Jethro I and II
September 21, 2014 | Patrick Preheim
I begin my reflections today by picking up on something Darren Dahl noted in his sermon last week. He referenced Genesis 12:1-3 in relation to a line of the Nicene Creed about one holy, universal, sent church. To refresh our memories those three verses from Genesis 12 read as follows. “Now the Lord said to Abram [and Sarah], ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” In these three verses Abraham and Sarah are promised descendants, land. And they are commissioned to be a blessing to all the families of the earth—not just some of the families of the earth, but all the families. Like the church described in the Nicene Creed Abraham and Sarah are set apart for divine work and sent far and wide for the salvation of all.
The story line of Exodus begins filling in the gap between Genesis and the Nicene Creed If the census found in Numbers has any relevance we find that during their time in Egypt the children of Israel proliferated coming to number hundreds of thousands—the promise of descendants from Genesis 13 being realized. In Exodus we find that God’s chosen people are set on a trajectory for the Promised Land and nothing can stop it—not slavery, not hardness of heart on the part of Pharaoh, not rebellion on the part of the chosen ones, not armies or hunger or thirst or anything—the promise of land from Genesis 13 being realized. In Exodus God gives instruction for ethical living as well as for worship. These were to be the evangelistic tools which would draw the nations into relationship with the one God—the promise of universal blessing being realized. One holy, universal, sent people.
In his commentary on Exodus Waldemar Janzen pointed to a smaller story within the narrative which gets at these overriding themes, a part of the story I had noticed before but not really explored (Waldemar Janzen, Exodus in the Believers Church Bible Commentary, p. 15-22). Jethro, rancher and priest of Midian, whose name means friend of God, father-in-law to Moses, giver of sage advice—what is this guy doing in the great saga unfolding through the chapters?? A single appearance in chapters 3-4 might be explained away, but there he is again in chapters 17-18. Why is it that Jethro shows up on the stage every time a bedraggled Israelite comes slinking out of Egypt? Jethro’s conspicuous presence invites us to consider the inter-relationship between the escape of Moses from Egypt, the escape of Israel from Egypt, and a friend of God who meets them in the wilderness.
Unwarranted salvation happens in both stories. Moses killed a man. The death penalty was surely the consequence for Moses and any found aiding the fugitive. So Moses left clan, country and all other commitments for the wilderness. In the wilds of Midian Jethro extends him friendship and belonging in his family. In leaving Egypt the children of Israel, too, find themselves more worthy of death than salvation. Facing Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea crossing they lash out at God and Moses (14.10-12) longing for graves in Egypt rather than the sea. Three days into the wilderness the people again complain, this time about lack of water (15.23-24). Shortly after this they scream out about a shortage of bread (16.2-3). God provides for them in each of these cases, but additional quarrels regarding water and bread make it clear the Israelites are unconvinced theists and hardly committed to the God who delivered them (16.27-30; 17.2-3). And then Jethro appears and tells them this: Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods” (18.10).
We doubt. We hedge on commitment. We quarrel with God. We pine for the good old days even though they were not so good. And while most of are not murderers, too often we seek injury or assassination with the words we use. We can give thanks that God chooses salvation over meeting out the justice which most of us deserve.
Also a part of the Jethro narratives is the fact that the saved ones become called ones. In the wilderness both Moses and the Hebrews are consecrated for Divine tasks. Our scripture reading recounted Moses stumbling upon the burning bush atop Mt. Horeb while tending sheep. We know his resistance. And we know God overcomes his resistance. Moses is the chosen tool by which the Lord will save the chosen people from their slavery. In chapter 19 we have a similar situation. After an interlude with Jethro the children of Israel find themselves at the Mountain of God, the same mount which had the burning bush. In a stunning theophany akin to the blazing schrub God thunders to them out of a cloud, “you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” In the same way that God worked through Moses for salvation of the children of Israel, so God is promising to work through Israel for the salvation of all the families of the earth. The rest of Exodus with its Ten Commandments, Book of Law, the tabernacle and nattering about proper worship all derive from the call of Moses and Israel to be instruments of God in the business of salvation.
One final similarity which knits these two stories tightly together, Waldemar would suggest, is that of a communal meal with a blood ritual (Janzen, 22). The Lord’s salvation and call of Moses is ultimately confirmed after the Passover meal (7.8-18). In chapter 24, after the Ten Commandments and the Book of Law have been read, Moses sealed the deal by dashing blood on the people with a communal meal of Hebrew leaders on top the sacred mountain (Exodus 24.8-11).
Matthew’s gospel intentionally draws upon Exodus imagery to underscore the role of Jesus as one commissioned (holy), sent to the ends of the earth (Great Commission in Mt 28.19-20) for the salvation of all families. What are these Exodus allusions? Like Israel, Jesus initially finds refuge in Egypt only to be called out of Egypt for the purpose of salvation (Matt 2.13-21). Twice a voice booms out from heaven affirming the chosen-ness of Jesus: one scene set in water (Matt 3.13-17) and one scene set on a mountain (Matt 17.1-8)—can we say Red Sea and Mt. Sinai? Both Israel and Jesus face testing in the wilderness immediately after their call (Matt 4.1-11). On top of “the mountain” Jesus offers a sermon which parallels the giving of the Torah and Book of Law on Mt. Sinai. I am only part way through chapter 5, but I think you are getting the idea. So that when I fast forward to Jesus calling together his disciples during the Passover for a communal meal in which blood is poured out for the sins of many, our ears ought to tingle. Jesus instituting the Passover celebration in this way is none other than overtly, completely and definitively linking his ministry with that of the historical Israel and Moses of Exodus. Jesus understood his call to be for the salvation of a chosen people and, in fact, for the salvation of all families earth.
The church, 1st Peter states, is a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1st Peter 2.4-5). Notice the Exodus language which eventually finds its way into the Nicene Creed. Like the Israel of Exodus the Church will not live its commission perfectly, but God and the mission of God hang with us. And our practice of the Lord’s supper, which echoes the foundational mission of God through Christ, becomes an opportunity by which the covenant is renewed and our call reaffirmed. When we celebrate communion, as we will next week for those gathered both here and at camp Shekinah, let us consider the following theological insights of Exodus in our preparation for this central ritual of the church.
- At tension within the Biblical narrative is God’s gracious initiative with Israel’s or the church’s reluctant response. This tension draws us into the stories we have of the Exodus and crucifixion, and invite us to consider our own internal disposition in relation to God. Do we look condescendingly at Israel’s resistance to God or the fear of the disciples? Do we sense in ourselves the all too human tendency to question, complain, quarrel, rebel, and deny? How do we feel about God’s deliverance when it entails running from angry Egyptians, or thirsting a bit, or hungering a little, or carrying a cross? Preparation for communion offers us a chance to acknowledge the fear and rebelliousness which periodically appear in our spiritual story. The sacred meal gives us a moment to address our internal state and say again that we choose to follow the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day come what may.
- Secondly, a change of masters is a part of salvation. Exodus recounts Israel’s liberation from Pharaoh, but that is only half the story. Liberation in Exodus is not the achievement of freedom from someone else’s rule to self determinism, as many moderns think of liberation. Israel is subject to a ruler at the beginning of the book as well as at the end. At question is if they will serve a tyrant or the God who in mercy leads them from bondage, gives them bread and water, and offers them the Torah? Exodus, and our understanding of baptism, ask us to consider the current gods we are choosing to serve. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus, the new Moses, says, “no one can serve two masters” (Mt. 6.24). It is worth taking an inventory of our household gods prior to communion. Communion becomes a time to reaffirm our allegiance to God.
- Thirdly, the people of God are commissioned. Exodus is not a book about God choosing a people for himself. Rather, it is a reaffirmation of the covenant made with Abraham and Sarah to bless them so that they might bless all the families of the world. Our life in Christ and celebration of communion necessarily leads into the world. Communion then, becomes an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the service of God in the world. We meet God in the bread and cup so that hungry souls everywhere might be nourished.
- The sacred meals of Exodus 7, 24, and Jesus are a celebration of God’s salvation even as the work of salvation continues. God has acted decisively in making a way out of Egypt, in the giving of the law, in the life / death / resurrection of Jesus. God’s mission will be accomplished in God’s time and it right for us to celebrate steps along the way. So in preparation for communion let us consider those signs of God’s kingdom which is being formed on earth as it is in heaven.
- Finally, God’s presence is a mystery which sometimes comforts and sometimes chaffs. God hears our cries while in slavery, but we do not always like life in the wilderness—God is in both places. God is in Midian working through people like Jethro and calling murderers like Moses—such choices are incomprehensible. God is found in the abundant manna and the ever flowing water from a rock and the manifold grace shown to a chosen yet flawed yet penitent people. God’s presence is a mystery which our communion service points to but can never define. Meditation on the mystery of God’s grace is certainly a fine way to prepare for communion.
All significant considerations as we prepare for a celebration of the Lord’s Supper next Sunday.
