08/30/2026
THE POWER WITHIN OUR NAMES AND TITLES
Exodus 3: 1-15 (Selected)
(With reference to Matthew 16: 1-21-28)
August 30, 2026
While we generally don’t think very much about our name, it actually influences us more than we realize. Our name(s) and the titles associated with them shape who we are and who we will become. Our names impact our character and how we live. They often come with privileges and expectations. They impact our future. Moses’ name meant drawn out. His name is connected to a Hebrew verb Mahathat that means "to rescue". Both meanings fit well with who Moses grew up to be.
To understand the story of Moses, we need a brief history lesson. Jacob, called Israel, had twelve sons, but he favored Joseph. Out of jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sold him to traveling merchants who then sold Joseph to an officer of Pharaoh. In Egypt, Joseph was even imprisoned, but when it was discovered that Joseph could interpret dreams, he received a prominent position with Pharaoh. When a famine hit throughout Canaan, Jacob sent his older sons to Egypt seeking grain. There, they reconnected with their brother Joseph. Joseph made previsions for his entire family clan to relocate to Egypt and they prospered.
A new king later arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. This king feared that the Hebrew people would rise up against the Egyptians and he began to oppress the Hebrew people with forced labor. He also ordered that every son born to the Hebrews should be thrown into the Nile. When Moses’ mother could no longer hide her newborn son, she placed him in a basket, plastered it with bitumen and pitch, and she put the basket among the reeds on the bank of the river. Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket with Moses in it. She rescued the baby and named him Moses because she had drawn him out of the water.
Moses was raised in the palace, and he served Pharoah until the day he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew laborers. Moses intervened, killed the Egyptian, and then fled to the land of Midian. Moses eventually married the daughter of a priest and became a herdsman near Mt. Sinai, the Mt of God. He was content to live a peaceful existence there until God drew him out once again, getting Mose’s attention through a bush that was aflame, but not consumed.
Moses turned aside to investigate this strange phenomenon further. When he did, God spoke saying, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” God said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” God always connects with us in ways that we can understand and relate to. Having been raised in the house of Pharaoh; Moses may not have known about this God called Yahweh. So, God used descriptive, relational names that Moses could grasp. God said, “I am the God of your father.” If this God knew Moses’ father, maybe Moses felt he was in a safe space on neutral ground to begin a conversation with this God. God also said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Maybe Moses recognized these names, maybe he didn’t, but this historical context connected Moses to a larger heritage and clan of people.
God went on to explain his purpose in calling to Moses. “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, 8 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 a land flowing with milk and honey… The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
I love Moses’ honesty, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Have you ever spoken similar words heavenward? I know I have. Such questions are words of faith seeking understanding. Moses needed clarity. God had not chosen Moses at random. Moses had lived in Egypt. He knew what was going on there. Moses had witnessed the oppression of the Israelite people with his own eyes, and he had already acted on behalf of the Hebrews when he killed the Egyptian that was beating one of them.
God watches the ways of us all. Everything that had happened to Moses up to the burning bush incident had prepared him for this new calling. As Moses had been drawn out of the water years before, he was now called upon to draw the Hebrew people out from oppression in Egypt. As Moses had been rescued from the edict of Pharaoh, he was now called upon to rescue those who were living under the burden of their task masters.
That was a big ask. Moses had many questions. God promised Moses, “I will be with you,” but Moses was looking for something more concrete than that. I’d be right there with him wanting to know more specifically what the plan was. Moses continued to press God for answers, “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 was clear, “Tell them I AM has sent me to you.” God further said, “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.” Again, God used relational language on purpose. When Moses speaks those words, it is the hope of God that the Israelites might think, “If I AM knows my ancestors, maybe he knows me too and I can trust him.”
God concluded, “This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”
Forever means always. God is not defined by time. The God of the past is also the God of the present. The God of yesterday is the same God of today, which makes us conclude that I AM will be the same God tomorrow as well. So, the promise God made to be with Moses would be good for all of time. We still stand in that promise today. It is our promise too.
It would be a challenge, but the God I am and the man Moses, whose name means to draw out and rescue, would accomplish great things together. Our names and titles matter, especially when we live and grow into them.
Our gospel text is a continuation of last week’s text. Following Jesus’ praise of Peter’s confession, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. That did not set well with Peter at all. Peter began to rebuke Jesus, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” At this point, Peter, who had been given the name the rock, became more like a giant stumbling block that stood in Jesus’ way. Jesus had a mission to accomplish which was directly related to the meaning of his name, God saves. Jesus could not allow Peter to stand in his way. So, Jesus rebuked Peter.
In this text, Jesus referred again to himself as the Son of Man. This is important because if Jesus is not the Son of Man, his death and resurrection have no connection to us, because he would not be human. Jesus had to die a real human death. In that way, by God resurrecting him to new life, we also have hope for resurrection and new life through Christ who tells us, “Because I live, you will live also.” Jesus would live into his name and titles just like Moses. Peter would eventually do the same, moving from a rock that is a stumbling block to a rock that is a foundational block of the church.
Names and titles matter. They are part of who we are, and they will shape who we will become as we live into them. Each of us has our individual family name that makes us unique and each of us has the names and titles given to us at our baptism that unite us. We are children of God, disciples, of Christ, and members of the church universal. In our individuality, as we embrace these names and titles, we will grow into the unique people God calls us to be. We have each been called to service. Walling the walk with God will not always be as easy as we would like, but I AM has an eye on us. I AM’s promise to us is the very same promise spoken long ago. I am the God of your father, I am the God of your ancestors, I will be you. Thanks be to God for being the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
I AM, God of our ancestors and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we gather before you in an attitude of worship. Here in this sanctuary, we stand on holy ground. You have reminded us once again that we stand in both heaven and earth; we have been named by our parent(s) and by you. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are called your children, disciples of Christ, and members of the Church. Like all the faithful who have gone before us, you have called us to be instrumental in carrying out your will in the world. Walking in your way was challenging for Moses, it was challenging for Peter, it was challenging for Jesus, and it is challenging for us today. We thank you for your eternal promise that you will be with us. Today, we call upon your name, and we ask you to send your empowering Spirit upon us that we may go where you send us to go.
Eternal One, scripture tells us that you hear the cries of your people and you know our suffering. The recent massive flood of water and mud that smashed into Nepal and China is just the latest in a series of catastrophic events that have left your people crying and suffering. We believe, O God, that you watch the ways of us all and we pray that out of these terrible happenings, you will weave wonders of goodness and hope. We mourn with the world at the death of Dolly Parton. May her generosity, kindness, faith, ability to be a neighbor to everyone, and her gift of speaking the truth in love and to power, be an inspiration for us all. We continue to pray for leaders around the world that they may work toward peace, cooperation, and reconciliation. We thank you for hearing our joys and concerns. In the name of your Son, whose name means God Saves, we pray together, “Our Father who art in heaven…