Mothering Sunday

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, Jacob; who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine. – Isaiah 43 v1

So often when we think about Moses there are certain aspects of his story that we remember. Perhaps it is that he was placed in a basket and floated down the Nile to save his life as a baby, perhaps it how he through the power of God warned Pharaoh of the plagues that would come upon Egypt. Perhaps it was the way in which he led the children of Israel through the Red Sea. Perhaps it was the way in which he delivered the commandments to the people wandering in the desert. Perhaps too we think of his initial call, when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. Here in Exodus 3 the call is very much about going to Pharaoh and saying the word of the Lord is, ‘Let my people go!’ It is a call to go and challenge Pharaoh, and to warn him that if he does not heed the word of God then he and the people of Egypt will indeed suffer. Only then is Moses called to lead the children of Israel.

Now in our reading from Exodus today, (chapter 6) that call to go and challenge Pharaoh is still there but the first emphasis is on Moses' call to lead the children of Israel. It is a call not just to be a prophet against Egypt, but to be a leader of God’s people. Also Moses needs to hear the call again because of the difficult situations that were developing. Sometimes in our lives too we need to hear again the call of God. That opening verse from the prophet Isaiah we do well to carry with us, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine’. – Isaiah 43 v1. Before we look at our need to hear God’s call afresh sometimes let us look briefly at what had changed for Moses since he first heard God speaking at the burning bush.

In Exodus chapter 5 Moses is suffering from cold feet! ‘Why ever did you send me?’ He had failed to change the mind of Pharaoh and was feeling an utter failure. Without getting into the Eddie the eagle syndrome – I wonder how many times the great prophets of the Old Testament admit to being a failure. It not all that long ago since we were reflecting on the likes of Elijah and think too of Jonah or again or Jeremiah who complained he was too young! Also Moses felt that he had not been forthright and fearless in recounting the message of God to Pharaoh and so they had laughed him out of court. It was time to return to basics and hear again God’s call. It is interesting that Moses here is not struggling with his call to free the people of Israel, but with his call to go to Pharaoh.

If Moses was disappointed by the way things had worked out imagine how the peoples of Israel must have felt. They think they are going to get freedom and instead their work is made even harder – bricks now without straw provided! Will this increase or decrease the people’s faith in God? Well some may say in hard times we are more likely to turn to the comfort of faith, but hardship, the conditions we live in, the struggle to survive may also take all our energy leaving us no time and space for Spiritual growth. Which is a pity because it might just be at such times we are most in need of it! If the children of Israel felt even more helpless and trapped than before then salvation would have come from outside themselves. And what about Pharaoh what does he make of Moses' words and call from God. Is he threatened or does he treat Moses and the God of Israel with contempt? What we do know is that whatever is going on in his mind – he punishes Israel for Moses' apparent nerve and his heart is hardened towards them.

We might want to stop at this point, the end of Exodus chapter 5 and say things are worse than ever and there is no way out. It is at this point that Moses’ call from God is re affirmed. With the affirmation of call comes God’s promise, at this lowest point for Moses. God promises to be faithful. Isn’t that a turn around. So often we hear sermons about us having to be faithful disciples, and yet it is God who promises to be faithful to us. God promises as part of Moses re affirmation of his call, to set his people free, that they will know that they are experiencing God at work, that they would receive the land promised and most important of all that they will be God’s people and Yahweh will be their God. All of this is in response to Moses being called afresh by God. It shows to us something of the power of God’s promise. When he calls and we answer his call, the return is far far greater than we can ever imagine. We may be thinking that following the Lord is about surrendering ourselves to God’s will and purpose and so often it is, but what God offers in return is incomparable with what we have to do to follow his call. We are promised salvation, justified as St Paul says, by faith. And it is this justification that brings hope, character and endurance, those characteristics reflected upon by St Paul in his letter to the Romans. What faith in God’s power to save, shown to us as Christians in Jesus Christ gives us is clear even in the most difficult of times, or would could say especially in the most difficult of times. But we may have often heard the claim that faith in God is just a crutch for those who are now strong enough to face the challenges of life. I think we can reflect on the first week of our Lent course. Here we heard that one of the speakers believed in God, not simply because it brought them comfort and strength, though it did these things. They believed in God firstly because the faith they professed they believed to be true. Faith in Jesus Christ is not a crutch for the weak it is first and foremost an affirmation of that which is true. This is what Paul means when he talks about being reconciled to God through the death of Jesus Christ. We heard this put remarkably well I think at the Eucharist this morning in the letter to the Ephesians: 2:4-10

God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ-it is through grace that you have been saved- and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus. This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it. Moses comes to see as he is called a second time that whatever the future might hold for him, the difficulties and challenges he may face, all this is out weighed by that which he and the people of Israel will receive from God. And so it is with us too in Jesus Christ. All that life can throw at us is put into proper perspective by the free and unearned gift of grace found in Jesus Christ, celebrated by St Paul and lived out by each one of us in the Church today.