WHY BURN A BUSH?
Exodus 3
“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…God called to him out of the bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.”
Why burn a bush? The text comes from Exodus 3 where an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in “a flame of fire out of a bush” and from that bush the voice of God called to Moses. God first identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then God states his reason for getting Moses’ attention: God has seen the misery of those in slavery in Egypt saying, “I have heard their cry…I know their sufferings…and have come down to deliver them.” Then God declares the reason for his burning bush encounter: “So come, I will send you” to deliver those enslaved out of bondage into freedom.
Now Moses had done the Egypt and Pharaoh thing (read Exodus 1:8-2:23) and was happily married, living a quiet life as a shepherd. This was home for him. This call from God was upsetting the cart of tranquility for Moses. Yet God had need of Moses and those very real experiences of living in Egypt, being raised in Pharaoh’s home, and living in the wilderness watching sheep for forty years, were just the right tools to prepare Moses for the mission God had for him.
If this story is for me, I have a question. Why burn a bush with me, God? I identify with Moses. I have my life well under control and though it may not be all that easy, life is good just the way it is. Period!
Sometimes the only way God can get my attention, communicate with me about what God needs or wants me to do, is through unusual or unsettling experiences. They become my burning bush moments. It is what I do with them that counts. It is true that Moses argued with God about his qualifications, his abilities, and the probable difficulties that lay ahead, but God assured Moses, “I will be with you.”
God’s “I will be with you” is the necessary support you and I need. It is the encouragement that will allow us to move beyond our comfort level into an unknown experience that address the needs of our world—the suffering, the hungry, the injustices that so prevail. God is aware of the cries of his created children and knows that we are the ones who can help, who can make a difference. God really does need us!
So, let us look for those burning bush moments—those encounters with the reality of God’s world, the needs of those around us, and the calling of God for our intervention. We can do it! Why? Because God promises us, “I will be with you.”
Prayer: God, you call us into situations that need our help. When we respond, be with us, just as you promised. Amen
Song: “Here I Am, Lord” by John Michael Talbot (ELW 574)