From There to Here – David Brubacher – Sept. 28/08

 

From There to Here

September 28, 2008

David Brubacher

Text:

Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 3

 

 

 

 

How do we get from there to here and from here to there? In many respects, that’s the question we have been asking in the last months as we have reconsidered TUMC’s identity and purpose. Another aspect of the question is, “By whose strength do we get from there to here, and from here to there?”  The obvious answer is, “By God’s strength.” But how do we come to know God is among us? What symbols and signs make God’s strength real for us? How do we embrace God’s story so that God’s story becomes our story?

 

In the reading of Exodus 17:1-7, and in Doreen Martens portrayal of the “water from a rock” story, we are given a glimpse into a time in the life of Moses. It was a confusing time. The people were setting up camp and there was no water. Hot and thirsty people can get worked up in a hurry. They asked why Moses had taken them from there – from Egypt where in slavery they at least had water to drink and food to eat, to here – in the wilderness where surely they would all die.  In a very real sense their question was, “Who is in control here?” If God is leading us to a land flowing with milk and honey, why is the journey so hard? If God did not bring us from there to here, how are we going to get from here to there? Do we have a future?

 

Every story stands in the context of a larger story. In this moment of confusion, Moses’ task was to remind the people of the larger story of God’s purpose. When the people came grumbling to him, one more time, he snapped, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” It almost seems that Moses was equating quarrelling with him with testing the Lord. Was he beginning to see himself as in control? Had he lost sight of the larger story? In consulting God he was again reminded of a symbol and sign of God’s presence.  Moses was simply minding his business – his father-in-law’s sheep – when God first called him into a leadership role. God had heard the cry of the Israelite people in their Egyptian slavery. God called Moses from a burning bush to lead the people out of their slavery into a land of promise and hope. Moses asked God, “How am I to get the Israelites to believe you have sent me, let alone convince Pharaoh to let the people go?”

 

God prepared the way for Israel’s future by reminding Moses of the larger story. “Tell the people,” God said, “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.”

            “But what if they still don’t believe me?” Moses countered.

            “What is that in your hand?” God asked.

            “A staff,” Moses replied.

God instructed Moses to throw the staff on the ground and it became a snake. When Moses took the snake by its tail it became his staff again. From that moment on, the staff in Moses’ hand – a common shepherd’s tool – became for Moses a symbol and a sign of God’s presence and power.

 

Now back to the camp where the people grumbled for water. After a momentary meltdown, Moses turned to God. God’s instruction was to take the staff in his hand – the one that convinced Moses of God’s power and with which he had earlier struck the Nile – take that staff in full view of the people, strike the rock and there will be water for the people to drink. The staff in Moses’ hand reminded the people that God had brought them from there to here, that God was still in control and that God would lead them from here to there. There was hope for a future.

 

I wonder, as we consider TUMC’s story what can we learn from Moses’ story? After a twenty year period of strong and stable pastoral leadership under Gary Harder TUMC embarked on an unknown future. Would there be life after Gary Harder? A decision was made to enter into a period of interim ministry and in this time to revisit where we have come from and where God might be leading us for the next period in our history.  Along the way we have asked questions and we are discovering there is life after Gary Harder, just as there will be life after Dave Brubacher. After all, we are people of God’s story. Each stop on our journey shapes and reshapes our story but it remains a part of God’s story.

 

In our gathering today, I wonder, “What is the staff in Moses’ hand that has become our symbol and sign of God’s presence and power in our midst?” An image from our first congregational conversation back in April gave me a clue. I had the good fortune of being up front as people called out songs reminding them of God’s presence in TUMC’s story. Your faces told me we were standing on sacred ground. I believe TUMC’s love for singing is “our staff in Moses’ hand.” Singing reminds us of God’s larger story and shapes and reshapes our story.

 

In a few moments we will take another block of time to sing the songs that remind us of how God has brought us from there to here. As God touches us in song today, may we experience the leading of God’s Spirit as flowing water giving vision and courage for the journey into our future. Indeed, God who has brought us from there to here and will lead us from here to there. AMEN.