In 2018 Pittsburgh hosted a round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the PPG Arena. A friend has scored tickets a year in advance for the two of us, and I was looking forward to some outstanding hoops--and we saw some, including two wins by eventual national champions Villanova. My alma mater, Marshall University, the Thundering Herd (of buffalo) was in the tournament that year, and I was hoping to see them play in Pittsburgh. In anticipation, I saw these shoes in a Facebook ad, and thought they'd be great to have to show my team spirit. I figured I'd wear then while watching Marshall play--then when it turned out Marshall wasn't coming to Pittsburgh (the Herd played in San Diego) I thought I'd wear them anyhow to show my support for NCAA basketball and "March Madness".
Sounds like a plan, right? Obviously I got them, but it turns out I didn't wear them. Because they are the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever put on. They were uncomfortable while just sitting down, and they were absolutely painful to walk in; so there was no way I was going to wear them for a trek to the PPG Arena and all of the walking that would involve. I like them--I think they look great. I am going to hang onto them, but I am never going to wear them. Sometimes shoes are for wearing. Sometimes they are for taking off.
The Exodus passage is about a time for taking off shoes. Moses hears a voice out of a burning bush, saying "Take off your sandals"--because you are on holy ground. Moses wasn't in a temple or a synagogue. He wasn't in an outdoor chapel, prepared specifically for worship. He was, as I heard one preacher say, in the backside of the wilderness. But it was holy ground, because he was in the presence of God, and God had something for Moses to do. This act of removing his shoes showed reverence--and at the end of a busy day, when we get home and kick off our shoes, perhaps this act can remind us that anywhere can be holy ground, and our gratitude for God's presence being everywhere can help us as we live every moment of our lives, doing what God has for us to do.
In the Mark passage, Jesus gives the disciples instructions as he sends them out two by two to cast out demons and call people to repent. He specifically tells them to wear sandals. A commentary on this passage considered that since they were going to be doing a lot of walking, that they needed durable, sturdy footwear, and that in that time sandals best fit that need. There are times that doing the work that Jesus calls us to do does not involve taking shoes off, but rather putting them on, and wearing them as we go forth--and that they should not be distractions from what we are called to do, but rather help make it possible.
And in Ephesians, the writer somewhat echoes what is said in Mark, as he tells the recipients of the letter--who, by the miracle of centuries of publishing, includes us--to "Put on the whole armor of God". That includes, in a remarkably non-uniform twist, "As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace." Whatever works best for you. That could mean something different for me than it might for someone else--my friend Michael wears flip-flops in weather much too cold for me, and my friend /Tracy pretty much always wears heels when preaching. But for each of them, those particular shoes are what works for proclaiming.
This week, think about your shoes, and what they say about what God calls you to.
OLD TESTAMENT Exodus 3:1-6a
1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 5 Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
GOSPEL Mark 6:6b-13
6b Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.