3/5 Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent

Exodus 3:1-6

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.

An offering from Rob Leacock

When I come to this passage in my Promise and Liberation class, I talk about what a “decisive moment” is.  As a class we discuss moments that change everything, moments that we mark time by, moments that define and redefine an individual’s identity.  The discussion is sometimes a little slow.  Students are a little reticent to talk about something so personal or maybe they haven’t yet encountered such a moment in their own lives.  Scripture is full of such moments, and Moses’ experience keeping the flocks of his father-in-law

What does it mean to have a burning bush moment?  For Moses it was to be caught up in not really knowing who he was.  After all he spent his childhood living as an Egyptian even though he was born a Hebrew.  By Egyptian law, he ought to have been killed in infancy.  And by the time he encountered this burning bush, he’d taken on an assumed identity after fleeing Egypt in fear of his life.  But what it also meant for Moses—and what it means for us sometimes—was entering into a relationship with God to begin the journey of becoming the person God was calling Moses to be. 

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  But that decisive moment wasn’t so cut and dry.  Moses’ relationship with God was complicated and complicating and, at times, even contentious.  And following his calling was not always an easy path to follow.  And so it is for us sometimes.

Prayer

A Collect for Guidance

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.