|
Exodus 18:13-27 Click HERE for the reading  The whole trip into the wilderness invites us to remember that this relationship is one big experiment. It is learning on the job 101. Moses is learning everyday about leadership. In this passage he gets to hear from an unexpected (or expected, depending upon your in laws) place. Jethro, Moses' Father-in-law provides Moses with something all leaders need; perspective.
A truth learned yesterday reveals itself again: YOU CANNOT DO THIS ALONE! Yet we try, don't we. Recently, I had to ask for help on a project at the church that was 9 months into the making. Talk about stubborn. What am I trying to prove. So I invited 2 wonderful saints of God to help me get this project done. In one afternoon, the 3 of us got more done on this one project than I could have done in the past 9 months. And this is what God wants us to do is to share the leadership God has given us, regardless of where you might be leading. I am hearing what I knew to be true in the restaurant, leading is about delegating as much as it is about doing and accomplishing. When everyone in our restaurant helped get ready for an inspection there was a greater aspect of shared investment in what we were doing as a whole. Moses is learning this lesson. Instead of continuing to bark orders from the mountaintop, he needs to share the responsibility, delegate his leadership and share his authority. I know this is tough for some leaders because it causes us to be vulnerable. But in this experiment of being in relationship with God it goes a long way to have the people help share the leadership.....and that leadership multiplies itself for a buy-in on where God is leading them because they now feel like they are helping lead. This is so easy it is difficult!
0 Comments
Exodus 17:8-16 Click here for the reading Continuing with the theme of God's provision, again we hear God working through Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. This time in Battle (hey who said moving thru the wilderness was going to be easy). Every time Moses raised his arms, Joshua and the Israelites would conquer and when Moses' arms fell down they would lose. So they found ways to have Moses' arms held up...a support if you will.
And if this is not a mandate for support in life I don't know what is. Sometimes I feel like we miss out on God's instruction and example here. YOU CANNOT DO IT ALONE. That becomes more clear in the next chapter but recently I am recognizing that I need to invite people to help me hold up my arms. Cuz my arms are tired. Being in any kind of leadership role this happens. Mainly because as leaders we sometimes forget to ask for help. God placed Aaron, Joshua and Hur into Moses' life for a reason. When have your arms been tired? Who do you invite to help hold them up? Lord, thanks for the humble reminder that we are not called to do this alone. We thank you for surounding us with people who will help us hold up our arms in victory for what you are accomplishing through us! "Give us something to drink!"
Demanding people. When I waited tables I had ways of dealing with demanding people. But Moses (and by extension God) are much more patient than I ever was. But Moses (and by extension God) are attempting to move these complaining people through the wilderness....where, btw, they are supposed to be worshiping God because they were not allowed to do that when they were in Egypt. And once again, despite the people's complaining, God provides for God's people. Just like manna from heaven, now God provides water from a rock. Provision comes from places unknown. Have you ever been a demanding person? Complained about something unnecessarily? Do you have trouble seeing God's provision? Lord, thank you for providing for all that we need. Despite our grumbling you continue to bring blessing from unknown places for us to witness your majesty. -Amen Exodus 16:1-21 Click here for the reading WHAT IS IT? That is the translation for the word 'Manna.' The Israelites continue to be astonished and surprised at God's provision for their journey.
Manna is a funny thing that way. God hasn't stopped sending manna it just stopped looking like flaky stuff on the ground. Manna from heaven is a great way of recognizing we don't always recognize God's provision and gifts. We too can ask the manna question; What is it? My nephew years ago received a gift at Xmas. He opened the gift and said "Great. I love it! What is it?" I feel that way about God's provision sometimes. Today even more so than yesterday. Gifts are given in a way that don't seem like gifts at all. They look like flaky white stuff on the desert sand on the way to nowhere. Yet those gifts are meaningful not in the question of manna: what is it? They are gifts because of where they come from; heaven! Lord thanks for all of your provisions even the ones that make us ask the manna question. We know you are continuing to bless us on this journey. Keep showing up.- Amen! Exodus 15:22-27 Click here for the reading  There is a great connection with this water and the attitude of the people. Marah (bitter) is exactly how the people complain to Moses. {Mara is also what Naomi asks to be called in the book of Ruth - because God has dealt with me bitterly}
This bitterness comes with how the people respond to God's gift of liberation. This bitterness does not go away, it gets worse as the Israelites travel. Yet no matter how often the people complain, God continues to provide for their needs and care for these complaining people. AND THANK GOD. We need to hear this. We need to hear this because we are fostering in a culture of complaint. In schools, in offices, in hospitals, and in churches the culture of complaint is far too easy! Bitch and moan all you want and you don't have to do anything to construct something of a solution to the problems that our communities struggle with whether they be schools, offices, hospitals or churches. This is nothing new. Throughout the liberation journey out of slavery, there is a complaining attitude of the Israelites. yet God will turn these bitter people sweet...much like God turned the bitter water sweet, God does the same for us and here is how. God said, “If you listen, listen obediently to how God tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I won’t strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians; I am God your healer.” - Exodus 15:26 God is our healer, even in the midst of the culture of complaint we find ourselves. Exodus 15:1-21 Click here for the reading Songs of freedom are helpful in recognition of God's work in liberating God's people....both then and now.
The song of Miriam and Moses help retell the story of liberation from Pharaoh and the systems of slavery. Many might make the leap to the songs and spirituals from the time of slavery in America and the connection to the songs of Miriam and Moses. And there is some vilidity to that connection HOWEVER..... THIS IS WHY WE SING! We sing because we praise God for what God does and who God is. Redemption songs remind us that we are not in the place we once were. Redemption songs remind us that we were once enslaved to sin but because God cares for and hears the cries of God's people....these are songs of freedom. Exodus 14:10-31 Click here for your reading This story is so familiar we might miss parts of it because we remember charlton heston or disney remaking the high walls of water in cinematic fashion. But something struck me about this reading another time through. Moses is told by God to tell the other Israelites to stand still....WHILE BEING CHASED! This is kinda like being told not to look down when standing high above.
But these people are gonna be on the move a lot in the near future. God asks them to simply watch the power God puts on display at releasing them from slavery. Why? This moment will be brought back to life time and time again. "I am the Lord you God who brought you out of slavery." God has to remind them what they witnessed for themselves in the powerful way God responded to their cry. This is not always the case but certainly God put on a discplay that day and merely asked God's people to watch it happen. Lord, thanks for doing extravagant things to release us from the things we are bound. -Amen! Exodus 13:17-22 Click here for the reading
Exodus 12:29-32 Click here for the reading 
Given the section of this reading, hard to discern what to make of it. But I am struck today by the very audacity Pharaoh makes in casting out Moses and Aaron and all of the Israelites after all the plagues sent down on him, after all the signs pointing to this moment....it is the death of the firstborns....(a reversal of the passover that the Israelites experienced - saving of the children of Israel) that takes Pharaoh over the edge and dismisses these Israelites much like the villains in a scooby doo episode. "I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids."
Pharaoh asks Moses and Aaron, the ones who have been battling all along, to bless him. Through all the power struggle within Exodus already, the most powerful person in the world asks these lowly Hebrews for a blessing. Why? Gracious loser? Accepting defeat? Admission of role reversals? Can't be, not with what is coming next....(Hint:Its a chase scene) I can't wrap my head around it. BUT God was the one that hardened Pharaoh's heart. So God can soften it too. When have you been surprised by someone in power? Why? Lord give us wisdom to discern the mysteries in which you operate. Give us grace to recieve them as mystery and know you are still at work without proof of reason or rationale. - Amen Exodus 3:1-12 Click here for the reading 
A very familiar story. Yet in it lots of mystery. I love this story because I relate to this scripture and the following chapter with Moses' own words.
Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Yet God answered - “I’ll be with you,” Part of me, when I was wrestling with God and being called to ministry, wants to respond; really - that's all you got? You will be with me.?. Yet, having been in this for a bit, that is assurance and not simplicity. I have experienced more and more grace because I simply trusted that God is present and working through me than anything I could (can) accomplish on my own. This is a mystery for sure! But it is also a gift. As I am learning, God's presence is a pretty BIG deal. As we see and hear this story play out, God continues to show God's presence in many and various ways. God was present at creation, through the flood, with Abraham and Sarah as they welcomed angels, with Issac's faithfulness in raising his arms against his own son, with Jacob and all of his stuff, finally with Joseph and the blessing of a nation, now with Moses as he leads God's people out of slavery. In that too, we see God's presence show up as fire and cloud. The point is this: This story, God's story, helps us point to ways God showed up in the lives of people SO THAT we might be able to see God show up in the lives of God's people....mainly our own. Even when we ask; "Why me?" God responds with a powerful answer. "I'll be with you." And that is a BIG DEAL! Lord, thanks for your presence this day and everyday. Continue to show up in the lives of your people for the hope of the world that comes through you. - Amen! |
Archives
April 2016
Categories |
RSS Feed