Moses and Pharaoh

 WE GATHER 

PRELUDE 

BRINGING IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST 

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS 

*HYMN Be Thou My Vision UMH# 451 

*CALL TO WORSHIP 

L: As we gather in this sacred moment for a sacred purpose, let us make the most of our time together. 

P: We have come to worship the Lord our God. 

L: As we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, let us make the most of our 

time together. 

P: We have come to worship the Lord our God. 

L: As we respond to the melody in our hearts, let us make the most of our time together. 

P: We have come to worship the Lord our God. 

*OPENING PRAYER (IN UNISON) 

O Lord our God, though we are as little children, not fully able to discern the spiritual forces coming in and out of our lives, you have chosen us as your people. Give your servants understanding minds to discern between the good and evil surrounding us each day, that we may choose what is good and pleasing in your sight. Amen. 

*HYMN God Is Speaking FWS# 3025 

WE PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD 

CHILDREN’S CHAT 

OLD TESTAMENT READING 

Exodus 7: 1-13 

7 The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. 12 Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs. 13 However, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE AND OFFERING 

NEW TESTAMENT READING 

Ephesians 5: 15-20 

15 Be careful, then, how you live,[a] not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reader: The Living Word of God for the people of God. 

People: Thanks be to God. 

MESSAGE 

"Moses and Pharaoh"

Friends, we’re now up to part 3 of this 6 part sermon series I put together for us, where we’re looking at the stories of one of the most foundational of the Old Testament patriarchs: Moses.

One dynamic about Moses’ leadership that’s impossible to ignore is that he’s perpetually teetering on the edge of burn out, and he doesn’t get any real relief from that feeling until the Hebrews cross into the Promised Land, under the direction of Moses’ eventual successor, Joshua…and then Moses promptly dies. You know when your overworked friend sarcastically says “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”? Moses would mean that quite literally.

Moses and his brother Aaron are old men at this point in the narrative, who have already lived full lives. Moses spent forty years as a shepherd in another country and raised a family. For most of us, if we’re lucky, this is about the time in life where we buy a really cushy Lazy Boy and become champions of the crossword puzzle. But now Moses and Aaron are just beginning the enormous task of freeing the Israelites from enslavement, and getting them to Canaan. And Moses, who grew up in the royal family but is Israelite by blood, is the only person on earth with a foot in both worlds, and therefore the only person fit to face off against the Egyptians to save his people.

The first of several giant hurdles that the octogenarian Moses has to leap over in order to fulfill what God asked of him is Pharaoh, the hard-hearted, ruthless tyrant. To be clear, this Pharaoh is not related, at least not closely, to the woman who adopted Moses eight decades ago. This is not Moses’ adoptive grandfather, who saw Moses grow up in the palace. That Pharaoh went from wanting Moses killed at birth, to loving him like family, to wanting him killed again. That alone tells us about how much Moses has already been through. We can understand the burn out. But that Pharaoh is dead. And just like how the history of Joseph meant nothing to that Pharaoh, the adoption of baby Moses means nothing to this Pharaoh. And this Pharaoh’s perspective on holding an entire race for slave labor is scarily reminiscent of what we saw in America prior to 1865–his economy depends on this labor, money is far more important to him than human lives, he doesn’t see the Israelites as fully human, and, as far as he’s concerned, they only want a break from the work because they’re lazy.

I’m taking the time to lay that out because I have a deep curiosity about one detail that pops up several times in this story, that of God saying that the Divine will “harden Pharaoh’s heart”. What exactly is going on here? Would Pharaoh have let the Israelites go sooner if not for God hardening his heart? Is God creating the drama in this story? How much of Pharaoh’s behavior is inherent to his character, and how much of it is the Divine will? 

Some pastors will have cut and dry answers for all of those questions, but that’s not my style. This text is mysterious, and alive, and open to many interpretations. I am, however, very much inclined to believe that this Pharaoh had no interest in emancipating his slaves, and no ability to keep a promise that doesn’t benefit him. So of course he told Moses multiple times to go ahead and take the Israelites with him, and then he backtracked. I’m further inclined to believe that the Pharaoh we’re seeing in this story is who he’s always been, with the stakes drastically raised by God.

Just like how last week we talked about God needing to introduce the Divine self to Moses, because Moses didn’t know the God of his ancestors, at this point in the story, God needs to introduce the Divine self to the rest of the Israelites. They also know nothing of the God of their ancestors. God is utilizing Moses and Aaron’s commitment and bravery, juxtaposed against Pharaoh’s small minded cruelty, to help the Israelites see that the most difficult choice is the only viable one. Moses will free them from lifelong abuse and hard labor, but he will also take them away from a bed to sleep in and three meals a day, in the only home the Israelites have ever known. That’s going to require a ton of trust from the Israelites. They will turn on Moses over and over, and tell him they were better off as slaves. The Israelites would never have survived 40 years trekking through the wilderness if they didn’t know what God proves by besting Pharaoh over and over through a series of plagues: if all the food gets destroyed by frogs, locusts, and the death of livestock, God will provide manna. If the water becomes undrinkable because it’s filled with blood, God will make new water come out of a stone. If the Israelites get sick or injured with boils, God will help them heal. God will protect them from lightning and hail. And when bloodshed and death happen out in the middle of nowhere, God will shield them. God is stronger than the worst things they can imagine, and God will never let them go.

Is there a Pharaoh in your life from whom you need God’s deliverance? The tyranny of chronic illness, or food insecurity, or a bad relationship that won’t let go?

If you’re in a more fortunate position this morning, is it possible God is calling you to be someone else’s Moses? To fight for a just world where slaves and hostages are freed and brought home, where everyone works in safe conditions for a living wage, and where no one goes without food, clothing, and shelter?

Even if the quest for justice takes many years, and brings us into some dangerous terrain, God is stronger, and will never let us go.

Amen.

*HYMN O Spirit of the Living God UMH# 539 v 1, 2, 4 

WE RESPOND 

JOYS & CONCERNS 

PASTORAL PRAYER 

God,

just as You rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt,

setting them free to worship and serve You,

so You have also rescued us,

setting us free from slavery to sin and selfishness,

and inviting us into relationship with You and one another.

We praise You for the love and mercy You have shown toward us.

You call us to love and serve You

by loving and serving our brothers and sisters, near and far;

to put their needs and interests ahead of our own,

and so to fulfill Your law of love.

And so we offer our prayers for the world You created,

In Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who do not have what they need in order to survive;

   those without enough food and water,

   medical care, shelter, or security.

Open our hearts to see the needs in our world,

and to respond with Your love.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who are living with serious illness or injury,

   who face each day with uncertainty or pain,

   who find themselves wondering what the future holds.

Open our hearts to see the needs of those around us,

and to respond with Your love.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

On this Labour Day weekend,

we remember those who have no work,

   who are struggling to provide for their families,

   and who despair of ever finding employment again.

Open our hearts to see the needs of the unemployed,

and to respond with Your love.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We also pray for Your church, the Body of Christ on earth.

We pray that we would be a living example of Your love in our world,

   treating one another with compassion and respect,

   settling differences with love and integrity,

   bound together by our common allegiance to You.

Open our hearts to see one another,

and to respond with Your love.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We praise You for the way of love modeled for us by Jesus Christ.

Open our hearts and lives to your ongoing presence among us,

so that we would grow in faithfulness and love,

and bring honour to Your name.  Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. 

*HYMN Change My Heart, O God FWS# 2152 x2 

SENDING FORTH WITH BLESSING 

POSTLUDE