Photo by Frankie Lopez on Unsplash.

Exodus 3:1-15 The Burning Bush speaks to Moses

How do we attend to the divine fires of God's great purposes for our lives? 

We often use the phrase "fire in the belly" to convey ambition or a powerful drive to accomplish something. We all have a little inner fire since we burn calories to convert energy to live. Our bodies are warm while alive and grow cold when we stop metabolizing. The flame goes out. Fire is the energy of life. Archeological evidence shows humans have used fire for cooking for over a million years. It is a significant force in our evolutionary development. Cooked food is easier to digest, so a body can gain five times the calories from cooked meat or grains than raw food. This extra energy could go into brain development, language, cave paintings, philosophy, and making up knock-knock jokes. 

The use of fire made us as a species. The Greek myth of Prometheus stealing the fire from the gods as a gift for humans captures this ancient truth. No wonder fire plays a vital role in religious ceremonies, from candles to bonfires to the Pentecost flames of the Holy Spirit. 

What strikes me about the story of the burning bush is that Moses does not seem to have a fire in the belly. He is not searching for a greater purpose or asking for God's guidance. He is tending his father-in-law's flock out in nowhere, hiding out after killing a slave taskmaster in Egypt. The author gives us no indication of Moses' ambitions or desires for anything but to live his life. 

But Moses is curious when he sees this bush burning. He goes out of his way to see. As The Message translation says in verse three:

Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?"

Curiosity is a valuable spiritual trait, maybe more important than ambition. Curiosity is a desire to learn, explore, and understand something new. Curiosity requires openness and receptivity. Incurious people get stuck in what they already know and are not interested in newness or change. So what if the bush is burning? I have sheep to move. Moses's spiritual journey begins in curiosity. What is going on here?   I prefer a curious mind over a certain thinker and a church for believers, questioners, and questioning believers over the church with all the answers. If you have all the answers, you might miss the burning bush and God's voice. 

Curiosity leads to wonder but also into a state of confusion while getting your mind around things. After a voice comes from the burning bush, God must reorient Moses. "Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground." What do shoes have to do with holy ground? Shoes protect the feet from injury. If a shepherd steps on a rock or thorn, it's a long way to a hospital. Removing your shoes leaves your feet a little vulnerable and unprotected. Let's talk about your feet. Do you like your feet? Who do you let touch your feet? You must love someone to touch their feet. Jesus's last ministry in John's Gospel was to wash the disciples' feet. That is holy ground. Taking your shoes off removes the barrier between human skin and earth. Take off your shoes! God is grounding Moses in a different reality, sacred earth. It is an excellent spiritual practice to remove your shoes and feel the grass and the dirt between your toes.

Usually, you introduce yourself before asking someone to remove their shoes. But God can do things in God's way, and now says, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hides his face, afraid to look. He has moved from curiosity to fear. Hiding your face feels more like shame. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they hid from God for the first time, ashamed of who they were. What caused this response for Moses? Was it the murder? Had divine justice caught up with him? Was he embarrassed to be herding sheep after his education in Egypt's royal court? 

So much emotion is in that gesture of hiding his face. Not everyone in the Bible is afraid of being seen by God. Hagar is rescued from death and says, 'I have seen God, and God has seen me." Jacob wrestles with an angel and says, "I have seen God face to face." David says in the Psalms 139

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    You discern my thoughts from far away.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    Test me and know my thoughts.

Shame has knocked the curiosity out of Moses. That is how shame works, removing us from new possibilities, insight, and change. 

God forges ahead with the divine purpose of this meeting and reveals a deep passion for the Hebrew enslaved people. Notice how personal and empathetic God's concern is. This is not just a philosophical longing for justice, but God says, "I have observed their misery. I have heard their cry. I know their suffering." God sees, hears, and feels. This is a relational God who loves and wants good things for people. God intends freedom from slavery and a new start in a promised land.

Moses might be perking up and getting a little more hopeful. Now God is talking his language. Moses may not want God to see him, but he wants God to see the oppression caused by the Egyptians. This encounter may turn out better than he thought. The plan sounds great till verse 10:

"Now go; I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." I can relate to how Moses responds, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Who am I to do this great thing? Does this sound familiar? Who am I to preach? Who am I to speak up and say what I think? Who am I to make a difference on climate change? Who am I to offer comfort to the dying, food to so many hungry, hope to the downhearted? Who am I to interrupt someone making racist comments or sexist or disparaging remarks? Who am I to even speak up for myself and what I need or want? How many times a month do we ask this question, an inner voice so subtle we don't notice how persistent it is? If this becomes our default question, we will never do anything because it implies that much of life is just too big for us to make a difference.

Let's identify with Moses at this decision point. He is not yet the great leader honored in scripture who is played by Charlton Heston. He is just a human being with doubts about the enormity of what he is asked to do. It is powerful to know that before Moses defeated Pharoah, he had to conquer himself. He had to get past his fears and limited thinking. This first step is what we all face when we have something hard before us. We must get over ourselves.

Moses may have been the perfect person for the job. He knew both cultures, was born a Hebrew, and was educated as an Egyptian. He loved people on both sides of the divide but could not stand cruelty and injustice. God needed someone who heard the same cries of despair and could also speak the oppressor's language. Not only was Moses the right person, but perhaps doing this liberating work was his heart's desire. But none of these factors make the job easy.

The truth is anything worth doing is daunting when we begin. Resistance is part of the process. Every creative work, every personal change, and every attempt to do something good for the world starts with resistance. Who am I to do this? The challenge is to decide whether it is a bad idea or if we are afraid of failure. Even what we genuinely want to do will require overcoming homeostasis of how things are. 

So, how did Moses do it? Was it his great strength of will or determination? In the next verse, God says, "I will be with you." We most need someone to walk beside us and believe in us. God with you is a compelling partner. When Moses is discouraged, it is because he feels so alone. Later, God brings Aaron alongside Moses and other leaders like Jethro, so he isn't alone. 

When we face change, an essential question before acting is, "Who can help you with this?" It is a coaching question I ask frequently. People are often surprised because they hadn't considered anyone helping. The bigger picture in our text is that God walks with us. So whatever big thing you may be facing, step one to action is the great prayer, "Help!" Cry help, and you are crying hope. You just never know who might show up.



The spark that lights your soul is never far away. It is always within, and leaps when it recognizes the divine fire. Follow your soul’s curiosity. Let the “who am I” voices fade and focus on tending the fire. It is supposed to be bigger than you, and others will want to join you and spread the flame.