Wednesday, April 18, 2018 

“So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent.” (Exodus 18:7)

                Sometimes, it’s the smallest of things which catch one’s eye; the seemingly unimportant, the inconsequential, something so ordinary and mundane, in ways, that it would be easy to overlook it, especially when there are far more important matters to discuss and understand.

                There is possibly far more to the story as to why Moses sent his wife, Zipporah, and their two sons back to her family and her father Jethro. It also looks like Jethro is having none of it and arranges a family reunion in of all places the wilderness, at the “mountain of God”.

                Momentous things have been taking place for Moses and the Israelite people since they fled Pharaoh and their oppressive Egyptian slavery. The whole chapter  reeks of sacred power, powerful mystery and God’s personal hand in their deliverance, “everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel… all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the Lord had rescued his people from all their troubles.” (Exodus 18:7) These amazing events seem to be the crux and focus of the story. Stunning. Electrifying.  Astounding.  It’s quite the story that Moses has to tell his father-in-law.

                But first and foremost – here is the small thing – they exchange pleasantries. They asked about each other’s welfare as our translation so warmly expresses it.  Before the great story is told, common courtesy, hospitality, civility happens as the cords of relationship and family take precedent before the bigger story gets even started. It is not something the story teller necessarily needed to record, but it must have struck the person as important.  

                I am not very good at small talk. Sure, I’ll talk about last night’s ball game, the weather (hasn’t it been something awful this week!) or a TV show I have watched. But it has always been difficult for me to patiently chat and converse, especially if there is a task at hand or a concrete purpose for getting together. I have always wanted to get right down to business, concentrate on the task at hand, and address the big picture. We’ll talk later.  I have had to work hard and intentionally to do the significantly social, heart-to-heart stuff that actually makes meetings and committees and groups function much better. How’s the family? How’s work? How’s your health? How was that trip?  How’s the dog?

                It is important, no matter the significance and import of the moment, to take a little time and ask about each other’s welfare, “for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20)  Perhaps, when he brought back Moses’ wife and sons, Jethro was reminding Moses  that no matter how world-changing his life was under God, there was still his ordinary responsibilities of being a caring husband and father. Moses was as much a part of “small” things as he was part of some great things.  

Here, let’s have some tea, break some bread, catch up on family news, hug your kids, kiss your wife; then we will discuss what God is doing in the world.  Who is to say that God wasn’t as much at work in that “small talk” as God was in mountain-top experiences, burning bushes, and thunderclaps?

Sacredness comes in many shapes and sizes. 

Dale