Loving God with Soul IV

Both of our passages for today describe arguments with God. We can understand why. Here we have the case for honest doubt, a key component I believe to developing a growing spiritual relationship with the Lord. We see it in Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, the woman at the well in John 4 and even with Jesus at Gethsemane. When passages in the bible tell us to not doubt, they are talking about a skepticism that doubts the power of God and interrupts our faith. But there is a form of doubt that seeks to understand and grow, and so we question ourselves and God on the way to clarity. This kind of doubt is both healthy and essential.

Exodus 3:18-4:17

The passage begins with a three-fold promise: 1) the elders of Israel will listen to him, 2)that Pharaoh will at first resist but eventually will let the people go and 3) the Egyptians would send the Israelites on their way with lots of fine gifts. It's interesting here that God is part of a ruse with the Egyptians, namely that they are just going out into the desert for a three day retreat!

The promise is not enough for Moses. His credibility question still stands. This is where the story needs to slow down a bit. Ken Medema, in his song-story "Moses", gives us a picture of what the dialogue could have really been. You can view/listen to it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC1W9rvqjvU. God gives Moses a symbol of his presence - the staff or rod (a most necessary tool of the shepherd that will now have a different purpose). This reminds of me of Jesus going to a bunch of fishermen and tell them that they would be fishing but not for fish anymore. Here Moses will be a shepherd but not for sheep anymore. God tells him to throw down his rod and it became a hissing poisonous snake. Then God tells him to pick it up by the tail. Medema's song captures this wonderfully. Once he picks it up, it becomes a rod again. The rod will be a miraculous symbol of God's presence in his life and of his new found leadership by the strength of the LORD. God does a similar move with Moses' hand (turning it leporous and restoring it). Moses is to do those demonstrations before Pharaoh to convince him, and if not, he can always turn the Nile to blood.

Moses has the promise and a miraculous symbol of the Lord's presence, but they are still not enough. Moses brings up his lack of oratorical skill. Ken Medema has him stuttering. God is not impressed with Moses' excuses. He knows Moses better than Moses knows himself and still chose him. But God relents and provides Moses' brother Aaron as his spokesperson. The Exodus story shows that Aaron was not always the best at the role.

Once we are Spirit-spirit connected and given holy fire within, then God gives us a task that will be impossible to pull off. Most of us have struggled with God's call on our lives. He gives us his promise that he will be with us always. He gives us signs all throughout our lives that he is with us. He gives us people around us to encourage our faith and help us do what God calls us to do. Yet, often we are prone to offer only our excuses and our inadequacies. The truth is that many of us get stuck right here, hearing God's call and giving our excuses, but never risking doing what we are called and created to do.

John 4:16-30, 39-42

The argument between Jesus and the woman at the well is first that he can't deliver what he claims, that he has nothing to offer. Then he confronts the painful truth about her life, five failed marriages and a sixth relationship in progress. She acknowledges that Jesus is right, but pushes him away by bringing up a religious conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews. It reminds me of our conflicts about worship now between contemporary and traditional. Jesus' answer speaks volumes. It's not about where you worship, it's about who and how you worship - worshipping the LORD and not our own preferences, and worshipping in Spirit and truth over style. That really allows us to enjoy the great variety of worship and musical styles, if we can just make room in our hearts for that variety. And I must admit, there are certain styles I find very uncomfortable. I don't like hard-rock worship, but it speaks to our children. I don't like country gospel, but it has touched and changed the lives of many. We worship the LORD and we worship in Spirit and truth. Anything else is extraneous.

The disciples come back and find Jesus talking to the woman and wonder what's up. She ends up leaving her water jar with Jesus and the disciples and testifies about Jesus back home. Verses 39-42 report that many became followers of Jesus because of the Samaritan woman's testimony. Then they met with Jesus and even more became followers. What is the relevance of this story for you and me? One is that the work of God's Spirit is to overcome the cultural, class, relational and historical barriers between people and create new unity through God's love. When I sang in Europe, there were services where I felt a greater oneness with the people than I did in many American churches in which we sang (even though in Europe we were not speaking the same language). I believe that one of the hidden messages of Pentecost in Acts 2 is of this kind of spiritual unity that goes across language and cultural barriers. This has much to say in our culturally, stylistically, politically, economically fractured society. When we learn to love the LORD our God with all our soul, then it will drive us to connect spiritually with those around us who live, speak, and think different than we do.