Looking at the View

This morning I sat in a service at the church I have attended over the past 13 years whenever I am in New York.

The preacher started with a warning that this sermon may upset the older, mature members of the congregation. He was jesting…sort of.

He preached on Deuteronomy Chapter 34 where Moses comes to the end of his life.

Moses was told by God in Deuteronomy 1, that due to the faithlessness of the people of Israel none of them would enter the promised land, and that included Moses.

Here in chapter 34, 38 years later, as the old generation was dying and the new generation was coming into being, Moses was coming to the end of his earthly journey and God took him up the mountain to look in all directions to see what the promised land looked like.

More than that, this last chapter tells of how well Moses had done doing what he was called to do.

Moses had led the people of Israel over such a difficult season. He had rebuilt them from a fragmented faithless people into a new community as they wandered and as God wandered with them. They were a different people as they stood on the edge of the promised land.

Moses had transferred power to the next generation, to Joshua which set out a great reminder to all present leaders that the future is only as strong as those who “sit on the bench” to be nurtured and called on to lead and run ahead of us, faster, confident and holding fast to the vision and courageous for the journey,

And finally, our call to follow “Christ is to fit into God’s story of revelation and this is, in itself, a joy that cannot be named fully. If it’s God’s plan and God’s will then we are a part of the very universe in the richest way possible and our human identity is the most fulfilled and is not our own.” Rev Philip Jackson (Rector of Trinity Church New York)

For anyone interested listen to this sermon https://trinitychurchnyc.org/videos and find October 25th 11.15am

A prayer:

Lord, help me to know you face to face,

to walk closely with you and to trust you with all that I am and all that lies ahead.

Help me to find my true identity and deepest joy in being part of your story, not my own.

Give me the grace to nurture others, to let go when the time comes,

and to trust those you are calling to carry your vision forward.

And when my journey is done, may it be said that I walked with you,

knew your heart and faithfully played my part in your unfolding story. Amen.