28 April – Moses, My servant is dead
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Today is Monday, 28th of April. Let us take a moment to be still.
We start by praying the words of Psalm 5:1-3
1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
The Scripture Reading is taken from Joshua 1:1-9.
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Reflection
Moses my servant is dead.
Do you have a pastor or church leader who had a deep mentoring impact on your life? We call them our spiritual heroes or our spiritual fathers. Their lives are exemplary. We could go a bit further in our faith through their encouragement.
Some of these heroes may even be strangers to us. But their impact is felt far and wide. We have such people in church or society.
Their presence has provided deep inspiration to us. We cannot imagine how we may go on without them.
Yet as someone quipped, death is the ultimate statistics: one in one dies. We wish our heroes can live forever but they don’t.
Moses my servant is dead.
Moses was the only leader they knew since the exodus from Egypt began. He was their “founding pastor.” Their lives evolved around his leadership.
Could they live without him? Could they move to the next phase of their journey? This phase is one of entering and conquering hostile lands without him.
It was very hard to even imagine the possibility.
Thus God spoke. “I was with Moses, and I will be with you, Joshua. Just be strong and be courageous. And be faithful to follow my Book.”
They will not be left leaderless, “Word-less” or Godless.
There have been many inspiring leaders throughout the history of the Church, many who seem indispensable during their times. In all these centuries, the Church has not just survived but thrived.
We thank God for our past leaders and saints. Sometimes in our church calendar and lectionary, we are asked to remember and commemorate their lives. The best saints are those who were Christlike. So much so that they ultimately redirect our gaze on Jesus Christ.
They have died. And our heroes will one day follow in their steps too. We recall Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
May our heroes, living or dead, continue to inspire us to fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us run our own race faithfully.
Collect
We end with the collect which is normally used on All Saints’ Day:
Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of your Son:
Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Daily Devotion 
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