Who you are

"What shall I call you?" Moses asked God.

"Tell your people I AM has sent you."

The interchange between God and Moses fascinates me. You'd think meeting God and having him speak from a holy place (the burning bush) would be enough. That Moses would be saluting and running off to DO THE WORK he was assigned.

But nope.

Moses excuses himself in every possible way. "No one will believe me. I'm not an upfront leader. I'm a lousy public speaker. And how can I convince followers of my genuine call to lead them?"

God gets irritated and sticks to his choice. "Moses, you're going! But I won't hang you out there alone. Your brother will come with you and help you in your weak areas."

Moses, though reluctantly recruited, never looks back. He has heard the NAME that will define his relationship with God forever. It's the NAME that Moses will so reverence that Israel falls in line behind him.

Wikipedia defines the NAME this way:

Hebrew Bible
The word Ehyeh (I will be who I will be) is used a total of 43 places in the Hebrew Bible. ... The importance placed on the phrase, as it is used by God to identify himself in the Burning Bush, stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am who I am" (ongoing). 

 

The All-Sufficient One.
The Source and Provider, in the past, today, and in the future.
He's all that and more.

So how do we define ourselves in the shadow of the NAME?

1. Acknowledge the difference between the Creator and created things. God is "other." Beyond our understanding forever.
2. He knows us intimately. Your name, my name, our peers and friends ... He knows us all and cares about us day after day.
3. He chose to invite us into friendship with Himself. His intention was always loving relationship between Him and us.
4. He prepared a way for us to reconnect and live alongside Him. (Read about it in John's gospel in the Bible.) He still wants our hearts, though we chose rebellion and independence over harmony and the ultimate freedom to be fully human. 
5. Admit that He has always left the choice of knowing Him in our hands. Talk about free will: he could have made us robotic followers. It's up to me. It's up to you. He's been waiting for us, watching over us, and giving us hints of His loving presence since we were born.

Moses chose to follow. He argued, blamed God for putting him in tough spots, and got frustrated. But he'd strap on his sandals, stand in the Tent of Meeting to encounter God and get direction ... and off he'd go again.

In the process, this shepherd from the back of nowhere became a great leader, lawgiver, and prophet. The name "Moses" is familiar to many people around the world. As a youngster, God had equipped him in Pharaoh's palace and educated him through the finest tutors. Moses forgot who he was until God called him over and said the NAME.

Do you know who you are? Have you heard the NAME calling out to you and giving you purpose, whether you're known in the courts of favor or abandoned on the deserted sands?

Read more:
*I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25-27 NIV 

*It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich. For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the LORD takes care of the godly. Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough." Psalm 37:16–19 NLT

*Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Isaiah 5:21 (NIV)

*In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:3 

Moravian Prayer: O Master-builder of creation, may we, like wisdom, rejoice before you always, treasuring instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. Amen.

Saved and sinning less

"You can be completely, totally sin-free! Accept God's second act of grace. You'll lose your sin nature and have all sins forgiven! You'll never want to sin again." 

Wow, if that were only true. Reading historical theology, I've run across holiness movements that believed in a post-conversion second act of grace or "sanctification." Many preachers of the day promised God would free the believer from wanting to sin, restore their unfallen (Adamic) nature, and make him or her completely holy. For the long term. For good. For the rest of life on earth.

Wow! Sadly, I can't say I've experienced that sanctification. My desire to do wrong is mostly tempered by experiencing God's love and marveling at Christ's death on my behalf. I don't want to hurt others because I remember how good God is to me. But I sin and am tempted, though I've been a Christ-follower since I was a child.

One of my friends indignantly turned to me one day after I'd made a rude remark. "You're not perfect, you know!" he exclaimed. 

It's true. "Not a surprise to me or you," I affirmed. "Of course I'm not perfect. Why would I need a Savior if I were perfect?" He's not a Christian, and once in a while he brings up how awful or difficult I can be. Yeah, I know. I'm being transformed into Christ's likeness, but whew - what a long way I have to go! Scripture says we're liars if we say we never sin, but warns against a habitual life of sinning, when we should be a work in progress under the tender hand of God.

One mystery of the Christian faith is that God wipes the slate clean when we confess our sins. Knowing that we'll fall down in the future, he completely forgives and sets us on the right path again and again. We, uniquely among all religions, never have to carry the burden of past failures and excesses. What a generous God!

Today, I'm going to try to be good. Not because I think I'll be completely successful, but because I want to please the One who is SOOO kind and loving to those he has made.

Read more:

*Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. Proverbs 10:12 NLT

*He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Proverbs 28:13-14 NKJV

*Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:3 NLT

Good

It's the middle of the afternoon. I should have stayed home this morning to read and write on the texts for tomorrow's class. Instead, I went to an exciting Sunday service (JRA, Springfield MO) and a good Vietnamese lunch with dear friends. It's hard to tell how the stress of being behind in reading will balance the pleasure of time away from the books.

The dilemma of "stay" or "go" reminds me of the good angel and the bad angel who are supposed to be writing down the good and bad deeds for Muslims over a lifetime. In the end, whatever weighs heavier is what gets you to Paradise or hell. You can't tell until you're dead.

Getting behind in reading doesn't send us to an eternal damnation far from God. I'm willing to risk that being part of a congregation this morning was good for the soul, if bad for the academic schedule. However, I wouldn't want to gamble my salvation on the capriciousness of my own actions, especially on how I have acted over a lifetime.

Today, as I get back into densely written pages, my confidence and hope rests in the provision of Jesus. I know where I'm going because of God's promise. My destination doesn't depend on my own checklist coming out "better" rather than "worse."

Jesus is Good, and his Good was written across my file after his blood wiped it clean of what I had accomplished. A hopeful and optimistic balance indeed.