Another short break

Before I move into the next book of the Bible (Ruth...coming up), I'm going to be taking another break.  I am getting ready to leave for a mission trip to Boston with youth from my ELCA Synod, and won't have my computer with me while I am there, but before then, I have some preparations to make and some sleep to catch up on (or build up in reserve before the trip)!

I'll be back with characters from Ruth on Tuesday, July 8th.

Until then, peace and blessings!

Samson's gifts

Judges 15:9-20

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi. The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then have you done to us?” He replied, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” Samson answered them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not attack me.” They said to him, “No, we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men. And Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
    heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
    I have slain a thousand men.”

When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and that place was called Ramath-lehi.

By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, “You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore,which is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Samson has perhaps always been the most troubling character in scripture for me.  Maybe he feels the most unreal to me.  The most unlike any of the other people God chose to lead people.

As a kid, I confused Samson with Hercules.  And I got older, it seemed stranger and stranger to me that God chose this massively strong man - with strong passions and a weakness for pretty women (he visits a prostitute in the very next chapter before he weds Delilah) - to become a judge of all things.  I just have never been sure I saw the qualifications.

Of course, who am I to judge his qualifications.  

It's clear Samson had gifts.  Though they weren't necessarily the gifts that I tend to lift up or see as important, they were gifts God was able to use.  This is true for our churches and communities.  We aren't always going to understand everyone else's gifts.  Yet God still can use those gifts.

And like any gifts from God, they can be used for good and they can be used for ill.

Samson is a good representation of the truism that our very strengths can be our weaknesses.  When we overly rely on what we think are our chief gifts, they can be abused, manipulated and cease to function.  We might be great teachers, or leaders, or preachers, or have strong gifts of mercy or artistic gifts.

But push any of them out to the exclusion of others - over rely on them to the point where we see ourselves and the gifts as one - and problems begin.

It is good - important even - to know our gifts.  But remembering they are from God and remembering that they alone do not define us are the keys to making sure our gifts are being used up for the building up of the community, rather than the tearing down.

Giving, generous God, you have endowed me with gifts that are meant to be used up for the building up of your commonwealth.  Keep me humble and faithful in my use of those gifts.  Amen.

Gideon's Ephod

Judges 8:22-35

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” Then Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an earring he has taken as booty.” (For the enemy had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) “We will willingly give them,” they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an earring he had taken as booty. The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the collars that were on the necks of their camels). Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god.The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Words versus actions of the heart.  

There are lots of places in Hebrew scripture where God chastises the Israelites for promising to obey with their lips and yet not following God with their heart.

Here, Gideon says the right thing.  "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you.  The Lord will rule over you."  Gideon has had a Shakespearean journey to this point as he led the Israelites to defeat the Midianites.  Only, it wasn't really Gideon.  It was God, and in turning down the crown, Gideon seems to get it.

But does he?  Immediately he takes a kind of tax out of the gold from the booty (who takes taxes? Kings do).  He makes a golden ephod out of it.  What's an ephod? Short answer is that it is a kind of apron a priest wears for worship.  But here, the ephod became the object of worship.  Kind of like a golden idol.  

And we know what God said about those.

Finally, Gideon takes a whole harem - again, something a king would do.  And one of the women in his harem bears him a son named Abimelech.

Which means "my father is king."

Gideon got caught up in his own press and in so doing, forgot who made his victory possible.  And I'm not so sure things are much different today. We like to feel competent and successful.  We like to get things right.  

In the church, this can be an especially slippery slope.  It's easy to forget whose church it is.  It's easy to forget the Spirit moving among us, shaping us, guiding us, despite how much we pray for that very thing.

I know at least it's easy for me to forget sometimes.

Before sermons, many preachers either pray out loud or silently from Psalm 19: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer."  It's a good reminder in everything we do both in the church, and in the world in God's service.  Words and actions matching.  Promises kept.  Hearts surrendering to God along with lips praising.  

Remembering that it is not us alone who get things done. 

God of all creation, this world is yours and we are but stewards of your creation.  Help us to praise you not with just our lips, but with our hearts.  And help us to follow where you lead, not trying to get ahead of you in the process!  Amen

Deborah the Judge

Judges 4:4-10

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

The story of Deborah really contains the story of the feats of two women for the price of one.  It flies in the face of everything we generally think we know about what God thinks about the place of a woman.

Now that the Israelites are in the promised land, rather than give them kings, the Lord has set up judges over them.  And Deborah is the first one mentioned of any real note.

She's something of a military strategist.  And a prophetess.  And a leader.  She sends Barak to "draw out" the general of of the Canaanites.  Draw out.  Not defeat.  And Barak doesn't feel confident without her coming with him.

Sisera is the enemy and his fate will not fall to Barak or to Deborah, but to another woman, Jael.  Two women ultimately will be the end of Canaanite army.  Deborah with her prophesy and strategy, and Jael with her tent peg.

Later Deborah and Barak will sing a song of triumph and praise to God and Deborah's story ends with this:  "and the land had rest forty years."

Clearly this woman knew her business.

It's a story of violence and strategy and surprise.  We don't know why Jael kills Sisera so violently, and our surprise at Deborah being the judge of the Israelites is perhaps because there is no prelude to it.  Suddenly we simply read that this woman is a judge.  We have our notions of how women are treated in the Hebrew scriptures and it seems to come from nowhere.

But if we know anything at this point, God is a god of surprise.  God sees the gifts and strengths of everyone, women, men, all.  And just when you think something is out of your reach - that for whatever reason, you don't have what it takes to do a certain job, share a certain gift, lead a group of people, follow your heart in a job that isn't normally thought of for your gender, God shows up and says "Surprise! Do it!"

God of all, help us to never discount anyone for any stereotype we might have for them.  With you there is no longer Jew or gentile, servant or free person, male or female.  We are all one people.  Your people.  Help us to see each other always and only in that way.  Amen.

A Respite from Romans

Romans 8:35-39

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I'm taking a brief detour from the characters from the Old Testament for this respite from Romans.  Verses 38 and 39 are perhaps my favorite in scripture - and I'm guessing I'm not alone.  They are verses you hear often at funerals and during times of hardship and trial.

This passage is on my mind because this week Don Costin, father of my heart-sister from high school, Donna, passed away.  It's hard to be so far away from someone you love when they are going through the valley of the shadow of death.  But for many reasons I can't be in Texas right now to be with Donna and her family.

This passage reminds me that they aren't alone as they go through this.

When I was a teenager, and my parents were going through a difficult marriage that eventually ended in divorce, going to Donna's house was always like going to an oasis.  First of all, her parents always welcomed me as part of the family, which for a teenager whose own family was breaking apart, was soothing balm.

Then, their house was just so cool!  Donna's parents dealt in antiques.  Their home was a treasure trove of wonderful things to explore. Plus her dad for many years ran the scoreboard for the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium.  In Cowboy country, it didn't get cooler than that.

Memories include playing basketball on their front yard with a ball and and old toilet seat cover!  Her dad helping me with car problems (I never did give back that wrench!) and helping both Donna and me move in my junior and Donna's sophomore year at the University of Texas.

And them putting up with me all day and all night on July 13, 1985 as Donna and I watched the entire Live Aid concert in our pajamas!

Death is hard.  But I am more and more convinced that it is also holy.  One of the things that touched me most as I thought about Mr. Costin passing this week was something his son posted on his Facebook page.  He thanked his father for showing him how to live with integrity and die with dignity.  What more can you ask of a father?

I can't be there with Donna as they say their final goodbyes.  That's hard.  Writing this small tribute is perhaps the best I can do.

But what I can do is nothing compared to what the love of God in Christ can do. 

Nothing can separate us from that love.  Nothing.  Not us.  Not our brokenness. Not our selfishness.  Not the powers that be.  Not life.

And not death.

Holy Lord, stay with those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.  Give strength to those who still sit by a bedside waiting as a loved one lies near death.  And remind us always that nothing - not even death - separates us from your love.  Amen.

Joshua finishes his service

Joshua 23:14-16 (NRSV)

(Joshua said) “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the bad things, until he has destroyed you from this good land that the Lord your God has given you. If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he enjoined on you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land that he has given to you.”


The book of Joshua seems basically to be drawn into two parts: first, the  the battles to win the promised land, beginning with the fall of Jericho.  And next, a bit of a dry summary of the dividing of the land among the tribes after the land is won.

And when it is over, Joshua's service comes to an end as old and tired, he is ready to take his leave off the stage.

But before he leaves, he has one more cautionary piece of advice for the Israelites.  Sounding every bit like Moses before him, Joshua reminds the people of the one thing they must never forget now that they begin their life in their new homeland.

They must keep the covenant that God has given them.

He won't be the last person to advise them this.

So begins the new phase in the life of the Israelite people.  They have their land and to keep it, need to remain faithful to the God who brought them their.  Intermarriage is forbidden, as intermarriage tends to bring other gods into the equation.

The land the Israelites resided in was surrounded by enemies as much then as it is now.  Their form of government was different.  Their form of worship was different.  Everything about them was different.

As a people living lives connected to Christ, we know something about being different.  Christianity is no longer the dominant religious tradition in our country.  The worship of wealth, status, power, and even violence probably take that honor.  More and more people in our world are claiming no religious affiliation.

And living into this reality can cause all kinds of worry.  We are part of our culture.  Yes, as Christ-followers, we are also part of a counter-culture.  

The kingdom - or commonwealth - of God is not like that of the commonwealth of the world.  Wealth, status, power, and violence are not the way of God's commonwealth.

How do we live both in this world, and yet not be of this world?  It's daily question.

It takes daily reminder that we are baptized children of God.  It takes daily reminding of our relationship to God through prayer and service.  

It takes reminding through worship and fellowship and the sacrament of the table.

The Israelites will be reminded throughout the rest of the Hebrew scriptures that they are set apart as God's people.  A blessing to the world, but not the world.

We also are reminded that we are God's people.  Do we hear those voices?  If we come to worship each Sunday, we hear some of them.  But there are more out there. We can find them through fellowship, study of scripture, devotionals, reading, discussion, and prayer.  

I'm not sure about you, but I can be forgetful.  I need to hear those voices daily.

Faithful God, let me hear the voices of prophets and teachers that remind me daily of your calling to me.  Help me to be part of your good commonwealth and  to help others hear your call as well.  Amen.

Who was Rahab?

Joshua 2:1-14 (NRSV)

Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.” But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Rahab: one of the inconvenient women of the Bible.

Rahab was a prostitute.  Let that sink in.  Really sink in.  

There has been a tendency in some Christian circles to try to whitewash her career.  Maybe really she was an inn-keeper. Or perhaps a concubine.  

But most likely she was exactly what the text says.  A prostitute.

The most remarkable part about this - and this is probably the reason why many want to whitewash her career - is that she shows up another time in the New Testament.  In Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter.

She is not the only woman with a questionable past to show up in Jesus' genealogy.  So also do Tamar and Bathsheba, two women also with scandals in their histories, as well as Ruth, who was herself rather forward with in her manner of finding a husband.

Rahab, Tamar, and Bathsheba all had in common that they were used by men.  They all had in common a strong survival instinct as well.

Rahab was smart.  She knew which way the wind was blowing and she knew enough to trust the stories she heard of the God of Israel.

And so she took a gamble.  A brave gamble that ended up putting her in the genealogy of Jesus.

So who was Rahab really?  A prostitute? A woman whose word could be counted on.  Someone who knew and lived hospitality. 

Ancestress of David and Jesus.

What names are we known by that we wish we could overcome?  Cheat? Liar? Philanderer? Alcoholic? Depressive? Bully? Spendthrift?

Do we let those define us?

We all have many parts to us. Like Rahab, we are more than our negative qualities.  We are more than our brokenness.  More than our Sin.

Matthew including Rahab in Jesus genealogy is, I think, a clear sign by the author that there is nothing the Messiah in his gospel cannot overcome.  That all the past will be wiped clean.

That our own courage can come even when it feels as if that brokenness is overwhelming.  And with a God who includes a prostitute in his own family tree, the possibilities are limitless!

God of love and hope, help me know my real name.  My true self.  Who I am in you, and help me to shed the negative names I have allowed others and myself to use to define me.  Amen.

Joshua takes over

Joshua 1:1-9 (NRSV)

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”


That Moses didn't make it into the promised land has always been a cautionary tale for me.

Cautionary in that I need to remember that God's mission - God's plan - isn't entirely dependent on me.  That no matter how big a job I feel like I have to do, I may not, and most likely will not, be the person to see it through to the end.

That God's mission - God's kingdom - has been unfolding long before I came onto the scene, and will continue long after I've stepped off the stage.

This is especially helpful to remember when working in a church, whether on staff, or part of lay church leadership.  We set visions.  We set goals.  We are people who like to get things accomplished.  But sometimes the fruits of our labor won't completely unfold on our watch.  Sometimes, it is someone else who will finish what we started.  And we might not be around to see it.

Joshua leading the Israelites into the promised land takes nothing away from what Moses provided under his leadership.  And the fact that we may not be the ones to finish what we started does not make us failures.  We can and should get the sense of accomplishment our human natures need simply by taking part in this wonderful, ongoing story of God saving the world.  Whether we see the fruits of our labor or whether we don't, the mission of God's kingdom continues and the parts we play have their place.  We've got to get into the game even if we worry that we won't get to see it through to the end.

"Be strong and courageous,"  God tells Joshua.  Courage to me is seeing something through even when the outcome seems fuzzy and even when we are scared we might not get it right or be able to see it through to the end.  It takes courage to jump into service: to serve a meal to a homeless person, when we know there are hundreds more that will still be hungry; to write a letter to a politician asking for justice for those who need it most, even when we know we may not be heard; to lead a fundraiser for something important, even when there are those who don't buy into it; to lead a Bible Study when only a few attend.

To live a life of faith in humility in a world where accomplishment, prestige, power, and winning are the standards.

Moses played his part.  Without him, Joshua would not have been able to play his. 

What part is God calling you to play?

Holy God, your kingdom come.  And help me to play my part.  Amen.

Moses Shining

Exodus 34:29-35 (NRSV)

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.


By the second time Moses comes down the Mountain with the tablets, a lot has happened.  He has spent 40 days on the mountain with God.  The people have sinned with Aaron's golden calf.  Moses has asked to see God, and God has passed by so Moses can see his back.  God has given the law and instructions for the ark of the Covenant, and God has treated Moses as his friend.

This scene of Moses and the veil over his shining face has always intrigued me.  What intrigues me is the striking image of Moses - his face aglow before it fades, as a visual representation of the glory of God.

Striking too is the fear it created in the Israelites.

The first image I think of is the halos we often see in Renaissance paintings on Jesus and his mother, as well as some of the saints.  A depiction of God reflected in a way that cannot be missed.

I also think of the shepherds at Jesus birth witnessing the angels with the "glory of the Lord" shining round them.

And of Paul who in 2 Corinthians uses Moses veil to connect the hardening of the Israelites hearts and disappearing of the old Covenant to make way for the new.

But mostly when I read this passage I think of what other visual images the Glory of God creates.  I think of sitting at the side of the dying.  

I think of taking youth to a homeless shelter to feed those in need.

I think of standing up for the outcast and the wronged.

I think of a group meeting to study scriptures in for learning and fellowship.

I think of peacemakers and teachers and leaders who with their actions help bring about the Kingdom of God Jesus called for.

Our faces may not shine when we encounter the living God.  But when God works through us, what is seen is perhaps even more startling.  The love of God changes lives.  It molds and recreates us, and no veil will hide it.

God of change and glory, move us to be living images of your love.  Shine on and lead us to shine in the lives of those we meet every day.  Amen

Moses and his people

Exodus 15:22-16:13 (NRSV)

Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” He cried out to the Lord; and the Lordshowed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.

The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The Israelites have just survived slavery, plagues, and crossing the Red Sea while the Egyptians drowned.  Chapter 15 is a almost entirely a song of praise for their safe journey, until verse 22.

And then it begins.  The complaining.  "What shall we drink?"  and "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread."

Those ungrateful Israelites!  Boy, you give them an inch and they want...

To eat.  To drink.

It's easy to get caught up and judge the Israelites and forget that they've just left the only home they've known to enter the unknown; that they are now facing an uncertain future in a desert, where food isn't exactly abundant.

Yet, another part of me says, they have just seen God work amazing miracles to save them.  How can they imagine God won't continue to save them?

How can they forget so quickly?

Because they are hungry?  Because their immediate needs seem more important at the time?  Because they are uncomfortable?  

Yes.

Moses will lead these people despite their complaining.  He will intercede with an ever increasingly annoyed Lord to get them food and water until he himself begins in impatience to lose sight of the bigger picture.  Until his annoyance leads him to snap back at God himself.

From the beginning of the relationship, Moses spoke to God with candor  He doubted, questioned, snapped, refused, and as a result became, like David would later become, a man after God's own heart.  God's friend.  

If the Israelites could not see God in the desert after having miracle after miracle thrown on them, perhaps we can cut ourselves some slack when we forget the work God does in our own lives.  

Or perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves frequently through worship, study, fellowship and service that God is after us for relationship, even though we won't always be comfortable.  We may sometimes be hungry.  We will often suffer.

And yet God will continue to come for us.  Guiding us.  Leading us.  Loving us.  Being able to handle our complaints, our questions, our doubts, our anger.

The Israelites it seemed had good reason to complain.  Their situation seemed more dire than most things we face.  Yet they forgot that God was going ahead of them, preparing the way.  God would not lead them into the desert after all they had been through to die.  God led them from Egypt to live.

God prepares a way for us at well.  

God of journey and freedom, help me remember always that you are there, wanting nothing more than to be in loving relationship with us. Help us to never forget. Amen

Moses and Aaron

Exodus 4:10-17; 27-31 (NRSV)

But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went; and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed; and when they heard that theLord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.


The next time you say to yourself that vocation is something for ordained or lay church staff and that not anyone sitting in a pew is equipped to lead and serve, I'd point you to Moses and his brother, Aaron.

Aaron was Moses' older brother (I've always wondered how he managed to get out of a trip down the Nile like baby Moses!).  Aaron was also a Levite - the religious order set apart from the rest of the tribes of the Hebrew people.  Basically, the pastor in the family.

And we see also that Aaron, at least here, seems to have a more clear sense of vocation than Moses.  Undoubtedly as a Levite, he's used to the idea.  He doesn't argue when God gives him a job to do.

Yet it isn't Aaron who God has called to save the Hebrew nation.

It's the stammering, non-clergy, insecure shepherd who's lived outside of the church for all these years who hasn't sat on a council or served a committee or attended a Bible Study or even shown up regularly for worship and is in an interfaith marriage.

Moses' objections seem to mirror what most folks objections might be who have some of the same things in common with him.  So, what does God do?  God equips him with his priest brother as a partner.  

Yet it is Moses who is the leader.  It is Moses who will lead his people out of bondage.  We know that, even if Moses doesn't know that here yet.

It's easy to think that we don't have what it takes to serve.  That we don't know enough or speak well enough or have time enough.  Or that God put pastors and deacons and associates in ministry and chaplains and vicars and priests and nuns in our churches to be the ones to serve for us.

But the truth is that God calls each of us into service.  And God prepares and equips us and stays with us as we live into that service.

We probably aren't going to be called to set a people free from slavery.  But we do know that we are all in some kind of bondage or another.  And that the deliverance from that bondage comes from a God who loves and forgives and prepares us for a life of purpose and meaning and freedom.

Equipping and love God, you have prepared a place for us at your table.  You have prepared a place for us to serve.  You go before us to guide us.  Help us never to forget and when we are afraid of where that path will take us, let us always turn to you for support and love and strength.  Amen

Moses and the Burning Bush

Exodus 3:1-15 (NRSV)

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “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.

Then 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 from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, “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 said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus 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’:

This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

I remember a time on my faith journey when I would wonder why it was that I didn't have a "Road to Damascus" moment like Paul, or a "burning bush" moment like Moses.  Something so startling and affecting that I couldn't help but pay attention.

Paul certainly paid attention on the road to Damascus, but in honesty, it seems that it took a bit more than a burning bush to bring Moses around.  With the fiery plant in front of him, Moses' initial reaction after bringing his fearful face up?

"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?"

God's talking right to him and still Moses questions.  

This shouldn't seem too surprising.  Jesus' disciples had Jesus right there with them and most of the time didn't seem to even have a clue.

Why should I think that a burning bush or road to Damascus would change anything for me? 

Why would I imagine that Jesus walking right up to me would make any difference?

Of course, I will continue to hope it would.  But the truth is, whether I had God speaking to me from a burning bush or Jesus physically by my side, my own brokenness would still be present.  Fear, doubt and all that exists in the current state of my faith.  A life of faith filled with small moments as well as big ones; mundane tasks that can be a chore; people I love and people I argue with; a quiet prayer life; and God's word coming though words on a page or voices of folks just as ordinary as I am.

All of this makes me no more or no less equipped than the disciples or Moses to grab onto the good news that has been given to me.

Yet I've been given something else.  The Holy Spirit - while not showing up to me as tongues of fire or in a burning bush or as Jesus' physical presence, nevertheless sustains me and makes this journey possible.  Makes my brokenness into something God can use to continue the faith story in my life.

"Who am I?" Moses asked, even when confronted with something so awe-inspiring that it would seem impossible not to take notice.

"Who am I?" I ask every day as I rise.  The answer, although not coming to me in the full technicolor of a burning bush is the same for me as it was for Moses, Paul, and the disciples.

Child of God.

God, we can find you in moments that are grand and moments that are small.  Remind me always that you are present in each and every moment of my life and that your Holy Spirit sustains me always.  Amen