God speaks to us of rest and renewal often but we can miss out on the practical applications of the rest and renewal.  Still, God speaks to us in sharing the promises of life.  “Plant and harvest your crops for six years, but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year."  Even God's creation is intended for rest and renewal.  Think about that for one minute....The things God creates are intended to take rest....because God showed rest and renewal in the act of creating.

Also God instructs us to allow the 7th or sabbatical year of rest for our crops be given to the good of our neighbors and our community. "Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves."  One observation here is that God's creation continues to bear fruit even without our constant attention.  The other is that God's provision is not just for ourselves, but for our community.

And if this is true for the earth and harvest, then surely it must be true for us.  And God says:  “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed"  We are instructed to rest for the sake of renewal.  Again, one of God's operating principles is shown in how the God of creation rests.  We work (bear fruit) from rest rather than rest from work (bearing fruit).  Given, again, the context in the greater narrative from the exodus story this week, God is setting us aside to be different from the rest of the world.  It is Pharaoh and the land of slavery that is constantly demanding our work and to produce, never taking a break or rest.  Yet, the God of the Sabbath intends for us to bear fruit out of our rest....a very different concept.  What do you think? Do you work from rest or rest from your work?

Building altars was a common practice.  Throughout the larger narrative of God's people leaving Egypt and even when they had established themselves in the land of promise, the altar symbolizes a place of sacrifice, an act of worship.  God invites God's people to build altars 'wherever God causes God's name to be remembered." (There were many altars placed in several locations)

More importantly, God establishes the law concerning the altar as a way of remembering what God did and is doing in the life of the people.  Yet this is still linked to the first law of who God is.  God is the God who delivered God's people from the land of Slavery.  Altars are not to place God under restriction but to remind us of who God is.  Unfortunately later, after Solomon built his temple to God, the other altars were destroyed in order to place God in a location.  And that Temple, in and of itself bends toward the direction of negating the 1st commandment.  Temple worship replaced worshiping the living God.

Part of God's joy in giving the commandments and laws to us is to keep us in healthy relationship with God.  Sacrifice at the altar reminds us of God's sacrifice of God's son, Jesus, to put us back into right relationship with God.  And since sacrifice was the main purpose of remembering this God who has led us out of slavery and sin, what are we laying at the foot of God's altar as a sacrifice of our lives for the benefit of our healthy relationships with God and with one another?

Fear is a word that is, well, feared.  The biblical understanding of fear is that of respect not necessarily being afraid.  The fear of the Lord as is in Proverbs 9:10 is a matter of respecting the Lord.  Martin Luther began the explanation of each of the 10 commandments with the phrase "we are to fear and love God"....

In today's reading we see fear exemplified 3 times.  First, the people tremble with fear at God's presence.  Second, Moses instructs the people to 'not be afraid." And, finally, Moses tells them “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

Fear is a funny thing, especially when it comes to God. God, who has established this relationship of love for God's people also commands enough respect or fear that God's children know that God can bring blessings and curses.  Much like a loving parent that establishes good boundaries of reward and correction, God is to be feared because God can bring punishment and blessing.  A healthy respect of your parents taught you what boundaries existed.  A healthy respect of the Lord keeps us in right relationship with the God who does love us.  Often times we don't discuss this respect or fear of the Lord because we like to err on the side of grace but as Paul wrote in Romans 6, "shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound?....CERTAINLY NOT!"  the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom because it helps us understand the boundaries of the covenant agreement God has given us: "I am the Lord your God who delivered you from the land of Egypt the Land of Slavery.  I will be your God and you will be my people." The reminder is the fear that God put slavery (of overproduction and sin) to death by punishing the Egyptians and Pharaoh, swallowing them into the parted sea, but also promised to bring these children of God into a new land.  Blessing and curses.  Respect!

Exodus 19:7-25 click here for the reading

The picture to the left is the consecration of 3 young people at St. Mark's Lutheran church last year.  The picture doesn't tell of the emotions these 3 and their families expressed in the unique gift of laying hands on their heads and blessing them as children of God, affirming the promise of their baptism and announcing them as disciples of Jesus Christ.  (I think everyone shed at least one tear that day.)

The consecration of people in the story of exodus seems oddly placed. Between Moses delegating leadership and the 10 commandments, God tells Moses to consecrate the people so that they will be prepared for God's showing up (in a quite extravagant way).

Yet the very act of consecration is important. Consecration is the act of setting one or many aside for service. Connecting the dots from the larger narrative, there is an important shift here. Before now, the people have not yet experienced God's presence, that was reserved for Moses (remember the burning bush?). Now, the people experience God's presence in clouds of fire and smoke, God speaks in the form of thunder.  Moses individual experience is now shared with the greater community.

This is the practice of what the church calls the ministry of all believers.  Consecration then is not left for pastors and priests but for all, as was experienced by the people of Israel and the 3 huddled under the rest of us on the great Sunday morning.  What does it mean to be set aside in service?  What is God calling you to? What are you gonna do about it?

Exodus 18:13-27 click here for the reading

Moses was a workaholic.  It's obvious that he tried to take on too much all by himself.  This reading is as much about healthy and unhealthy leadership as it is wisdom incurred at the feet of one's in-laws.

Unhealthy leadership: doing it all without asking for help.
Healthy leadership: sharing the load, delegating.

There is a biblical model that God shares with us in managing people, managing a business, managing a family.....you can't do it by yourself. Yet this scripture butts heads with the ideology of the self made man we think exists in our society.  Pick yourself up by your boot straps is not necessarily beneficial for the community as a whole. And Jethro's advice makes sense to us but we all probably wrestle with how to practice it.  Sometimes we feel it is just easier to do it by myself.  how many times have you uttered, "if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself."

Yet thinking that we might accomplish more by ourselves misses the point of healthy leadership.  Sharing the load is not for the task of perfection, it is the building up of the community.  By placing others in leadership positions, it becomes important so that when Moses dies someone will pick up the staff of leadership to continue to lead the people of God into the promised land.  By doing so, Moses too, probably had more time for his family...that he once sent away.

Exodus 18:1-12 click here for the reading

There is something about the beginning of this text that strikes me as relevant, even though it is not obvious.  Moses sends his wife and children away from the rest of the traveling chaos that is leading the people of God out of slavery. Why?

Within the larger narrative, God's people complain against Moses (and Aaron and Miriam) a lot. Moses was doing everything himself (which we see tomorrow). Overly busy and overly conscious of complaints toward him, Moses sends his wife and children to his father-in-law Jethro.

There is a testament to what it means to be on mission and what it means to be family. Moses did not think the two could coexist while he was leading these complaining people of God.

Nothing can be further from the truth.  Moses being reunited with his wife, Zipporah means something for the overall health of the community.

Since when did we start separating ourselves for ministry? God intends for us to live as a whole community not a separated one.  Something that Becky and I have been discovering for ourselves is how we can not only participate in the mission God has placed on our lives as a family but that we discover what it means to be a family on mission.  Today's reading helps remind us that our families are a big part of participating in the life of the