Where will the Cloud lead us next - June 16
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 78:1-39; PM Psalm 78:40-72; Num. 11:1-23; Rom. 1:16-25; Matt. 17:22-27
Our reading from Numbers this morning takes place in the time period where the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. The Israelites finally set up the tabernacle (the place where they worship God) and the author talks about a cloud that rests over the tabernacle. Every so often, the cloud would get up and leave, and so would the Israelites, off to follow the cloud to where God was leading them next.
This image sets up a motif of movement. I am guessing that just when many of the Israelites were feeling settled, the cloud would depart and any sense of rootedness would dissipate, mirroring the loss of the cloud that had gone before them. The focus is not only on the Israelites being left to wander in the desert for 40 years; they keep having to move, to follow God to a new place further unsettling their own sense of security.
As we read this Scripture, I am alarmed at the parallels within our own tradition’s understanding of God. We keep moving. I grew up in the church in the era when women’s ordination was being recognized in the Episcopal Church. I thought we had made it and were this beautiful vision of love and welcome. Then I heard the stories of classmates, women and LGBTQ+ friends who had such painful experiences in discernment processes and I began to realize how naïve I was. I thought we had figured out how to affirm the dignity of every human being, and yet realizing how difficult as a Church it has been to affirm that Black Lives Matter. We are being prodded more and more every day to explore how we have yet to fully realize the kingdom of God in our midst. It feels like just when we think we are safe and comfortable with where God has led us, the cloud moves. I’ll confess, keeping up means I have no idea where we are headed.
The good news seems to me that we don’t have to know, and there is a little grace in coming from where we have been. Instead of guilt, we could give thanks that God has been moving us. If we are to invest in the image of God as presented in our reading from Numbers, God keeps inviting us somewhere new. It’s hard work. In the Psalm for this afternoon, we are reminded that the people often disobeyed the Lord in the wilderness. The complained over and over again. My best guess is they were struggling with all the change and movement and growth. But we also know the rest of the story. God led the Israelites into the Promise Land, the same promise that God has for all of us. Maybe our response could include considering that kingdom might not look like we had originally imagined.
— John+
Questions for Self-Reflection
Where do you feel unsettled in your faith?
Where do you feel unsettled in your understanding of the world?
Daily Challenge
Reflect on positions that you have grown in over the last twenty years. Consider that God has had a part in this growth.