"Here I AM"

Exodus 3

"If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?'  God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'  He said further, 'Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'  God also said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you:'  'This is my name forever, and this is my title for all generations'" (Exodus 3:13-15).

In January 2008, multi-talented, artist, and member of the hip-hop group, Black Eyed Peas, William James Adams Jr., aka "Will-i-am," wrote a song in support of then Presidential candidate, Barak Obama, entitled, "Yes We Can."  The song was a very inspiring tribute to a movement lead by an equally inspiring candidate.  Before that, the division of Mr. Adams' name caught my imagination first.  Not withstanding his brilliance, I believe he's on to something much larger than we may suspect.  I, like many others, sat in complete amazement as this country - for a moment - rose to "the better angels of our nature" and voted, in record numbers, for this country's first African American President.  Two years have passed since that historical election and yes, a lot has changed.  Right, wrong or indifferent, President Obama represents a long line of men and women who, like the Moses figure in the Hebrew scriptures, have been called during extraordinary times and who rose, sometimes reluctantly, to a level of greatness under some pretty $h!tty circumstances.

Under the leadership and watchful eye of Joseph, Israel had prospered and greatly multiplied their numbers.  But a new Pharaoh was now on the throne and as I mentioned in the last post, he didn't give a rat's @$$ about Joseph and all that he had done for Egypt.  Consequently, the Israelites are enslaved and oppressed miserably.  The writers of the text informs us that Pharaoh, fearing the powerful Israelites, ordered all Egyptians, "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews, you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live (Exodus 1:22).  That introduces us to the circumstances surrounding the birth and early life of Moses.  Presumably, like the other Hebrew boys, Moses is sent down, or rather up the Nile river and is rescued by Pharaoh's daughter.  Ironically, not much interest is ever paid to Moses' early development in the lap of luxury.  Between chapters 2 and 3, we see an older Moses, strong enough to kill a man and flee Egypt to escape punishment.  We read about him marrying and having a son (that's another post of its own).  Our hearts are warmed by the image of him keeping his sheep.  And Finally, we stand in awe with him as he is confronted with that suspicious burning bush where he gets his great commission from God to go back to Egypt and to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

Here's where we learn about the great I AM.  Up to this point, we have come to know God by many names - YHWH (Yahweh),  Elohim, El Roi and El Shaddai just to name a few.  But now, God is, "I AM what I AM;" "I AM that I AM, or I AM what I will be!"  God self-identifies in a very personal way to Moses - a man who arguably knows little of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.    For one of the most profoundly important narratives in the Hebrew scriptures, in fact, in the entire Christian bible, God calls on an unlikely, and severely flawed character to go back to Egypt and liberate an enslaved people and in the process, becomes a real and tangible force in the lives of the Israelite people.  S/HE does so, it seems, by transferring elements of divine power onto the chosen one, creating an almost seamless morphing of sorts with Moses, and vice versa.  Thus, Moses and God become one - "I AM what I AM!  I AM what I will be!"  After all, this story is to be told throughout the ages to Hebrew children and grandchildren for generations to come, how "With a strong hand, the LORD brought you out of Egypt" - not Moses (Exodus13:9c). 

What am I saying here?  That in every circumstance and in every situation, God rarely calls us in times of "comfort and convenience, rather, in moments of challenge and controversy."  The response to that, for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the ultimate measure of a man.  For Abraham Lincoln, it was the final sentiment of his first inaugural speech challenging a nation to rise to "the better angels of our nature."  S/HE reaches for those among us who like President John F. Kennedy heeded the call and instructed us to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."  Or as legend goes about Harriet Tubman - that woman called Moses - armed with a bible in one hand and a Smith & Wesson in the other, warning enslaved Africans she encountered on the way up north, something along the lines of, "Ya can go wid me a' try freedom or die a slave tonight."  And finally, standing at the podium with one foot on an oil spill and the other on the edge of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is President Barak Obama - massaging the heart of a fearful, and yet hopeful nation - telling us without pause or hesitation, "Yes We Can!"

God calls us "o'er the tumults of life's wild restless seas..."  S/HE calls us in our own time, and at the appointed hour of our own season, to go and "Tell Pharaoh to let my people go!"  Though the task is great, the answer is simple; LORD; "Here I AM!  Send me!"

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2011

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!