It's at this time of the liturgical year that our basic Old Testament knowledge starts to WHOOSHT! right past... last week we just had baby Moses found floating in a basket, this week he's already left Egypt, married, and out tending his father-in-law's flocks.
There's a lot there. He's had a LOT of life experience - some good, much challenging, some really difficult. And there he is, out, standing in the field.
And - a bush is on fire but is not being consumed.
I like how delicately the scriptures tell us of his reaction - "The Moses said 'I must turn aside and look at this great sight'". How would the rest of us react? I'd imagine it would be something more... excitable. Energetic. Perhaps a "WHAT THE DICKENS IS THAT ABOUT???"
But no. Calmly, the Lord sees Moses calmly approaching the Burning Bush, so decides to keep things normal and speaks to him. So now we have an ethereal voice, coming from a bush that's burning but not burning up, and it's calling Moses by name.
Lovely. And of course Moses' response is "Here I am."
RIGHT. As though Moses weren't at all weirded out by this happening. As if he wouldn't have simply run away because - hey - even in biblical times, having a fiery unburnt plant chatting with you in a very informal way - that wasn't normal. That's not something you want to admit to the rest of the tribe that's allowed you to join them (and then married the priest's daughter!). Nope.
So, it stands to reason, this may not be the first time God has tried to get Moses' attention. In fact, it likely took several attempts - given how the conversation goes - before Moses finally realised there was no way he would ... could... avoid chatting with God.
Now, editorial license has us seeing this acquiescence - this faithful response to a disembodied (as yet unidentified) voice - as though it's the first time God has come to Moses. And it may BE the first time - we'll never know.
But what we do know is that the conversation is fascinating, as we see Moses try to give every. possible. reason. he can think of why he shouldn't do what God is asking him to do.
Well now. Who hasn't been there?? Who amongst us hasn't had a sense of calling that we tried to ignore - to deny - to reject - until it became obvious that it wasn't going to go away?
And how, when we finally acknowledge that maybe we should give - whatever the task is - a go, things suddenly open up and happen quite easily. To the point that we may say "hmm, that was WAY easier than I expected..." And unlike Moses, we are seldom called into impossible, improbable, unfathomable circumstances.
This is how God uses us. God speaks into our hearts, and continues speaking - with increasing intensity - until we realise that there is something MUCH bigger happening, and that we are being invited to be a part of it.
Like BEing the church during a pandemic - ensuring that people are receiving phone calls and prayers are written and mail is being sent and groceries are delivered and... well. We know how God has called us forward at this time.
And... we're not done. Far from it! We have a ways to go yet. Because while everything has changed - at the same time, nothing has changed. We are just being invited into different ways of doing our ministry. We are finding new ways to carry our crosses.
And yes - OUR crosses - Jesus doesn't tell us that his followers will take up HIS cross - but that they will take up THEIR crosses. That they will have to humble themselves, change directions, do something they don't want to do, do something they adamantly don't WANT to do. They will be inconvenienced: but not destroyed. For even the power of the cross is unable to come close to the awesome power of our God.
And this is the God that calls us: that calls us to love our enemies:
the ones whose politics differ from ours...
the ones who commit violence...
the ones who defend racial injustice...
the ones who degrade the world for personal benefit...
the ones who support modern day slavery...
the ones who are cruel...
the list goes on: from oppression to inconvenience and everywhere in between. God calls us to love them: the ones with out-of-province license plates, the ones who don't wear their masks, even - haha - the ones who go against the arrows at the store.
God calls us to love them. To spend time with them. To grapple with the issues while simultaneously loving the person.
God calls us to stay with them; and with God - and to not run away.
For that is what happens when we take of our shoes: it means we're less likely to run away, barefoot over rocks - but it also means we're open to connection. To touching the creator as we ground ourselves in the Creation. It means that wherever we love, we are on Holy Ground; and when we are there, we are with God - the God of our ancestors, the of our present time, and the God of the ages to come.
It means being present - and mindful - and willing to connect. It means loving: with kindness and mercy, with patience and practice, and with faithfulness to your calling.
So: carry your cross.
Let your love be genuine.
Take off your spiritual shoes.
And give thanks to the Lord and call upon the divine name: make known the deeds of the Lord among the peoples.
It's what we're called to do - hopefully without needing the dramatics of burning and speaking foliage.
No comments:
Post a Comment