Moses

A Veiled Question

How would our ministry change if we removed the veil between ourselves and God?

February 3, 2013 By The Hardest Question Leave a Comment

by Ruth Everhart

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

For Sunday, Februray 10, 2013—Transfiguration of Our Lord

Shining faces. Who doesn’t love a shining face? We picture a child beaming as she displays a crayoned masterpiece. Or lovers reuniting at an airport, their faces aglow. Or those commercials for anti-aging skincare products that feature a 28 year old.

Oil. Love. Happiness. A good sweat. A hot shower. A loofah. Great sex. Fine wine. No wonder there’s such a market for skincare products! Shining skin isn’t just an idea, it’s a physical reality that shouts to the world: “I am healthy and happy!” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus, Featured, Old Testament, YearC Tagged With: Calvinism, countenance, face, fear of the Lord, great sex, Moses, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Puritan, shine, shining face, The Minister's Black, veil

Jesus Questions the Text

Is the Biblical text set in stone?

October 1, 2012 By The Hardest Question 2 Comments

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:2-16

For Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012—Ordinary 27

When we started this blog, we set out with a clear resolve to take seriously the questions that came up as we read the weekly lectionary texts—that is, hard questions about the text, not life application questions that arise from the text, not the ethical/pastoral, semi-Pelagian, “how then shall I live?” questions.

We really want to nail the sometimes theological, sometimes contextual, text-critical kind of questions—questions about how, what, and why the text means. And in a sincere pseudo-midrashic spirit, to open ourselves to the possibility that often the real questions are found in the texts gaps and fissures. Did I mention the sometimes outrageous? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Mark, New Testament, YearB Tagged With: divorce, Jesus, law, lectionary, midrash, Moses, question, russell rathbun, stone

Writing the Back Story

January 1, 2012 By The Hardest Question 4 Comments

In what ways are the writings of an ancient people and their perception of God relevant to us?

by Russell Rathbun

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

For Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012: Year B—Baptism of Our Lord

What a job Moses had.

I mean, can you imagine if you got the job to write the story of creation, the beginning of everything, the world, life, and humanity?

The Whole Enchilada?

I am saying it was Moses who wrote the story because that is what the tradition says. I am sure it probably wasn’t Moses, but tradition says Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.

I am sure, one could wonder how Moses was able to conclude his last book with the story of his own death and burial, but that is a minor question, compared to the many others his work brings up.

I wonder—did God ask Moses to write the books? God did tell him to write down the Law, right? That is, I guess, according to Moses God told him to write down the Law. But, did God ask him to write the rest of it?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Genesis, Old Testament Tagged With: authorship, creation, Hebrew Bible, law, Moses, russell rathbun, writing

Just So You Know…

October 16, 2011 By The Hardest Question 7 Comments

…we’ll never be good enough.

by Danielle Shroyer

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

For Sunday, October 23, 2011: Year A—Ordinary 30

If you’re a preacher trying to encourage your community that the hard work of faith pays off, you may want to pick another reading this week.

Moses was, in the words of Deuteronomy, “unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt.” “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.” And yet, all of that wasn’t enough to allow Moses to enter the Promised Land.

So Much for Happy Endings

If that isn’t disconcerting to even the most perfectionist, driven, and ambitiously faithful of us, I’m not sure what is. Good heavens, if MOSES didn’t have what it takes, let’s face it: the rest of us are toast.

Though not referenced in this passage, Numbers 20 says the reason God gives for not allowing Moses to enter is because of the hoopla at Meribah, when the people were complaining about lack of water. God told Moses to speak to the rock and call forth water; Moses hit the rock twice with his staff instead and used it as an opportunity to raise his voice at his whiny fellow travelers. Apparently, that was enough to erase decades of faithful service.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Deuteronomy, Featured, Old Testament, YearA Tagged With: Danielle Shroyer, grace, Meribah, Moses, Promised Land, rock, service

The Backside of God’s Glory

October 9, 2011 By The Hardest Question 6 Comments

What does it mean to see God’s back?

by Russell Rathbun

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 33:12-23

For Sunday, Oct.16 , 2011: Year A—Ordinary 29

It seems like God and Moses have realized their grand experiment has not worked out that great. The whole thing is kind of a mess.

Rethinking?

After the golden calf debacle and the smashing of the stone tablets, God begins to rethink his involvement.

God clearly feels some obligation, having brought these people out of Egypt and into the dessert, having promised them a land of their own, but God is not really sure God even likes these people.

Rejection?

Maybe it was the rejection. Like, they don’t really seem that satisfied with the Lord either. As Debbie Blue described in last week’s post, God is kind of scary and distant. God’s not nearly as fun as the golden calf party.

So, God decides that God will not be going with them on the rest of the journey; God will send an angel instead. Moses pleads with God, saying that was not the deal—These are Your people; an angel is not the same; the whole thing won’t work if you don’t come; the people want your Presence. I want your Presence.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus, Featured, Old Testament, YearA Tagged With: angle, Debbie Blue, face, glory, Moses, presence, russell rathbun

Getting Out of Egypt

October 2, 2011 By The Hardest Question 2 Comments

It’s hard to shed the traces of tyranny

By Debbie Blue

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 32: 1-14

For Sunday, October 9, 2011: Year A—Ordinary 28

I can’t really blame the people for enjoying the golden calf. They eat and drink and “play” around it. But if they even “touch the border” of The Mountain where God is (God mentioned a bit earlier) they will be “stoned or shot.” Sinai is a scary place wrapped in smoke and clouds, and God up there is a consuming fire. This God led them out of Egypt, but they don’t trust him yet. It’s not hard to understand why. He’s enigmatic. They are afraid of him. The calf? Well, it’s a statue of a young cow or maybe a young bull—but it’s not threatening to eat them.

Blundering Lovers

God seems to feel pretty bad when he looks down and sees the people enjoying the calf. God says they are a ‘stiff-necked” people, implying a sort of rigidity. They are stuck in some old way of seeing and doing and being, like there hasn’t even been an exodus from Egypt—like all they know of god is statues and tyrants. They don’t have the imagination for a living loving God that can be trusted. They edge in and out of this all during the “sojourn,” claiming God hates them—promised liberation only to lead them out in the wilderness where he will kill them.

Maybe God isn’t quite sure how to proceed with the relationship either. God seems to be a bit of a blundering lover throughout these texts. At moments—gracious and tender, at moment (even Moses points out) he could be perceived as doing evil.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus, Featured, Old Testament, YearA Tagged With: Blundering, calf, Debbie Blue, intimacy, lovers, Moses, Passion, relationship, Rigidity, Statues, Tyrants, violence

Hungry and Free

September 11, 2011 By The Hardest Question Leave a Comment

Is it better to die . . .?

by Russell Rathbun

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 16:2-15

For Sunday, Sept. 18 , 2011: Year A—Ordinary 25

Not included in the most commonly known stories of the deliverance of the slaves from captivity in Egypt was what they saw as they passed through the chaos. At his God’s command, Moses held out his hand over the abyss and the Lord drove back the waters so that the fleeing slaves walked on dry land on the bottom of the abyss, with walls of great water humming on both sides.

Passing Between

What they saw as they passed between the aquatic chaos was every kind and possibility of hidden darkness writhing and striving just on the other side of the surface of those walls. Even the purpose and promise that could be glimpsed beyond was overwhelmed by mammoth shadows of creatures typically hidden just beneath the surface. How far back or how large or even the form or the intentions of these once unknowable beasts was frighteningly evident. It was as if the Creator was saying, freedom, yes, but this is what you must pass through and rarely will it be held at bay—held back.

To live freely is to contend with all of this.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus, Featured, Old Testament, YearA Tagged With: Egypt, free, freedom, Moses, plague, russell rathbun, sea, slave

Holy Ground

August 22, 2011 By The Hardest Question 3 Comments

Can we really feel God?

by Unvirtuous Abbey

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 3: 1-15

For Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011: Year A – Ordinary 22

A close friend of mine is an Atheist who can quote scripture better than I can. He knows church history and he can name the church councils that created creeds and authorized scriptures, and he can speak at length about Christians in the media, whether it’s the latest prediction about the end of the world or a significant comment from a credible source.

When we have coffee together, we talk politics, music, literature, and the current state of Batman in the DC Universe. But I’ve never talked to him directly about what he actually believes and/or doesn’t believe until recently he sent me a message saying, “I don’t believe in God because I’ve never felt God.”

Feeling God

I vividly remember the most spiritual moment I have ever experienced. It had everything a moment like that should have: wilderness, a profound sense of being lost and confused, a stranger, a conversation, and between it all something crystallized in my memory that I, specifically, was not alone.

Yet, if I told that story here, it wouldn’t have the same effect on you. It would simply be a “nice” story. It would be a candidate for Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul. But for me, at the time, it gave me the strength and courage I needed to be who I was and to continue on my journey.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus, Featured, Old Testament, YearA Tagged With: atheist, call, holy ground, Horeb, Moses, Unvirtuous Abbey

Three Saviors and a Neurotic

February 27, 2011 By washadmin 11 Comments

Beside Jesus glowing for a moment, what does the transfiguration transfigure?

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading: Matthew 17:1-9

For Sunday, Mar. 6 , 2011: Year A – Transfiguration

“And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.”

That is not a strong entrance for something, seemingly so grand. All of a sudden, they’re just up there, talking with Jesus. What could Elijah and Moses and Jesus have to talk about that is so important that it can’t wait till after the transfiguration?

What are they talking about?

Are they catching up?

Like, “Jesus, we haven’t seen you since the incarnation, how’s it going down here?” And Jesus is like, “well pretty good — I’m not gonna say there aren’t some problems…but over all not bad.” Or are they doing official business? Is there something that Elijah and Moses know, that Jesus really needs to know so they have to run down to earth and tell him right quick?

The Rabbis talk about Moses and Elijah as The Great Saviors of Israel. Moses was the first savior. He saved Israel from Pharaoh delivered the nation out of Egypt and brought the law. And Elijah is supposed to be the last savior — it is written that he will come at the end of time to save the people and put everything it it’s right order.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Matthew, New Testament, YearA Tagged With: Elijah, Moses, mountain, peter, russell rathbun, savior, transfiguration

Consumer God

August 16, 2010 By washadmin 1 Comment

Are desire and fear the foundations of faith?

by Russell Rathbun

Epistle Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

For Sunday, August 22, 2010: Year C - Ordinary 21

God first speaks to Moses as the fire that burns, but does not consume. When God moves onto the mountain to come closer to God’s people, God descends upon it in fire, with smoke pouring out of it like smoke from a kiln, as the whole mountain shakes violently. God repeatedly warns Moses not to let the people come too close for fear that the-fire-that-is-God will break out against them and consume them.

God is the fire that consumes, yet does not consume. But even God is not so sure God can keep this up forever.

Dis-ease in God’s Nature

This dis-ease in God’s nature is recalled (reinforced, re-visited, reread) in this week’s Epistle. The author of Hebrews juxtaposes Mount Sinai with mount Zion. “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet… But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant…”

Things are different, the author, assures us. There is a new covenant. Blazing fire has been replaced with innumerable angels. And Jesus is on Zion, the Word of grace and mercy. This pericope concludes, however, with a flashback to Sinai. “For indeed our God is a consuming fire.” Why?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Hebrews, New Testament, YearC Tagged With: consume, fight, fire, flight, Moses

How would our ministry change if we removed the veil between ourselves and God?

Is the Biblical text set in stone?

by Russell Rathbun

In what ways are the writings of an ancient people and their perception of God relevant to us?

…we’ll never be good enough.

What does it mean to see God’s back?

It’s hard to shed the traces of tyranny

Is it better to die . . .?

by Russell Rathbun

Can we really feel God?

Beside Jesus glowing for a moment, what does the transfiguration transfigure?

Are desire and fear the foundations of faith?

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