07-16-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 16, 2024
In part of my sermon on Sunday, I referenced some words from Psalm 30:10, “LORD, be my helper.” I pointed to the word “helper” as I was speaking of how God, through the Prophet Isaiah, announced how the nature of God includes helping us. But what I missed was how the Psalmist referenced God. Notice we translate it as LORD, but in all caps. This is the way we translate the Hebrew name for the divine—Yahweh. That unique way of speaking of God and about God is rooted in the Exodus story, when Moses asked a very legitimate question of a voice coming from a burning bush. When that voice said to Moses, “I am sending you to Pharaoh as the liberator of my people,” Moses asked the question, “The people will ask me the name of the God who has sent me. What’s this God’s name?” To that question, we get these powerful and undefinable words: “I Am Who I Am. So say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” The God associated with the liberation of a people from slavery is the One who the author of the Psalm described as a helper. Could it be that I have underestimated the power of that word? When I say “helper,” it sort of feels like I’m back in first grade, and the teacher asked me to be a helper by handing out the coloring sheets. Though helpful, it doesn’t quite align with liberating an entire nation of enslaved people. And even more troubling is that the LORD is not only a helper, but the LORD invited Moses to be a partner in the work. So that next time you say to God, “How can I help?” be prepared to do some pretty significant stuff.

I do want to be your helper, O LORD of Life, Love and Liberation, but instead of a burning bush, can we start with a small candle and build from there? Amen.