More Than a Reputation

Reading the Word

From Exodus: Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." The LORD said to him, "Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak." But Moses said, "O my Lord, please send someone else." Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, "What of your brother Aaron? I know that he can speak fluently... He shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him." On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the LORD met Moses and tried to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin... She said, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me!" So Moses let him alone.

From Psalm 83: "O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! Even now your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people... Make them like chaff before the wind... so that they may seek your name, O LORD."

From Revelation: "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death... Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.'"

Reflection

These texts do not let us hide.

Moses stands before God and says what many of us have thought: I am not the right person. I am slow of speech. I will say the wrong thing. I will embarrass us both. Please, send someone else. And God does not say, "You are more capable than you think." God says, "I will be with your mouth." But Moses pushes again, and this time God's anger is kindled. Not because Moses doubts himself, but because he would rather abandon his people than risk looking foolish.

So God gives him Aaron. This is not a punishment. It is grace. God does not need solo heroes. God needs partners. Moses will speak as God to Aaron; Aaron will speak as prophet to the people. The liberation of Israel will come through a stammering man and his articulate brother, working together.

And then the strange, terrifying night at the inn. God tries to kill Moses. Zipporah takes a flint and circumcises their son, touches the bloody foreskin to Moses' feet, and says, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." Scholars have debated this for millennia. But the heart of it is this: the covenant matters. The sign of belonging to God's people cannot be postponed, not even for the one called to lead them. Whatever Moses has been avoiding, whatever he has put off, the journey to liberation demands his whole self - his body, his family, his covenant identity. God will not let him lead from a distance.

Then Sardis. The church with a reputation for being alive. Perhaps they had beautiful buildings, a storied history, influential members. But Jesus says: you are dead. Wake up. Strengthen what remains. This is not cruelty. It is surgery. The Church needs to hear this as much as any other. It is possible to have the right language, the right politics, the right social programs, and still be dead...because we have lost the intimacy with Christ that makes all our work matter. It is possible to fight for justice and still have soiled garments, because we have not examined our own complicity, our own burnout, our own performative righteousness.

And the psalmist cries out against enemies who conspire. "Do not keep silence, O God!" The enemies lay crafty plans. They want to wipe out Israel's memory. And the psalmist asks God to make them like chaff, like fire, like a storm, not for vengeance, but "so that they may seek your name, O LORD." The goal of judgment is not destruction. It is recognition. Even the enemies are meant to know the God of all Creation and be welcomed to the table of grace.

These texts hold a mirror up to us. Where are we performing faith while dying inside? Where are we slow of speech, hiding behind eloquent partners rather than speaking our own truth? Where have we postponed the covenant sign, the costly commitment, the thing we have been avoiding? And where are we crying out for justice, not with purity of heart, but with the honest desperation of those who know the enemies are real?

The good news is that God uses reluctant prophets. God gives us partners when we cannot go alone. God demands our whole selves, even the parts we have put off dealing with. And God is not fooled by our reputation. God knows what is dead and what is barely alive, and God will strengthen what remains if we let him.

Prayer

O God, you know our works. You know where we are alive and where we are only performing. Forgive us for the reputation that outpaces our reality. Forgive us for sending someone else when you called us. Forgive us for postponing the covenant, for hiding behind eloquence, for avoiding the hard thing.

Wake us up. Strengthen what remains. Give us partners when we are slow of speech. Give us courage when we would rather hide. We cry out against the enemies of justice, the crafty plans that crush your people. And we pray even for our enemies, that they may seek your name. Amen.

For Today

Where is your reputation ahead of your reality? What hard commitment have you been postponing? And who might God have already given you as a partner for the work you are afraid to do alone?