If there were an election and the two candidates were Moses and Jethro, my vote is going to go to Moses. Yet, in this week's focal text, it is Jethro, a priest ofMidian (Exodus 18: 1 ), who brings wisdom and insight and helpful advice to Moses, a leader of the people oflsrael (Exodus 18:13-27).
That got me to wondering. Would I hear and appreciate any insight from someone from a tradition different from my own? Can a Democrat hear a good idea from a Republican? Can a Republican hear a good idea from a Democrat? Can church progressives learn from church conservatives and can church conservatives learn from church progressives? Can Christians gain wisdom from Hindus and can Hindus gain wisdom from Christians? Somehow, I suspect that God has not given me and my kind the full range of wisdom!
Sometimes it is hard to determine where the credit for an idea should go. The story about how to share leadership appears in the Old Testament three times and each time a different entity gets credit. In this account, Jethro is the one (Exodus 18:17-18). When the same strategy for life is discussed in Numbers 11, it is the Lord Himself who has the idea. Deuteronomy 1: 13 gives an account of the same wisdom and it is Moses who generates the plan. At a minimum, this all suggests that I should be super-cautious before taking credit for a good plan! Maybe I "borrowed" someone else's wisdom ... even someone from another tradition.
In reflection on this week's study of Jethro and Moses, I am reminded not to give up on the possibility of wisdom coming from an unexpected source. Also, I should be willing to offer my own perceptions to those who usually disagree with me. This story from Exodus illustrates the breadth of the human experience and how God has broken through in varying ways to varying people.
How do I separate the wheat from the chaff(Matthew 3:12)? There is clearly a distinction between the two, but Moses and Jethro invite me to be open to God's surprising wheat in surprising places.
What Someone Else Has Said:
Alice Knotts (Fellowship of Love: Methodist Women Changing American Racial Attitudes, Kingswood Books) has written: "Central to the process ( for peace) is the need to overcome barriers to communication based on assumptions about race, gender, religion, and national origin, and to cross these boundaries to share economic and political power."
Prayer:
As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: "Who and what am I missing, Lord? ... "
