Proper 17 / Pentecost 15 / OT 22
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.
-- Exodus 3:3
There are significant clues for our own spiritual life in this story of Moses' experience. First, Moses was not looking for a spiritual revelation. He was simply doing his job caring for his father-in-law's sheep. Second, when he first saw the bush, it could have been dismissed as a natural experience, but Moses noticed something different. He deliberately chose to turn aside and examine it. It was only as he chose to take time out in the midst of work to be open to the special within the normal that God spoke to him. God's revelation did not impose itself on Moses in a manner that robbed him of his freedom to choose. Notice how many possibilities there were that would have prevented Moses from receiving God's revelation. Even when God spoke out of the bush, God still awaited Moses' response. Moses took the next step by responding, "Here I am." Then God responded by saying, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
It was then, after Moses acknowledged the sacred quality of the moment by taking off his shoes, that God began to reveal who it was that was speaking to him. Up to this point, the burning bush had only been experienced as an abnormal phenomenon. It was when Moses removed his shoes that God identified Godself from the history of God's actions in the past. "I am the God of your father...." The God who reveals Godself to us is consistent with the God we have known in scripture. Moses was appropriately afraid and hid his face. But God continued by revealing that God had heard the people's cry and now desired to respond by sending Moses. That which triggered this amazing experience was not Moses' piety but the pain of a people who were trapped in slavery. Our personal spiritual experiences are closely tied to both our willingness to notice the unusual within the normal and God's compassion for the sufferings of the world.
-- Exodus 3:3
There are significant clues for our own spiritual life in this story of Moses' experience. First, Moses was not looking for a spiritual revelation. He was simply doing his job caring for his father-in-law's sheep. Second, when he first saw the bush, it could have been dismissed as a natural experience, but Moses noticed something different. He deliberately chose to turn aside and examine it. It was only as he chose to take time out in the midst of work to be open to the special within the normal that God spoke to him. God's revelation did not impose itself on Moses in a manner that robbed him of his freedom to choose. Notice how many possibilities there were that would have prevented Moses from receiving God's revelation. Even when God spoke out of the bush, God still awaited Moses' response. Moses took the next step by responding, "Here I am." Then God responded by saying, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
It was then, after Moses acknowledged the sacred quality of the moment by taking off his shoes, that God began to reveal who it was that was speaking to him. Up to this point, the burning bush had only been experienced as an abnormal phenomenon. It was when Moses removed his shoes that God identified Godself from the history of God's actions in the past. "I am the God of your father...." The God who reveals Godself to us is consistent with the God we have known in scripture. Moses was appropriately afraid and hid his face. But God continued by revealing that God had heard the people's cry and now desired to respond by sending Moses. That which triggered this amazing experience was not Moses' piety but the pain of a people who were trapped in slavery. Our personal spiritual experiences are closely tied to both our willingness to notice the unusual within the normal and God's compassion for the sufferings of the world.
