faithfulness

Good afternoon friends,
Today reading is a reminder that money is part of how we show our faithfulness to God. It is not God, nor is it the most important thing in life.

What do we do with our anxiety?

God bless,
Sam

Luke 16:10-18

¹⁰“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” 

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. ¹⁶“The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. ¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. ¹⁸“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

I have caled you

Good morning brothers and sisters,
In today's reading the Prophet Isaiah reflects on God's glory and power. He also reflects on Israel's calling to serve the world and work for justice. That's a calling we share today as well. Like Israel, God has called us to free the oppressed and be light to the world.
blessings as you seek God's calling for you,
Sam

Isaiah 42:5-12

⁵Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: ⁶I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, ⁷to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 

⁸I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. ⁹See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them. ¹⁰Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. ¹¹Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains. ¹²Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.

copying scripture

Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
On Sunday we'll be talking about how explained scripture to his disciples after his resurrection. With that in mind we'll spend some of our daily reading this week looking at why scripture is important. Today's reading is from Deuteronomy and takes us back to Moses instructing Israel in the desert for their life in the Promised Land. He looks ahead to when they will want a king. He tells them it's OK to have a king, but the king can't think too much of himself and has to follow God carefully. We know from Israel's history (and every other kind of history) that powerful people tend to get caught up in their power and forget where they come from and why they are called to lead. Moses' warnings prove prescient, as things develop.


One of the things that catches my attention whenever I read this is the idea that the king should personally copy God's law and read it every day. That would be a powerful exercise in humility and faithfulness. Even though we aren't kings, it's a good reminder that reading scripture everyday shapes us the way God wants us.

God bless,
Sam


Deuteronomy 17:14-20
¹⁴ When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” ¹⁵you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community. ¹⁶Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You must never return that way again.” ¹⁷And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.


¹⁸When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. ¹⁹It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

the good news for everyone

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning we will be putting together and delivering Christmas baskets and angel tree gifts. If you've chosen a child to buy a gift for, please bring it in to the church by 9:30 this morning. The morning of assembling and delivering these baskets is a lot of fun. If you're free you can join in the joy; it will remind you what Christmas is about.

Our passage from Isaiah talks about how God's redemption isn't just for Israel, but for everyone who seeks the Lord. Even those who think of themselves as less than others find a true place in God's sight. God's love and calling are for everyone, shepherds and angels, kings and peasants, people of Israel and Iraq; Afghanistan and the US. We are all God's people, on family joined together by God's amazing love and called to reach out to others with that love. May the love and peace of Jesus fill your heart today.

God bless,
Sam

Isaiah 56:1-8

Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. ²Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.

³Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” ⁴For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, ⁵I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

⁶And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— ⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. ⁸Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

Joshua's death

Good morning friends,
After warning the people of Israel that God takes commitment seriously the people still want to make a commitment to God. So today Joshua reaffirms that commitment with laws for the life of faith. Then everyone goes to their assigned land that they have conquered and Joshua's time is over. With Joshua's death the passage makes us wonder what will happen next. Will Israel keep their promises? We face the same question everyday. God calls us to be faithful to our baptismal promises of faith, love and service. Will we follow through on our commitments? By the Holy Spirit's power God gives us the strength to follow, and there is joy in the journey.

God bless,
Sam

Joshua 24: 25-33

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. ²⁶Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord. ²⁷Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal falsely with your God.” ²⁸So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.

²⁹After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old. ³⁰They buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ³¹Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. ³²The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. ³³Eleazar son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of his son Phinehas, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

reviewing our history

Good morning friends,
This morning I would ask your prayers for the Western New York NEXT conference. The conference will be held at Third Presbyterian today and will focus on empowering the church for effective and faithful ministry today.

In our reading for this morning Joshua gathers Israel together to give a farewell speech. He reminds them of where they have been and how God has led them. His goal is to prepare them for life without him, since he is coming to the end of his life. He also wants to encourage them to be faithful to God. It's a good review for us of the Old Testament story. The context is always changing, but our calling is still to follow where God leads us.

God bless,
Sam

Joshua 24:1-7

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. ³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; ⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

⁵Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. ⁶When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. ⁷When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time.

strong and courageous

Good morning friends,
It's with sorrow that I share that Scott Fralick's uncle Glen (Carol's brother) died suddenly yesterday morning. Details of the service are still up in the air, but please keep Carol, Scott, Todd and the rest of the family in prayer. I'll let you know more details when I can.

On Sunday we read about Moses' death and how Joshua, his assistant, took on leadership by God's calling. Today we hear God speaking with Joshua and confirming that calling as well as the promise to bring Israel into the Promised Land. God tells Joshua twice to be strong and courageous, and this is something of a refrain in the beginning of this book. The task ahead is challenging, but God is with them. What do you need God's strength and courage for this week?

Blessings,
Sam

Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ²“My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. ³Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. ⁵No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.

⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. ⁹I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

tradition and calling

Good morning friends,
Jesus makes a distinction here between religious traditions developed by people and doctrines given by God. He makes this point in response to criticism from the Pharisees about his disciples failing to perform traditional hand washing before eating. Jesus argues that the Pharisees make up traditions that interfere with God's guidance to people. The example he uses is gifts to God. Jesus claims that by emphasizing gifts to God in the wrong way the Pharisees end up discouraging people from taking care of their parents in their old age. In this way human traditions get in the way of God's command to honor our parents. This passage is a great reminder that, while tradition can help us come closer to God it can also be a barrier to vibrant faith.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 15:1-9
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” 3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 5But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. 6So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: 8‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 9in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”

under God's wing

Good morning all,
This morning's reading is an interesting one because we usually think of the Pharisees as enemies of Jesus and here they are warning him to run because Herod is looking for him. When I was getting ready to preach on this passage a few months ago I looked through Luke and noticed that the Pharisees, while they often criticize and question Jesus, are not the leaders mentioned once we get to Jerusalem and start talking about actually killing him. Maybe for them opposition to Jesus didn't get that radical. Jesus response to the warning is also telling. It doesn't matter who is after him because his work isn't done yet (and in fact, his work includes dying.)

Jesus laments over Jerusalem because this special city of God so often turns away from God's calling and rejects the voices God sends to bring her home. How often is it the same story in the church? We have a special sense of God's calling, but sometimes for that reason we are less willing to listen to challenging voices. Maybe those challenging, questioning voices are God trying to gather us under her wings. I pray that we would keep an open ear for that calling, that we would finally come home and nestle under God's comforting wing.

God bless,
Sam

Luke 13:31-35
31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

calling and ministry

Good morning friends,
Our first reading presents Jeremiah's calling to be a prophet. Many of the prophets include the story of how they were called to their ministry. In many cases, like here, they were reluctant to take up the mission. Jonah is the extreme case, running in the opposite direction from where God sent him, but we see Jeremiah too protesting that he doesn't have what it takes. The key to Jeremiah's ministry and to ours is that it's not just Jeremiah or us doing the ministry. God is with us in our calling, guiding, pushing, comforting, challenging, strengthening.

Our passage from Luke gives us an example of ministry that challenges the rules because of God's calling. Jesus sees a woman trapped in bondage to illness and sees it as part of the ongoing struggle between God and the evil powers of the world. The religious leader is upset because Jesus is healing on the sabbath. Jesus makes it clear that the law is important, but that it isn't a chain to prevent ministry. Jesus looks at places in the law where it's clear the absolute rest of the sabbath is disturbed: livestock are led to water, animals are untied, if an animal is in danger it is rescued. These pieces of "work" don't break the sabbath, they merely allow sabbath rest for the animal. Jesus argues that this is what he's doing when he heals the woman. He isn't working on the sabbath, he is removing Satan's chains from the woman so that she may have a share of God's rest after 18 years of bondage.

May God always help us to see the truth in every situation and to act with his love. God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 1:1-10
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

4Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” 7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” 9Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Luke 13:10-17
10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

luck and repentance

Good morning brothers and sisters,
It's often said that Presbyterians don't believe in luck because we look to Calvin for our theological foundation and Calvin believed strongly in God's control over every aspect of the world. At the same time, this passage seems to me to open the door to luck. Jesus rejects the idea that bad things necessarily happen to bad people. At the same time Jesus says we all need to repent; when bad things happen to anyone it's a reminder that we might not have tomorrow to repent, so we shouldn't wait.

The lesson of the tree shows the same thing. There is some patience to allow us to bear fruit and to encourage us with tending and care. But whether today or next year eventually a day will come when we will be cut down if we don't bear fruit. Laurelton is a congregation with many gifts and many opportunities. God calls each of us to turn back to him and to bear fruit in ministry for others. Don't wait to change your life because we never know when it will be too late and the opportunity will be gone.

God bless,
Sam

Luke 13:1-9
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

killing the prophets

Good morning friends,
While hearing Jesus criticize the Pharisees for their focus on the details of the Law while missing the point, a lawyer complains that Jesus is insulting lawyers as well when he says things like that. (When Luke talks about lawyers here he's talking about experts in the Law of Moses, not secular lawyers.) Jesus responds by making it clear that the "insult" the lawyer complains about isn't by accident. His woes against the lawyers center on the idea that they use the law to make following God harder instead of easier; they keep people out instead of helping them to know God.

Jesus mentions here a tradition he talks about a few times, that the people kill the prophets God sends to call them back to righteousness. He mentions specifically Abel from way back in the beginning who was killed by his brother for bringing God a better offering. He also mentions Zechariah "who perished between the altar and the sanctuary." Zechariah was a priest who served in Judah in the 800's. His ministry was a time of turning away from God to idol worship, and he warned the people to turn back to God. For this ministry he was stoned to death. (The story is in 2 Chronicles 24.) It's hard to listen to voices that tell us we're doing the wrong thing, but often God sends those voices to help us. I pray that we would listen well to criticism and seek to hear what God might be trying to say to us.


Luke 11:45-54
45One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” 46And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.

52Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, 54lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

God's command

Good morning friends,
Yesterday we saw God send Elijah to deliver a message to the king and then hide in the dessert by a stream. As the drought sent by God continues, the wadi nourishing Elijah dries up. With that development, God sends Elijah to a widow to be kept safe. One thing that's interesting about this situation is that God tell's Elijah "I have commanded a widow there to feed you." When Elijah and the widow meet, it doesn't seem like she knows anything about God's plan for her to feed Elijah. God gave the command in the sense that he put a possibility in motion, but he didn't share that command with the main person involved.

Instead, for the widow and her son the command to feed Elijah comes to them through strange circumstances. Elijah visits and presents himself to the widow. She is at her wits end because she knows she and her son will starve. God miraculously feeds the woman and her son, which also allows her to feed Elijah. God's command is fulfilled, but for the woman involved it must feel more like an opportunity than a command. I wonder what commands God might be giving us through circumstances in our lives?

God bless,
Sam

1 Kings 17:8-24
8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9"Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you."10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."12But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

13Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth."15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Stephen's trial, part 2

Good morning everyone,
This morning Stephen continues recounting the story of Israel to explain what God is doing now in Jesus. Here he tells the story of how Jacob's family went from resident aliens in favor with the King of Egypt to a nation oppressed in slavery. Then he tells about Moses' birth and eventual calling to lead Israel out of slavery.

In this passage it's only mentioned in passing, in tomorrow's passage and even more in Monday's passage Stephen will emphasize how the people of Israel resisted Moses' ministry and God's leading. This is to set the stage to discuss how the leadership rejected the prophets as well and how they turned away from the covenant with God. Stephen wants to show that the crucifixion of Jesus fits into this longstanding pattern of rejecting messengers sent from God. It's not an argument calculated to make the religious leaders happy, but instead to call them to repentance. May we hear God's call to repent from whatever holds us back,
Sam

Acts 7:17-34

17“But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied 18until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die. 20At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house; 21and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites. 24When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand. 26The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ 27But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

30“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. 33Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’