"Looking Toward Sunday" for August 31

"What's In a Name?"

12th Sunday after Pentecost

August 31, 2014

This week we take a look at the story of Moses' encounter with God on Mount Horeb. (You can read the text here.) In the first of their many conversations, God speaks through a burning bush to inform Moses that he has been chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Initially hesitant, Moses is assured that God will be with him and that the Israelites will one day worship in freedom on this very mountain.

Before Moses leaves he wants to know what name to call God. God's reply is "יהוה" (commonly translated as "I AM WHO I AM"). The answer seems a bit evasive, almost like a riddle. And yet it is entirely accurate! God is who God is - uncontainable, transcendent, impossible to pigeonhole - the incomprehensible Wholly Other who is more than our language, images,and ideas about God.

Can we be comfortable with a God who is always bigger than the boxes we attempt to place God in? Are we willing to give God the space in our lives to be who God will be? Can we simply remove our sandals and stand before the mystery of the Holy One? Join us this week as we consider the ineffable nature of God.

See you on Sunday!