This Sunday's lections included the story of Moses and the burning bush from Exodus. I had written a sermon on the Gospel lesson from Matthew and I wound up scrapping the written test to talk about Moses. The gospel was the story of Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah and Jesus' rebuke of Peter. In the gospel lesson is Jesus' call to us to "Deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him." I'm not sure when I have lately "denied myself" anything! I tend be able to rationalize giving myself what I want, whether its things or thoughts. Part of denying myself is to make myself turn aside from the path I am following, whether mentally or physically and turn to face what God wants for me. That's certainly what Moses had to do when confronted with the burning bush.

Moses was tending his flock, actually his father-in-law's flock when out of the corner of his eye he saw a bush burning but not being consumed by the fire. Moses, who had killed one of Pharoh's soldiers, probably did not want to face into that fire. We all know deep inside when something has "the odor of holiness" about it. Perhaps it's the way the sun comes through a window or a sudden and unexpected breeze across our skin; we know that God is present and we know it deep within. Whether we stop to acknowledge the "holy" or simply wait until the shivering in our belly ceases so we can continue to do the next thing, we know that temptation to "turn aside" into the holy moment. Moses could have kept on tending the sheep; perhaps he had already passed by several other "burning bushes" before this one. God might have continued to pursue him or moved on to find another person to deliver his people. Moses did turn aside. He denied himself the pleasure of remaining a simple shepherd. He denied himself the safety of hiding from Pharoh. He faced into the burning bush and in doing so he faced his greatest fears with God's help.

Perhaps this is one way that reconciliation happens. We face into our worst fears, into the burning bush and we deny ourselves the pleasure of staying angry, or cynical, or filled with hate. There is pleasure in keeping those feelings alive. Turning away from the path of anger and face into God's love burning brightly for us opens up a new opportunity for action and for forgiveness. I wonder how many burning bushes I pass by each day? I wonder how many opportunities for turning aside to face God's love I walk past each week? Oh for the grace and courage to deny myself and turn aside.