This sermon was preached at the 9:00am Rite II Eucharist on March 23, 2025, being the Third Sunday in Lent, at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church (Lappans) in Boonsboro, Maryland.
Readings: Exodus 3.1-15; Psalm 63.1-8; 1 Corinthians 10.1-13; Luke 13.1-9
Collect of the Day: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Image: “Burning Bush” by Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671)
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM…This is my Name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’”—Exodus 3.7-8
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
One of the first things I teach Saint James School’s new Second and Third Formers in my Introduction to Religion class is how theology is “the grammar we use to describe our belief about God.” I illustrate this definition by highlighting some of the many different branches of theology. There is, for instance, “Biblical Theology,” who we say God is based on His written Word. You also have “Practical Theology,” seeking to answer how our beliefs concerning God induce us to act in this world. There are various theologies based on the work of Christian leaders, like “Lutheran Theology” from the 16th century Church reformer Martin Luther and “Wesleyan Theology” from the 18thcentury Anglican priest and Methodist Movement leader John Wesley. And there are theologies such as “Black Theology,” “Feminist Theology,” and “Liberation Theology,” descriptions about God shaped by cultural experiences.
The overall point I seek to convey to my students is how theology is our way of trying to describe our relationship to God and His to us.[1] We call God our Lord, Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Savior. All these names are correct because of how God has revealed Himself to us during the passage of time. But as true as all these names for God are, they still do not adequately tell the fullness of God. God is God and the names we have for Him on this side of life can do just enough to describe His perfect goodness and love. Hence, theology, based on the foundational question “Who is God?” is a humble enterprise. If we are truly humble, we will recognize that none of us have a complete knowledge of God’s nature. But, by His grace, God draws us toward Him, revealing foretastes of His full goodness.
We have heard this morning from Exodus the most significant revelation spoken from God to us about Himself. “I AM WHO I AM,” God declares. God’s eternal Name is the summation of all the covenant promises He has made with the Old Testament patriarchs, reconfirmed to the prophets, revealed to the people of Israel and, through Israel, to all the peoples of the earth. It reveals how He has seen our afflictions, heard our cries, knows our sufferings, and has come to save and deliver us. God’s eternal Name reveals His steadfast love for us all.
It is a widespread view that the most important gift our parents give us is our name. It is how one recognizes another person, acknowledging their existence. Our names carry with them familial, cultural, and/or personal meanings. They can reflect the aspirations and dreams our families had for us, as well as our families’ historical backgrounds. The names we have are linked to identity—qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, or expressions that we have come to use to characterize and label various groups.[2] For us, to be told somebody’s name is to be given some idea about who they are, where they might have come from, or even what kind of personality that might have. To know someone’s name is to feel that we know certain facts about them.
This is what makes Moses’s encounter with God in the form of a burning bush such a distinct kind of introduction. “What is your name?” Moses inquires. “I AM.” “I AM…” what? God does not give a distinguishing word. That lack of an identifier is, in an odd sort of way, the thing that helps us know more about God. For one, we know with certainty that God does exist. He is the God of Abraham, to whom He appeared in the form of three angels near the oaks of Mamre; of Isaac, to whom He confirmed in a dream His divine covenant made with Abraham; and of Jacob, with whom He wrestled near the Jabbok and whose name He changed to “Israel,” again confirming the Abrahamic Covenant. Through the patriarchs and Moses, we know that everything God says and does comes from His deep love for us.[3]
Yet, God’s revelation of Himself reveals how though He is definitely a Being, He is beyond our limits. God is not confined to our limiting descriptors, characterizations, and labels. Therefore, God cannot be pinned down; nobody can boast about knowing God the best. It is from God that we live, move, and have our being. It is God’s Word which is fully perfect, reviving the soul.[4] Whatever we think God to be, He is ever more and even better than we can conceive. As my late “Gen Z” and early “Gen Alpha”[5] students would say, God “is HIM.”[6]
That is the good news we hear and receive from the burning bush. And it is good news that we see in the actions of Jesus, God’s Incarnate Word. Jesus came to what was His own, but His own people did not receive Him.[7] That is because just like God in Exodus 3, Jesus reveals throughout the Gospel narrative how He is beyond ordinary human definitions. He cannot be tricked, bought, trapped, or boxed in. For instance, this morning’s Gospel passage tells of Jesus being asked if God allows certain sinners to suffer worse than others. “No,” Jesus says. To pass up God’s call to repentance incurs upon everyone that does the same risks of eternal disaster.[8]
Here, we return to the image of the burning bush. We can picture Moses’s amazement of seeing a bush on fire, yet not destroyed. It is the Fire of God. This is the fire that does not seek to kill and destroy but to strengthen and provide life. The fire that Moses saw is the same fire John the Baptist describes in relation to Jesus: “He [that] is coming after me…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”[9] To take part in the Church’s mission—to pray and worship the Lord, proclaim the Christian Gospel, and promote justice, peace, and love—is to be like the burning bush, not destroyed by the flames but rather empowered by them, by the great I AM.
May we then, like Moses, respond to God with obedience. Because of Jesus, we that are living right now know the story of God’s marvelous works. Through Moses, God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt. Through Jesus, God has rescued us out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life. Let us have brightly burn within us God’s fire. Let us all go to HIM who is the great I AM.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] A good book to read on this topic is Uche Anizor, How to Read Theology: Engaging Doctrine Critically & Charitably (Baker Academic, 2018).
[2] Peter Covington, Success in Sociology (Folens Limited, 2008), p. 12.
[3] Cf. Genesis 18.1-8; Genesis 26.1-5; Genesis 32.22-32; 1 John 4.8-9, 16.
[4] Cf. Psalm 19.7.
[5] “Gen Z” refers to the generation of people born between the years of 1997 and 2009, with “Gen Alpha” referring to those born between 2010 and 2024. The current enrollment of Saint James School students overlaps the last years of the former generation and early years of the latter one.
[6] A 21st century slang term originating in sports media, particularly basketball, used to tell how someone is either a star player, the real deal, or top performer in their field.
[7] Cf. John 1.11.
[8] Cf. Luke 13.1-5.
[9] Cf. Matthew 3.11.
THE ANGLO-CATHOLIC GENTLEMAN 
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