Living in the Spirit

August 24, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:1-15

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. –Exodus 3:1-6

What calls us to commit? Moses had escaped Egypt after killing an Egyptian and wandered into the land of Midian. He found work, married, and seemed to be living what we might call a normal life. The plight of his people surely was still troubling his soul. People have been trying to explain the phenomenon of a burning bush, probably ever since the story began to be told. What happened was God lit aflame within Moses that he could not reject. He had to go back and do what he could to save his people from oppression.

We all face that decision when our eyes are opened, and we see injustice. As a society, we are very skilled in weaving injustice into the routines of life and often blame the oppressed for the problems that arise. The killing of George Floyd, which most of us witnessed on TV news, seems to have been a breaking point.

I have been struggling for some time with the question: Why must we think we are better than another to be a person of worth? Our society is grounded in that philosophy. I am in the process of reading the book Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, that explores that idea. Recognizing that the USA has its own caste system, she describes what caste is and compares our system to the system in India and the system Hitler unleashed on Germany. It is eerie how they match.

Evil divides, God unites. As children of God, we are all called to be uniters, too.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts to receiving your love as all we need to establish our worth. Help us to love others as you love them. Amen.

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.