Today’s Readings: Psalm 52; Exodus 2:23-3:15; Luke 9:51-62; Romans 9:28-33; Psalm 82
One of the things I love about living in an increasingly post-modern world is that labels have come to mean very little. Several years ago, for instance, when people would first meet a stranger, they would invest a lot of time and energy trying to draw a variety of labels out of people. They’d ask folks a question like, “So, what do you do for a living?” – in hopes of eliciting a label like “doctor”, “factory worker” or “teacher” out of the stranger. Others would try to draw a label out of someone in regards to their politics so they could label them “Republican” or “Democrat” or “Independent”. Still others would try to find a label to attach to people’s spirituality – labels like “evangelical” or “liberal” or “conservative”. Over time, however, people began encountering Pro-Choice Republicans, rigidly dogmatic liberals, and Pro-Voucher public school teachers. As a result, they began to realize that labels didn’t work since they never really captured the full essence of a person. People aren’t the only ones folks have been trying to define using labels; folks have been trying to do the same thing with God for thousands of years. In fact, in today’s passage from Exodus there’s a wonderful moment when Moses asked God bluntly what label he was supposed to attach to God in order to get the people’s buy in. God’s response? The wonderfully ambiguous phrase: “I-AM-WHO-I-AM”. One of the challenges of pastoring in these tumultuous days is that some folks come to us pastors and expect us to attach a label to God that would help them wrap their minds around God’s enormity. Sadly, some pastor’s give in to these demands and settle for handing out clichés in an attempt to appease the request. In the process, however, they take the immeasurable and incomprehensible Source of all being and stuff God into a tiny box. Hopefully today’s passage from Exodus will give all of us the encouragement we need to resist the impulse to oversimplify God and allow for the best possible outcome: let God speak for Godself. Til next time…
One of the things I love about living in an increasingly post-modern world is that labels have come to mean very little. Several years ago, for instance, when people would first meet a stranger, they would invest a lot of time and energy trying to draw a variety of labels out of people. They’d ask folks a question like, “So, what do you do for a living?” – in hopes of eliciting a label like “doctor”, “factory worker” or “teacher” out of the stranger. Others would try to draw a label out of someone in regards to their politics so they could label them “Republican” or “Democrat” or “Independent”. Still others would try to find a label to attach to people’s spirituality – labels like “evangelical” or “liberal” or “conservative”. Over time, however, people began encountering Pro-Choice Republicans, rigidly dogmatic liberals, and Pro-Voucher public school teachers. As a result, they began to realize that labels didn’t work since they never really captured the full essence of a person. People aren’t the only ones folks have been trying to define using labels; folks have been trying to do the same thing with God for thousands of years. In fact, in today’s passage from Exodus there’s a wonderful moment when Moses asked God bluntly what label he was supposed to attach to God in order to get the people’s buy in. God’s response? The wonderfully ambiguous phrase: “I-AM-WHO-I-AM”. One of the challenges of pastoring in these tumultuous days is that some folks come to us pastors and expect us to attach a label to God that would help them wrap their minds around God’s enormity. Sadly, some pastor’s give in to these demands and settle for handing out clichés in an attempt to appease the request. In the process, however, they take the immeasurable and incomprehensible Source of all being and stuff God into a tiny box. Hopefully today’s passage from Exodus will give all of us the encouragement we need to resist the impulse to oversimplify God and allow for the best possible outcome: let God speak for Godself. Til next time…
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