Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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God Who Hears the Cry of the Persecuted
Exodus 3:1-10
Then the Lord said I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed„ I know their sufferings (Exodus 3:7).
The faith narrative begins with the brutal reality of slavery with the sounds of the people of Israel growing and crying under the yoke of slavery, displacement and exile (2:23-25; 3:7-8). In chapter 3, Moses, a refugee Israelite with an impending murder warrant in Egypt (2: 11-16) is hiding in Sinai desert.While he is tending to the sheep he sees a strange sight of a bush that burns and yet is not consumed.
The vision of the extra ordinary in the ordinary situation (Great miracle) turned Moses's world upside down. In V.4 God called Moses out of the bush. This encounter (the calling of the burning God) challenges Moses for taking the enormous task in his life. It helped him to meet with Pharaoh, the King of Egypt and acts in God's place to save God's people. God is not passive in the face of human suffering. He intercedes in the midst of the groaning of those living under the struggles of the world. He intimately involves in the daily struggles of those who have been stripped of all belonging, of a place, of a home, bereft of the conditions that make and sustain human lives (I know all about their suffering V.7). It is not a matter of how the persecuted people address God. God, the one who hears the cry of the people, responds by using His people as an instrument for the great act of liberation.

The burning God is also calling His faithful in many ways to be the liberators of the deprived and oppressed. This calling is very challenging because as Moses did, this may involve standing up to authorities like Pharaoh in Egypt or the rulers of the world(v10). The faithful God always fulfills His promises (v 8).

As a worshiping community, are we listening to the voices of the deprived and needy and are willing to act in God's place to save God's.people.
PRAYER
God, the one who hears the cries of the persecuted, help us to be a part of fulfilling Your divine purpose in this world, Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
God is beside the weak and the downtrodden.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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