St. Moses the Ethiopian by Rev. Mike Oldham

   St. Moses the Ethiopian (or Moses the Black)

By Rev. Dr. Mike Oldham

Region Administrator

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the

wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. (Luke 4:1-2 NRSV)

On Ash Wednesday, I did not fast. In fact, I met my friend, John Tellis, for a long overdue lunch. We had been rescheduling for some time, and finally, our calendars aligned, so we met for lunch. John is one of those people who brings peace to me by his very presence. In recent years, John has developed the art of carving elaborate walking sticks. These are not simple pieces of wood with a slight bend to form a handle; they are museum-quality pieces of art. The walking stick with John at the restaurant was St. Moses the Ethiopian (or Moses the Black), a Desert father. I had never heard of St. Moses the Black.

“Ok, Mike, what does this have to do with Jesus in the wilderness? Where is this going?

I will try to get there.

As I contemplated the beginning of the Lenten season, two streams seemed to come together for me. First, the first Sunday of Lent is always the temptation of Jesus in the desert (Luke 4:1-13 this year). Second, the desert fathers withdrew from society and the church because they sought to be transformed through communion with God by withdrawing from the distractions of the world. 1 That is where I am trying to take us in this reflection; we will see if I get there.

St. Moses, however, was not seeking spiritual enlightenment or purity; he was seeking a refuge. You see, Moses had been the servant of a government official in Egypt, but he was on the run from charges of theft and murder. In the desert of Egypt, he joined a band of robbers. (Sometimes, he is referred to as St. Moses the Robber, but that doesn’t sound very spiritual. However, we now see why he took the name Moses.)

After one attempted robbery, Moses was again on the run and hid out with some desert monks. After hanging out with the good brothers, he converted to Christianity.

Moses still had some rough edges after his conversion (don’t we all). He was alone in a place of prayer when a band of robbers attacked him (the old crowd?). He overpowered them and dragged them into the chapel to ask the more mature monks what he should do with them.

One day, Moses was feeling despair about his lack of spiritual progress. The abbot, Isidore, took Moses to the roof and watched the sun rise over the desert. Isidore told Moses, “Only slowly do the rays of the sun drive away the night and usher in a new day, and thus, only slowly does one become a perfect contemplative.” 2

The wilderness is a place of solitude, loneliness, and revelation. It is a place where,

metaphorically or in reality, we escape the world's distractions and seek to commune with God. For Jesus, it revealed that he knew the Father and would not use his power for his own comfort. For St. Moses the Black, it was a place to reflect on the condition of his heart. It was a place of slow, patient growth (and sometimes impatient). The desert is a place of confrontation of who we are when no one else is looking.

This Lenten season, I want to take some time in the wilderness. I know that it can be exhausting work. Too often, I fill my ears and eyes with so many distractions. In the wilderness, we can also hear Isidore's words of grace: "Only slowly do the rays of the sun drive away the night and usher in a new day, and thus, only slowly does one become a perfect contemplative.”

St. Moses allowed the light to shine in and through him. There is another story of Moses being asked to sit in judgment of another monk, but I am out of space and will let you look up the Wikipedia article.

Prayer

Lord, tomorrow, when I see the dawn, remind me to rest in your work to transform me. Lord, let your light shine through my brokenness.

By Rev. Dr. Mike Oldham

Region Administrator

American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains

www.abcrm.org