Liturgy: “Let Us Heed God’s Call, to Come and Be”
If I don’t come and be, letting go of my own fleshly desires, I make the same mistake the Israelites made, and I build up idols in my life to serve instead of God.
What is the King’s Liturgy? King’s Liturgy defines our experience together as a Christian community. It outlines the rhythms we celebrate with the Church at large: Scripture readings, Sabbath habits, and celebration of Holy Days and historical events.
This Week’s Lectionary Readings
Exodus 24:12-18
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Psalm 2
This week’s liturgy is contributed by Kylie Willis, Christian Formation Coordinator:
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” Exodus 24:12
There are a few things in this verse that strike me, but one part that really convicts. Come up to Me. God extends an invitation to Moses. He has to climb a literal mountain. And when he gets there all he is required to do is be there. God will equip him in that time. The action Moses is required to fulfill will follow, BUT the time in God’s presence is a necessary step that cannot be excluded. Come up to me and be there.
The part that is most challenging for me? The “be there” part. I suck at simply being. Stillness is difficult. I am so good at doing. My initial reaction to the invitation is, “You don’t want me to do anything??? But I am so good at it! I can do things all day long. Maybe I can give that mountaintop a good sweep and mop while I’m up there, polish it up for you a little bit, rearrange the rocks?” This is real life, you can ask my husband.
God isn’t asking for action from Moses (following the steep climb), He just wants him to be with Him. It is there that He will give Moses everything he needs to lead and instruct the people, but first, he must come and be there.
This cuts me to the heart. It pushes me to reflect on how many times I skip over the come and be part and move straight to the action. I love action; serving, producing, achieving, it makes me feel good to accomplish things. But to what end? If I am not doing it out of the overflow of my time with God, not going to the source to receive equipping and instruction then what good is it? Is it actually service to God? Or is it simply service to myself? Yikes!
The Israelites were at the bottom of the mountain waiting for Moses (ch 32), they were not sitting in the presence of God, receiving instruction, learning how to live in a way that is honoring to Him. Instead, they were impatient, they refused to wait, and ended up following their own fleshly desires, building idols.
As a Christian, we are called to follow, and how do we follow if we don’t spend time with God, in His Word, in prayer, receiving instruction. If I don’t come and be, letting go of my own fleshly desires, I make the same mistake the Israelites made, and I build up idols in my life to serve instead of God.
Let us not follow in the footsteps of the Israelites and follow the desires of our flesh, but instead let us heed God’s call, to come and be. Trusting that this is the better way.