By Father Ted

If I had to choose one thing that surprised me the most from our recent choir trip to Scotland, it would be that I spent a lot more time thinking about Presbyterianism than I normally do. We walked through a dozen or more churches that had their roots in the old, catholic church of western Europe, but which have been part of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, since the Scottish Reformation. During that period, many old catholic churches were torn down and their stones repurposed, since they didn’t fit the piety and liturgical needs of Scottish Calvinists. The ones that managed to survive only did so because (and we heard this a lot) John Knox preached there.

Early in the trip, we visited the small city of Perth, a medieval trading post with roots going back to prehistoric Britain. Because of its strategic location, it served as Scotland’s capital for a time. At the center of the city is St. John’s Kirk, a church dedicated to John the Baptist built on a site where Christians have worshipped since the twelfth century. The current structure was built around 1488. Like all the other old churches we toured, it survived the reformation because John Knox preached there once upon a time.

Looking around the church, I noticed a beautiful, wooden lectern. On the desk there was an array of hand-carved thistles with the words nec consumebatur tamen. I looked up the Latin phrase out of curiosity because pulpits and ambos frequently have plaques with poignant verses from scripture designed to inspire (or indict) preachers. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus,” is among the most common.

My Google search revealed that nec consumebatur tamen was the motto of the Church of Scotland, and they are pulled from the third chapter of Exodus, “…yet it was not consumed.” They are part of the story of Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush. The bush, which was engulfed in flames, was somehow still whole; although it was filled with God’s divine presence, it was not consumed.

Having learned what the motto meant, I saw something new in the carved desk: the leaves of the thistle plants suddenly looked like tongues of flame which burned without consuming the delicate thistle flowers. I was also struck that nec consumebatur tamen is a very fitting motto for a church that was borne from a violent reformation.

Reflecting on the motto and the lectern also brought me back to Transfiguration, because we too have a depiction of the burning bush in our worship space. Above the rack of votive candles in Roper Hall hangs an icon that was originally commissioned for the Youth Center. It features a very young-looking Moses removing his sandals before the burning bush. But if you look closely at the bush, you’ll see something unexpected: Mary with the infant Jesus in her lap. In the Coptic iconographic tradition, the burning bush is always depicted with Mary and Jesus because just as the bush was filled with divine presence and was not consumed, so too was Mary filled with divinity and yet was not consumed. It is also a beautiful way to imagine the church: a collection of people who are filled with the Spirit, yet instead of immolating from exposure to such holiness, we are empowered to spread God’s love to the world.

Our icon of Moses and the burning bush is rich with meaning and a beautiful focus for your devotion. As you walk by it when you come to church this weekend, I hope that you will stop and reflect on the miracle of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and how instead of being consumed by its fire, you are refined into something new: a Christian called to fan the flames of love in a weary world

Father Ted+

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