burning bushes

Scripture: Exodus 3

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. ²There 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. ³Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ ⁴When 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.’ ⁵Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ ⁶He 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. 7 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, ⁸and 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. ⁹The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ ¹¹But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ ¹²He 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.’

Observation:

Before this, we have not heard God's perspective on the plight of the Hebrew slaves.  Now we know.  God has heard their cry.  God "knows their sufferings".  God intends to deliver them out of Egypt and into a good land.  AND, God has come to Moses in the wilderness.  God has interrupted Moses' ordinary life and work with a message.  This is Moses' Kairos moment.  It's the burning bush moment, in which Moses sees and hears God.  Here's the thing about it:  Moses has not seen, heard, or known this God before.  He has not been a faithful Jew all his life.  He has not read the bible. There was no bible to read!  He is not a religious man, though his father-in-law was a priest.   (That meant he offered sacrifices to a god in order to secure household blessings and avoid curses.  It is not relational, but transactional religion.  "If we do these rituals, the god will take care of us").  Moses teaches us that God will invite anyone into God's work---religiously faithful or not!  
Now Moses has a new, spiritual experience---a vision and a voice.  It is about the Israelites (an ancient tribe of people known in Egypt as the Hebrews.)  These Israelites have a God who listens and speaks! And this God has chosen Moses to go to Pharaoh and orchestrate the Exodus!  To which Moses says, "Why me"?  He is denying his own story, a Hebrew with direct connection to Pharaoh's house.  He is, of course, the ideal person to advocate on their behalf.  But God does not convince him that he is the right man for the job, only that God will be with him until the Exodus is accomplished.  In fact, God does not tell Moses HOW he will accomplish it, only that the people will worship their liberating God on that very mountain afterward.

Application:    

Kairos is about finding yourself at the right place at the right time.  It is the surprising intersection of your life and God's mission.  That mission is to embody liberating love, setting people free from whatever prevents them from experiencing the goodness and joy of life.  The Jews called it 'shalom'.  The Christians called it "grace and peace".   It is to live in a complete and healthy relationship with God and others.  We call it justice---to set the upside-down world right-side up. 
We see that there are many barriers, injustices both personal and systemic that prevent people from living.  We could name them, but instead we need to name the burning bushes, the kairos moments.  We need to pay attention, tune in, to the God who shows up and speaks to us. Someone reading this is Moses today.  God is calling you out of your life to join in the greatest mission ever undertaken:  A global revolution to restore humanity and all of creation to its right relationship to itself and the creator. How are you becoming aware, hearing the cries of the suffering, hearing the call to serve them?  We are a Church that seeks to embody that liberating love together.  If you're asking, "Why me"?  I would say, "Why not you?"  If you've noticed any burning bushes, then know that you are God's choice.  Ready or not. 

Prayer:
Lord, keep my eyes and ears open to your interrupting presence in my life.  Show me the way to love those you love, and especially those who suffer. Amen.