I AM

Scripture Lessons: Exodus 3: 1-14 and John 18: 1-11 Sermon Title: I AM Preached on July 25, 2021 Most days when it’s nice out, and even sometimes when it’s not as nice, I ride my bike here to the church. When I get here, I park it in the bike rack right outside that Mike Clotfelter installed about four years ago now. Just having the option of riding a bike to work is a benefit of living close by that I’m grateful for, and this blessing only comes with a couple challenges: 1. how will I get home if it’s raining? 2. how do I survive ridding over the Harris Hines Bridge? One Monday morning I was riding here. I got to that bridge. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s the bridge right behind the church that takes Kennesaw over the 120 Loop. Going over that bridge is the part of the ride that scares me the most because the road narrows, people speed up to get over the railroad tracks, so I almost always illegally ride on the sidewalk. Well, that Monday there were two people walking on the sidewalk already. I first came up behind Ginny Brogan, a member here, who tolerated me as I squeezed past her on the narrow sidewalk. Up ahead was the other, a man I didn’t know. As I passed by him on my bike he said, just loud enough for me to hear, “You know it’s illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk.” I didn’t know this man, and his words struck me, so I thought about stopping to apologize or explain myself, only then the thought occurred to me, “what if he asks who I am and where I’m going”? How is it going to look to this man I’ve never met before, how is it going to reflect on this church, if I so blatantly disregard the standards of public safety on my way here? What if he said, “Well, I was thinking of going to visit First Presbyterian Church, but now that the preacher nearly pushed me off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic, I think I’d rather not”? For that reason, I just kept ridding, but I still think about it. I still think about almost running this man off the sidewalk on my bicycle, because, while maybe it’s not as bad as cutting off someone’s ear, still, it is another instance where I must wonder how well the Gospel is being preached through the actions of those who call themselves Christians. Think about the slave Malchus. The Bible takes the time to give us his name, which is a sign of how important he is to remember. We just read: “Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus,” and he was doing nothing more than minding his own business, obeying his master’s wishes, so what did he think about the Prince of Peace when his right-hand man, Simon Peter, comes at him with a sword? How was the Gospel proclaimed in that moment? How was the Kingdom advanced? On whom has Christ built His church? Do you know that line? The first time Peter fully recognized Jesus for who he was he said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Excited, Jesus then said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” When Jesus makes this declaration it’s a spirit filled moment recorded in Scripture, and there’s even more to it if you can read Greek, the language the account was originally written in. In Greek the word for rock is Petros, or Peter. The name Peter just means rock, which is why Jesus names the man formally known as Simon “Peter.” His name says it all: “He is the Rock” Christ’s Church is built upon, but the rock cut off a man’s ear. What do you make of that? Another important play on words which I believe helps explain an important point is an easy one to miss in our Second Scripture Lesson, because this one hinges on our ability to read Hebrew. When the detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priest and the Pharisees were led by Judas with lanterns and torches and weapons, Jesus asked, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” and Jesus said, “I AM.” That’s not what we read in English because a literal translation of the ancient language doesn’t make much sense, so just a moment ago we read Jesus’ response as, “I am he.” That’s not an exact translation. What I want you to know is that in our First Scripture Lesson, when Moses asks God, “Whom shall I say sent me,” and God says, “Tell them I AM sent you,” in our Second Scripture Lesson Jesus is quoting God because that’s who he is. As he’s being arrested he’s letting them know that he is the God of Abraham and Sarah, Miriam and Moses, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. He’s the power behind the burning bush and the pillar of flames that led the people through the wilderness. Incarnate in human flesh, he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the one who created this world, who still sustains it, and who works through human history to redeem it again and again and again. Bible scholars will tell you that here Jesus invokes the divine name, which explains why the intimidating band of armed men who had come to arrest him “stepped back and fell to the ground” before a collection of threadbare disciples led by the prince of peace. These soldiers and police officers kneel before him because they know that they are not God, but he just said he is. “I AM,” he said. So now I go back to Peter, who is the rock that Christ’s church is built upon. Did he really cut off a man’s ear? Yes, he did. Can you really build a church on Peter? Of course, you can, so long as Peter and everyone listening to him remembers that he’s not God. “I AM,” says Jesus. “I AM.” This is the final Sunday of an eight-week sermon series focused on the “I am,” statements of Jesus. Week after week we’ve focused on these phrases which Jesus uses to describe himself. This summer we’ve thought about how Jesus says, “I AM the bread of life. I AM the light of the world. I AM the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth and the life,” and last Sunday, “I AM the vine.” Now we reach the 8th and final statement, which is just plain, “I AM.” To think about this one is a little bit harder. You have to reach a little bit further to understand what he means. Even scholars typically only deal with the first seven of these statements, but Rev. Cassie Waits who came up with this series and the idea for the ribbons added this eighth one, because saying, “I AM” also goes so far in Jesus’ effort to describe himself to us, and this description goes a long way in helping us understand who we are. With this statement Jesus is explicitly saying, “I am the same God who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and led the Hebrew people out of slavery” though what I want to focus on this Sunday is what’s implicit in this statement because it’s also as though Jesus is saying, “I am God, and you are not.” Do you know anyone who gets confused about that? Some people do. And so, I have a message for those members of a neighboring church who find themselves in the news week after week. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say that Mount Bethel United Methodist Church is in the headlines. Some are disappointed in the pastor who is refusing to do what the bishop says. Others are disappointed in the bishop for making this move for reasons of church politics rather than for the wellbeing of the congregation. Both factions make a fair point, only here’s what’s most important for any frustrated church members to remember: neither the bishop nor the pastor is God. “I AM,” Jesus said. We must remember that. If we don’t we’ll stand to be disappointed again and again, for no human being can stand up to divine standards. We’re not perfect. “I AM,” Jesus said. We’re not always selfless, but “I AM” Jesus says. We’re not free from ambition, ego, narcissism, pride, or human error, though Jesus says, “I AM”. Plus, to quote the pastor who did our premarital counseling, “If you go looking for flaws in your partner you’re going to find them,” and that goes for your pastor, your doctor, your kids, yourself, your politicians, the CDC, the World Health Organization, CNN, the School Board, the Rotary Club, or anything else run by human beings. Some might ask, “Then who should we be listening to? Is it just eny, meany, miney, mo?” No. It’s “and he is it.” We aren’t perfect, but “I AM” he said. “I AM.” What do with that? I’ll tell you. Don’t confuse preachers and Jesus. Don’t confuse politicians and the Savior. Don’t confuse doctors and God. Don’t think that you’re more powerful than you are. You just aren’t that powerful, and neither is anybody else. Amazing things happen through you. That’s true. Still, we try too hard. We hold too tightly. We can’t let go. We deny our shortcomings. This week you were given a blue ribbon. Blue is the color of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I think about her and all she knew about her baby. How she knew that she wasn’t the one to put the world right. No, she wasn’t. “I AM,” Jesus said. That’s what I want you to write about this Sunday on your ribbon. What do you need his help with? There’s that country song, “Jesus take the wheel.” That’s not very good advice when it comes to driving a car, but there are so many moments where that’s the best advice in the world. Why? Because sometimes, with us, it’s impossible, while nothing will be impossible with the one who said, “I AM.” When you get down to it, who is he to you? Or who do you long that he would be? What is the thing you know you can’t do and long that he would help you with? What is the shortcoming that you have that you need his grace to fill? There’s been a million pages written to get down to this one essential theological reality that any child here could sing: We are weak, but he is strong. Give to the Lord your weakness. Being a Christian isn’t about perfection. If you want to be a Christian in your heart than kneel before him. Surrender. There comes a moment when we must stop thinking, “If I could just be the right person, if I could just get the right answer, if Id would just try harder or be better…” for Christ has built his Church on the rock of imperfect Peter, on the reality of our weakness, for our weakness points to his strength. Where are you weak? How can he help you? Moses said, “You can’t send me. I can’t speak,” yet what did God do through him? Write down your weakness on your ribbon, and just as Christ gave Malchus back his ear, so may his grace heal the wounds inflicted on the world by imperfect people just like us. Give to him your weakness. Write it down on your ribbon, and ay it become a foundation for his strength at work in your life. Amen.