Video of Vespers Service and Sermon Text on Wednesday of the Second Sunday in Lent

Prayer office of Vespers at St. Luke, Rensselaer


 Wednesday of the second Sunday in Lent - Psalm 25, Exodus 4:1-20

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

On a day like any other day, in the course of his new life in a new land, enjoying his responsibilities as a husband, father, and shepherd, while working for his father-in-law, Moses encounters the Living God in the burning bush. Last Wednesday, we heard God’s self-revelation as Yahweh, the God who established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He remembers His covenant to them and their posterity as he hears their groans and cries for relief as an enslaved people. In God’s infinite wisdom, Moses is selected to be the leader who leads Israel out of bondage into the Promised Land. 

Standing on the Holy Mountain, as God speaks and Moses tries to get himself excused from the mandate the LORD lays upon him, there is the question of how Moses is going to get anyone’s attention? Why would anyone believe anything he has to say? Forty years have passed. All those that want Moses dead in Egypt have passed on. Moses will seemingly appear out of nowhere because he literally comes out of the wilderness. Why would anyone pay him any mind at all? 

Along with his words which the Holy Spirit will use to stir wonder and faith in the people’s hearts, God grants Moses three miracles that represent destruction and death. Why these three signs? The serpent is abundant and poisonous. Gentile and Jew recognize the danger of the snake. The descendants of Abraham passed down the generations the stories they learned from their elders. The serpent is the instigator of doubt, disobedience, and sin in the Garden of Eden. The serpent will get their attention for certain. 

Leprosy is a horrific disease of the ancient world. Leprosy causes great pain as it disfigures the individual. It is something to be feared. People who have it are segregated from regular communal life. 

Water, then as now, is essential for all life. Water that becomes contaminated or bloodied is unfit for drinking and nurturing life. Those three signs demonstrate to all parties that the LORD God that Moses speaks for has power over life and death, that which kills the spirit and the body, and that which provides life. 

The Good News that Exodus brings us is that the LORD our God provides a deliverer. God chose Moses. Moses looms large in the Biblical narrative. Through Moses, God provided a distinctive way for Israel to bear witness through their lifestyle and dress that they are God’s people. They kept a 24 hour Sabbath which was unique to the ancient world. The Sabbath was for all those who dwelled and worked for a Jewish family. God forbade certain foods so their diet was distinct within any culture in which they lived. Among many other things, God revealed through Moses that the LORD God is one God. He alone is the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of the world. He alone shall be worshiped. All other cultures had multiple gods. 

Moses’ presence and influence in the Biblical narrative can productively lead to comparison with Jesus. There are similarities. They both have mysterious origins. They both did miraculous things. They both are teachers. But, when we lay Moses and Jesus side by side, we see that Moses is but a foreshadowing of Jesus. Moses is a mere human. God works through Moses to deliver Israel from bondage and lead them into the Promised Land. Moses did not have the privilege of entering the Promised Land himself. Jesus is the God-Man who delivers all people from the bondage of our sinful condition to the Promised Land. Jesus knows all the trials and temptations of being human yet remains without sin. Jesus delivers us through His own sacrificial death on the cross. Where Moses lives eternal by God’s grace, Jesus brings eternal life by his merit to all who receive Him with faith. Jesus dwelled in the Promised Land of heaven before His incarnation. He now dwells in Heaven as the resurrected one.   

The deliverance that Moses is called to provide is only possible because God empowers him. The deliverance that Jesus provides is empowered by his own divinity exercised by the will of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 


 


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