an act of divine deliverance for others.
After
Moses’ encounter with God, he understood that God was going to use him to
deliver a nation in bondage; and more importantly, he understands this as being
part of his own destiny, his call. Once he grasps this there is no holding him
back. You see, our identity, what are we created to be once given freely to a
loving God enables us to do the things that we are called to do; but first, we
have to first recognise that we are worthy to called to be who we are. Moses recognised
that he was not defined by his past, but who he was, his core identity was
defined by a greater identity, the one called ‘I Am’– the God who sees, and in
whose image everyone can be seen.
This
month as we celebrate Black History, the story of the exodus from Egypt is even
more poignant given the tragedies of the last few months. History, when told
from the perspective of the marginalised, reflects the barren and difficult
places in the human story. Slavery and its legacy of subjugation and oppression
still has a devastating impact today. For over 165 years, Britain played a
significant role in promoting it. Millions of people were trafficked across the
Atlantic- many losing their lives before reaching land. This period was marked
by brutality, humiliation and death. Black bodies were regarded as property and
sold because of greed and fear. Sadly, the church was complicit in the trade
with many slave ships being blessed by bishops before they commenced their
maiden voyages. On the island of Barbados in the Caribbean, it was known that
after slavery was abolished in 1837 the Church of England received financial
compensation from the government for the slaves it owned. Today, that would
amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The sad truth is the legacy of
slavery still has repercussions. Black people are still livings with the
effects of those times. The social and psychological consequences of
post-traumatic stress arising from the disintegration of generations of
families and the economic disadvantages from inequality. Bishop Rose Hudson-
Wilkin said, “The impact of slavery has damaged not only these people, but the
fabric of society”. We need to look back to go forward, because what happened
historically is still impacting today; and, if we can’t stop and recognise
this, we won’t be able to address it.”
The
God who sees, calls us, like Moses, to join in with the work of liberation so
that we all can be free. Moses was in the right place at the right time to
understand his call and what God would do through him to bless others. Before
then, he had learned to live a quiet life thinking he was unseen in the desert.
The God who sees caught Moses attention and called on him to fulfil his
destiny.
Reflection (Joy Curtis)
Almost everyone knows the story about
Moses and the ‘burning bush’, when he appeared on the mountain; saw a ball of
fire which was not burning anything around it.
Out of these flames a voice called out to Moses and asked him to remove
his sandals, as he was standing on Holy Ground.
The presence of God created this Holiness. This tells me that I could
have my calling from God at any time, any place; anywhere when I least expect
it. God is divine and it is very humbling when we are told He appeared from the
burning bush. How often do we see rubbish burning in the bushes, often set
alight by vandals; or the farmer burning his field after reaping the best of
his crops and what is left over is deemed worthless only to be burned and
turned into compost to enrich the soil for the next crop. Does this not show that God can change
everything, every human being for the good of His Kingdom? When God appeared to
Moses in such an environment it is nothing short of extreme humility. Whenever I receive my calling to do God’s
work it will be a case of being called as I am.
The question is however, why did God
call Moses; What role did God have up his sleeves for him to carry out? The
scripture further tells us that God was not happy with the way in which the
Israelites were being treated by the Egyptians, v.9 ‘the cry of the Israelites
has now come to me, I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them’. This oppression was slavery – where one
person is owned by another and treated as property and forced to give his labour
under very harsh conditions. This story of God’s people held in bondage was
popularised by the late international reggae singer Bob Marley in his song
‘Exodus, movement of Jah people’, meaning stop the oppression of God’s people
and release them from bondage. This is
the message that God wanted Moses to convey to the Egyptian rulers. Moses was
therefore upgraded from being animal minder to God’s messenger in order to free
the slaves.
Slavery has come a long way since
biblical times. Anyone can be enslaved, but the enslavement of black people at
the hands of the white European ruling classes is one of history’s greatest
atrocities. Between 10 million and 12 million black people were forcibly taken
by white people from Africa and transported to places such as the West Indies
and North America to work in sugar and cotton plantations, until campaigners
such as William Wilberforce and Olaudah Equiano got slavery abolished in the
1830s.
Since this time, however, black
people have continued to face injustice, inequality and discrimination by their
white counterparts. Research has shown
that black people are more likely to be sent to prison for minor offences,
suffer higher rates of unemployment and have recently been hit very hard by the
Covid-19 pandemic, including suffering more deaths working on the frontline
within the healthcare delivery system. These inequalities in our society are
linked to what is called ‘white privilege’.
This is defined by BBC Newsround as ‘people with white skin having
advantages in society that other people do not have’. Basically, the odds are
stacked against me because I am black. I am treated less favourably by some
white people and institutions. This has
been my life. This is lived experience
and rich data.
I often feel that I have to pay the penalty for being born black. I have experienced racism, injustice and discrimination in the most appalling ways:
· my windows have been egged and broken;· mud has been thrown all over my washing hanging on the line to dry;
· my car has been spat on when parked and whilst waiting at traffic lights;
· I’ve been called negative names such as ‘blackie’, ‘monkey’, ‘nigga’, ‘gorilla’ (these are only the names that common decency allows me to include);
·
whilst
sitting on a train I had peanuts shoved into my face and the man who did this
said ‘he wanted to make me feel at home!’.
I was so humiliated and embarrassed.
I recalled at Sunday School we were always taught to ‘turn the other
cheek’. Matt. 5:39. I’m pretty sure this saved me from a possible prison
sentence.
Even the Church discriminates against
people of colour. I’ve had first-hand experience of this. Years gone by I was never asked to contribute
to worship in any meaningful way. I
would just sit at the back of the Church for an hour, then go home again. Luckily, things have now changed for the
better and the Church now takes a more inclusive approach.
The recent ‘Black Lives Matter
Movement’ borne out of the unlawful killing of the American black man George
Floyd has drawn international condemnation of the treatment of black people for
no other reason but the colour of their skin.
Better understanding and cultural awareness is needed if black and
minority ethnic people are to live in harmony in the way in which God intended
when he created the Earth. This is probably a Utopian perception, but with God
all things are possible and we live in hope. Black History must be taught in
schools, the significant contribution made by black people to make Britain a
‘Great Nation State’ should be highlighted as part of the standard history
curriculum in schools. The negative perceptions and stereotypical views of
black people must change.
Moses had his calling and was
promoted from being animal minder to God's messenger who appealed to Pharaoh to
end slavery and release His people from bondage. It does not matter who we
are, God can uplift us to great heights. God has created all of us in His
own image and accepts us no matter what our appearance. The late American Civil
Rights activist Martin Luther King said in one of his speeches "I have a
dream that people will be judged by the content of their character and not the
colour of their skin.” We may still be a long way off, but again we live
in hope. I may be angry, and a little impatient whilst I am waiting for change
but I thank God that I am surrounded by so much love by both black and white
people. I refuse to hate. If it happened
to God's people in biblical times; it can happen to us. God will take his long-suffering
people to that land flowing with milk and honey.
Reflection (Penny Hall)
‘I have observed the misery of my
people…’ says God in
today’s reading. I wonder how well I have observed the misery of people who
were classed as a different ‘race’ in order to justify people making money out
of keeping them in slavery over 200 years ago. And how well am I observing that
suffering now?
From the early 1980s, for many years,
I worked in a college of further education. The college had clearly tried to
ensure that there was equality of opportunity for all racial groups. Students,
tutors, heads of department and assistant principals included people of colour.
Staff groups were set up to ensure that opportunities for students of colour
were being promoted. My perception was that the college certainly seemed to be
proactive in promoting racial justice. On a personal level, I prided myself in
being ‘colourblind’, having friends and colleagues who were people of colour.
Fast forward now a couple of decades.
Last year, Al recommended two books on the theme of racial (in)justice. The
first book, ‘White fragility’ by Robin DiAngelo seemed to me to accuse white
women in particular of turning racism around so that they (we!) became the
victims – hurt by the very suggestion that we might be racist. DiAngelo implied
that ‘colour blindness’ was an excuse for not noticing what was going on. I
felt that the book was aimed at the US, not the UK. (There’s not much racism
here is there?) The second book, ‘We need to talk about race’ by Ben Lindsay
spread the load of guilt to the church’s past and present performance regarding
racial justice. Both these books left me feeling uncertain about my current
understanding of racial justice. However, it wasn’t until Al invited those of
us who had read the books to a small discussion group, that my eyes were
opened. Friends of colour shared examples of recent racism which they were
experiencing on an almost daily basis. I was stunned as I hadn’t realised this
was happening. Because I hadn’t seen it, I hadn’t understood it.
Then I was introduced to a third
book, ‘Ghost Ship’ by Azariah France-Williams, which deals with institutional
racism in the Church of England. Within the first few pages, I really saw and
understood. I didn’t feel accused but now I could see enough to accuse myself!
The author explains through stories how the ‘unseen nuances of racism’ wear
people down. One description especially hit me: ‘These mini assaults on one’s
personhood are death by a thousand paper cuts’. This book, together with
listening to people’s personal experiences, has helped me to understand what I
had previously failed to see, that racism is not always obvious, often hardly
noticeable to the casual observer, but cutting to the recipient.
‘I have observed the misery of my
people…
I know their sufferings
and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians’.
Now that I have seen the suffering, I
want to listen more and to know. And then what am I going to do about it? Steve
Chalke, in his endorsement of ‘Ghost Ship’, says ‘Racism thrives best in the
company of silence’! So perhaps that’s my starting point, to watch, to listen
and to not be silent.
Some prayers to begin this month:
To God we pray:
who sees us whatever we or others try to hide.
We pray to the one
who shows us the working is in the margins
and makes that place home;
who makes the out, in;
who gives the keys of the kingdom
to those who forge faith at the well… in the cave… in the hold…
to those who know the Cross.
Gather us we pray.
Open our hearts to reality.
Create in us clean hearts
and renew a right spirit within.
Amen.
Lord, your Gospel rises
when the mighty are cast down from their thrones
and the lowly are lifted up.
It is good news when the lowly exhale
all of the abundant gift that has been held in.
We pray for a church that believes in God,
and God’s wide abundance and gift.
We pray for the love that is stronger than death.
Amen.
Spirit, who hovered over the waters,
welcome in this place.
Aid us in our memory.
Rewire our flawed minds.
We cry out for the souls of all who have been enslaved,
of all who have been the victims of racist brutality,
of all who have been seen as less than human
because of the colour of their skin.
We recognise the gifts of survivors
and nurture into flourishing those who now see
the black beauty that God has always seen.
Amen.
Let us rejoice and give thanks
for brave slaves who no longer
merely plug the holes of broken vessels,
for those who inspire us to say yes to God’s will and way,
who hear the Spirit speaking through the reality of life
and with whole hearts agree
that the answer is yes, Lord, yes.
In the name of the Holy Trinity.
Amen.
Adapted from
prayers by Fr Richard Springer, 1st August 2020,
at the launch of Azariah France-Williams’ book, Ghost Ship.
Questions for reflection / discussion
As I read / listened to the
readings and reflections for this week…
·
what
did I notice, or what particularly stood out for me?
·
what
did they make me wonder, or what questions am I pondering?
·
what
have they helped me realise?
·
is there anything I want to do or
change in the light of this week's topic?
On this week’s theme (questions offered by Sharon Prentis)…
1.
In your life, what is
catching your attention today?
2.
Call / destiny is always in
relation to other people; who are the ‘others’ for you?
3.
What small step might you
take towards getting a vision of what God wants to show you?
Activities
/ conversation-starters
with young (and not-so-young!) people (Ruth Harley)
- In today’s story, Moses learns something
about his identity. Spend some time thinking about your identity. Who are
you? What makes you who you are? Draw a picture of yourself, or find a
photo of yourself. Around the picture, write some words or draw some symbols
of different aspects of your identity.
- Moses also learns something about God’s
identity. Spend some time thinking about God’s identity. How many
different names or images can you think of for God? Make a list, or draw
some pictures. You could ask your family, friends, or other people from
church what they think about who God is. Which names or images of God do
you like? Are there any you don’t like, or have questions about?
- God calls Moses to lead people out of
slavery and into freedom. In our reflections today, we heard a bit about
slavery and how it is linked to racism. You can read some more about that
here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52965665
Think about all the ways slavery has affected people, and the ways its
legacy still affects people today. Sometimes it is hard to know how to
pray about such a big, difficult situation. Make a list of key words,
people involved, or collect or create some images, to use as a prompt for
prayer.
[1]
Midrash quoted in https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/15609/what-type-of-plant-was-the-bush-of-exodus-32
[2]
France-Williams, p.208
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