Hear the word of God:
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian;
he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of a bush;
he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Then Moses said,
"I must turn aside and look at this great sight,
and see why the bush is not burned up."
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,
God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!"
And he said, "Here I am."
Then he said, "Come no closer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of
my people who are in Egypt;
I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.
Indeed, I know their sufferings,
and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me;
I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people,
the Israelites, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God,
"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh,
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign
for you that it is I who sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you shall worship God on this mountain."
Exodus 3:1-12 – NRSV
This story is famous as God’s calling of Moses as the leader of the Israelites. Unlike most callings (even most biblical callings), God speaks directly to Moses. Is it any wonder in this case? After all, Moses barely believes the calling, even when God confronts him with it personally. For Moses, even the personal invitation is not enough, he wants evidence of success before he even starts: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh … ?”
Should we be surprised that this mysterious God, revealing himself in this mysterious way, gives an answer that is a little disconcerting? “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” You will know that you were supposed to do this thing when you have done this thing. So was this reply more about God, or more about Moses? I think it shows God’s insight into the heart of Moses. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” “The proof is in the pudding.” Moses is going to believe a little and doubt a lot until he returns to the foot of this mount to worship with a people.
Are we any different? Most of us can’t say that we have seen a burning bush. Although some of us may have been called to serve God in some interesting ways, few can claim such a clear call as Moses can. Nor should we expect our calling to be so clear, because Moses is the exception. So we feel called, yet struggle with doubt. Did God call? Did God really call me to do this? Did God really call me to do this here? Did God really call me to do this here now? You get the drift.
When our life’s experience and preparation line up with our passions and expectations for a different world, we can know what we hope to do. When opportunity opens in front of this hope, then we can feel called to act. But if we’re waiting for proof, it’s not going to come until the job is done. Gideon could check the humidity of fleeces every day for an eternity, but until he believed enough to act, it didn’t really matter.
At this place, our experience and preparation have met our passion and expectation for God’s kingdom. God has filled our little world with opportunity for these things to work together as our calling. Let’s act today on that calling. Let’s realize that this is going to take some time (Moses didn’t have Israel at Sinai in a couple of months, after all). Let’s realize that some people will reject our vision of a better world, because they have free will, after all. But let’s act!
Blessings on our callings,
Ron
