His story is incredible, one we have grown accustomed to hearing, so it no longer shocks us as it should. He was born a slave but raised as royalty, only to flee as a criminal. As a newborn child, he was hidden by a loving mother from tyrannical authorities bent on the destruction of the innocent. He was eventually set adrift in a handmade basket, in hopes that, by some miracle, he might be spared. And a miracle indeed took place, for the daughter of Pharaoh found him and gave him the name Moses. But as he grew, the brutality inflicted upon his people was ever before his eyes. One day, when he could no longer stand the horror he saw, he struck out in rage and killed an Egyptian who was beating his kinsman. Marked now as a murderer and under the threat of Pharaoh, he fled to the land of Midian. There, this unlikely man found joy and contentment. With a loving family and a wife to stand by his side, he found peace and permanence, or so he thought.

As he is caring for the flock of his father-in-law, he finds himself high up on the west side of Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he sees something which catches his eye. A bush is on fire, but this is unlike any brushfire he has ever seen. The flames are rising, but the tender leaves and stems of the bush remain unharmed. And as he gets closer to examine this strange sight, he is frozen in his tracks as a voice booms out and calls his name. “Moses, Moses,” the voice calls. And then it says, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” The voice continued, saying, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hides his face, for he finds himself in the presence of the Holy. Imagine that one moment you are tending a flock on a mountainside and the next you are in the presence of the Almighty God.

What God tells Moses in this stunning moment is good news. He says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… I have heard their cry… I know their sufferings.” What Moses saw, what Moses wrestles with, is before the eyes of God as well, and the Lord means to do something about it. He has not forgotten His people. He has not turned a deaf ear to their cries. He says, “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.” Moses is not alone in his pain and turmoil. Moses does not suffer by himself. God is with him. God cares. So, God promises He will bring them to a new land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Now, what God is describing here is what we all know as the exodus of the people of God. It is the deliverance from their house of slavery in Egypt. It is the early contour of the promises which will be fulfilled with the great Passover of the Angel of Death and the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. This promise will lead the Israelites through the Red Sea on dry ground. The fulfillment of these words will form the pinnacle event in the life of the people of God. It will anchor their trust and guide their footsteps forward. God will deliver His people!

God has chosen to do this great work through Moses, the most unlikely of candidates. A slave raised in luxury, a murderer turned shepherd, will be the instrument God uses to deliver His people. God says, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” What a terrifying prospect. Moses is to return to the place he fled, fearing for his life. He rightly begins to doubt the wisdom of God. Who is he to do such a thing? Who is he to attempt this fraught endeavor? But God says, “I will be with you.” He goes on to give Moses His name: “I Am Who I Am.” His name is literally the verb “to be.” He is being. He is existence itself. He is the totality of time and space. And “in Him we live and move and have our being.” So, Moses is to say to the people of Israel, “I Am has sent me to you,” to deliver you, to lead you to the good land.

Now, as I said, the events of the Exodus become the central theme in the life of the people of God. As they go forward on their journey to Sinai, as they wander in the wilderness, and as they begin the conquest of the Promised Land, they look back and remember what God has done. Their past experience is their confidence going forward. In recalling what God has done, they could be sure He would not forsake them in their time of need. For God is not a God who is far off and distant, a God who does not hear the cries of His people, a God who is uninterested in their struggle and plight. He is a God who is with them.

It is no different for us today. In fact, we know a greater deliverance, a greater exodus, not from slavery in Egypt but the slavery of sin, death, and the Devil. He came to set us free from the bondage of our own selfish desires and passions. God came down not in a burning bush but in the child born of Mary. He came not to call a hesitating shepherd to lead His people, but He came to be the Good Shepherd Himself and call His people out of the darkness into His light. We look back to a manger in Bethlehem, a cross of suffering and shame, and the empty tomb of Easter morning. There we see the love of our God, the compassion of the Almighty for our cries for mercy.

And in our remembrance, we confess God is with us. After all, this is the great Immanuel, true God and true man who came to sacrifice Himself for your salvation, to die, so you might live for all eternity. In our remembrance, we marvel that He is still with us. He still comes to us to give strength, hope, and forgiveness. He comes in Word and Sacrament. He comes to declare that you are redeemed in the works of Christ, you are washed and made clean in the waters of Baptism, and you are fed with His presence in the Lord’s Supper. As we gather here around the altar this day, as you kneel to receive the gifts of God, He declares yet again, “I am with you.”

It is fascinating how our Lord Himself quotes this scene of Moses and the burning bush. In response to questions about the resurrection, he says, “Even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him.”

The point Jesus is driving home is that even death does not separate you from your God. He is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for He is the God of the living. So, He is still with them, as He is with you and with those who have gone before you. All the saints of God have their being in Him as together we await that more glorious day to come, the day when death, tears, and sorrow will come to an end, the day when we will see what we know by faith, that God is with you.