I
wish some times we could rearrange the order in which we read our scriptures on
Sunday mornings. For most of us, the scripture we hear last is the one we
remember. This morning, though, you might want to take another look at the
story from Genesis. It’s a story most Sunday school children learn and most
adults, even non-churchgoers find familiar. Moses and the burning bush, or the
bush that was blazing but not consumed.
Last
week, we talked about how we imagine God. And many of you drew pictures or
wrote something on one of the sheets of paper that described either by word or
picture how you imagine God. Looking at everything on the banner made happy and
I knew I was in the presence of something holy. I knew that when I saw how many
of you generously shared your imaginations with other members of this
congregation. Even our guests participated. And if you didn’t look at the
banner as you came in to church, be sure to look at it as you leave because it
is covered with last week’s imaginings.
This
week, let’s think about another way to imagine God. Moses, in this morning’s
Old Testament or Hebrew Scripture, comes upon a bush that burns. It burns yet
is not burnt up by the flames. He decides to turn aside and look at the bush to
see why it isn’t consumed. And when God saw Moses had turned aside, God called
Moses from the bush. First God called Moses by name, and when Moses answered,
God told Moses to remove his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.
In
Eastern countries removing one’s shoes is like a confession, a confession of
personal uncleanness or sin, and the person’s consciousness of their own
unworthiness to stand in the presence of the holy.[1]
What
Moses encountered was the living God. And, God created a fire that burnt but
did not consume the life of the bush God also had created. Moses takes off his
shoes, not only out of the knowledge of his own sin and unworthiness in the
presence of the holy, but also because he knows he needs to clear away any
barrier between himself and God. Uncovering one’s feet was a symbolic way of
showing vulnerability, a way to be open to God.
The
other thing to notice here is that Moses did not have to go away to a sacred
place, or get so quiet he could hear God. Instead, Moses simply turned aside to
look more closely at something he did not understand.
Think
about a time you turned aside to look at something you did not understand. Or
how about something that aroused your curiosity, something new and different.
Remember what that was like when you turned aside and looked, really looked. Or
perhaps you heard a sound and turned your head to listen more clearly. And you
listened, really listened. (Pause.)
Now
think about a time when you knew something was holy. What was that? When was
that? Where were you? (Long pause.)
I
know you have thought of something, maybe several things by the expressions on
your faces. So here’s what we’re going add to our banner.
There
are pieces of paper and markers in your pews. Write or draw on those pieces of
paper the time when you felt the presence of the holy. It can be something that
happened here, or something that happened anywhere else. Because God calls us
to turn aside and notice we we are on holy ground in many ways and many places
in the same way God called Moses to turn aside and notice. And so, while you
may not have actually removed your shoes, or even thought about removing your
shoes, you were standing on holy ground, on that place where earth and heaven
connect.
I
know we all turn aside for different things and in different places because we
are all different people. I could imagine God asking some of us to turn aside
and remove our shoes on a golf course. I could imagine God asking some of us to
turn aside and remove our shoes as we spread altar linens on the altar. I could
imagine God asking us to turn aside and remove our shoes so we could look fully
in the face of someone in need. And I could imagine God asking us in so many
ways and so many places to turn aside and remove our shoes because we are on
holy ground.
So
draw or write the experience you had of the holy. And, when the offering plate
comes by, put your paper in the offering plate along with your other offering.
After the service we will put them on the banner. Remember on Palm Sunday, we
will carry the banner as we process through the church and outside as well,
assuming our Oklahoma weather permits.
Lent
is about growing closer to God. One of the best ways I know to grow closer to
God is by turning aside to notice, to listen and look for the presence of the
holy. The bush burned for Moses, and it continues to burn for you. Remove your
shoes because you are standing on holy ground.
AMEN.
The
Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2016`
[1] Commentary on the Whole Bible, Jamieson, Fausset and
Brown: 1871, and other contemporary sources.
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