Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Just like that, we’ve exited Genesis and begun Exodus (witty, huh?). We move from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph’s drama into Moses. This morning’s reading was 4 chapters, but in the classic movie, The Exodus, this bit probably took hours! It’s rich and deep with images, in my mind, many of which include Yul Brenner.
The reflection starts with the bit where God tells Moses to remove his shoes because he’s on holy ground, and leaps into thinking about our incarnational theology – God became human. The ground beneath Moses’ feet was holy because God was present there. In our incarnational way of thinking, God walked the earth, had parents, had peers, had a job, was betrayed, tortured and executed. If the ground beneath Moses’ feet was holy because of God’s presence, so are our entire lives, because of God’s incarnation. Frederick Buechner posits that God’s incarnation is human, and messy, unsophisticated and undignified. Sometimes just like our lives.
I’d carry that further and suggest that the things we believe are sacramental – water in baptism, bread and wine in Eucharist, are all equally unsophisticated. These are very mundane human things we encounter daily, and our theology believes that they can carry the spiritual grace of God, sure and certainly.
I love my tradition’s rich liturgy, beautiful spaces and splendid vestments. They remind me of God’s holiness, and the richness of what could be. And I love that God was born to a homeless refugee, and we celebrate with water, bread and wine. That’s the epitome of both/and, rather than either/or.
This morning I’m thinking about the unsophisticated and yet holy world within which I live. I’m thinking about how every thing I see and touch is both mundane and holy. My vestments, the magnificent church buildings, my kitchen table, the homeless person I see downtown. Both/And.
Just like that, we’ve exited Genesis and begun Exodus (witty, huh?). We move from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph’s drama into Moses. This morning’s reading was 4 chapters, but in the classic movie, The Exodus, this bit probably took hours! It’s rich and deep with images, in my mind, many of which include Yul Brenner.
The reflection starts with the bit where God tells Moses to remove his shoes because he’s on holy ground, and leaps into thinking about our incarnational theology – God became human. The ground beneath Moses’ feet was holy because God was present there. In our incarnational way of thinking, God walked the earth, had parents, had peers, had a job, was betrayed, tortured and executed. If the ground beneath Moses’ feet was holy because of God’s presence, so are our entire lives, because of God’s incarnation. Frederick Buechner posits that God’s incarnation is human, and messy, unsophisticated and undignified. Sometimes just like our lives.
I’d carry that further and suggest that the things we believe are sacramental – water in baptism, bread and wine in Eucharist, are all equally unsophisticated. These are very mundane human things we encounter daily, and our theology believes that they can carry the spiritual grace of God, sure and certainly.
I love my tradition’s rich liturgy, beautiful spaces and splendid vestments. They remind me of God’s holiness, and the richness of what could be. And I love that God was born to a homeless refugee, and we celebrate with water, bread and wine. That’s the epitome of both/and, rather than either/or.
This morning I’m thinking about the unsophisticated and yet holy world within which I live. I’m thinking about how every thing I see and touch is both mundane and holy. My vestments, the magnificent church buildings, my kitchen table, the homeless person I see downtown. Both/And.
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