LENTEN DEVOTION FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now...I am slow of speech." Then the Lord said to him, "Go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said "Lord, please send someone else." Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and He said, "What of your brother Aaron?...You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do...and you shall serve as God for him." (Exodus 4:10-16)

Since childhood, we have been told that Lent is a time for introspection, for learning how our behaviors have led to private and corporate crucifixions of the one whose birth we recently celebrated. What is God like? How does God view our complicity or acquiescence in the face of injustice and human caused suffering?

From the passage above, we learn it is God's nature to care and to call. God cares about what is happening and calls people to fix it. God called Moses from the time of his birth to be the liberator of the Hebrews, motivating his mother and the Pharaoh's daughter to save him from drowning in the Nile, and now Moses is complaining and asking God to send someone else! Excuses, excuses! This adds another attribute to our assessment of God's nature: ANGER.

We too have been called by God to fix things that have gone wrong around us and have found excuses to leave it to someone else. Too young. Too old. Too busy. Too powerless. Too tired. God did not let Moses off the hook, and neither will God do that for us. God may send someone else to do it with us, but not for us. What is God's nature? To call again.

God: teach us what's wrong and let us know what is unacceptable in our excuses. Then, give us the friends and supporters to be with us on the road to compassion and justice. Amen.

Hank Borchardt