What a sight it must have been.  The side of a mountain.  Late morning sun warming the rock and valley below; or perhaps the beginning of late afternoon with its rich and vivid glow.  Untouched - ungrazed green patches of tender grass and scattered clumps of bushes and shrubs nestled against the rock.  As if that wasn’t enough, God then shows up - actually, I think God was there all along, so I’m going to say, God’s presence broke in and revealed itself to a shepherd named Moses.  Right place, right time?  Lucky day?  Coincidence? 

It is one of the most familiar passages of all scripture.  He is one of the most recognizable figures in the Old Testament.  It is one of the most popular stories of all time.  But what is the object used to identify the significance of this epic story?  What item illustrates such a remarkable encounter?  What thing comes to symbolize the moment as holy?  

Moses, standing in amazement gawking at a bush that was engulfed in what appeared to be flames but it was not burning up.  When he went near to investigate, the Spirit of God said “take off your shoes, this is holy ground.” 

Take off your shoes.  That’s odd, most people believed that when you stood in the presence of a proclaimed god, king, or great ruler you brought riches, extravagant gifts, or something of great value to the one giving it.  Not that Moese had much, but God didn’t say throw down your nice, warm, well-made shepherd's coat, remove your hand woven head covering, or get those stinky sheep off my mountain.  God said, “take off your shoes.”  Sandals in this case - nothing more than old dusty, probably well worn, straps of leather tied to a solid piece for the sole that protected the foot from the rough terrain.  

The story of Moses and the burning presence of God has been told thousands of times in a thousand different ways.  Yet when was the last time you heard a sermon about his shoes?

How often do you think about your shoes?  Oh, I know there are some who obsess over their shoes (or maybe have too many boots) and I am fully aware that the question I am about to ask is a first-world kind of question:  How many of you own more than two pairs of shoes?  More than four or five?  I would imagine you have various dress shoes.  Work shoes.  Yard work or lawn-mowing shoes.  Everyday shoes.  Going out shoes.  Athletic or sport-specific type shoes (golf, running, dance, etc.).  Summer sandals.  Winter boots.  Spring in Indiana boots.  Lounge around the house shoes.  Just for fun, “I had to have them” kind of shoes.  Slip ons.  Tie ups.  Velcro closure.  

But have you ever thought about the shoes sitting in your closet or lost under the bed as symbols of your walk with God?  Have you considered the metaphorical message your shoes might be telling you?  We talk about taking off the masks we hide behind.  We talk about taking off that extra layer of guilt or resentment that we wear like a heavy coat.  We talk about taking off or setting down the baggage we carry with us.  But what about our shoes?  

We can take off and let go of all that other stuff but it strikes me that if we don’t take off our shoes and touch the very dust from which God created us and ground ourselves in God, then we still walk in or walk from a place, mindset, or paradigm that keeps us from experiencing the fullness of God. 

Have there been times in your life you needed to take off your shoes - take off that which kept you from fully experiencing what God had for you?  Is now the time?  Could this season of Lent be a time to take off the false narratives you walk around with?  A time to take off the dirt of gossip, cynicism, and judgmentalism that keeps you from enjoying the good around you?  Or that keeps you from hearing and seeing others as God sees them?  Do you need to take off your shoes of control and recognize God’s faithfulness?  God’s timing?  God’s way?  Is it time to unlace / untie certain expectations, assumptions, or speculations and feel your feet sink into the presence of God; being grounded once again?   

I think part of what Moses had to remove was his being comfortable.  I think he needed to take off his security and learn to trust God.  Moses could not approach God until he took off that which was stuck to the bottom of his shoes.  It is not until we do the same that we can stand on the holy ground and recognize God in our midst; recognize God revealing God’s self to us in ways you don’t expect; recognize that God may not be what we have always thought God was.  It is then we see more clearly what God is doing and how we are a part of it.  

You’ll notice Moses doesn’t take off his shoes, step in that moment with God and then stay there barefoot and blinded by what God is doing and asking of him.  He steps back out and does what?  He puts his shoes back on.  But here’s the thing, I bet they felt different.  Once you have stood on holy ground, your shoes don’t fit the same. 

Maybe they feel lighter.  Maybe they fit better than before.  Maybe you have more room for growth or maybe they were reshaped for the journey ahead.  Maybe they don’t fit at all and you have to put on new shoes - different shoes for new understanding, new insights, new ways of thinking, doing, and being.  Maybe you feel stronger, more determined to walk on; or maybe you feel like what I like to call confidently terrified yet ready to take those next steps.  The point is, those ordinary shoes illustrate an extraordinary encounter with the holy.

May we, like Moses, take off our shoes, and be transformed, inspired, challenged, affirmed, and encouraged.  May we continue to see God in plain sight.  Amen. 

Pastor Jenothy Irvine

Jesus was always stirring up trouble and the reason was that he was not what people expected.  He knew the ways of the Old Testament and the history of God’s people -  from Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Aaron, the wilderness experience, the promised land, the words of the prophets, and the ways God’s people had over and over again been conquered and divided.  He knew they had long awaited a strong and powerful king, to come and rule on their behalf; to overturn the oppression they felt at the hand of the Roman Government.  He knew the poor and marginalized were waiting for healing, stability, and deliverance while the religiously educated, employed, and financially secure were waiting for a military king to come and wipe out their enemy all in God’s name. 

It was into such strong pre-existing expectations and assumptions that Jesus brought a message that turned it all upside down.  He engaged with people in a way that no one thought a “king” would or should. He connected with people that others callously pushed aside or ignored. He challenged the religious leaders - the Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees and others who were educated in the Law of the Torah, or the first five books of the bible that contained the history of God’s people. These learned men were the interpreters of God’s law to the Jewish people.  

Jesus presented a new message.  A message of new life - a new way to treat one another and live in community; a way that involved self-sacrifice and servanthood rather than punishment and servitude.  He preached compassion, unity, and peace rather than vengeance, disparity, and chaos.  He embodied God’s mercy and grace rather than God’s wrath and judgment stating he was the fulfillment of the law. 

It is easy to see how those in power and authority didn’t like what Jesus taught.  It is easy to see why those who established religious practices and taught the religious rules based on the old Levitical Law (Old Testament) didn’t like what he stood for and promoted.  It is easy to see why they wanted him silenced and why they put great effort into disrupting his plan. It is easy to see why they wanted to put an end to his divine agenda.  They could not grasp that he was the fulfillment of the very law they were so desperately clinging to.  

The primary way they tried to disrupt Jesus’ purpose was by publically challenging him with difficult, political topics, and emotionally charged issues.  Multiple times throughout Jesus’ ministry, those in authority found ways to publicly put Jesus on the spot with the sole intent of embarrassing, shaming, or catching him saying or doing something that was against the law of the governing body.  

Jesus comes on the scene saying he, and he alone, is the fulfillment of God’s law and that he came to give life and life abundant, therefore the strict rules, regulations, practices, and elite hierarchy put in place by the Jewish leaders was not God’s way.   The Pharisees could not lose control and so they devised a plan.  If they could get Jesus to say the people of God should not have to pay taxes to Caesar he would be reported and arrested by Roman authority.  If they could get Jesus to say the people of God should pay taxes regardless, his followers and growing popularity will turn against him.  Either way, they win and retain their power and authority. 

Jesus turns their question from a sociopolitical issue - who has political power and governing authority,  to a theological one; What does God require of human beings?  Who by the way are made in and carry within them not the image of Caesar, but the image of God  (NIB 673). 

According to Bishop and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, Jesus did three things with his answer: 

1. It is as if Jesus says ‘give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, yes pay the tax but without the sting of saying yes you must submit to the Romans as your masters.”  
   
2. His words echo a long standing Jewish slogan, “pay the Gentiles back in their own coin.” Jesus is reminding these “learned” men of a long ago rally cry from their own people - but all the Roman authorities hear is “pay your taxes.”  
   
3. The command to give God what belongs to God is the most brilliant piece of this whole puzzle.  Could it mean that Jesus was saying because humans bear God’s image, that all humans owe themselves, their lives, to God and should give those lives back, as one might give a coin back to Caesar?  Did he mean, standing there in the Temple courtyards, that the sacrificial system, which was supposed to be the way of giving God his due, needed to be superseded by a more complete worship?  Did he mean - against normal revolutionaries - that if you really gave your whole self to God you would discover that using violence to fight violence, using evil to fight evil, simply wouldn't do?  
   

If this text is about anything, it is about discipleship - learning, seeking, and knowing how to live life more and more like Jesus.  It is about realizing that the Kingdom of God goes beyond the either/or questions and answers we so desperately seek.  It goes beyond our compulsion or need to arrange, color code, file, alphabetize, and categorize all the hard parts of life so that we can feel like we are in control.  The text, like many of Jesus’ teachings, challenges us to think beyond the either/or and walk through the both/and discoveries that come when we fully give ourselves to the wisdom of God.  This text is about how we live in and bring about the Kingdom of God here and now.  

An ordinary coin.  An extraordinary lesson.  A deeper insight into who Jesus is, who we are to be, and a greater understanding of how God is at work in plain sight.   May we all have eyes to see and ears to hear.   AMEN

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine

It is difficult to prove, but following Jesus’ announcement to his disciples that he will suffer and die on the cross, the crowds that were following him seem to have gotten smaller as the gap between who Jesus is and who people expected him to be got bigger. After all, the cross in Jesus’ day was a sign of torture and shame, humiliation and defeat. It was not a sign of success!

In his book Not a Fan, Kyle Idleman makes a similar point when he says that most Christians today are quite content with being a fan of Jesus rather than a follower of Jesus: better to admire Jesus from the sidelines than make the decision to follow him and pick up a cross. Idleman wants us to understand that whenever we make the cross into a ladder for our own self-promotion or admiration, even to get into heaven, we have missed the point of the gospel.  

This is close to what the apostle Paul means when he says that we “preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2) – a notion completely out of sink with pagan culture. It is Paul’s way of saying that we do not preach a gospel of easy answers: rather, we preach a gospel that keeps coming back to the cross, or to the distance Jesus keeps, so that God can keep the throne of grace free, untamed, and uncontrollable. It also keeps the gospel interesting. In fact, as a pastor, I can’t think of anything more dishonest than preaching such a gospel of “cheap love.” By minding what is in plain sight, we realize that a gap exists between God and us, and it is a gap we call the cross.

How might we recognize this gap in ourselves during this Lenten Journey? How might we come to confess Christ and our relationship to him when we come into his presence? How may we recognize how this gap makes us aware of how amazing grace is?

​Pastor Andy Kinsey

Lent is a metaphorical walk through the wilderness of self - based on the wilderness experience of the People of Israel in the desert; forty years of wandering and questioning.  We spend time looking at the things, people, experiences, distractions, temptations, shortcomings, circumstances, failures, and situations that make up life and measuring all that alongside the wilderness experience of Jesus.  We look at what his experience reveals to us through his temptation, his struggle and sacrifice, and ultimately his death and resurrection.  The goal is an intentional walk with Jesus to the cross. 

In her book, Lent in Plain Sight, Jill Duffield identifies the way in which God works through the ordinary.  She states, “God is often at work through ordinary people and ordinary objects.  God communicates, reveals, saves, and reconciles through the mundane.”  Using ordinary objects like break, coins, oil, dust, rocks, towels, thorns, and the cross, Duffield invites readers to pay attention to how God’s presence and the redeeming work of Christ is at work right before their very eyes.  

We begin with bread, which raises the question,  What are you hungry for?  What is that ache in the pit of your stomach or the gnawing in your soul?  What would it take or what sign are you looking for to address the hunger pangs you feel when you look at your life, your family, our community, the church, the state of our world, and any number of other situations and circumstances around the nation and world. 

It wouldn’t take long to fill a page with what people hunger for.  If what I hear as a pastor is accurate, people are hungry for honesty; just be honest with me.  People are hungry for kindness; can’t we all just get along like we were taught in kindergarten?  People are hungry for acceptance, truth, balance, good health, a sense of hope, a sense of normal, a sense of direction, answers, unity, energy, peace and quiet, love, respect, compassion, and purpose.  

Those are the same things the people of God hungered for long ago.  The same things the first followers of Jesus hungered for and the same things the crowds that gathered to listen and watch Jesus hungered for.  They wanted a sign to satisfy their hunger and need of assurance, direction, and purpose.  We have been asking God and Jesus to satisfy the hunger in our souls since things went bad in the garden and Adam and Eve were hungry for more and tried to satisfy that hunger with everything but God.

We do the same thing.  We feast on accomplishments, accolades, and attainment.  We fill our plates with distraction, entertainment, and collectables.  We top it off with a bowl full of complaints, comparisons, and criticism. We lick our plate clean as if in a competition and soak up the crumbs with judgment, cynicism, arrogance, and resentment.  Then we get up from the table and wonder why we don’t have room for anything else or why we are hungry again in a couple of hours.  We keep looking for more.

We are hungry because we, like believers before us, seek after Jesus, even follow him, observing his example, tasting his words, sipping on his truths, and yet fail to realize the fullness of who Jesus is.  We fail to comprehend that it is not just his actions and his words, but whoJesus is that ultimately satisfies our hunger for meaning, purpose, identity, belonging, hope, community, and life abundant.  

Jesus’ proclamation of being the bread of life is found within a set of three experiences, “signs,”  or moments in which Jesus interacts with the people.  Earlier in John, we read of Jesus feeding the large crowd - physical nourishment.  We then read of Jesus walking on water - a display of his power.  Next he proclaims he is the bread of life, which is immediately followed up with him stating he is not only fulfilling the will of God, he is the will of God.  He did not come with his own agenda but with the will of God.  Jesus did not satisfy their physical hunger only to show what he could do or to flex his divine muscle.  He wanted them to come and see that their physical hunger was only made complete when their spiritual hunger was satisfied in him, the son of God.  It is not only what he did, it is who Jesus was - the fulfillment and very presence of God.  That is our true sign and source of complete satisfaction.

Bread sustains life.  Without it, life can not go on.  And Jesus wants our life to be more than physical existence. Jesus wants for us a full and abundant life in relationship with him.  This passage tells us that without Jesus there may be existence, but not life.  We can exist and fill ourselves with things we think sustains life, but only Jesus can satisfy our soul hunger.  “One commentator put it this way: The hunger of the human situation is ended when we know Christ and through him, we know God.  The restless soul is at rest; the hungry heart is satisfied.”

The loaf of bread on the shelf.  The breadstick next to the salad.  The rolls waiting to be passed.  Warm biscuits waiting to be buttered.  A slice of toast.  Jesus in plain sight. 

A loaf of bread.  A cup of wine. Nourishment for the soul.
A loaf of bread.  A cup of wine.  Food to sustain more than our body. 
A loaf of bread.  A cup of wine.  Jesus in plain sight.  

Amen

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine

People like to groan.  We groan about bad drivers and traffic lights.  We groan about the cost of groceries.  We groan about how we look or don’t look.  We groan about the neighbor's dog or cat or yard or all three.  We groan about the weather; too hot, too cold, too humid, too dry.  We groan about the noise of the world today but then again when it all gets quiet.  We like to groan - mumble and complain.  However it is one thing to moan and groan over someone taking your parking spot or eating the last thin mint in the pack before you got any, and groaning over life’s most challenging obstacles.  It is the latter I want us to reflect on today. 

From the voices of children who are scared and don’t understand what is happening around them, the voices of people who never imagined it would happen to them, their family, their country to the faces of those who lost someone they love and the face of a soldier, an officer, or the first responder who can never unsee what they have seen in the field, on duty, and around the corner. From the feeling in the air when conflict and tension consumes the space between us and them to the feeling in your gut when you watch the news, hear the opposing sides, see the images, and can’t believe humans could do such things.  From the taste of pain and anger as you spit it out or as it rolls off the tongue the person next to you to the smell of regret and revenge. 

That sound.  That raw feeling.  That bitter taste.  All of it is the groaning of all creation - all  humanity.  

The groaning of children robbed of innocence and trying to figure out why.
The groaning of the haves and the have nots and the gap only gets bigger.
The groaning of a broken heart and a broken mind.
The groaning of deep-seeded anger and resentment.
The groaning of buried pain, unspoken truth, and unresolved differences.
 
You do not have to look very far or listen too intently to see and hear the groaning of our world.  Our creation. Our society. Our nation.  People here and around the world.  Even ourselves.

We groan because we are hurting.
We groan because we are upset.
We groan because we are overwhelmed.

We groan because we want answers.
We groan because we want truth.
We groan because we want direction.
We groan because we are disappointed.
We groan because we know we can do better yet we feel helpless and out of control. 
We groan because…we are tired of groaning and don’t know what else to do.

Are we to exist in the groaning OR are we to live in hope?  The Apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 8, offers the answer.  Read Romans 8:18-25.

In this text, which has been called the best chapter in the bible, Paul reminds the believers that what matters most is remembering who we are and whose we are. That doesn’t mean we live a life of ease.  Paul never said life as a follower of Jesus was easy.  Jesus never said, follow me for an all expense paid trip to luxury .  It was more like they said, life is hard, people can be hard hearted and cruel, it won’t be easy, bad things happen with no explanation other than there are mean, hurtful, greedy controlling people out there.  There are times it won’t make sense and times when it won’t be fair, you might get hurt, lose someone or something you love or cherish, things won’t go like you thought, and there will be days you want to quit.  BUT, all the heartache, all the grief, and all the pain you might suffer while following me, are not worth comparing to or cannot be compared to the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control that can be revealed through your commitment to me; all the trouble, confusion, and mystery is not worth the comparison in fact cannot be compared to the beauty, goodness, and truth of Christ that can be revealed through your life with me…groans, growth, and glory.  Not our glory but God’s lived out in our lives.  

 We groan - we endure, we cry out, we throw our hands up and ask “why.”  But have you ever noticed we do all that on the exhale of living.  What if on the inhale, we breathe in God’s mercy, compassion, and strength giving us courage and hope to take the next step. Paul’s words do not say that only creation groans or that only we ourselves groan, but that the Holy Spirit groans with us (vs. 26ff). The very breath of our Creator; the Divine Holy.  The very essence of God groans with us - in our pain, heartache, and grief both big and small; in the unknown, when we are afraid, hurting, lost and feel helpless or defeated.  When violence breaks out on the other side of the world and in our own home.  When threats of war become reality and we feel helpless.  When our minority brothers and sisters are targeted, shut out, or silenced.  When our LGBTQ brothers and sisters are threatened, held at arm's length, or treated unjustly. When a pandemic causes division and a mask becomes a political symbol.   When friends get hurt, family members die, bills add up, and answers are hard to find.  The Spirit of God groans with us with sighs too deep for words because God knows.  God knows and is in it with us. Groans, growth and glory.  Not our glory but God’s lived out in our lives. 

Knowing that God’s Spirit groans with us, I find hope.  I choose hope.  Hope that good people are still doing good things for humanity.  Hope that our children still have a future.  Hope that unity is possible.  Hope that love can win.  Hope that kindness and compassion can reach farther than violence and hatred.  Hope that a difference can be made even if it is one person, one act, one moment, one prayer at a time. Hope that we can show others and ourselves the love of Christ.  Groans - growth and glory.  Not our glory, but God’s lived out in our lives. 

When we hear the groaning of all creation and we find ourselves asking, “What is God up to?  Or Where is God in our midst?” May we all remember, God is in the ordinary.  God is in the mundane of it all.  God is in the daily grind and routine of life.  God is in our acts of kindness, justice, and compassion.  God is in the laughter of a friend and in the middle of the night when the baby stops crying.  God is in the long walk, the melody of your favorite song, and the words of encouragement or affirmation received in a letter, text or email.  God is in the sunrise and sunset.  God is in the passing smile, gentle eyes, and friendly wave you offer or receive on any given day. God is in the ordinary miracles taking place in, through and all around us.   We are a part of the ordinary miracle God is using to restore hope to the world.  Groans - growth - glory.  Not our glory, but God’s lived out in our lives.  Thanks be to God and may it be so. 
Rev. Dr. Jenothy Irvine