Standing On Holy Ground
Becca Stevens, who is an Episcopal priest and founder of Thistle Farms, a program for women who have suffered abuse, was one of the speakers at Father Charles Strobel’s memorial service on August 18th.
She did an incredible job, standing between the pitcher’s mound and home plate at First Horizon Park where the Sounds play baseball. In addition to being a priest and advocate for the poor and homeless, Charles was a huge baseball fan. So the Sound’s stadium was a very fitting setting for that service. As Rev. Stevens walked out to speak, I noticed she wasn’t wearing any shoes. She was wearing a stole, street clothes, no alb, no robe, and no shoes.
As I listened to her speak I began to think about today’s text and how Moses took off his shoes when he entered God’s presence out there in the desert near Mt. Sinai.
The Bible tells us Moses removed his shoes because he was standing on holy ground.
I don’t know for sure why Becca Stevens removed her shoes before she spoke that day, but I have to think it must have had something to do with her sense of standing on holy ground, right there between the pitcher’s mound and home plate at First Horizon Park.
Maybe the real question isn’t why Rev. Stevens was not wearing shoes as she spoke at that memorial service for Father Strobel, but why do preacher’s ever wear shoes when we speak.
Because we are always standing on holy ground whenever we proclaim the word of God, and we are always standing on holy ground when we encounter God’s word.
Remember over in Genesis when Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran to find a wife in his ancestral homeland? (and to let his brother Esau cool off a little bit after Jacob cheated him out of his birthright)
Genesis 28 tells us when he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. (It was getting dark) Grabbing a stone for a pillow he went to sleep. As he slept he had this incredible dream of a stairway leading up to heaven. Angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it all stood the Lord, and the Lord said:
“I am the Lord, the God of your Father Abraham and the God of Issac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants wills be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Those are some pretty huge promises and Jacob was filled with awe.
But here is what I suspect…I suspect Jacob was not filled with awe because of the promise, but because he had experienced the presence of God first hand—out there in that desert, near Mt. Sinai.
Here is how he answered:
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
When you stand in the presence of God, you’ve got to find some way to mark the occasion.
Moses took his shoes off. Jacob built a stone memorial, an Ebeneezer, as they are sometimes called in the Old Testament.
But the most important thing to do when you are standing in God’s presence, is to listen.
Listening is super important in worship and in prayer.
Worship and prayer is about a whole lot more than our just telling God what we want.
Or what we expect God to do for us
I once heard about a little boy whose parents had some friends over. It was starting to get late and as he was making his way up to his bedroom he paused halfway up the stairs and told those gathered below, “I’m going up to pray, does anybody need anything?”
That is just awesome and I am glad that little boy was taught to ask God for things in prayer. But there is more to prayer than just asking.
If someone’s prayer life only consists of asking God for things and not listening to God, it’s not very mature
When God called Moses over to that burning bush, it wasn’t just to give Moses an opportunity to hand God a wish list.
It wasn’t just so that God could find out what color carpet Moses likes
--Or the style of music Moses prefers---
God had some things for Moses to hear
That were a lot more important than Moses’ personal preferences about things that ultimately aren’t that important.
God had some things for Moses to do.
God’s heart was broken over things that were going on in the world
People were living as slaves. Babies were being drowned in the Nile River. People were oppressed and mistreated.
And God had the audacity to call Moses to do something about it.
I guess God could have rescued those Israelites out of Egypt without Moses, without Aaron, without Miriam…I guess that could have happened.
(actually I don’t know for sure)
But I do know God did use Moses and Aaron and Miriam to help set the people free.
Even though he had a bit of a reputation as a hot head and was wanted for murder in every county in Egypt, God used Moses.
God used Moses even though Aaron spoke much more eloquently than him.
Even though he would have preferred to live a quiet life out in the desert away from all that drama and mess back in Egypt, God used Moses to rescue the people of Israel.
God built a fire that would not burn out
And when Moses went to see it and took off his shoes. He heard God speak.
He found out God had some things for him to do
And he found out that as daunting as those things were God was going to be with him every step of the way
God will be with us, as we embrace the things God has for us to do.
Moses took off his shoes and threw down his staff when he heard God speak.
Jacob built a stone memorial.
We will lift up this bread and this cup as we encounter God’s presence.
Christ’s body and blood, broken and shed, that the world might be saved.
We gather to listen so that we might join with God in setting people free and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ for all people, everywhere. Amen.