20th Sunday after Pentecost
October 22, 2017
Exodus 33:12-23
We’ve taken a few weeks off from focusing on the Exodus
story of Moses and the Israelites. Today we’re going to return to it because of
this really striking conversation between Moses and God. Last week we read
about some problems, the story of the golden calf, when Moses took too long
coming down the mountain and so his brother, Aaron, took charge. Aaron had all
the people bring their gold and he melted it and formed it into the image of a
calf for the people to worship. And, of course, God sent Moses back quickly to
address this sacrilege. God threatens to destroy the Israelites, but Moses
intervenes and reminds God of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and
of how God was supposed to lead them to the Promised Land. Well, God relents,
yet says that an angel will lead them to the Promised Land, because if God goes
himself, he just might destroy them. It sounds kinda like God needs a time-out
to cool down and remember that he loves his people. However, the people are
upset that God isn’t going with them himself. God’s presence with his people is
what makes God different from other gods. And will they really survive the
journey if God isn’t with them?? Now, cue the conversation we read today. Moses
makes three requests of God and God answers each one with a promise.[1]
First, Moses asks
to know God’s ways. Isn’t this a common request of God? Throughout the
Bible, especially in the psalms: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you
are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 24:4-5. Even
today, that’s often what we ask God. Show me your ways, God. Teach me. Direct
me down your path. Sometimes we get a
more direct answer from God, like in the prophet Isaiah, “Whether you turn to
the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This
is the way; walk in it.’”[2] Isn’t it helpful when it’s that clear? “This is my way. Go here.”
Of course, we don’t always follow God’s directions even when they’re that
clear. However, in this case, God doesn’t answer Moses with a clear direction.
Moses says, “Show me your ways,” and God says, “My presence will go with you
and I will give you rest.” Moses asks to know God’s ways and God gives a promise of rest. Moses asks
for knowledge and guidance and God answers with rest. Isn’t that curious? Moses
is ready to be on the move, keep moving, go on to the next thing, let’s go,
[pause] and the answer to his prayer is that God will give him rest. Has that
ever happened to you? Where you’re moving and shaking and on the go [pause] and
then everything comes to a screeching halt?
What is God saying in that
screeching halt? What is God saying when you hit a wall? I know in marathons or
training or adjusting to new exercise programs, you’re supposed to have things
in place for when you hit the wall so that you can keep moving and you don’t
give up. Yet a rest is not permanent. It’s not giving up. Look at the 23rd
psalm: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still
waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His
name’s sake.” He makes me lie down, he makes me rest. Then he leads me beside
still waters. Rest, and then he leads me. Restoration, and then he leads me. Rest
comes first. We work from rest, rather than rest from work. It makes a
difference.
So, second, Moses asks God to be present with them on the journey to the
Promised Land. We’re not sure we can make this trip without you, God. We
need you with us. Not just an angel, we need you. And God answers with
this promise of the divine name. He says, in effect, “I will do what you
asked. I know you by name.” Now that’s the answer to prayer that we like! “I
will do what you asked!” Yet God adds, “[it’s] because I am pleased with you
and I know you by name.” There’s a reason God gives a direct yes to this
request. God is pleased with Moses, Moses has found favor in God’s sight, and
God knows Moses by name. The second part of this is true for us, too. God knows
each of us by name. The first part, pleasing God, well, remember it’s not about
works-righteousness, we can’t earn our way into God’s favor. It’s about faith,
belief in Jesus Christ. And at the same time, if we truly have faith, then it
will be shown by what we do, like you know it’s an apple tree because it has
apples on it.
A phenomenon called “prayer shaming”
was brought to my attention recently; I had been unaware of it. One widely
accepted thing to say after a catastrophe or tragic event is to say that “our
thoughts and prayers are with you.” However, there’s increasingly becoming a
problem with this, which is that the world thinks if we really were praying,
then it would be a difference. After all, we believe prayer makes a difference,
right? We believe God answers prayer, right? Not always directly, like when we
pray for guidance and God says rest, but there is an answer that often requires
us to then act. We pray for guidance and God says rest, we should then rest, and not try to keep going. We pray
for people who are hurting and God says you can do something to alleviate their
pain, then it’s back on us to do something, whether that’s to give money to
UMCOR or donate items for relief buckets and kits or whatever it is God is
calling you to do. And here’s where prayer-shaming comes in. Politicians say, “thoughts
and prayers,” but nothing changes. The world hears us say, we’re praying. But they don’t see us do anything as a
result of our prayers. They don’t see anything change as a result of our
prayers. So, they say we don’t want your prayers. They’re not making a
difference. And maybe there’s not a visible difference. Maybe there’s not a
physical action God asks us to take. Or maybe we’re not actually following through
and spending serious time in prayer. Pleasing God means we do what we say.
Pleasing God means we bear fruit that show we have faith. Jesus says, “Each
tree is recognized by its own fruit.”[3] What you say online should match
what you do offline (off the computer). What you say Sunday at church should
match what you do the other six days of the week. If we have put the time and
effort into prayer, then there will be some fruit for it and when someone tries
prayer-shaming, rather than getting defensive, we can honestly say, I did pray,
here’s what God said, and here’s what I did in response to what God said. A lot
of it is following through, and I know I fall short as much as anyone else. If
prayer is something we want to focus on as a church, then we can certainly do
that. One summer at the church where I
was the associate pastor, we held evening prayer once a week and what I
remember clearest is the feeling of peace as I drove the half hour home on I-40
afterward. Prayer changes us, and
that evening prayer made me calmer and I drove slower (which is to say, I went
the speed limit, instead of over it). My frame of mind and my attitude were
adjusted. That’s a visible difference as a result of an hour of prayer.
Finally, the third request Moses
makes gets the most interesting response from God. Moses asks to see God’s glory. “Show me your glory.” A much better
catch-phrase than “Show me the money!” And God
promises to make his goodness pass before Moses. But, no one can see God’s
face and live (that’s where the Indiana Jones movie gets it from and why Indy
knew to cover his face so he didn’t die). So that Moses doesn’t die from this
encounter, God says, I’m going to put you in the cleft of a rock, so you’re
surrounded on all sides but one by rock, and I’m going to put my hand over the
opening until I have passed by. And then you shall see my back. Isn’t this
interesting? “Rock of ages, cleft for me…” so that I’m not burned to a crisp
while God passes by. So that I am not undone by my arrogance of trying to tell
God what to do.[4] So that I may be saved from my sin. That’s
what the rest of that first verse means. Remember Jesus Christ is our rock of
ages… “let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood, from thy
wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make
me pure.” That’s 18th century-speak for Christ’s blood shed on the
cross that saves us from our sin. We
hide ourselves in Christ and God covers our sin with his hand of protection so
that we’re not burnt to a crisp. So that we’re not undone by what we failed to
do or what we did that we shouldn’t have done. God’s hand of protection, that’s
what we get to feel when we’re hiding in the cleft of the rock. And what we get
to see is his back, and not just his back, but then also the path of where God
has been.
So, let’s slow this down. When we are hiding in the cleft
of the rock, when God has his hand of protection covering us, we know where God
is, even though we can’t see him. We still know he’s right there, keeping us
safe, seeing us through. We know he’s there, even when we can’t see him. Even
in the darkness, even during the difficult times, even through the worst that
may happen, we may not see God, but
we can still feel his presence. And when we do
get to see God, it’s after the fact. We get to see God’s back, after he’s been
at work, after he’s passed through. We get to look back and say, “Ah, there was God.” It’s just like Jacob
when he’s at Bethel and has that dream of the ladder with the angels going up
and down it and God speaks to Jacob. When Jacob wakes up, he says, “Surely the
Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”[5]
It
is easy to miss God at work when he’s
at work. It’s much easier to see where God has been afterwards. I think that’s
because sometimes we get caught up in all the loose threads and incompleteness,
like looking at a half-finished knitting project, or looking at the backside of
a needlepoint.
We see all the problems and all the mistakes and all the places
where we didn’t do a great job. God sees the finished project. He sees what can be. And we have folks here with that
gift. I’ve seen it during the Tuesday afternoon craft sessions and other times.
We have folks who look at messes and see what can be. And that vision is what
we need. Lisbon moving forward is not going to look the same as the past. We
need folks who see what is, and then what could be, moving forward. Not getting
caught up in the loose threads or getting distracted by super glue that dried
in the wrong place, but staying focused on what can be.
It’s
harder to see God at work when he’s at work. It’s harder to see him when he’s
got his hand covering you. Perhaps that’s the time when you’re supposed to
rest. Perhaps that’s the time when you’re supposed to listen in prayer. So that
when he lets you out of the cleft, you’re rested and you know what God’s
calling you to do and you’re ready to
work. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
