March 18, 2010
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
“Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.” So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people. Exodus 32:13-14
“Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” John 5:45-47
Piety
At Horeb they fashioned a calf, worshiped a metal statue. They exchanged their glorious God for the image of a grass-eating bull. They forgot the God who saved them, who did great deeds in Egypt, Amazing deeds in the land of Ham, fearsome deeds at the Red Sea. He would have decreed their destruction, had not Moses, the chosen leader, Withstood him in the breach to turn back his destroying anger. Psalm 106:19-23
Study
Public Defender or Witness for the Prosecution? Within the readings we have today, Moses potentially plays both roles. In the passage from Exodus, Moses intercedes with the Lord on our behalf. He convinces God to blow off some steam rather than to inflict upon us the punishment which we deserve.
However, Jesus warns us that even Moses might reach the end of his patience with the way his people have rejected Jesus. “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.
How, indeed, will we believe? Will we believe because we have empirical evidence about God? Look around at the season poking its head out into the newly arrived sunshine. After winter blizzards and heavy spring rains, one day of sunshine is all it takes for the buds to begin to appear on the trees. The crocus and tulips are poking their green stems and leaves up through the mulchy mushy soil to brighten our days with bright yellow and pink and red hellos.
How, indeed, will we believe? Will we believe because we have learned to see Jesus in the women and men who dot our daily lives? From those closest to us like our spouses who put up with all our lazy habits to those we only encounter briefly at the toll plaza or on the sidewalks, do we see the person of Jesus in them?
How, indeed, will we believe? Will we believe because we have learned to listen to the voice of God by meditating on words, sounds and images? God is there speaking to us. Jesus calls on us to hear what the Father has to say to us.
How, indeed, will we believe?
Are the words of Jesus enough?
Are the words of John the Baptist enough?
Are the words of God enough?
Are the scriptures enough?
Are Moses and the prophets enough?
Action
Imagine for a minute that Moses is walking into a courtroom. You are sitting at the defendant’s table. What seat will Moses take in the room? Will he march up to sit with the prosecutor? Will he sit next to you and your lawyer as co-counsel? Will he sit behind you ready to take the witness stand in your behalf?
As Psalm 106 reminds us today, the Lord “would have decreed [our] destruction, had not Moses, the chosen leader, withstood him in the breach to turn back his destroying anger.”
The challenge of today’s Gospel calls to mind the story of Lazarus and the rich man who ignored the needs of the poor beggar at his gate. Maybe what we need to do is encounter God in the person of the poor who are with us always reminding us of the presence of the Lord in everyday life.
The Lord exerts a presence every day of our life. Our job is to recognize it and act accordingly.
