(These are older posts moved from an old page)
TURNING PEOPLE AGAINST THEIR LEADERS (3/30/4)
In Exodus 5, when Moses declares that God is going to free the people, Pharaoh makes things worse for them, not better, giving the Hebrew slaves high quotas of bricks to be made, but making it more difficult for them to make the bricks (not supplying them with grass for texture and strength). I find it interesting that when God speaks a word of movement and deliverance, the oppressor (in this case Pharaoh) resonds with increased difficulties. One would expect the opposite. Except we must understand the oppressor’s agenda: to turn the people against their leaders. And the people did indeed end up blaming Moses for their predicament. This happens (in the text and throughout history) until ultimate deliverance comes after things get unbearable. It usually gets worse before it gets better.
WHEN GOD TRIES TO KILL YOU (3/29/4)
In this morning’s readings (Exodus 4.10-31, Monday, 5th Week in Lent) God called Moses to deliver His people out of the land of Egypt, then just a few verses later “tried” to kill Moses (not, mind you, that he tried too hard – but hard enough to get Moses’ attention – or at least his wife’s). Anyway, the reason God sought to kill Moses, having just only verses before raised him up to be a deliverer, was because Moses had set off on his mission without first circumcising his son. The lesson: Just because God calls one to great things doesn’t meed the basic things can be ignored. How many great ministries have been made shipwreck because the ministers assumed the little rules didn’t apply to them?
THE SEVERITY OF MERCY (2/3/4)
An interesting idea presents itself in this morning’s Old Testament lesson. In Genesis 19 we read the story of the angels appearing in Sodom to rescue Lot and his kin. In verse 16 we read that Lot “hesitated” to accept the offer. It strikes me that oftentimes we hesitate to accept God’s offer of deliverance and freedom, being too ready to hold on to whatever-it-is-we’re-holding-on-to even though it’s killing us. But notice the next thing that happens: “So the men [angels] seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.” The angels were rough with them because the Lord was having compassion on them. Sometimes God’s dealings are not gentle, but they are still compassionate. Sometimes he drags us, kicking and screaming, away from the things that will in the end destroy us. It’s what Robert Capon calls “the steel-centered marshmallows of his Mercy”.
TREMBLING (1/12/4)
The Psalm this morning (2.11) tells us to “Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling” – in Spanish, “alegraos con temblor”. At first thought, for me anyway, the notion of trembling has to do with fear of anger. Why tremble before the Lord? Because, perhaps, he is angry? The very next verse suggests this might be the case for some, “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry…”. But here is this wonderful phrase, “REJOICE with trembling” – the two words seem to not go together, until we understand that there are other reasons for trembling. A young man trembles at the beauty of the one he loves. A bride trembles as she walks down the isle to pledge her covenant. We tremble too as we approach a person of greatness or renown. I saw an interview recently with a White House staffer remembering her first day on the job – her first stepping into the Oval Office; she unexpectedly trembled. In the same interview President Jimmy Carter spoke of the unfailing response of people coming into the Oval Office for the first time: speechlessness – not even remembering to say what they had come to say to the President; the physical office itself has that power on people. It made them tremble because of its greatness, its significance.
Another Psalm (114.7) admonishes the whole planet, “Tremble, o earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob” (“Tiembla, oh tierra, ante la presencia del Senor, ante la presencia del Dios de Jacob”). The earth trembles before the Lord, not because of his anger, but because of his wonder. It would do us well to join with creation in seeing God as great and not simply as friend or “buddy” (and certainly not as one who is simply there to do our bidding). Even when we enter into his presence through prayer, or the Eucharist, we would do well to cultivate a spirit that trembles like a lover.
