Today's Scripture Reading (November 18, 2024): Exodus 18
Many years ago, the Christian Band Petra released a song called "Seen and not Heard." The title was a line from the chorus, which summed up the song's message. The chorus stressed, "Sometimes God's children need to be seen and not heard" (Bob Hartman). I remember talking with a teen at the time the song was released, who was offended by the lyrics. She believed she had the right to be heard and had no desire to remain quiet. I agreed with her, but at the same time it was a misunderstanding of the song's meaning. As Christians, there are times in our lives when we just need to walk and don't need to talk. Sometimes, the people who need to hear your words the most will not listen to you until you show them your life.
A few years ago, there was a movie made about a Catholic priest who felt called to go and work among the lepers who had been expelled from Hawaiian society by King Kamehameha V, condemned to living their lives on the isolated Kalaupapa Peninsula on the North Shore of Molokai. At predetermined times, a boat would drop off supplies to the outcasts, and this priest was petitioning the church to allow him to go and minister to this unreached group of people.
The Catholic church balked at the idea. They knew the dangers and were unsure whether this was the man who should go and be with the people. But they finally allowed the priest to go, and this young priest built a church on the island and started ministering to the people.
He startled them as he reached out to touch them. The priest ministered and brought food, but the people seemed unwilling to respond. Finally, the day came when the man was ready to give up. He sent word to Oahu that they should send out a boat to pick him up and take him back. He also requested that they send someone else out to continue the ministry he had attempted but failed to establish on the island. The story says that as he stood at the dock on that Sunday morning, awaiting his ride back to society, he looked down and saw the white spots that had appeared on his own hands. He realized that he wouldn't be able to return to Oahu. He had become a leper and was no longer visiting the island. This place of the outcasts had become his new home.
He slowly left the dock and walked up a hill toward the tiny church he had tried to serve so faithfully. Two hours later, he arrived at the church and was surprised to find that, for the first time, the church was filled with people. They had watched him and heard the priest teach, but now he was one of them. He was no longer talking to a group of people of which he was not a part. He was one of them; he could show them how to live, and now he was entitled to speak with them about God.
People need someone who will teach them and speak the words they need to hear. But they also needed someone who was one with them that could show them the way to live. So, God's message was that Moses needed to live in front of them so they could see how he lived. Sometimes, words are not enough.
One of the concepts that I strongly believe in is that of the wounded healer. The one who has the right to speak into my pain is the one who has gone through similar pain. We have all gone through stuff, but rather than our past disqualifying us from speaking, those pains are the very things that give us the right to speak our truth. The church doesn't need perfect teachers; it needs people who have walked through the fire, arrived at the other side, and now have become encouraging voices for those still making the journey.
Moses was the teacher and had the right to speak about life in the desert because he had lived in Midian for 40 years. But he couldn't be the only teacher. Others had more experience with what it meant to live life as a slave than Moses had, and still other people who had suffered different pains. Together, they could now step up and share their ministry with others.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 19
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