The Burning Bush And Me

This Sunday I will preach on Exod. 3:1-15 about Moses being called at the burning bush. In this poem I try to relate it to my "call" to ministry. Although most of my poems rhyme, this is an attempt at free verse. Hope you find it inspiring.

The Burning Bush and Me
Larry Linville

I didn’t see a burning bush.
The voice that called my name
was a silver-haired pastor
who simply asked,
“Larry, have you ever thought
about being a minister?”
I was only twelve
and didn’t have Moses’ years
of collected excuses.
But like Moses,
I wondered,
“who am I that I should go?”

I didn’t take off my shoes
but I was on holy ground just the same
at the back row in that country church
which doesn’t exist today.
That ground is holy in my mind
and it fills my heart with awe.

God, I AM,
said he’d be with Moses
and I AM has been with me.
I didn’t deliver the Israelites
from captivity
and neither did Moses.
I AM did it!
I have watched through the years
as I AM has delivered Church members
to whom I have been appointed.
Freedom from those things
which have enslaved them
just as miraculously
as crossing a vast
sea of obstacles
in their lives.