NOTE: What follows are the notes from which the sermon on Sunday 28th was preached.

Last week we heard how Moses was rescued by Pharaoh's daughter and kept alive. If we had read on from last week we would have heard how Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses killed the Egyptian and then fled to Midian to escape punishment. Chapter 2 of the book Exodus ends up by saying, "God saw the people of Israel and God knew their condition."

So our reading today begins with both God and Moses aware of the wrongs and evil in the world. This is important, because when humans, like Moses and us, open our eyes and our hearts to the problems of the world, then attitudes to life begins to change and we become ready for conversion. And when we make the statement that God is aware of the problems of the world then we are saying that such concern is of ultimate importance. God's awareness makes the problem one of cosmic significance. That is, it is not just a few kind-hearted people like us who are concerned about justice; justice becomes utterly important to the whole universe.

So we come to Moses' experience on Horeb, the mountain of God. If you have ever had what you might call a religious experience, then you will recognise at once the truth of Moses' experience. For myself, I recall travelling to the Olga's in Central Australia, and walking to the Valley of the Winds. Here, among the strange rounded domes of bare, red rock, the wind sighs and moans. After following the path, I came suddenly to a narrow gap overlooking the hidden heart of the Olga Mountains. Here the wind is funnelled through the gap and tugs at your clothes and the few trees that grow there. Looking out over the plain, awe fell upon me, and I knew that I was in the presence of God and that the ground beneath my feet was holy ground.

You, too, may have had a similar experience of the presence of God - it is something that comes to many people - and it can be an experience that changes our lives, an experience of conversion.

But note what happened to Moses. The burning bush was not just a wonderful experience of the holiness and awe of God - it was an experience which connected Moses and God with a vision for the future. 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…"

At that point, Moses knew that his passion for justice for the Hebrews was more than his concern alone, his experience taught him that God was aware and that the freedom of the people was God's concern. For me, the story of Moses and the burning bush is a powerful message about the nature of religion. Firstly, that religion has everything to do with the experience of God. It is concerned with the mystery of existence and the feelings which we call spiritual. Feelings like awe and wonder, awareness of the life and being of the universe, feelings which show us in perspective, as part of the whole universe, the feelings we have when we see ourselves from the outside as it were, when we see ourselves from the point of view of God. We see these feeling expressed in the Bible when the birth of Christ is described, or Christ's baptism and temptation, or the Transfiguration, and of, course, most profoundly, in the events we call the Passion Death and Resurrection of Christ - the events of Holy Week and Easter. The second aspect of religion is our response to our religious experience. For Moses and the Hebrews the response was the Passover, the Crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Law and the journey to the Promised Land. The Hebrews were converted by their religious experience to the people of God, a people of destiny and promise. Our experience of Christ is also a conversion experience. St Paul in his letter to the Romans, sets out plainly the results of that conversion. Genuine love, hatred of evil, mutual affection, blessings for curses, living in harmony, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep.

The gospel reading carries the same message. Last week we heard how Jesus asked his disciples, who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus' question was for Peter what the burning bush was for Moses - a moment of conversion, a moment of awareness of the presence of God. Then, just as the Lord God did at Mount Horeb, Jesus revealed the future - the salvation of God. But while God spoke of the Promised Land, Christ spoke of the way there. Perhaps if God had told Moses about the wilderness, they would never have set out, certainly Peter was horrified at the idea of Jesus' suffering and crucifixion. "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."

Poor Peter, he wanted to hold on to the religious experience without the response it called for. Do you remember that at the Transfiguration, it was Peter who wanted to hold on to the moment and build tents for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Jesus rebukes Peter severely - spirituality without response is the work of Satan. Those who want to be followers of Christ are to be active followers, changing the world as Christ changed it. Never again would Moses see the burning bush at Mount Horeb although the experience would go with him all the long journey through the desert - you might say the pillar of fire and cloud was an echo of the burning bush to encourage him in the task God had set before him. In the same way, perhaps, the Transfiguration would go with Peter and the empty tomb would go with Mary Magdalene. For us we have been given the sign of the cross, the bread and the wine and the story of Jesus to remember him by as we live lives changed by our experience of Christ and seek to work with God to change the world.