Reflection for the 28th August 2011

Year A Proper 17 28 August 2011
Exodus 3: 1-15 Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c Romans 12: 9-21 Matthew 16: 21-28

It was a burning bush that was not consumed. This was the way that God revealed himself to Moses. In a sense that bush was ever alive and always in the same state. It was a state which contradicted nature. In nature things come to pass and then pass away, but the burning bush, something which would normally be consumed very quickly, was not consumed with the burning. In this way God revealed His eternal nature to Moses. When Moses asked God for His name, God replied with “I am who I am”.

We discover that there was more than a little bit of Egyptian up-bringing in Moses. Moses hears the voice of God but doesn’t recognise Him and has to ask who He is. Moses was brought up with all the religion of Egypt and though he’d turned his back on Egypt and claimed his Israelite heritage, we realize that at this point he had much to learn about how different God is from the idols of Egypt. Lesson number 1: God is the LORD! The Hebrew for “LORD” is very close to “I Am”, and so God also taught Moses about His sovereignty with this play on words.

The story about the meeting of Moses with God through the burning bush is about the call of Moses. Moses was that baby who had been saved through the “ark” if you like – the little boat placed in the river, and by the providence of God. Moses had a dramatic salvation from death and a privileged up-bringing as the adopted grandson of Pharaoh. Moses was like one with a charmed life where he seemed to escape the natural consequences of who and what he was. There was no death for Moses and there was no slavery.... Moses had already experienced a land flowing with milk and honey – it was his up-bringing.

The part of the story which isn’t told in our reading is that part where as a young man Moses killed an Egyptian slaver driver who was harshly treating the Israelites. When he realized that people were aware of his actions he ran fearfully into the desert where he married and made his home in exile away from both his adopted family and his biological/ spiritual family. It is after many years that God calls this fearful and confused man to a position of leadership which overwhelms and frightens him.

In our Gospel reading Jesus begins to explain to his disciples that he is going to suffer, but he is taken aside and rebuked by Peter. Peter has confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, but fails to understand the mission that Jesus was to accomplish.

At the time of Jesus birth, Herod had all the baby boys born within a certain time frame put to death. He was trying to kill the “King of the Jews” whose birth had been proclaimed by the wise men – that is, he was trying to kill Jesus. Jesus, like Moses, escaped this infant death by the providence of God and the intervention of Angels. Jesus’ life had a purpose and that purpose would be fulfilled.

Moses’ life had a call and a purpose. He was to lead the Israelites from slavery and death and bring them through to the Promised Land. It is possible that Moses, as the young fiery man, sensed his being saved from death as an infant was for a higher purpose, but when this didn’t seem obvious to his fellow Israelites and things went wrong - he ran.

While answering the call to follow God there will be suffering. Will we also run into the desert? How many of us are there now?

Peter tried to tell Jesus that this idea of suffering was not part of God plan, but Jesus knew better. Just to make it very clear to his followers about their own call, he added;

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward everyone according to what they have done.”

Moses tried to save his own life by running into the desert, but instead he lost both his adopted life and his biological/spiritual life. But God had a plan for the life of Moses and through redeeming Moses to his spiritual inheritance he would also physically save the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

Many of us have run away to the desert. We feel overcome by evil and worn out. But here in the desert is where we strive to save our lives and we are fighting a losing battle. That desert is the place where we think we are “looking after ourselves”. It is that place where we avoid the call of God because we are too tired, too busy and too hurt to be part of the body of Christ.

In retrospect we can see that God had an amazing plan for the life of Moses. I have no doubt that this was not always obvious to Moses. In our own lives we often see the obstacles which prevent us from seeing any bigger picture, but it seems that Jesus is speaking to all his followers when he speaks of taking up our cross, and this indicates to me that there is a God given purpose for each of our lives. The purpose of Jesus words is to remind us that there will be some very hard times.

Jesus suffered and died, but on Easter Sunday he rose. In the bizarre contradiction of the natural order that God seems to delight in, by the giving away of Jesus life he gained eternal life for us all. Moses gave up his “life” - the life he had in the desert – the life he had as a prince of Egypt - and the Israelite nation was saved.

It may be Friday when everything looks black and hard.... but Sunday is coming!

Are you in the desert and is God calling you back to His purpose? Yes there will be a cross to take up, but ultimately at the end of the cross is the resurrection.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Rom 12:12)