Advent, Day 8: God of my ancestors.

Today's reading: Exodus 3:13-15

Moses needed to know: When I go to Your people, what should I tell them if they ask Your name?

Not to the strangers, not to people who don't already know who You are. This congregation knows full well. They've been part of Your tribe all along, and they're no dummies. When I hatch this crazy plan (no offense) they're going to want to be sure it's coming from You. So what do You want me to say?

Tell them I AM WHO I AM. (Does that help? Ha.)

Tell the I AM vast, unknowable, mighty, overwhelming. And then tell them I AM close as breath, blood, bone, birth, love. Tell them I AM life itself, I AM story itself, I AM history and I AM future. Tell them I AM the life they inherited from their parents, the life they pour out into their babies. I AM the stories they tell around the dinner table, the bedtime stories they read to their children. I AM every day they can remember, and every moment they can only imagine. Tell them My Name is I AM, God of their fathers and mothers and grandparents and their whole towering family tree. This is My Name forever and ever, through all the generations who have gone before, and all who are yet to come.

. . . . . . . . .

God of my ancestors, I am one of those generations; those whom You commanded to remember. I am one of those generations, still trying to understand Who You Are. I am one of those generations, who learned You from my parents and grandparents, for You Are their God. I am one of those generations, telling Your stories to my children.

Summon me; send me; speak through me, so that Your people may still know Your Name.