Burning Pasta...

The lasting image in my mind from our session last Sunday is the image of the burning bush. We talked about some other things, but that image of the burning bush remains for me. There is just so much that happened there and so much that it means to us!

I could not help but come away from that passage thinking that all of us have a burning bush of some sort. Ours is not a shrubbery, (all you Monte Python fans out there, I know what you just said in your mind...), on fire in the middle of the desert. But think about it. Moses was first drawn to the bush out of curiosity. He did not even expect an encounter with God. But once he drew close to the bush, he found that he was in a place far different that what he thought. He was in a place that was set apart- holy. And it was holy because God was there. You have to wonder how many times in his years in the desert Moses may have walked past that very same bush. But this day was different. It was different because God was there.

How did you come to know God? What drew you? What made you stay? How did your life and direction change after that process? I think that for us the "burning bush" might be a series of things- people, events, encounters- that all add up to a life changing, course altering influence. And sometimes it is good for us to look back and identify those people and events and things that make our own personal burning bush.

The other enduring thought I have from Sunday is the whole matter of the questions Moses asked at the bush- "Who am I to do this?" and "Who are You? What is Your name?"

Who am I? Who are You. God's response to the questions says so much about living with Him.

We talked about how God did not really answer the "Who am I" question. Moses question was really an expression of doubt- in himself and perhaps in God. But I think that we would agree that it does not really matter how we assess ourselves or how anyone else assesses us- if God is with us, our own human frailties diminish into insignificance. Its loaves and fish. We are not enough to do anything on our own, but when God does the math and multiplies our skills times His spirit, well, there is some new math going on there- and you can't measure it with ISTEP.

And then there is the "Who are You?" question. Moses wanted to have a name- what do you call yourself? Again, God's answer says so much. The thing I keep coming back to is that by answering "I Am", God once again established Himself as the Creator- the unmoved mover, the One who needs no help. He is all present tense. I was fascinated to go to the Fellowship Center service after Sunday School and hear Justin talk about how we all have an "I was..." or "I used to be..." All of us do. We have all changed. But God doesn't. He never WAS anything. There has been no change in character, plan, or strategy. As He was in the beginning, He is now and He ever shall be.

Amen.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon