We Can Do It
Exodus 1.8-14; 3.1-15
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Let us dwell together in peace, let us not be instruments of our own or others’ oppression; and now, may God’s word be spoken, may only God’s word be heard. Amen.

Jesus said blessed are those who show mercy, but empire, however much it may try to weaponize and monetize the name of Jesus, rarely supports the Christ values of mercy, justice, and love.

The Egyptians showed no mercy to the Israelites. That’s what we read in the opening chapter of Exodus. The empire, the superpower, was unmerciful toward the religious minority, unmerciful to the descendants of immigrants and refugees, unmerciful toward exploited laborers, unmerciful toward the oppressed.

Then in Exodus 3, Moses is called to speak out against empire’s cruelty to vulnerable populations. Moses is called to challenge empire and encourage the oppressed. Moses says, “But who am I?” And God says, “The important thing is who I am.”

God is the word that sums up ultimate meaning and our search for meaning.
God is the life within us.
God is connection between all lives.
God is the universal presence in which we all live.

Something so ubiquitous, and eternal, requires almost countless myths and symbols and names to help us give voice to our experience of It.

But of all the names for God, the simplest is also the most profound, and that is the name shared in today’s story: I Am.

Who shall I say sent me to challenge injustice, to confront cruelty, to lead people to a more hopeful future?
Who am I to do it and by whose authority could I do it?

And the answer is, “I Am.”

From a light that will not be extinguished, the name of God is given and it is I Am.

Moses is an exile; he went from being a prince to being a shepherd.
And he encounters a burning thorn bush in the desert.

Where is God in the story? In the fire. In the thorns.
When we are in pain or fear or confusion, where is God?
God is in the pain. God is in the doubt. God is in the chaos.
God is in the thorns. God is in the fire.
Even in our desert experiences, God is there; there’s not a spot where God is not.

In the story, God says, “I have seen the troubles of my people.”
God says, “I have heard their cries.”
God says, “I know their pain.”

Where is God when everything sucks? Watching, listening, knowing, caring.
We are never alone with our challenges. There is a love that will never let us go. There is a presence watching over us. There is a strength that is giving us endurance. There is a wisdom guiding us forward.

There is a voice in the thorns, there is grace in the fire, there is a presence in the desert…we are not alone and there is something good still to come.

I Am is God’s name, and so I Am never alone.
I Am never without comfort.
I Am never without strength equal to the moment of need.
I Am never on my own…a band of angels is coming after me, because God sees, God hears, God knows, and God responds. I Am hopeful and I Am grateful because God is I Am.

God is life.
God is light.
God is hope.
God is strength.
God is love.
God is.

Isness. Our isness: That’s what I Am means.

Who am I to challenge abuse and call for healing and try to empower the marginalized?
I Am.

How can I try to make a difference.
Because I Am!

I Am is God in me.
I Am is my call to action.
I am part of God because God is I Am.

So, never say I am worthless.
Never say I am a loser.
Never say I am a lost cause.
Never say I am a wreck.
Cancel all that self-abusive BS. Cancel, cancel, cancel.
Never follow “I Am” with anything negative because to do so is to use God’s name in vain.

I am a person of sacred value.
I am God’s miracle and not God’s mistake.
I am part and parcel of God.
I am part of the creation God calls very good.
I am wise and wonderful.
I am loved, loving, and lovable.

That’s the proper use of God’s name; that’s honoring and praising God and God’s handiwork.

In the 1950s a Baptist minister, Rev. William H. Borders wrote a poem to encourage the poor and disposed of his city. The poem because a tool of the civil rights movement and in 1971 the Rev. Jesse Jackson recited the poem masterfully on Sesame Street. It was a brilliant and theologically sound use of the divine name, I Am.

Rev. Borders wrote, and Rev. Jackson shared:

“I am Somebody!
I may be poor, But I am Somebody.
I may be young, But I am Somebody.
I may be small, But I am Somebody.
I may have made mistakes, But I am Somebody.
My clothes are different, My face is different, My hair is different, But I am Somebody.
I am Black, Brown, or White. I speak a different language.
But I must be respected, protected, never rejected. I am God’s child!
I am somebody.”

I am Somebody.
I Am that I am.

That offers great ability, and great responsibility.

Look one more time at Ex. 3.

God said to Moses:
I have seen their troubles…
I have heard their cries…
I know about their pain…
Now I will go and lead them…I am sending you to Pharaoh. Go! Lead my people.

I’ll go – YOU go.
I’ll lead – YOU lead.
I’ll fix it – Get to fixing it.

God sees, God hears, God knows, and God will do something about it…in, through, and as Moses.

How can I stand up to oppression?
How can I make a difference?
How can I resist cruelty and hate and greed?
I can and I must…My hands are God’s hands.
What God does for us, God must do through us.

I see. I hear. I know, I care. I’ll fix it, as soon as the you part of I get to work.
That’s God’s message to Moses.
That’s God’s message to us.

We can do it.
Because we are God in action.
God sees. God hears. God knows. God cares. And God is saying to us, “We can do it. Let’s get busy.”
And when we answer the call, Empire cannot keep us from the land of promise, a future with infinite possibilities.

And this is the good news. Amen.

I am Somebody.
I am God’s child.
I am how God is helping and healing our world.
I am God’s miracle and not God’s mistake.
Alleluia!
Amen.