WATCHWORD:
3 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[b] the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” 4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. 5“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. Exodus 3:1-5
16Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Meditation:
Holy Ground
I have been thinking about the Watchword meditation, Whom Shall I Send, for last Saturday, January 17, and there was an important point that needed to be made, but was omitted. Then in two streaming services on Sunday, the matter of “Holy Ground” was emphasized, which touched on my omission.
My friends and I had traveled to Michigan for five days of golf, good food and, maybe some cards. Early one morning we stood on the elevated third tee of the golf course and drank in the beauty of the scene. Before us the fairway dropped down into a valley, framed by the pine forest, and, there, in the far distance, the green, our goal. Without words, one friend nodded for us to look behind us. We turned, and there at the far end of the tee-station, stood a deer and two fawns, beautiful, motionless, staring at us, seemingly without fear. No one moved, no one spoke for a what seemed like a long time, until the deer, and her babies, turned and slowly moved into the forest. We looked at one another. It had been a reverent experience. For a brief time, we had witnessed God’s grace, and the tee-station on that third hole of this golf course had become, for a moment, Holy Ground.
Holy Ground. Moses, wanted for murder, ran away from his home and his people. And he knows that his people suffer terribly under the authority of pharaoh, who is the king of the most powerful empire in the world. Moses, who may have just been relieved to get out of town with his life, ends up far away on Mt Horeb, where he settles down with a wife and tends the goats for his father-in- law.
So, it’s just another ordinary workday for Moses, keeping an eye on the flocks as they forage for food on the side of the mountain. And then, suddenly, the ordinary day is transformed by this extraordinary sight, a flaming bush that seems to burn but is not consumed. And there is a divine messenger in the fire, the voice of God speaking directly to Moses, calling him by name. Moses knows he is in the presence of something or Someone much greater than he, and so he says, “Here am I.” Then God warns Moses to come no closer: “Take off your shoes, for you are standing on Holy Ground!”
Holy ground, God speaking to four guys on a golf course, looking for all the world like a family of deer. Holy ground, God speaking to us in the blinding beauty of a sunset. Holy ground, God speaking to us in the love of a child, of a spouse, of friends. Maybe your Holy ground is simply where you settle in with God and your devotionals, and begin your daily spiritual conversation with the Almighty.
Consider this: Your Holy Ground, my Holy Ground, is anywhere our prayers lead us. Holy Ground is that moment when God’s grace touches you, inspires you, encourages you to reach out to others, to share your witness to others, to express in word and deed, “you are loved.”
Paul, in his letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, admonishes them to rejoice, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things, that is the will of God. It seems to me that as we do that, as we rejoice at the beginning of the day, and are glad in it, as we pray, and as we recognize the graces that have come from God, we, too, are standing on Holy Ground. So be it.
Bulletin Board:
A BBC interviewer, after praising Mother Theresa of Calcutta for her work, remarked that in some ways, service might be easier for Mother Teresa than for us ordinary householders. “After all no possessions, no insurance, no car, and no husband.” “This is not true,” She replied at once.” I am married, too.” She held up the ring that nuns in her order wear to symbolize their wedding to Christ. Then she added, “And He can be very difficult sometimes!”
Closing Prayer:
O God, I kiss this holy ground. This place of promises in process. This place of people seeking God, And of God seeking and saving a people.
A place of knowing one is hungry, And of being fed. This place of grumbling, And of silence.
This space of solitude, And of communal struggle, This place of escape and encounter.
It is to this holy ground, You have lured me. Here I am, Speak to my heart.
Companion me, All who have walked, Before me, Have been hungry, And have been fed.
Turn my mumbling into silence, Surprise me with the flowers, Of springtime.
Bid me in this place of miracles, To remember, What God has done for me. Amen.
