God Has Not Stopped Calling
By Ben Roberts

Scripture:
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”  Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” Exodus 5:1-9

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Devotional:
Whenever I read scripture, I try to put myself in the narrative.  When I do that with this week’s scriptures from the I AM series, I feel a bit uncomfortable.  Reading about Moses’ request and Pharaoh’s refusal fuels a sense of outrage.  I want to skip ahead in the narrative to where God dispenses wrath and judgement.

But that is not how it unfolds at the start of Exodus 5.

The chapter starts with God wanting to reconnect with His people.  It has been at least a generation since God’s people found themselves enslaved in a foreign land.  Disconnected.  

It’s pretty common in the spiritual life to find oneself disconnected from God.  The causes of the disconnect are as varied as activities we humans engage in.  Sometimes, like the children of Israel, there are circumstances beyond our control that get in the way of communing with God.  But many times, we get wrapped up in day-to-day living and slowly drift away from our primary relationship, with God.

Reconnecting with God after a prolonged absence can feel awkward.  Schedules fill up.  It just seems easier to get on with life’s daily demands.  There may even be a sense of guilt that further drives a wedge between us and God.

What is God’s response?  Judgement?  Anger?  Wrath?

Nope.

Let’s have a party!  God’s desire is to reconnect with his covenant people, to have a time of retreat.  He instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand that they be given time off to worship in the wilderness.  Now Pharaoh being Pharaoh, he does not acquiesce.  But that will have ramifications in the chapters to come.

What grabs my attention in this week’s passage is that God’s priority is to connect with His people.  Always has been, always will be.  

In John, the Gospel writer uses the metaphor of a vine and branches.  We gain our sustenance, our very life directly from God.  We cannot go it alone.  We thrive to the extent that we are connected to the vine.

And the act of reconnecting is not some awkward conversation.  It is a grand gesture.  A party!  In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son, who leaves his father and squanders his inheritance.  When the son comes to his senses and tries to make modest repairs to a broken relationship, the father comes running and overwhelms the wayward son.  He throws a party.

So, when we find ourselves disconnected from our Creator, we shouldn’t fear God’s disappointment with the condition of our faith but lean into the image of the Father welcoming us back home with a party.

Prayer:
God, Paul reminds us that in you ‘we live and move and have our being.’  But there are times in our journey when we feel separated and lost.  Open our hearts to your grace and guide us on the journey back to you.