Today's Scripture Reading (July 1, 2024): Hebrews 11
He was a shepherd. He hadn’t always
been a shepherd. There was a time when he ran with the rich and powerful, and
the life of a shepherd wasn’t even considered a possible job in the future. He
probably never dreamed that he would end his life caring for sheep in the
wilderness. But everything changed the day he found himself in trouble with the
law. On that day, he found out how few friends he had. And so, he had decided
to leave. He left his life, family, and everything he once had felt was so vital.
He left Center Street for the road less taken. He left the power of the movers
and shakers for the sheep that followed him from place to place, trying to find
food. For forty years, he had been a man of the wilderness. His time at the
center of the culture almost seemed like a dream and not something of which he
had once been a part.
Day ran into day, his skin wrinkled,
and the flock changed, but the routine stayed the same. And then something
happened that had never happened before. The shepherd saw a fire. Of course,
that wasn’t the strange part. Fires happen, even in the wilderness. Sometimes, they
are started by lightning, but the shepherd hasn’t seen a storm, just a fire.
Sometimes, volcanoes were known for starting fires, but there were no volcanoes
in the area where the fires started, and there was no lava that had spread its
destruction along the ground. Maybe the fire was the work of another shepherd,
but the man hadn’t seen anyone else. And he had seen no strange sheep, just his
own.
The shepherd crept closer, looking
for a reason for the fire, but he saw nothing. And then he heard a voice.
“Moses, take off your sandals; this is Holy Ground.” It was the opening words
of what was likely the strangest conversation Moses had ever had, And as part
of that conversation, possibly one of the most powerful words of God. No, it
wasn’t an announcement of plagues or the release of the laws God requested
Israel to follow. It was an answer to Moses’s question about what God’s name
was. The answer was “I am that I am’ or “I will be what I will be.”
Essentially, God was saying that he was the God that exists. Out of all of the
possibilities for this fire in the wilderness, to get to the actual source of
the fire, Moses had to first believe that God existed.
The author of Hebrews returns to
this idea. You cannot please God without faith, and faith begins with the
confession that God exists. Either you believe or you don’t. Either God exists
and miracles happen, or God does not exist, and there must be some other answer
for the things that happen around us. But everything begins with the concession
that God exists, some kind of God to be defined later. If Moses believed he was
talking to God, it would open up a range of experiences that would be forever
outside his reach if he denied God.
Everything starts with belief and
ends with our cynicism. If God reigns, anything is possible for those who
believe in him. If there is no God, then our future and the future of our
nations will be subject to the strange twists of fate. Which outcome we choose
is essentially up to us.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hebrews
12
Happy Canada Day, Canada.
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