Everybody's Got Something to Offer

Exodus 35-36

I love this passage even though it does get to be repetitive at times. Blue, Purple and Crimson yarns! [Each of those colors was extremely difficult to dye well and the materials for each were quite rare]. What grabs me is the desire of God to be honored in the work of our hands. Spinners, weavers, carpenters, metal workers, tanners, oil pressers, incense makers, rope makers, miners and jewelers. The Artisan's skill and understanding is yet another gift from God.

As an artisan of sorts (painter, rigger, writer, administrator [yes, skill and understanding come into play there too], designer, teacher, cook) I am always gratified when I can use the gifts I have for the church. Art is one way that God speaks through us. Everyone can think of music, poetry, paintings or other works of art that have given you a little frisson or a passing glimpse into the divine.

When we speak of stewardship we often think only of tithing our monetary income. How can we tithe back our talents as well? What are your talents? Think the church doesn't need them? Think again. If we do the work of God in the world, what gifts are not useful? Whatever gifts God has given we can and should use to His glory and to build his church. Imagine if we all tithed back our talents?
" So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.’ So the people were restrained from bringing; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work."

Amen. Let it be so.

Paul Sannerud

An Intimate Longing and The Grace of Love

If you read through the Book of Exodus, assessing it as a string of stories about slavery, laws, trials and long ago divine experiences, I encourage you to read it again.  In the midst of these stories, are pictures of God's enduring love and desire to build, sustain and honor an intimate relationship with all God's people, then and now.

The Ten Commandments and statutes God proclaimed though Moses were meant to free a struggling people, to preserve and strengthen relationships within a homeless, wandering community, and to strengthen and value the relationship between these people and a faithful God who longed for them to draw near.

I find myself thinking about faith and character when I read these stories. Forty years in the desert is a long time for multi-generations to endure.  In my own life, it is not always easy for me to reconcile that God's timing and mine may differ. What I have learned though is faith does not exist in the outcome or when all is well, that at any time we see but a piece or pieces of the whole picture. And prayerfully. sometimes my character and relationship with God is deepened in the journey. Yet during those times when I falter. I can look to the Grace of God for restoration.

Exodus 16: 15,16 speaks to Moses relaying the message that God had given each and every person enough bread according to their needs, and that all person be given the means to partake. During the Last Supper, Christ commends the Disciples (today this would be us) to partake of this bread in remembrance of Christ, of God's great and enduring love for us.

I see the Book of Exodus as a story of God's intimate longing for us, and a reminder of the Grace we receive every day because of God's infinite love. What do you see?

Shalom,
Susan Moss

The Ten Commandments:

I had to keep in mind that this is Exodus - part of the LAW of God. Yes he wants us to envision the thunder and lightning, being fearful and taking these words to be serious and important. No symbolism and prober teaching, just ten clear cut rules for a blue print on living, for living a faithful life.

But because we are human, we can never keep all the commandments because of our sinful nature. That is why the GRACE of GOD is so important. If we believe in God, he will forgive all our sins.  This is the good message!

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

Julie

Get the message

Exodus 24:12

And the LORD said to Moses: “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”

            Reading this thousands of years later, it’s easy to think that Moses willingly followed God’s command. Would you today?

            And, how would God correspond with us today? Would he tweet the message, send us an e-mail, or give us a text? Would (or do) we get the message and act on it?

            To Moses, the messages written in stone were probably out of the ordinary. Yet, he trusted the LORD, did as the LORD commanded and then took the message to his people.

            Let us pray. Dear God, we ask that we be like Moses:  receptive of your message and willing to follow your command. Amen.

Brad Q

When all Else Fails, Surrender

I find it encouraging to learn that the story of Exodus is not so much a story of Moses versus Pharaoh or even God versus Pharaoh, but rather a story of God versus evil.  A story of the God of the Israelites
versus the gods of Egypt.  And how much hope and comfort for God's people, then and now, to know that God is more powerful than evil.  Yes, God used Moses to deliver his people from Egypt, but only God could free his people from slavery, only God could overcome evil.  Moses' job was to obey God so that God could do his job of freeing his people.

Sometimes I find it difficult to surrender to God because God doesn't do things the way I would, or the way I want.  Sometimes God's timing is not my timing.  Sometimes God's order is not my order.  Moses must have felt this way at times.  First of all, Moses was 80 years old when God called him to this large task of freeing his people from slavery in Egypt.  I wonder if Moses thought that his opportunity to help his people  had long passed.  Then, think of the plagues the Lord sent on Egypt - 10 in all.  Why so many, and why so severe?  But Moses obeyed, trusting that God would keep his word of freeing his people from slavery.  And God did keep his word.

I think the story of Exodus demonstrates God's patience.  Why didn't Moses surrender immediately when God called him at the burning bush?  But God was persistent with Moses and wouldn't let him say no.  Why didn't Pharaoh surrender after the first plague, or the 2nd, or 3rd?  Why did Pharaoh cause the people to suffer so much?  Could he not see the hand of a mighty God at work?  Why am I
slow to surrender at times?  When I feel God's nudge, when I feel him tugging on my heart, why I don't I obey immediately?  Why do I sometimes need to suffer just as Pharaoh made the people suffer, before I will obey God?

Gracious and Loving God,  don't let my heart be hard like Pharaoh's was.  Open my eyes to see you in my life and help me to respond to your call quickly.  Help me to hear your voice and to trust it.  Help me to surrender to you, God, so that your kingdom can come.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Cara Hartfield

Manna-It's what's for dinner

Exodus 15:22-16:36
Scholars have long debated what manna was. The miracle food that kept the Israelites alive for years in the desert. Plant lice, green shoots of certain lichens, honeydew from certain insects, even a certain type of mushrooms. Whatever manna was, it was probably around the Israelites the whole time. They needed only open their eyes to see it.
This passage is interesting to me today because of the instructive nature of God's responses. First, the Israelites are repeatedly told to trust God, that he will take care of them [He has "heard their complaining"!] They are told to follow his instructions precisely. They are told to take a day off every week. All foreshadowing the first Commandments. God is defining what it means to be "his people". Predictably, there is resistance to each of the parameters being drawn. Just as each of us has most likely resisted those same parameters at one time or another.
I went through a time when it was important to me to try to find the scientific basis behind manna: what it was, how it got there, what dietary niche it fulfilled.  I wanted to learn how God worked. Today I see that whatever manna "was" metaphorically, the bread by which God saves his people. And what is that "bread"? It is the gift of being able to trust God in my life, it is taking time off every day and every week to reflect on how God is moving in my life - and to open my eyes to see it. That bread can fill me spiritually as the manna filled the physical needs of the desert wanderers. Taste and see the goodness of God.

Paul Sannerud

Simply Water

The Epics in Exodus are colorful and rich with stories about affliction, the burning bush, plagues, and Moses leading the Israelites onward towards freedom and the promised land. These are certainly times which call forth remembering and reflection.

But, there is one small thing which caught my attention.

In Exodus 2:16 &17, in just two verses, the word 'water' is repeated 3 times. If the author had just mentioned that water was drawn from the trough for the flock one time, I would have gotten the message and captured the scene. As if this is not enough, the scene prior reads that as Moses fled from the Pharoah, he settled in Midian, and found a well (with water).....doesn't say anything about Moses finding food and water, just a well. In my own journalling about taking walks or travelling nothing is written about my drinking water in my journey.  So I wonder...might this repetition of 'water' be another burning bush; God grabbing our attention? A very simple (nothing new) yet rich and enduring message comes to mind. In the dailyness of our lives, we can always drink from the 'water of life”

What if our 'burning bush” shows itself simply in how we live out our days? What if it's just about what we are mindful of? I confess in my own life there have been a few times when I missed that grand opportunity and possibly 'the burning bush' because I was not mindful of doing one “simple thing”.  Sometimes I think the burning bush shows simply itself in the richness of how we live in 'the now'....in the very colors and textures of our life...embracing what is right in front of us.

Drawing from a well, leading the sheep to water, and watering the flock. Images of finding rest, being quenched and the promise of daily sustainance come to my mind. What comes to yours?

Shalom,

Susan Moss

Do Something!

The common thread in several of the previous posts to this blog is, “What does God want me to do, and why don’t I get a ‘burning bush’ so that I know about it?”  That has, pretty much, always been my basic response to this text.  In recent years, especially, I’ve been on a bit of a quest to figure out my mission—seeking out my burning bush to tell me what I’m supposed to do.

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Mississippi, where I’m participating in a conference.  Earlier, I was at the offices of the Gulfport Sun Herald, where I heard a very personal, moving account of the role that the newspaper played during the Hurricane Katrina crisis.  Among the many photos they shared and stories they told, I focused in on the headline of one of their issues: “Thanks a Million!”  The reference was to the 1 million people who volunteered in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of the hurricane.

One million people who knew what needed to be done and took action.  I’m guessing that approximately none of these people got the kind of signal that Moses got—a burning bush telling them to go to the Gulf Coast.  I immediately thought of my own personal quest for the burning bush—my desire to know what God wants me to do.  Then I thought again of those million people.

Maybe, I don’t get a burning bush.  Probably, I shouldn’t need a burning bush.  Maybe God’s answer to my “What do you want me to do?” is simply that there are many opportunities, and I should just do SOMETHING.

Dan

The Plagues Of Egypt

In our Exodus Bible study this week we will be looking at two important themes - "Salvation" and "Redemption." These are two important themes in Exodus and also in the New Testament with connections to Jesus and the cross as well as the Last Supper.

A thought that keeps running through my mind as I prepare for this week is: "What is the cost of salvation?" For the Hebrew people one can make the argument that their years in slavery is part of the cost. One could also make the argument that the Egyptians bore the weight of the salvation of the Hebrew people.

But what about the price God paid for the salvation of the Hebrew people and, for that matter, us?!

This week we will take a look at these ideas and many others! I hope you can join us for good conversation around the scriptures.

Shalom,

Paul Petersen, Campus Minister/Intern/Exultant Packer Fan!

The Burning Bush:

Exodus 3:1-4:20

Would I notice the “Burning Bush” in my life if there was one? What would it take to peak my curiosity to then go look at what is happening. Moses thought “I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up.” I get so caught up in the routine of my daily life and attending to my daily crisis’ that I do not look beyond and see the burning bushes that God has put forth for me. But through decrement - the quite reflection, listening and seeing though God’s eyes what he wants us to do and have our senses be more open to these opportunities. Would you see the burning bush? Do we say “Here I am”? like Moses.

God does see our misery, hear our concerns and requests if we ask and will assist in his time not ours. And God said, I will be with you. I AM WHO I AM – he wants to be present in our life and wants to keep his promise. Do we take our concerns to him and ask for his assistance?

Moses was to go and talk to the Egyptians and tell them about God, but he hesitated and did not have the courage or the eloquence. But God said “I will help you speak and will teach you what to say”. What does God want each of us to do? Do we hesitate like Moses or need courage?

Julie

Theophany

In my preparations to lead Exodus Bible studies this week, I came across the word "Theophany." It means "appearance of God."
In this weeks focus story from Exodus the theophany comes in the form of a burning bush. God calls Moses from his job as a shepherd to be the one who will lead the Hebrew people out of bondage. To say that Moses was hesitant puts it lightly! He comes up with many reasons why he can't do it and for each reason God gives a response.
God speaking to Moses from the bush was theatrical, shocking and more than a bit scary for Moses! As I ponder what happened to Moses, I also find myself wondering why God doesn't speak to me in that fashion. There have been many times in my life when I wished I could have experience a theophany the way Moses did! Perhaps God tried and I wasn't listening. Perhaps I was listening to me rather than to God. Perhaps I couldn't see the burning bush that was right in front of me.

Shalom,
Paul Petersen, Campus Minister/Intern/Avid Theophany Watcher

What's your 'burning bush'?

Exodus 3: 1-22

With blogging in mind, I took a different look at this passage. Up until now, I had never really thought of Moses being a ‘regular guy.’ I had always thought he was chosen, and, therefore, never questioned his calling and ability to be a leader of his people. But wait, that wasn’t the case.

            Moses openly wondered “Why me?”

            What’s the burning bush in our life? Is it the opportunity when asked to lead a confirmation class? Or, to serve as a mentor for an English Lutheran confirmation student? Maybe, it’s an opportunity to work in the kitchen on a Wednesday night.

            Thank God for Bible heroes like Moses. May we learn from their challenges, faith and actions.

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, we thank you for the many wonderful mentors in the Bible. Help us to realize our burning bush so we might share your love to those seeking it from every-day leaders like us.

-Brad Q