Moses and the children of Israel
had wandered in the wilderness for forty years when the Lord led Moses high up
onto Mt. Nebo in modern day Jordan to see the Promised Land. There Moses had a grand view of the land
lying across the Jordan River Valley where God had been leading them. Moses could see the Sea of Galilee and the
Jordan River flowing south and down into the Dead Sea. Mt. Zion, the site of the future city of
Jerusalem, was there in the distance. The
view is spectacular.
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| View from Mt. Nebo looking over at the Promised Land |
The fifteen Nativity Pilgrims
arrived on Mt. Nebo this past Saturday to glimpse this same view, not after
forty years, but about 40 hours after we had left Huntsville on our pilgrimage
to the Holy Land. We had wandered
through and waited in airports as we made our flight from the Rocket City via
Atlanta, Paris and finally to Amman in Jordan.
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| Nativity Pilgrims at Mt. Nebo |
After a meal and a good night’s sleep, we
climbed Mt. Nebo on Saturday, gazing as expectantly as Moses had looked upon
this sacred land where our Christian faith sprung from ancient Jewish
roots. As the biblical story goes, Moses
did not get to enter the Promised Land, but we would. After a short diversion to the fabulous and
grand Nabatean city of Petra, we now find ourselves walking in the steps of
Jesus who has fulfilled God’s purposes begun with Moses and the Prophets.
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| Renewing Our Baptismal Covenant at the Jordan River |
We visited the Jordan River where
Jesus was baptized by John. We renewed our
own Baptismal Vows as water was splashed upon us from these same headwaters
from which Jesus saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending upon
him in the form of a dove, hearing a voice from heaven proclaiming him God’s
beloved. We, too, realized how deeply
beloved we are of God.
Tomorrow we will take a boat ride
on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called his first disciples to turn away from
their nets and follow him, becoming fishers of men and women. We visit these holy places to hear Jesus
calling us anew to follow him, just as Moses was called by God’s voice from the
burning bush to lead the people from
slavery in Egypt to freedom in God’s love and purposes. The Welsh poet R. S. Thomas penned these relevant
lines about God’s call and I shared them at our Sunday evening Eucharist:
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field
that had
the treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor
hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your
youth
once, but is the eternity that
awaits you.
The Bright Field
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| The sparkling Sea of Galilee, just off those hills of brown....on the sea where Jesus calmed the storms. |
On pilgrimage, we turn aside from many other things to see the miracle of the lit bush. We discover that we have indeed traveled to a bright field that contains the pearl of great price. Sometimes we do this deliberately when we literally make a journey to holy fields away from our lives in Alabama. But we always return to share this treasure, to share the view from Mt. Nebo, with others who do not necessarily leave home to hear God’s call to turn aside. What do you need to turn aside from to see this miracle of God’s unfolding before you? May we all hear God’s gracious words that we are beloved; that Jesus is calling us anew to follow him into God’s purposes unfolding in the bright field that is our very own life.
