"Transformed by the Unexpected"
Exodus 3:1-15
Rev. Emily Labrecque, Westmoreland UCC
August 30, 2026
She was born in a one room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River of Tennessee in the Appalachian foothills to a young illiterate sharecropper and his wife who was often in poor health. She was the fourth of 12 children, delivered at birth by a medical missionary who was paid with a sack of cornmeal for his services. The family barely had two nickels to rub together.
I imagine they never expected young Dolly to grow up to be one of the most influential people of the century.
It started with her singing in church and playing on a homemade guitar, even though she couldn't read sheet music. She’d have told you she got her musical talent from her mom and her business acumen from her dad who, despite his inability to read, was one of the best businessmen she ever knew.
I imagine they never expected her to take those skills to benefit millions of children and families through the Dollywood Foundation, Imagination Library, and her numerous other ventures.
She grew up in the Pentecostal Church of God, a religiously conservative denomination and yet she raised money for HIV/AIDS when it was taboo. She also supported gay and trans people and advocated for their safety and legal rights. The Tennessee Equality Project described her as "the outsider who made it big by being herself, and leading with love.”
I imagine they never expected Dolly to show up in all the ways she did for all the people she did for as long as she did. And for all of that, we are all so grateful.
I read online yesterday a post that said: Listen, I’m fairly well atheist and have been for decades, but Dolly Parton is in heaven with Jesus now. That’s simply a fact, and I’ll hear no arguments.”
May Dolly Parton rest in peace and rise in glory. Well done, good and faithful servant.
There are moments in our lives that take us by surprise. Opportunities that land in our lap. Relationships we develop. Events or interactions that stun us. And at first glance it might seem weird, random, coincidental, accidental, even.
But then, like Moses, we take a second look.
While tending to his father-in-law’s sheep, Moses ends up on this mountain and has a encounter with God. Scripture is full of these unexpected encounters.
Moses’ encounter with the burning bush isn’t the only one in the Jewish scriptures. We also hear of Jacob’s wrestling with an angel in Genesis 32 and Job’s interaction with the divine who speaks out of a whirlwind.
“Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight....”
He could have walked right on by, thinking he just wasn’t seeing correctly. Thinking perhaps that wood takes longer to burn. But he stopped, and approached, and took in what he was seeing. Once he got closer, he heard the voice of God.
That encounter changed the course of Moses’ life. God explained how he would be the one to lead the Israelites out of slavery and liberate them from the Egyptians. “But who am I?” Moses asked. How could I be the one called to carry out this task?
He too had been a nobody. An Israelite kid, given up by his family of origin to protect him from Pharoah by being placed in a basket to flow down the Nile River. Then, taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter became an Egyptian by adoption and grew up in that life. But as the story goes, right after reaching adulthood, he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite. In order to escape Pharaoh’s wrath, he fled to Midian.
No one expected this young man, with such a convoluted past, to end up delivering God’s people from their oppressors.
But that’s what happens when you take a second look.
God’s command to Moses was not to run down off the mountain and save the people. God’s first command was to “take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” Before he could go off and do the work he had been called to, he had to recognize where he already was. He needed to be reminded of who he is, where he’s from, and who God is. He was, by birth, an Israelite, one of their own. He wasn’t born into a family whose wealth and power could carry him through. He was one of them.
Dolly Parton didn’t leave Appalachia or her faithful roots to become an advocate for marginalized people. She stayed true to her origins, reminding herself every step of the way who she was, where she was from, and who God is. Like Moses, she wasn’t destined for success, but ended up liberating entire generations through music, activism, service, and authenticity.
We often do not wake up expecting something dramatically unexpected to occur. Moses didn’t wake up and decide that he would lead the Israelites out of the hands of the oppressors. That was God’s doing. Moses simply responded to the call. Now, to be fair he had a lot of questions. He didn’t just run down the mountain. God said “go!” Moses said “why me? Who am i?” God said, I will be with you. Moses said, “But if I go to my people and tell them we’re gonna do this, what do I tell them about you?” And here we get one of the most famous lines in all of scripture, “I AM who I AM.”
Just because we are provided an unexpected opportunity, relationship, or interaction, that doesn’t mean we have to charge in heedlessly. We can ask questions, we can discern, we can check our gut instinct, we can pray. You may not have thought you’d be the one writing the book, creating the non-profit, funding the project, connecting the people…
However it comes, it will not always feel comfortable.
Sometimes the unexpected will startle us.
Sometimes it will thrill us.
Sometimes it will scare us.
But just as Dolly said, “I ask God to lead and to direct us all and to just be there when I'm needed if I'm needed and as I'm needed.”
Beloveds, Holy ground isn’t always where we expect it… and neither are the people God uses. Don’t be afraid to take off your sandals and experience Holy Ground. For God will be there waiting for you.
Amen.
