The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. (Ps 19:1)
Welcome to this series of reflections on the Season of Creation. As we meet with God each day may the Spirit of God strengthen you for the life that He created you for.
We read from Exodus 3: 1-6
‘Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvellous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ”Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
In the story of the burning bush, we find Moses out in the wilderness at the furthest point from home, in other words where he was most vulnerable and insecure, faced with the scariest thing that a shepherd could face, fire. Wildfires are a terrifying thing and sheep can easily be overcome by the raging flames. Moses’ first thought must have been panic.
We are faced with this same feeling every time we read of the calamities of the world, it feels like the planet is burning. Global warming is now a household expression, and we all know about the rising temperatures and heat waves, melting ice caps and extraordinary weather incidents. Still, there are those who would want to downplay the significance and create an alternative narrative, so that their own lives would not be disturbed.
The key to Moses’s story is that he looked intently at the “Bush.” He didn’t run away, he didn’t turn his eyes and say – ‘it’s ok it’s only one bush, it doesn’t matter, he didn’t say – fires are natural events just ignore it.’
No, he investigated.
And that is what we are going to do in this Season of Creation Series. We are going to take off our shoes. Now let me just draw your attention to that simple request from God. We read it as if it is nothing. Moses is already feeling vulnerable he is faced with a fire that could spread and burn up everything around him. With his shoes off, he can’t even run away! With his shoes off, he is making a commitment to trust God.
So, take your shoes off, put all thoughts of running away from what God is doing in your life, and listen to the voice of God. God is speaking through what you fear, speaking through what you don’t understand, speaking through what you can only hear because you stopped to listen. You are on holy Ground. Your life is sacred, and you are walking in the presence of the living God.
This Season of Creation we are going to pray for God to open our eyes to things that are all around us and calling out to us. They are calling us to care, to rethink our actions. They are calling us to change our way of living and interacting with the world. They are calling us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
So, join me each day as we seek the Lord with all our heart soul and mind and listen for His voice that speaks – from the burning Bush.
Let us pray.
In this Season of Creation, we pray that you would call to us, as from the burning bush, with the sustaining fire of your Spirit. Breathe upon us. Open our ears and move our hearts. Turn us from our inward gaze. Teach us to contemplate your creation, and listen for the voice of each creature declaring your glory. For “faith comes from hearing.” Give us hearts to listen for the good news of your promise to renew the face of the Earth. Enlighten us with the grace to follow the Way of Christ as we learn to walk lightly upon this holy ground. Fill us with the hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of your healing love that sustains our common home. In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ. Amen. (Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2022)
