Heeding the Voice -- A Lectionary Meditation
Exodus
3:1-15
Romans
12:9-12
Matthew
16:21-28
Heeding
the Voice
When people claim
to hear voices or have visions, especially voices and visions that are said to
come from God, we tend not to take these persons very seriously. There have been too many false messiahs and
saviors, from David Koresh to Jim Jones, for us to pay much heed to their
voices. Like Muammar Gaddafi, they seem
to have convinced themselves that they’re more important than they really
are.
When these alleged
prophets, when speaking for God, call on us to take up dangerous tasks, we
treat them as if they were sending us an email from a Nigerian prince needing
to get millions of dollars out of the country – just send a little of yours as
a way of making this happen. Of course,
divine voices don’t usually ask us to drink poisoned kool-aid, but they do, on
occasion the do ask us to let go of everything we have and follow God’s lead –
consider St. Francis of Assisi. The
question is, are we ready to heed the voice of God when God calls?
The
passage from Exodus 3 is one of the best known biblical stories. If nothing else we have seen it dramatized in
that 1950s epic movie featuring Charlton Heston as Moses. You know the scene, the one where Moses sees
a burning bush in the distance and decides to check it out. Then you have Jesus’ revelation that God was
directing his path toward Jerusalem, where things would get really messy, and
Peter, acting in a rather rational way, tries to convince Jesus that maybe he’s
misheard things. In the midst of these
two stories of divine calls, Paul steps in and offers us a strong description
of what the kingdom life should look like.
Together these three texts invite us to consider what it means to
actually heed the voice of God. The
question is – are we willing to “bet the farm”?
It’s
important to consider Moses’ situation when he sees this burning bush on the
Mountain of God. Remember that he had
this shepherding job because he had to flee Pharaoh’s wrath after intervening
on behalf of a Hebrew slave and killing the Egyptian task-master who was
beating him. You have to wonder though,
if there’s more to the story. Could DeMille
be on to something when in his version someone let the cat out of the bag
concerning his secret Hebrew identity? Might
Pharaoh see a traitor in his midst and thus Moses had to flee?
So, here he is, in the
Sinai, spotting a bush burning but not being consumed, in the distance. Since this wasn’t a normal occurrence, Moses
felt compelled to check it out. As he
drew close, a voice from the bush speaks his name and commands him to take off
the sandals, because this is holy ground.
Then comes the big revelation – the one speaking from the bush is none
other than the God of his father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Curiosity quickly gives way to fright at
this revelation. But this isn’t the last
frightening revelation. Not only is this
an epiphany of the God of his ancestors, but this God has a job for him. Since God has heard the cries of the people
and seen their plight, God has chosen to act, to deliver them, and Moses is God’s
chosen vessel. The one who fled from
Pharaoh’s wrath, and yet was rejected by his own people, is now being called to
go down to Egypt, free the Hebrews from their bondage, and lead them to the
land of milk and honey, which by the way is already occupied by other
peoples. Moses is probably saying to
himself: “thanks for the honor, but I’d
rather not.” He might have said: “You
see, there’s a bounty on my head back home in Egypt, and if I go there I’m sure
to die. Besides, the Hebrews either don’t
know me or they don’t trust me, so why should they follow me?” Following the voice of God can get us in
trouble, which is probably why most of us take the safe route and ignore the
voice. But Moses is at least willing to
continue the conversation. He even has
the temerity to ask the bush to identify itself. What’s your name? Now remember that there was a belief that the
power of the divine was found in the name and if you knew the name you could
control the deity. Was this what Moses
was asking for – the key to unlocking the mysterious power of God? Whatever Moses is asking, the voice says –
tell them “I AM Who I AM” sent me. That
should do it! So, go into the lion’s den
and tell Pharaoh to let my people go and tell the people that I’ve sent you to
rescue them. Wouldn’t you heed a voice
like that?
Something
similar might be happening in the Gospel text from Matthew 16. Jesus reveals his future plans to the
disciples for the first time – I’m going to Jerusalem, and I’m going to suffer
and die. Wow, now that’s a revelation
that’s sure to be welcomed with open arms.
At least God didn’t tell Moses to go back to Egypt with the express
purpose to suffer and die. It might be a
dangerous mission, but it seemed as if in the end Moses would be successful. But this is different, and Peter recognized
this fact. Just a few verses earlier he
had declared Jesus to be the Messiah and the Son of God, and Jesus had
commended him for this – Jesus even changed
his name to reflect this recognition.
Peter understood that as successful messiah shouldn’t suffer and
die. In fact, Peter was willing to give
up a lot for this cause, because he saw something of great value in Jesus and
his message. This was no ordinary
man. He was the one whom God had sent,
but suffering and dying, surely that wasn’t part of the package. And so Peter did what many of us would
do. He tried to talk sense into
Jesus. No lord, this isn’t the way
things are supposed to work. Are you
sure you’ve heard the right voice? But
Jesus was not to be deterred. In fact he
calls Peter Satan. The one who is the
Rock, who held the keys to the realm of God, was now the tempter, the stumbling
block, who would try to prevent Jesus from fulfilling his calling. Jesus says to Peter – you’re thinking human
thoughts not divine ones.
And
then, in order to impress on Peter what it means to heed the voice of God, he
says that if you want to be a disciple you have to take up the cross and lose
your life, because if you try to save your life, you will end up losing
it. So, what does that mean for us? How do we, who live in this modern world,
especially we who live in the West, with our homes and cars and electronic
devices heed this call? Ron Allen and
Clark Williamson suggest that this means that “the only way to have one’s life
in any ultimate sense is to accept that it is a loving gift of God’s grace and
spend it in the love of God and neighbor” (Preaching the Gospel without Blaming the Jews, p. 69.). Thus, if we are to heed the voice of God, we
will cease focusing on ourselves and love God and neighbor, and to do otherwise
is to be dead.
I
turn finally to Paul’s words to the Romans.
They don’t speak directly to the matter of heeding a divine voice, at
least not one that directs one to lose one’s life, but they do speak to the way
we live in community – both inside and outside that community. This passage begins with a lengthy list that
encourages us to live in community out of a love that is genuine and not
false. Paul does suggest that we
should be patient in our suffering and persevere in prayer, which fits well
with Jesus’ own words, and even Moses’ own situation. Paul calls on the Romans to care for those
saints who are in need and show hospitality to strangers. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with
those who weep. This is a word about
true community, a community of people committed to each other’s welfare,
something we rarely see in our culture, even in the church. These aren’t easy words to abide. It’s not that they’re not true, it’s just
we’re not used living this way. And then
comes the kicker – don’t repay evil for evil, but keep focused on what is noble
in the sight of all. This sounds a lot
like turning the other cheek. Again, these
are words that don’t sit well with us in our age.
One
of the most important words to hear in the New Testament is its rejection of
the law of retaliation. Jesus speaks to
this issue in his word about turning the other cheek, and Paul makes it
absolutely clear in this passage – whatever avenging needs to take place, leave
that to God. Now, even that word might
not sit well with everyone, and indeed, I struggle with this word about God’s
wrath, but it does remove responsibility for taking matters into our own
hand. Matters of ultimate justice are
best left in the hands of one who is best equipped to make the right
decision. Human nature is always tempted
to seek revenge. That is the message of
the movie The Conspirator, which
focuses on the trial of Mary Surratt, convicted by a military tribunal of
participating in the plot to assassinate President Lincoln, even though there
was little evidence to support this conviction.
That wasn’t the point, though. In
the mind of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and many Union supporters, someone
had to pay for this crime, and that was enough.
It is the concern that many have right now as we watch Libya emerge from
civil war. It’s interesting that many
who have no stake in this game are warning against taking vengeance, when there
is sufficient evidence that we ourselves want to do this very thing in our own
situations. How many, for instance, felt
vindication at hearing that Osama Bin Laden’s death? Admit it, you weren’t sorry were you? But Paul says to us – do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good. Is
this possible? Perhaps it is if we’re
able to set aside the obstacles to hearing the voice of God, which calls on us
to lay down our lives in order to find them.
As
I conclude this reflection, which calls us to heed the difficult calling of
God, I want to share a prayer for peace written by John Philip Newell:
May
our enemy become our friend, O God,
That
we may share earth’s goodness.
May
our enemy become our friend, O God,
That
our children may meet and marry.
May
our enemy become our friend, O God,
That
we may remember our shared birth in you.
May
we grow in grace
May
we grow in gratitude
May
we grow in wisdom
That
our enemy may become our friend.
(Newell, Praying with the Earth, p. 36).
Comments