Third Sunday of Lent (Year C), March 20, 2022      (today’s lectionary)
A burning bush on the mountain of God
Occasionally NCAA college basketball teams have moments of incredible fire and flame, running as fast as they can, passing as sharply as they can, and then dunking the basketball with authority. Or hurling the ball toward the basket trying to keep it inbounds, and the ball almost goes in. Or three point shots that go through the net so smoothly that you can’t even see the net move.
And then there are lots of missed shots, and frenzy that results in floor burns but no fire, no flame, no points. It’s a strange thing to watch these elite players fly around that way. Almost every time I’m reminded of Aly’s games, fourth grade girls with their own style of frenzy and intensity. Everyone’s intention is to win, or at least leave everything they have out there on the floor.
At Horeb, the mountain of God, Moses saw a burning bush which was not consumed. He said to himself, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why this bush is not burned.
Curious, Moses left his flock. God found him staring into the fire.
Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
And God knew what he was talking about. Sometimes watching ESPN I think the lighting and script are designed to make the basketball court holy ground. It depends on who your god is, of course.
I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
I watched Coach K’s “going out” party after 42 years as Duke’s head basketball coach, after Duke lost to North Carolina, who is currently tearing up everyone they play in the NCAA tournament. But win or lose, there was worship in the air that night. Coach K’s mom was a Polish Catholic in Chicago. Both she and her son knew the story of Moses and the burning bush.
Like all celebrities, Coach K has to figure out if he is God, if he is Moses, if he one of the flock, or if, sometimes at least, he is a burning bush. That so many want to worship him requires that he remember what God’s name really is.
This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
And just as God does for all of us, he gives all those celebrities, players and coaches alike, time to figure it out. God is no hurry to judge; he wants everyone to come to the table. All of us get thirsty, all of us need his water in order to live. In Jesus’ story the owner of a fig tree was disgusted with it and ready to be done with it. So he found the Gardener and told him to cut it down. “Why should it exhaust the soil?”
But the gardener said, “Sir, leave it for this year also and I shall cultivate the ground around it, and it may bear fruit in the future. If not, then you can cut it down.”
And the man agreed.
So I keep watching the games, this weekend and next, waiting for the fruit. I know these teams have worked and worked, and cultivated their ground, so I might enjoy the bounty when it comes.
The Fighting Illini play this morning, smack in the middle of church. I hope it’s the Hour of Power. I’ll be driving and listening to both at once, and praying my simple prayers of gratitude for fire and flame at just the right times.
(Exodus 3, Psalm 103, 1 Corinthians 10, Matthew 4, Luke 13)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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