Burning, but not consumed

Beloved, the goal of our lives, believe it or not is to burn! Yes, burn, you heard me! Now I know that’s kind of weird because the preacher is supposed to teach you how “not” to burn. What I’m getting at is that we want to be “burning” with the fire of the Holy Spirit, but not be consumed in the process!
Resistance is what causes the heat to overwhelm us. Like the little electronic component of the same name, resistance brings overheating and “consumption;” …a “burned out circuit.” That’s what we don’t want. But if we’ll give ourselves to Him, without reservation, we’ll instead be like the three Hebrews who gave themselves to God in the face of evil Nebuchadnezzar, and were thrown into the fiery furnace for it. They so completely trusted God in obedience and utter submission, that instead of a place of pain and torment, the furnace became a comfort to them! They became like that bush, “burning, but not consumed.”

This is the reality of our calling. We have been called to receive Christ into our hearts, minds, souls, and into every aspect of or very being, and to actually “participate” in His divine life. Doing that as we pray, worship, and partake of the sacraments ignites a flame in us that burns so brightly that it actually begins to show on our faces, and unlike Moses, nothing can extinguish it. It will not fade away! In fact nothing can obscure it. Nor does He want us to obscure it, but rather wants us to let it shine to all those around us. We’re not to hide it under a bushel basket, but are to be as a shining city on a hillside, much like that burning bush, so that all who pass by, who turn aside to see this great thing, will come into contact with God Himself in us, and hopefully begin to see the possibility of they themselves being transformed as well!

(Part of a message from Fr. Philip last August)