Document:  pub/resources/text/taize/johannine: johannine.94.03.TXT

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March 1994  JOHANNINE HOURS -  EXODUS 3,1-15

Moses, exiled from Egypt after an abortive attempt to establish justice,
is in the wilderness far off the beaten track when he encounters God. A
bush is on fire but is not consumed. God thus becomes present in a way
that reconciles poverty and splendour, the commonplace and the
mysterious. Similarly, the encounter with the Lord both fascinates and
frightens, because it draws human beings far from their securities and
their routines.

The God who speaks "from the middle of the bush" is no unknown deity,
but the God of Moses' ancestors who reveals himself in a new guise.
Because of the sufferings of his people, he comes to them to liberate
them and offer them a new life. To accomplish this, God seeks the help
of Moses. But Moses, aware of his limitations, hesitates and asks for a
guarantee, a name behind which he can hide and whose power he can make
use of.

The Lord replies by revealing his Name above all names (v.14). An
inexhaustible Name, that resists facile interpretations. A Name that
emphasizes the sovereign freedom of God, who never allows himself to be
trapped in human categories, as well as God's compassionate solidarity
(cf. v.12: "I AM" with you). Thus in revealing himself as the Wholly
Other, God shows himself to be infinitely close to human beings in their
need. And Moses is called to return to Egypt, not as the possessor of a
powerful Name, but as someone led forward by the assurance of a
presence.

According to this story, what is God's response to human beings who
have doubts about their abilities?

In what ways am I tempted to create a god to my measure, in order
either to believe in or to reject such a god? What can help me remember
that God is always beyond my understanding of him?

To which men and women in need, whose dignity has been wounded, is God
sending me? Can I show by the way I live the face of a God who opens a
way toward freedom and life?