The Long Winding Road
My work’s mission of Connecting Leaders to Change Lives and Transform Community has been a gift to me just as has the early rising and reading and patching together of thoughts that form the devotional you are now reading. It has changed me. This morning I thought why not connect in my mind and share what we can learn when we connect the leadership of Moses with that of Paul. More than a devotional you say. Right, but let’s give this a try and explore for a moment or two how these two men might meet in our minds and what they might share with us on our journey for if you are reading this you too are in this journey for the long haul…you too have faced challenges on The Long Winding Road.
Scripture: As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has overtaken them at last. As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
I Thessalonians 2:11-18 (NRSV)
The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Deuteronomy 34:8-12 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s message is about patience. Yesterday I met with missionaries from South Africa with a focus on Madagascar. They too are faced with the reality that missionary work must have patience. They know how long Nelson Mandela stayed in prison. The stories of Moses and Paul connect on this point. Our biblical texts for today tell us the stories of two men, Moses and Paul, each of whom was God’s servant in the shaping of a faithful people. Moses led the Hebrews through the desert for decades into liberation in the Promised Land. He endured the people’s derision, stubbornness, misunderstanding, and mutiny. He died before entering that Promised Land but in truth, the people didn’t need him anymore. The apostle Paul, meanwhile, in his letter to the Thessalonians, testifies to the terrible treatment that he had recently received in Philippi. He won’t be dissuaded, though, from committing the whole of his being to the spreading of the Gospel. Despite any awful treatment that he gets, he will continue with his work and he will always do it with integrity. In the face of hate or cruelty, he will speak in love. The content here is unsettling and demanding as they both ask us to live with God at the center of our being not just once but day after day after day. Yes what connects Moses and Paul is this journey that leads one to the door but perhaps not through it just yet. You see they both were in it for the long haul and neither got to see the fruition of their work. Our lot may be like them if we really love what we do. You see some projects we do like mowing the lawn…because it needs to be done and then there are the projects that we do out of deepest love, and they feel holy to us in a humble way. We feel God in them. For some, it is the years of challenging parenting, particularly of a young person who has troubles of some kind. For some it is the long, hard, fearful work of combatting disease or the fight to regain some physical ability after injury or illness. For some, it is the decades- even centuries long work for justice in one’s society: working, serving, striving, and suffering terribly. Friends, this work takes patience. But it starts with the light of hope.
Pray on our journey that when faced with meanness we emerge more compassionate. Pray we realize that nature is really peaceful only because of its patience. Pray that in our waiting in the valley we discover God’s patience. Pray we strive for the patience to be patient. Pray we realize that hope starts with patience not compliance. Pray that our hope for the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled. Pray that the Kingdom reign in our life now lighting our next step on the journey. Pray we conform to God’s timetable. Pray we realize that patience attains all that it strives for. Pray we hold on to purpose and meaning in the midst of our struggles. Pray that on our pilgrimage we grow in our capacity to be patient.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 