Lent 2010 #3

Acts 7:35-42

³⁵"It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.' ³⁸He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us. ³⁹Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰saying to Aaron, 'Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' ⁴¹At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands.

⁴²But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

Thoughts:

God raises up Israel and lifts them out of slavery from Egypt using an ordinary man named Moses. Yet the people are never happy. Despite the people's sin and rejection of God Moses says in verse 37 that God will raise up a prophet who will come from your own people. Many thought this prophet was Joshua but actually Moses was referring to one yet unborn, namely Jesus. Despite what God has done for us and continues to do for us how many times have we been ungrateful or unsatisified with what we have? How easy it is for us to turn to other gods, wanting more and more.

Prayer:

O Lord I thank for all that you have given me. Help me focus on my devotion to you rather than devotion to those things that separate me from you. Amen

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Thoughts by Rev. Tom Knoll

Pastor First Trinity Lutheran, Washington D.C.

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These devotions for young adults are provided by:
+ Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University http://www.gmu.edu/org/lutheran
+ Lutheran Student Association at the University of Maryland http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lutheran/lsa/
+ DC Young Adults http://www.dcyoungadults.org/
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Lent 2010 #2

Acts 7:30-34

30 "Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 "I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.'

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THOUGHTS:

This New Testament passage retells the story of Moses. In the story, we hear God telling His prophet that He sees the suffering and is going to do something about it. I find that to be a rather comforting thought. This is a story of God calling Moses and is one of the many “call” stories from the Bible.

What makes this passage so different is that instead of God coming to the person he is calling, Moses comes to him, on accident of course. This is what really got me thinking. As Christians, I find we spend a lot of time talking about what God is calling us to do. We spend much less time talking about where we meet God.

God called Moses from a burning bush: just a lowly bush and basic elemental fire. Where do we find our own burning bushes? In what places does God surprise us?

I know for me, one of those places is in sunrises and sunsets. The picture above does not do justice to the sunrise from the top Mount Sinai. While there I could feel God’s presence and the sacredness of the location. For me it was a “burning bush” moment, even though I am still working out what God was saying to me. It just so happened that the burning bush is in the Monastery at the base of the mountain. (see the picture below)

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PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, as we celebrate Lent, our attention turns to you. Allow us to see Your presence in our lives and in the world around us. Make us more aware of the “burning bush” moments in our lives. Grant us what we need to continue to on our paths through Lent so that our Lent might be fruitful. In Christ name we pray, Amen.

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Thoughts by Christopher Bergtholdt, a Senior at George Mason University
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These devotions for young adults are provided by:
Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University http://www.gmu.edu/org/lutheran
Lutheran Student Association at the University of Maryland http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~lutheran/lsa/
DC Young Adults http://www.dcyoungadults.org/
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Feel free to share them with your friends!
View or subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email fromhttp://lentendevotions.blogspot.com
Also available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7958874287

Lent 2009 #15

Acts 7:31-34  

31 When Moses saw [the burning bush], he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 'I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.'

THOUGHTS:

In Acts 7, Stephen is recounting a brief and broad history of Israel in which Moses gets the most space.  In this brief excerpt, we see God coming down to be with Moses.  God has heard the people suffering and says, "I have come down to rescue them".  

Throughout scripture, God comes down to people again and again:  

God walked in the garden of Eden.  

God instructed Noah.  

God confided in Abraham.  

God talked to Moses.

God put on skin and walked among the people as Jesus.

God came down as the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and lives within us.

And how does God rescue the people in this passage?  God calls Moses and sends him back to Egypt (which he's fled) to free the people.  God uses prophets to call attention to injustice.  God uses people like you and me to help the Kingdom of God take hold here on earth.

Through other people and the Holy Spirit, we encounter God every day and every place.  Wherever you feet are right now could be holy ground...

 

PRAYER (Psalm 19:14):

O God, let the words out of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.  AMEN.

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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University .  Feel free to share them with your friends!  For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran  

You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.com