Spiritual Hiccups - Beyond Comfortable Routines

I'm back in the office today for the first time since December 26.  I had wonderful visits with family down in the Carolinas, but it is good to get back home.  It's nice to sleep in your own bed and to get back to regular routines.  That's true in my life at church as well.  Today I return to comfortable, well rehearsed routines of staff meetings, preparing sermons, getting bulletins ready, committee and governing board work, and so on.  Some parts of the routine may be more enjoyable than others, but on the whole, they constitute a familiar, comfortable pattern where I know how to act and what to do.  Maybe all's not right with the world, but my life is under control.

I wonder if Moses felt that way when he settled into his life as a shepherd.  Those of us who learned about Moses in church know that he isn't destined to be a simple shepherd.  But Moses doesn't know that.  After being raised in Pharaoh's house but then having to flee Egypt to escape a murder charge, he is probably quite happy to settle down into a comfortable routine.  He's gotten married.  His father-in-law, who seems like a nice fellow, has welcomed him into the family and given him meaningful work to do.  Surely Moses thinks he is set.  His life may not be grandiose, but it is good, and it is comfortable.

At least it is until God shows up.  When Moses turns aside to see a "burning bush," he is simply indulging his curiosity.  He has no way of knowing that God is about to turn his life upside down as a part of a plan to rescue Israel from slavery in Egypt.  Wouldn't a divine snap of the fingers be sufficient?  Why does God need Moses?  But in the strange ways of God, nothing seems to happen without humans joining the story.

Very often in congregations and in the work of a pastor, comfortable routines become revered treasures.  "Gimme that old time religion," says the song.  "Church like you remember it" read the billboard I saw from the highway.  It's as though something already established is where we should be.  But what if God has other ideas.

A lot of congregations in America are struggling these days.  And very often the reaction to such struggles is to cling to what we know, to what is comfortable.  We want to hang on to "Church like we remember it."  But what if God wants to take us beyond what we remember, beyond our comfortable routines, to become a part of the divine plan for salvation?  What if helping God take creation toward a new day when God's will is done "on earth" means upsetting our routines and our comfort?  What if it calls us to take risks and head out in uncertain directions. 

That is precisely what God will ask of Moses.  It was what God asked of Abraham and Sarah before, and it is what Jesus will ask of those fishermen he calls to follow him.  And it is what Jesus still asks of all who would become his disciples.  Jesus asks us to trust him when he says that letting go of those things we cherish and giving ourselves over to God and neighbor will lead to something more wonderful than any life we can build for ourselves. 

Life had finally settled down and become something Moses could count on and enjoy.  Then God showed up.  It's not too hard to understand why Moses begged God to find someone else for the job.  But I guess it's a pretty good thing Moses finally said, "Yes." 

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