Epiphany

February 17, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 24:12-18

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’ –Exodus 24:12-14

Come up to me on the mountain—What does it mean to be called? What does it take to answer that call? The Hebrew Bible is full of stories of individuals who are called by God to be leaders or lead battles or deliver specific messages—Moses, Gideon, David, Isaiah, Elijah. God’s callings in the New Testament are often to groups of Christ’s followers. While there is are individual discussions reported, Jesus tended to speak to the disciples as a body and to others in small and large group.

When we choose to follow God, we are declaring our intent to serve God. Serving involves a calling.  God’s callings to individuals can involve danger, usually involve hard work, makes us question, if we are able to do what we realize we are being called to do, and our calling is the source of the greatest joy in our lives.

God created a world with diverse humans having various skills designed to complement each other. Combining those skills is necessary to fulfill God’s calling to create a world ruled by love. Relationship and discipleship are intricately linked. We must develop skills of communication and coexistence to take God’s individual callings to the higher plain of communion.

When I search for a picture to illustrate the idea of living communion, the vast majority of pictures were ancient in origin. Have we lost the sense of being a communion of saints?

Prayer: May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. (Amen) 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.