Loving God with Soul III

Exodus 3:1-17

Who is this LORD that we should love with all our soul, with whom we should make this Spirit-spirit connection? The best answer for that is found in Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. Moses is a former child of the king (Pharaoh) who is now a fugitive on the run for his life (having murdered a taskmaster for abusing a Hebrew slave - Ex. 2:11-15). He is a shepherd in the land of Midian working for his uncle Jethro (also called Reuel). The story of Moses is true on at at least two levels. The bush before the fire was in it was an all too appropriate picture of his life. He was empty and without purpose. At the same time, his work as a shepherd, as lowly as it was compared to being a prince of Egypt, was ideal preparation for what would be the next 80 years of his life.

Throughout the Bible, God often uses attention-getters. The word for "miracle" in Greek is seismos, meaning "sign". The miracles were signs that pointed to someone greater (Jesus as Lord) and to a greater agenda (the demonstrating of the kingdom of God). The attention-getter in this passage is a desert bush (mesquite?) that catches fire (no big novelty) but the fire doesn't consume the bush (a major novelty). As Moses approaches the bush, he hears the voice of God calling him by name. Moses (spirit) is about to have an encounter with the LORD (Spirit). And wherever that occurs, there will be a fire. It was so at Pentecost in Acts 2. I see the burning bush as a metaphor of Moses once the LORD has hold of his life and ours. God puts within us a fire that burns within but does not consume us. Now ordinary desert dirt becomes holy ground.

Where there is the fire of God's Spirit, there is also a call to ministry. It's too bad that we associate the call to ministry primarily with preachers. The biblical picture is that everyone who experiences the love of God will catch holy fire and fulfill God's call on his or her life. Moses moves from being a chosen one of God by nationality to a chosen one of God by personal call and vocation. His call was two-fold: to liberate the children of Israel from the Egyptians and to lead them to a promised land full of milk and honey. Moses is not a man of faith when God appears to him. He would spend the rest of his life learning that one.

Immediately, Moses begins to question why he would be able to accomplish such a task, for he has no credibility. Then he asks what his name is. Moses has been born a Hebrew but raised an Egyptian. He is used to a polytheistic context with gods of different names. It is understandable that he should ask God which one He is. But God's answer is actually unutterable in literal Hebrew, YHWH. In the King James Version of the Bible it is rendered Jehovah. In more modern translations it is often designated as Yahweh. Regardless, Hebrews do not utter this name of God, but rather substitute the name adonai, which means "Lord." Whenever you read "LORD" (in all caps) you are reading the designation that is YHWH. The translation of the name is enigmatic. It can mean "I am who I am" or the one I like best, "I will be whoever and whatever I want to be." This is the unpredictable and uncontainable and ultimately undescribable God. Then God repeats his call to Moses and orders him to call the elders of Israel together to declare the news. We stop the passage here, but the story is far from over.

A few questions for reflection at this point: 1) How would you describe your encounter with God? It doesn't need to be as dramatic as Moses, but his story does tell of a God who comes to people in their lostness and need and changes their lives forever. 2) What is God's call on your life? Is it big enough that you will have to totally rely on God for it to happen? 3) God's naming of Himself shows that he will not be reduced to an idol, a function of nature, or be boxed in by what people think he should be. What experiences have helped you have a broader understanding of who God is in your life and in the world?

John 4:1-15

Alongside God's encounter with Moses, we look at the encounter with Jesus by the Samaritan woman. If Moses was an unlikely choice, the Samaritan woman is more so. Jesus travels through Samaria (a devoted Jew would rather take the long way around and avoid the half-breed people that lived there), and meets a woman who is drawing water. Proper Jewish etiquette would be for there to be no contact between Jesus and the woman. It was common for a Jewish man in those days to thank God that he was not a dog, a woman or a Samaritan. Jesus not only talks to her (a cultural taboo), he also invites her to give him a drink, which meant drinking from "unclean" vessels. The woman tells Jesus the impropriety of his request. Yet, the place where Jesus meets the woman is a holy place, near the land Jacob had purchased for his son, Joseph. For this woman, it would become a holy place for a different reason.

Jesus tells her that she should in turn ask him for living water. Her reaction is similar to that of Nicodemus in John 3, taking Jesus literally. She tells him that he has nothing to offer her, including not having a way to draw water out of the deep well. Jesus clarifies that the water he offers is different, one that provides true satisfaction and eternal life. She responds with another literal response, "I would love not to keep coming to this well." But I think she is saying something more. Her life is difficult and purposeless. She knows there should be more to life than this.

Later on in the story the brokenness and burdens of her life become clearer. She has clearly "hit bottom", just as Moses had, and that is where Christ meets her. Neither Moses nor this woman deserve to be encountered by God. They have sin and failed repeatedly. Yet, God does come to them and he sees the potential within them to be world changing people. Similarly, He comes to us and sees who we could become when we are in relationship with Him, spirit to Spirit.

Have a great day in our Lord Jesus Christ.