Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt August 31st, 2025
Sermon: “I Am Who You Say I Am” John 21: 15-19
Last week we finished an 8-week series on the “Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”. I realized that even though we spread the teachings over an 8-week period I was only able to merely scratch the surface of all there is to know about the third person of the Trinity. Of course one of the questions that often comes up is how we know when we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. I pointed out last week that the Holy Spirit always indwells true believers. It’s the out with the old and in with the new. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:16-17,
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
However, being filled with the Holy Spirit is another move of the Holy Spirit where the level of our awareness of His presence in our lives varies. From time to time he fills us and influences us more powerfully than at other times. In Colossians 3:15-16 Paul shows what it means to pursue being filled with the Spirit.
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Sometimes we find God’s Spirit leading us into situations or even life changes that are way outside of our comfort zone. This is where the gifts of the Holy Spirit allows believers to do things and experience God’s presence like never before. Sometimes these changes are permanent, while at other times they are temporary but always leave lasting change in our lives.
Today I want us to briefly consider the profound changes that happened to 4 different people from the stories in God’s word. The changes drastically and completely altered the direction of their lives here on earth and forever.
Last week I left you with a question to ponder. Anyone remember that question? Why did God give a staff to Moses? Well, actually he already had a staff because he was a shepherd who tended the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. I suspect that most if not all of you are aware of the story of Moses to be found in the Book of Exodus. Let me briefly summarize the change that God made in the life of Moses. His birth family were Israelites who were slaves in the land of Egypt. The people of Israel had grown so numerous that Pharoah demanded that all the male children born to the Israelites be killed. Through the plan of the sovereign God Moses was rescued and raised by the daughter of Pharoah where he was educated and lived as an Egyptian. At 40 years old while seeking to intervene for an Israelite who was being beaten by an Egyptian, Moses ended up ended up killing the Egyptian.
He fled to the land of Midian, married a Midianite woman and worked as a shepherd for her father. It was while tending the flock of sheep and leading them to pasture that Moses encountered a burning bush. Listen to Exodus 3:1-6, “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “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.”
The Angel of the Lord, who many understand to be the preincarnate Christ speaks to Moses out of the burning bush. In the Old Testament fire often symbolizes the presence of God. Then God reveals to Moses why they are having this conversation. He is the God of Moses father, but also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God was letting Moses know that He remembered His covenant with the forefathers. Then God tells Moses that he is to go to Pharoah telling him to let the people of Israel go to worship their God in the wilderness. God wants to lead them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Of course Moses strongly argued with God that he is not the man for the job.
At this point the first-time reader will likely sympathize with Moses. First of all he is now 80 years old, he knows he doesn’t speak well, he’s wanted for murder in Egypt, he has no reason to expect that Pharoah will even receive him, and of course- he’s 80 years old.
Then Moses basically says to God, “I don’t know you. What am I supposed to tell the people of Israel when they ask your name?”
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”
The biggest problem here is that Moses doesn’t know God. I guarantee that he is impressed that God has approached him in this way. He may have asked if the talking, burning bush could come with him. In Exodus 4:1-5, “Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
So back to the question of the purpose of the staff. This staff, a wooden stick became the symbol of Moses relationship to God. He spoke with the power of God to move in miraculous ways. There are at least 10 times in the Book of Exodus where Moses and Aaron use the staff to perform miraculous signs. In Exodus 4 the staff turns into a snake; in chapters 9 and 10 he raised the staff to bring about the plagues of hail and locusts, Exodus 14 Moses uses the staff to part the Red Sea, 17:5-6 Moses at God’s command uses the staff to strike the rock and water springs out of a rock for the refreshment of God’s people and 17:8-13 Moses holds up his staff during the battle with the Amalekites. When he held it up the Israelites prevailed, when he didn’t they begin to lose. Moses brother Aaron uses the staff to turn the Nile River into blood, to bring frogs, and then Gnats, flies, and vermin.
As you likely remember this 80-year-old murderer who tends sheep that don’t even belong to him, becomes the man to whom God gave the law- the 10 commandments. The first 5 books of the Old Testament were written by Moses during the 40-year trek across the wilderness and given to the people of God up to this day. Moses was the man to whom God showed His glory. In Exodus 33 Moses sets up the Tent of Meeting where he would come and speak with God. “ And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
To this day Moses is revered by Jews and Christians alike as the one to whom God gave his law. It was Moses who led the children of Israel through the 40-year journey across the wilderness to the Promised Land. When they prepared to cross over the Jordon River Moses wasn’t allowed by God to go with them. However at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy 34:1, 10-12, “Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land,… And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” Actually, that is not the end of the story Moses, God’s friend. Listen to Luke 9:28-31, “ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”
This is known as the Transfiguration of Jesus where Elijah and Moses appeared to affirm Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, thus pointing to Him as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.
By the way Deuteronomy 34:7 “Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.”
Our Psalm reading this morning is Psalm 96. This Psalm has not been attributed to anyone but in 1 Chronicles 16: 23-33 King David sings a large portion of this psalm as a song of praise as they brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and placed it in a tent that David had pitched for it.
David the shepherd boy crowned king of Israel. David was the youngest son of Jesse who himself was of no real importance. God chose David to be the King of a united monarchy, which encompassed the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. He was a mighty and valiant warrior known for killing the Philistine giant Goliath with a rock thrown from a slingshot. But it gets better. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God made a covenant with David that his royal line would endure forever, and a descendant would always sit upon his throne. I suspect that this promise would not have the same affect as in the ancient world where ancestry was an important matter.
This promise became a central theme in Old Testament prophecies pointing to a future Messianic King from Davids lineage. In the New Testament the angel Gabriel tells Mary that her son, Jesus will be given the throne of his father David and reign forever (Luke 1:32-33).
Again we see an example of how God choses the last person you would expect and bestows upon him great honor and glory. Even though David made some terrible mistakes God remembered His Covenant.
Of course another example of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of someone is the Apostle Paul. In our epistle reading from Philippians 3:3-11 Paul (at one time Saul of Tarsus) points to who he used to be.
“though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
Saul of Tarsus was on the fast track as a Pharisee and would likely have been the High Priest at some point. In his world, his pedigree, education, and resume would have been impeccable. His zeal for the law of God was second to none. Then he encountered Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord of lords. Listen to how that encounter changed everything in his life Philippians 3: 7-8.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”
Think about that for a moment. What happened to make that great of a change in Paul’s life. He encountered Jesus Christ through the power and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Paul strikes me as a goal-oriented individual and that didn’t seem to change, but his goals did. Listen to his new set of goals in Philippians 3: 9b-11, “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul had a change of priorities brought about through the Holy Spirit who removed the scales from his eyes and gave him a change of heart. He would later write in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Finally, let’s look at our Gospel reading for today from John 21:15-19 and briefly consider the Apostle Peter.
Simon Peter was a fisherman that Jesus called to be one of his closest disciples. He was impetuous and had a quick temper. He had a very strong personality and was quick to act. Once he was convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah he poured himself into this new calling on his life. He spoke boldly and claimed he would follow Jesus and was willing to die for him.
I can only imagine the shock of Jesus’ words in John 13: 37-38, “Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
The Gospel of John chapter 18 recounts the story of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Just as Jesus foretold, Peter denies that he even knew Jesus 3 times and then the rooster crowed. I can only imagine the blackness and sorrow that Peter experienced. Even after Jesus was crucified, died, buried and then resurrected Peter even though greatly relieved to see the risen Savior, there was that unforgettable moment when he betrayed Jesus to save his own skin.
Jesus’ point in this section is to remind Peter of His love and to let him know that he would never be able to persevere in his own strength. It’s helpful to add an important element in the story of Peter’s confession from Lukes perspective.
Luke 22:31-33, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
In this passage and in John 21 Jesus refers to Peter as Simon. I think this intentional because Jesus was reminding Peter that what he was going to do in his denial was not being the solid rock that his new name would imply.
Of course on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples there was an immediate change. In Acts 2:14-41 Peter preaches an anointed sermon explaining what had happened was foretold by the prophet Joel. That day 3000 people repented and became Christ followers.
This man who was a proud and arrogant fisherman became the Apostle, the Rock that Jesus foretold. He was a central figure in the early church and 2 epistles, 1 and 2 Peter. He did end up giving his life for the glory of his Lord.
I chose to use Moses, David, Paul, and Peter as examples of those who were not used because of their gifts or importance but in spite of the fact that they didn’t seem to qualify for the jobs they were given. The qualifier was the Holy Spirit who moved in them to bring them to saving faith and to use them in ways they didn’t seem to qualify for. As I thought about it I realized that I couldn’t think of anyone in God’s word who had what it took to accomplish what God would ask them to do. All that was needed was the willingness to do what God asked. Ask God what He wants from you and then be willing to do it. Let’s pray.
