Peace and Healing Is Another Way!
A reading for Tuesday, January 5, 2016: Exodus 3:1-12.
Can you imagine how scary it must have been for Moses to hear that he had to go to Pharaoh? He was raised in the house of Pharaoh. He knew the power Pharaoh wielded. He was on the run for a crime he had committed. Pharaoh might just have him killed on the spot. Surely God there has to be another way... and yet the call of Moses was to go to Pharaoh in search of peace and healing.
Can you imagine how scared The Reverend Larry Wright was on New Year's Eve when he confronted a man who arrived at his church and interrupted the service carrying a gun. The pastor knew very well the story of Mother Emmanuel this summer when a stranger arrived asking to be allowed to join a Bible study before killing innocent people. The pastor knew well the danger to not only himself, but to those he was responsible for in the church that night. He might just kill them all. Surely God there has to be another way... and yet the call of Pastor Wright was to confront the man in the name of peace and healing.
I don't assume this is the way we might handle every situation in which danger and fear are a part of the calling of God. I don't assume every pastor should take such a risk. However, I do believe that we have alternatives to just run away, shoot first and ask question later, and even let someone else handle the dangerous part. What if we are being called to step forward and to answer the calling of God in the name of peace and healing? Surely there is another way... It's the way of Jesus Christ!
The truth is if God is calling then God promises to go with us. God was there with Moses in confronting Pharaoh, and God surely was with Larry Wright in confronting the gunman. God is more powerful than evil. God is more powerful than the intent to do harm. God is even more powerful than guns... God is calling on us for peace and healing!
Can you imagine how scary it must have been for Moses to hear that he had to go to Pharaoh? He was raised in the house of Pharaoh. He knew the power Pharaoh wielded. He was on the run for a crime he had committed. Pharaoh might just have him killed on the spot. Surely God there has to be another way... and yet the call of Moses was to go to Pharaoh in search of peace and healing.
Can you imagine how scared The Reverend Larry Wright was on New Year's Eve when he confronted a man who arrived at his church and interrupted the service carrying a gun. The pastor knew very well the story of Mother Emmanuel this summer when a stranger arrived asking to be allowed to join a Bible study before killing innocent people. The pastor knew well the danger to not only himself, but to those he was responsible for in the church that night. He might just kill them all. Surely God there has to be another way... and yet the call of Pastor Wright was to confront the man in the name of peace and healing.
I don't assume this is the way we might handle every situation in which danger and fear are a part of the calling of God. I don't assume every pastor should take such a risk. However, I do believe that we have alternatives to just run away, shoot first and ask question later, and even let someone else handle the dangerous part. What if we are being called to step forward and to answer the calling of God in the name of peace and healing? Surely there is another way... It's the way of Jesus Christ!
The truth is if God is calling then God promises to go with us. God was there with Moses in confronting Pharaoh, and God surely was with Larry Wright in confronting the gunman. God is more powerful than evil. God is more powerful than the intent to do harm. God is even more powerful than guns... God is calling on us for peace and healing!
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