Pentecost 18: Exodus 33:12-23; Matthew 22:15-22
October 16, 2011
On one of our Christmas trips to Minnesota several years ago we ran into a blizzard just west of Albert Lea in the southern part of the state. We were driving west on I90 when we saw what looked like a white sheet hanging across the road up ahead. In fact this was the edge of the storm and when we hit it we suddenly could see nothing except all white reflecting back in our eyes. Fortunately we did see a pair of red lights just ahead which were the back end of a trailer truck. We slowed down and followed along behind.
Those red lights were a God sighting because there are times in life like this too when we get caught up in situations where we can't see what's ahead. Indeed everyday is like this for we never see or know exactly what will happen from one moment or day to the next. Our vision is always limited. In this context faith is learning to trust in the red lights that God provides to lead us through an uncertain world to the joys of his kingdom.
This is what God was teaching Israel and Moses long ago after they left Egypt. Over and over the people keep questioning God. 'We don't have food. We don't have water. We are not strong enough to conquer the inhabitants of the land which God has promised to us. What are we going to do? Let's go back to Egypt!' Even though God heard all the complaints and cared for all their needs, Israel did not fully trust in God to lead them. And so one day they made a golden calf and made this object their god.
God became so angry over this betrayal that he vowed to destroy them. But Moses intervened and persuaded Yahweh not to do this. The Lord relented, but was still not very happy. In fact he tells Moses that he will send an angel with the people on their trip to the land of promise. But God himself will not go with them. And so again Moses intervened and again God relented. This time God promises to go with Israel, but not because they have found favor in his eyes, but only because Moses had found favor in his sight. For the sake of Moses God agrees to go with Israel.
Just as we sing 'it's only because of Jesus that I'm alive,' so too for Israel 'it was only because of Moses that they were alive.' Moses was their mediator. He enjoyed a special relationship with Yahweh. They visited and talked with one another on top of mountains and in the tent of meeting down below. Later Jesus does the same. Frequently he left the disciples and went off to pray by himself especially on mountains.
It was only natural then that after God agrees to go with his people again, that Moses asks to see God's glory. I want to see you so that I can know you better. It's an innocent question that children sometimes ask. "What does God look like?" How do you answer that? What can you say?
The right answer would be that God is like Jesus. But not in a physical way. God is like Jesus in terms of expressing his will for our lives. Physically Jesus has been pictured many ways. In Africa, Jesus is black. In Asia, he is Asian. In America, he looks like the famous Solomon portrait hanging in the hallway. Every culture pictures Jesus in their own image. This isn't a bad thing as long as we don't take any one culture's picture as the absolute. The truth is we don't know how Jesus would look if he walked in here this morning. Or God either. We know God through Jesus only by what he does.
This is answer God gives Moses. "You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." But I will let you see my goodness and mercy as I pass by. And so he puts Moses in a cleft of the rock and covers him so that he cannot see his presence. 'After I pass by,' the Lord says, 'I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.'(Ex 33:23)
As long as we live in this world we will never know what God looks like. But we can know what God is like from the back side. We know God because of what he does. We can trust God then even though we can't see him. We can know and trust God from the acts of his goodness and mercy revealed throughout the history of God's people.
Faith is the capacity to trust God in an uncertain world. God is not above us or below us or behind us so much as God is always ahead of us and leading us. His goodness and mercy are the red lights that assure us that God is indeed up ahead. Salvation means to trust in those lights and follow them which means we need to stay behind God and not get out in front.
Of course, like Israel this is exactly what we have a tendency to do. We get out in front of God by setting up our own golden calves to save us. The antidote for this is to remember what God does for Israel in the wilderness. God promised to provide manna in the morning and quail meat in the evening as their food to sustain them. Then he gave an unusual command. Don't save any leftovers for tomorrow. Why? Because if Israel used up all their food daily, they would have to keep trusting God to provide every day. If they started saving the leftovers, they would be trusting in themselves.
In the law God commanded that each year when the harvest was received that the first fruits were to brought to the Temple as an offering. Again it was the same lesson. If they started storing the harvest and then gave to God at the end they would be trusting in themselves. But if they gave back to God first then this would force them to trust God for the rest of the harvest.
Consider how our giving compares to this today. Do we give to God from our leftovers, after we have paid for everything else that we choose to buy? Or, do we put our commitment to God at the top of our budget and then live on the rest that God provides?
Last week during the Financial Peace University class Dave Ramsey made an interesting point about our addiction to borrowing. The financial industry does a very good job of selling the idea that we can improve our lives dramatically by maintaining a high credit rating which qualifies us to borrow more and more. A high credit rating in fact is like a merit badge that affirms our personal self-worth and esteem. The more we can borrow the better we feel about ourselves. This whole system is like a golden calf that we rely on to save us instead of God. The corollary to this is that when we borrow beyond our means we give less to God because we are giving from what we have leftover rather than the first fruits.
Jesus says to the Pharisees: "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." How we give to God says a lot about how we trust God and how we follow.
The commandments of God illustrate the nature of God's presence and care. God is leading us to a very special destination. Therefore, God is the first priority in life. Salvation is not our job or the things that borrowed money can buy. It's not the security we build up for ourselves. It's not how we vote. It's not the church we join. It's not how much we know. It's not our power to add or detract anything. It's not coming up with the right plan. Salvation comes only from God who is good and merciful every day. What God did yesterday is what God will do tomorrow. Trust in this. Keep your eyes open for God's goodness revealed every day and do not fear. Expect to see the red light God moments all the time.
We kept following the red lights of that truck through the blizzard that night until we came to the town of Blue Earth. We were able to exit there and got the last motel room available. We were only 75 miles from our destination, but it snowed 17 inches that night and took us two more days to complete the trip. If it were not for that trucker, however, we could have driven off the highway into the ditch which would have been much more inconvenient if not fatal.
And so it is in life. Stay behind God. Don't get out in front. God's goodness and mercy are constant and made new every day.