Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
Jesus said, "The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8,9
We confess our sins against God and others.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
A Hymn of Praise
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Collect
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament Exodus 3: 1-15
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. 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. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 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.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 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.
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, 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. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 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.” 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?” 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.’“ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, 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.
Psalm 105: 1-16, 23-26, 45c Confitemini Domino
1 Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name; *
make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him, *
and speak of all his marvelous works.
3 Glory in his holy Name; *
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Search for the Lord and his strength; *
continually seek his face.
5 Remember the marvels he has done, *
his wonders and the judgments of his mouth,
6 O offspring of Abraham his servant, *
O children of Jacob his chosen.
23 Israel came into Egypt, *
and Jacob became a sojourner in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord made his people exceedingly fruitful; *
he made them stronger than their enemies;
25 Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people, *
and dealt unjustly with his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant, *
and Aaron whom he had chosen.
45 Hallelujah!
The Epistle Romans 12:9-21
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The Gospel Matthew 16:21-28
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Sermon Fr. Nelson Gaetz
We talk about God all the time — yet how often do we stop to talk about the God that we are actually talking about? It’s strange when you think about it: people all over the world — even people who say they don’t believe in God — are talking about God, yet they don’t stop to explain who it is that they are talking about when they purport to talk about God.
Even if you talk to people who claim to be atheists or agnostics — who are not sure they believe in God or reject the idea of God — even they must have some idea of the god that they are rejecting. In fact, sometimes when we talk to people who say they don’t believe in God, we should say, “Well, tell me what god you don’t believe in, because it’s possible I may not believe in that god either.” There are, after all, lots of possibilities. A name helps us sort this out:
Kids! It doesn’t matter how many you have. If you have two kids and you want to call on one, you’ll name the other first. If you have six, you’ll go through six names before you get to the one you want. You just can’t get their names out. I only have three. Sometimes I would throw in the dog’s name out of frustration.
Who is God? What is His name? I daresay there are no more important questions for us to consider.
Who is God? What is His name? Those are the very questions that Moses wanted answered in our Old Testament Lesson today.
Remember what prompts Moses’ question: what happened in the story up to this point. Back in Genesis, there was a famine in the whole region. The people of Israel made their way down to Egypt — the only land smart enough to set aside grain during the years of plenty, because Joseph, sold by his brothers into slavery, had gone there, and wound up in charge of the whole country. God gave him a dream that saved the Egyptians and all the people that came to them. So, God’s people are in Egypt.
Then Joseph died, and another Pharaoh came to power who did not remember him. He looked out and saw the Israelites, great in number, and he was scared. So he subjected them to oppressive bondage. He wanted to kill them with hard labor, but that didn’t work. They just kept multiplying. So he tried to kill them by telling the midwives to kill the babies. And when that didn’t work, he gives a royal decree commanding everyone in Egypt to take the baby boys and throw them into the Nile.
One of those baby boys who was supposed to die was Moses — but his parents had faith and feared God. Moses’ mother made a little basket and put him there in the Nile. He floated down the river and ended up on the doorstep of Pharaoh’s daughter. For forty years, she raised Moses as a kind of prince in the household of Egypt’s king.
At forty years old, he looked out and saw the oppression of his people. He tried to break up a dispute between a Hebrew and his taskmaster — and he struck the Egyptian, killing him.
The Pharaoh finds out about it and looks for Moses, so he flees. He winds up far off in the desert in Midian, where he finds a wife and raises a family. He lives there with his father-in-law for another forty years. And after those forty years, he’s on the far side of a mountain in Midian — where one day, he sees a bush on fire that’s not consumed. And a voice speaks to him and says, “Go. Go to Egypt. You will set my people free.” Moses says, “What? Me? Who am I?” And God says, “I’m not interested in ‘Who are you?’ I want you to know who I am, because I’ll be with you.”
Moses may be wondering, “Which god am I talking to? The people of Israel are going to want to know.” He needs a little help, he figures. “Look God, whoever You are: I can’t just go back to Egypt and say, ‘Well, get this, guys: I was in Midian and I was talking to a bush.’ That sounds like the beginning of a joke. God, I’m going to need a name.”
God’s Answer to Moses “I am who I am.”
Now that’s not as simple as it seems.
Most English translations, give the familiar rendering “I am who I am.” I don’t see a good reason to deviate from this translation. It fits in with the context and with the divine name ‘YHWH’. It’s also the way that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), which would have been the Bible that Jesus and the Apostles were familiar with, renders this “I am.” The Hebrew really means “I am/I was/I will be. The Greek translation of the Old Testament puts it this way: “ego eimi” — as in “I am the bread of life, I am the way, I am the vine and so on. That’s Jesus… the “I am.”
So now we get to the crux of the matter. Jesus declares that he — like the God Moses knew — is a God “with his people.” With his people no matter what the circumstances. “I am the God who has a plan.” This God is more reliable than your car, more loyal than your dog, and knows more than your phone. That’s this God. He does not leave you or forsake you. He does not let you down.
God, speaking from the burning bush, says to Moses, “You want to know who I am? All you need to know is ‘I am who I am.’” And that’s all we really need to know. Come what may, God is with us … more than that, God is for us.
God says, “Okay, I love you. I’ve got a plan for you. But let’s talk about Me. I’m with you. I am. That’s Me. I exist in Myself, by Myself, and of Myself.” But more than that… I am with and for YOU. Yes, you. You and me. To call God, “I am,” means more than syllables and letters. More that trying to understand his nature. It means knowing his love. His love for us. You know how that goes…. “God so loved the world….”
Amen.
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Knowing the will of God that all would come to the knowledge of Your Son and find salvation in Christ, let us pray on behalf of our parish community, our various ministries and for all people according to their needs.
Brief silence
For our faith and faithfulness, especially for those persecuted for the cause of Christ; and for our strength in time of trial and for us to persevere in grace in the day of trouble, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
For the Church, Michael and DeDe, our Bishops, Nelson, our Rector, and all who serve Christ’s church, that they may be faithful stewards of God’s mysteries; and for those at home and abroad, who bring the message of salvation to those who have not heard, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
For, our president; our governor; and all legislators and civil servants;
For those who must render judgment and impose punishment and for those who work for peace among the nations, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
For favorable weather and for those who tend the soil and harvest its fruits; for business and industry, service workers and artisans; for generosity toward those in need; and for the unemployed and underemployed, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
For those who are ill in body or spirit and for all who minister to them, let us pray to the Lord: Lord. hear us.
For grace to take up the cross and follow the Lord wherever He leads;
for courage in the face of challenge and adversity; and for compassion and harmony in our life together, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
For our remembrance of the saints and grace to follow their example of faith; for God to grant us a place with them in their fellowship; and for our eternal life in God’s kingdom without end, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear us.
Almighty God, You continue to pour out Your mercy upon us, and grant to us all good things needful to this body and life and keep from us all things harmful. From You, through You and to You are all things, O Lord, holy Father, mighty God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom with the Holy Spirit, You are one Lord, one God, now and forevermore. Amen.
So now we pray with confidence to the Father the words our Lord Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by the Name,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Closing Blessing
May God almighty bless and keep us, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.
