All right, everybody. Hey, my name is Greg, one
of the pastors here at the house. Sometimes I
always say my name in the context of a sermon,
probably down this side of the house. But I also
say my name because I know that my name is not
actually legible on this name tag. That's because
I'm the one that wrote it. And if we've never
met, I would love to meet you. I'd love to actually
maybe buy you a coffee or a soda or something
like that, hear your story. And if you would
like to, I'd love to talk about Jesus. Really,
really. I like talking about Jesus. Happy birthday.
Thanks, Scott. Scott was like, I'm going to start
the slow clap. Who's with me? Thank you. And
to David Korczak, we have the same birthday.
Where's David? Raise your hand, David. All right.
He's in. Oh, and Renee. Very cool. So my joke
with what? 70. There you go. The joke that I
have with David is that David's from Canada.
We not only have the same birthday, we were the
same age. So we were both 48. We both have our
oldest son is named Brennan. And so I joke that
like we're in the Matrix and we're just from
different servers. He's from the Canadian server
and I'm from the U .S. one. Anyhow. We are in
the second week of a series that we are calling
The Wilderness. I don't know how you've been
feeling lately, but a pastor that I know posted
online this last week, he said, the first nine
days of 2026 have been the longest three years
ever. Maybe that is how you feel so far. Maybe
you really are three years into what feels like
a very real wilderness experience of... And I
hope that this series has something for you.
Because God has not lost track of you. You are
not invisible. God is the one who sees. And I
hope that you feel seen. So let's go ahead. We're
going to jump right into the message for the
day by jumping into the scriptures. So grab a
Bible that's close to you or open up a Bible
on your phone. If you don't have a Bible... Take
one of those blue ones home or there's some blue
ones on the bookshelf in the lobby. Those are
free. We're going to be in the book of Exodus.
Exodus is at the beginning of the Bible. It goes
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. So if you see any
of those three, you know you're in the right
neighborhood. We're going to be in Exodus chapter
3. Now, we have a tradition here at the house
in the context when the scripture is being read
in the context of a sermon. We give it our full
attention. And one of the ways we do that is
by standing together. But only stand as you are
able. Otherwise, just give this your attention
as we read the scriptures. Exodus 3. It's going
to be long passes, starting in verse 1. Moses
was keeping the flock of his father -in -law
Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led his flock
beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb,
the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush.
He looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was
not consumed. Then Moses said, I must turn aside
and look at this great sight and see why the
bush is not burned up. Verse 4. When the Lord
saw that he had turned aside to see, God called
to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses. And he
said, Here I am. Then he said, Come no closer.
Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place
in which you are standing is holy ground. He
said further, I am the Lord, I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face,
for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord
said, I have observed the misery of my people
who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry on account
of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings.
And I have come down to deliver them from the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land
to a good and spacious land, to land flowing
with milk and honey to the country of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites
has now come to me. I have also seen how the
Egyptians oppress them. Now go, I am sending
you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites,
out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I
that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites
out of Egypt? He said, I will be with you, and
this shall be the sign for you that it is I who
sent you. When you have brought the people out
of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.
But Moses said to God, 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. Let us pray. God of every tribe,
every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank
you for your scriptures. We thank you that they
have persisted throughout the millennia, that
we still have them to read and to consider. And
I pray that whatever you have to teach us today,
that it would stick, that it would become a part
of the framework of our faith, as our faith becomes
stronger, as we become more like your son, Jesus.
Amen? Amen. You can all have a seat. Thank you,
everyone. The first thing we ask here is, why
was Moses there? Why was Moses where he was?
It says literally that he was tending to the
flocks of his father -in -law, Jethro. But I
want to go back further. Moses was actually someone
that had grown up. In Egypt, in the house of
the Pharaoh. Before he was born, the scriptures
say that Pharaoh was so intimidated and afraid
of the growing Hebrew population that he ordered
every Hebrew boy to be killed at birth. But Moses'
mother was successful in hiding him for the first
few months of his life. And then she placed him
in a basket, in the reeds, at the edge of the
river where she knew that he could be... found.
And so when the Pharaoh's daughter came down
to the river to bathe, she found him there. It
says that Moses's sister stepped in and asked,
do you want me to go find a Hebrew woman to nurse
this baby that you have found? And Pharaoh's
daughter said yes. And so she went and got Moses's
own mother. While the movies like to make it
sound like Moses had no idea that he was a Hebrew
until he was 40, the reality is that he knew
the entire time. He carried the weight of being
Hebrew and living in the house of the Pharaoh
that was oppressing the Hebrew people. And so
when he was around 40 years old and he saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, it says that he stepped
in. He struck the Egyptian. The Egyptian died
and he buried him. And when it became obvious
that his secret would not stay buried, he ran.
Because even though he was the adopted son of
the Pharaoh's daughter, the Pharaoh was not going
to let this slide. That is why Moses is in the
wilderness. Because he ran. But now, another
40 years has gone by, and the wilderness for
Moses wasn't exactly barren. He got married.
He started a family. He had kids. Life was stable.
He had a good job, at least part of which was
tending to the flocks of his father -in -law.
And the passage says, Moses led his father -in
-law's flock beyond. the wilderness to the mountain
of God. And this is an intentional foreshadowing
by the author about Moses' future. His father
-in -law is a priest. And so Moses led the holy
man's flocks through the wilderness to the mountain
of God. where God met him there. Now he will
lead God's people through and beyond the wilderness
to that same mountain so that they will see that
God still cares. It makes me think that just
because you moved beyond your wilderness doesn't
mean you won't need to go through one again to
help someone else. Just because you have gone
through or beyond your wilderness does not mean
that you will not need to go through one again,
especially to help someone else. This story also
makes me think about how important curiosity
is when it comes to following God. Scripture
tells us that his father -in -law was the priest
of Midian. His name was Jethro. And Jethro was
a polytheistic priest. Polytheistic just means
it's a religion that worships many gods. The
most obvious one modern day to look at would
be Hinduism. There's many gods to look at. They
worship for many different reasons. Because in
many polytheistic religions, everything has its
own god. The weather has a God. The waters has
a God. The moon, the sun, the stars, they all
have separate gods. They all have their own.
And so fire would have had its own God. Moses
almost surely does not approach this bush just
because it's an odd experience. That's possible.
But I think it's more probable. or more likely
that Moses has a spiritual curiosity that has
been instilled by his religious surroundings.
I think that Moses is wondering, is something
spiritual happening over there? Why else would
it look like a bush was burning, but there's
no smoke and it's not being consumed? You also
have to remember that in those days, anything
out of the ordinary must have been the gods.
And then remember that the first 40 years of
Moses' life, he watched as the God of his ethnic
ancestors essentially did nothing. He's probably
not approaching this bush looking for the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When he says, I
am the God, he says that he hides his face. Because
that's not who he was approaching thinking might
be there. If he's looking for something spiritual,
it's more likely... Because of the spiritual
curiosity that he has seen in his new father,
Jethro. He's been taught that there could be
a God involved in any or every element of life.
Now listen, Christians, we're meant to do this
too. To believe that God is active in the world,
present in every moment. But we've also become
so afraid of being tricked that we say things
like, well, I didn't see that healing happen
with my eyes. So I'm not sure that it happened.
God didn't heal the thing that I asked for, so
maybe he doesn't do that anymore. As if my own
personal experiences are enough in totality to
determine the existence of an infinite being.
Slowly but surely, we leave. spiritual curiosity
to every other part of the world, to every other
religion, to every other form of spirituality,
and eventually we're just inviting people to
a religion of rules, a religion of singing songs,
just singing, just singing, nothing more than
that, a religion of lectures and limits. Instead
of to a God of the miraculous, to a God that
sees. To a God that can make it look like a bush
is burning but not being consumed. And I wonder
how many burning bushes we have seen but we have
kept walking because we're not looking with spiritually
curious eyes anymore. Let's be honest. If you
saw, if I put it on the screen right now, a picture
of a bush that was burning but not being consumed,
you would all say it was AI. You'd say, oh, that's
CGI. Oh, what app did you use to make that? I
had a friend in Colorado, or rather, I had a
boss that became my friend, and he could not
be to a meeting that he set on time. He'd be
15 minutes late, always, always. And he'd come
in saying, DEI. D -E -I, divine interventions
every day. Oh, D -I -E, D -I -E, divine interventions
every day. It did not matter. He's the one that
set the meeting, and then he'd just come in,
D -I -E, you guys got to die every day. Divine
interventions every day. It drove me nuts because
I'm an on -time person, and I like a meeting
to start on time, especially if I'm the one that
planned it and especially if there's a meeting
that might be coming after it. I think it's true
that we all need a little more D .I .E. We need
more curiosity to make space for the divine to
intervene every day. My pastor back in Colorado
used to say, if you're coming to church without
expecting God to do anything, why are you coming?
I wonder about our ability to have curiosity
in our spirituality, especially when I see what's
happening with the unhoused in our city. When
I see what's happening with immigrants in America
living in fear. And I wonder how often the presence
of God gets ignored because we've lost our curiosity
to see Jesus in them. Hebrews reminds us that...
At any moment, we could be entertaining an angel
unaware. And I think that there's something about
this curiosity that also leads us into holy moments.
As Moses approaches the burning bush, I think
because of a curiosity, it says that God tells
him to take off his sandals, to put his skin
on the ground. I think that if you read the scripture,
it does say, come no closer, take off your sandals
for this is holy ground. So we might look at
that and go, well, God doesn't want to be close
to us. Well, then why would he ask him to take
off his sandals so that his skin could touch
the ground that he had called holy? And if you
look at the whole arc of the relationship that
Moses had with... It says that while this is
where it starts in Exodus 3, by the time you
get to Exodus 33, he's having to wear veils in
front of people because his face is shining for
being in the presence of God. 20 years ago, there
was a movement called See You at the Pole. Anybody?
Raise your hand if you ever went to See You at
the Pole. Okay. I think it still happens. I'm
pretty sure that it still happens. But 20 years
ago, it was a big deal. Like, they made a big
deal out of it. What it was was it was student
-led, and one morning a year in September, students
would get together around the flagpole at their
school, and they would pray for spiritual awakening
in their schools. And here in the Quad Cities,
youth pastors started going, okay, hey, you know
what? We don't want to just encourage our kids
to do that. Why don't we try and get all the
students from all the different churches that
encourage people to do that, all the kids that
gather together and pray. together around their
flagpole. Let's get them all together for one
night of worship, one event together that night.
And 20 years ago, they called it, are you ready
for this? They called it the After the Pole Rally.
So original, right? They had a whole marketing
team on that one. And I was really lucky to have
been asked to lead worship for that event. We
had a thousand kids, junior high through high
school, from all over the Quad Cities in one
room. And I asked them all to take off their
shoes. Yes, it smelled. I said, this is holy
ground. God wants to meet us here. Those were
the days. Dave can attest because somehow Dave
held on to this. Dave still wears sandals as
long as he possibly can year -round. Those were
the days where I always wore sandals, and before
I would lead worship, I would take my shoes off.
It didn't matter whether I was on stage at Heritage
Church in front of a couple thousand people or
if I was in a small room with 12. My feet were
going to be on the ground. Theologically speaking,
there's nothing between us, between us and God.
Our sins are forgiven. There's nothing that any
longer would divide us or separate us or keep
us apart. But God also knows that we are a visual
people and that a physical action, a metaphor,
something that we can do to remove a layer between
our feet and the ground can teach us a spiritual
reality. Curiosity leads us to holy moments.
Curiosity leads us to see Jesus and people that
we might otherwise walk past. And I wonder if
y 'all walked up to a burning bush later today
and God said, this is holy ground, I wonder if
you might say, put down your phones. Last thing
I want to point out is... I don't think that
we can read this passage without acknowledging
that God, the creator of the universe, is asking
human beings to be a part of the solution. People
ask, if God is real, then why doesn't he just
fix this and fix that? Why does he... Whether
it's the stories about Jesus or whether it's
the prophets or if it's this story about Moses,
so often... Throughout the scriptures, God is
asking us to be a part of the solution. Notice
God didn't just speak to Pharaoh from the sky.
God spoke to the Pharaoh through a person. And
more than that, God expected that person to lead
his people through and beyond the wilderness
to the mountain of God. The Bible isn't really
a book that just shows what God did. The Bible
is the book that shows how God moved through
humans. This past week, I was meeting with a
local organization that serves the unhoused and
the poor in Rock Island. And they have a daytime
drop -in shelter, but they've essentially run
out of room. And I met them here. I met them
here so that I could show them our lobby and
even our sanctuary. And to say, I wonder if maybe
you could meet here instead. You could use our
building during the day. We can do some stuff
at night, be here on the weekends. Because we
have, just the lobby is almost twice the space
that they have. They asked, what will your church
people think if, let's say, if some of those
people that we serve show up on Sundays or what
happens if they, not when, not if, but when they
break things. Or what if the building smells
like them when you get here? And I had it in
my notes and I took it out, but I'm going to
tell you the truth. I said I don't care. I said,
I don't think I care. Because while this might
not, who knows, we're just offering it. We're
just offering the idea. God knows whether it
will happen or not. But I said, I don't think
that we're meant to have this big, warm building
just to make people feel good for one hour on
a Sunday. And I said, I don't, if this isn't
the kind of thing that God has been leading us
to for the last 12 years, then I'm not sure what
is. It's a happy 12 -year anniversary, everybody.
And I said I don't want to be naive, and I don't
want to be naive in front of you either, because
I know it's an if. It's a big if. If they do
want to eventually move here and maybe even end
up renovating the other end of the building,
and that would just be a temporary solution for
them, we would need to be prepared. When I got
here this morning, there was a guy pacing around
in the parking lot, rapping to himself with a
lot of obscenities, and I knew that he was someone
that was unhoused. He was far enough away. The
general rule is don't approach and bother someone
that isn't asking to be bothered. So I just watched
him as he paced back and forth, frenetically,
just rapping off the top of his head with a lot
of curse words. And I thought, He could be at
church today. And I hope we'll be ready. We'd
also need to be ready to repair things on a regular
basis. There's a reason that a lot of times you
go into hospitals and shelters and things like
that. They don't have yellow walls, y 'all. Because
walls get dirty. And there's certain colors that
just show the dirt a little bit better than others.
We'd have to be ready to repair things, to repaint
things, to fix things, to pay for some things
that we're used to not having to pay for right
now. But I don't want this church, not just this
building. I'm not talking about this building.
I'm talking about you. I don't want this church
to see a burning bush and just walk on by. I
don't want this church. to say we've gone beyond
our wilderness, they will be fine. I don't want
this church to see the presence of God freezing
on the street and assume they'll be okay. If
you really want to know what I think, I need
you to find us half a million dollars so we can
buy this building. And I'm really not joking.
Because this building sits... two -thirds empty
just to get to the other end of the building
up to code without bathrooms in it 60 grand up
to code with bathrooms in it 100 grand to buy
the building 335 000 to do anything with the
upstairs to turn that into a long -term housing
facility for single women or a shelter for the
unhoused, there's 17 ,000 square feet upstairs.
17 ,000 square feet upstairs. And it would cost
millions to renovate up to the level that would
be needed. If you want to know the truth, we
need some money. Because there's some things
that probably need to happen here. Things that
I'm afraid to say out loud because then I don't
want anyone to feel disappointed when it doesn't
happen. Because even I am tempted to become a
part of a religion that's just singing songs
and offering lectures instead of being a spiritual
man that believes in a God of miracles. But I'm
going to be curious. And I hope that you will
be curious too whether you are in the middle
of your wilderness, whether you have already
walked past and beyond your wilderness. You are
not done with the concept of wilderness because
people are stuck in them and need help. People
are stuck. And they need our help. So will you
be curious with me? Will you let the Holy Spirit
swell up this feeling of, it's okay to be a little
afraid about it. It's okay to be a little afraid
about it. But I just think that there is more
for us. as a body of Christ. Amen? Let's pray.
God, I thank you for every wilderness that every
person has walked through in this room. I thank
you for every challenge, every moment of suffering
that we have learned from, that we would count
it all joy. Because of the purpose that you create
from it. Not that it should have happened, but
it did happen. So now what? Now what is that
we look to you? We hear you say, go, be my mouthpiece.
We trust you with the outcomes. Help us be curious.
Help us see you. bushes that are burning but
not being consumed. Help us be willing to go.
Amen.