Cleveland 1
Joshua Cleveland
Sermon #2
PR 201 Section D
Saldine & Hancock
05 December 2005
A Pastor’s Desperation
& The LORD’s Promise
Exodus 33.11-23
Form: Lowry Loop
Audience: Seminarians and Professor
Prayer:
God who speaks, God who is with us, be with us in the preaching and in the hearing of your word. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
How much is too much for God to ask of you? How much are you willing to compromise if God doesn’t answer your prayers as you ask?
In our story today, Moses is a determined pastor, seeking to lead God’s people, desperate to see the glory of God. The people of Israel, watched by Aaron while Moses was with God, just finished throwing all their gold jewelry into the fire to create their golden cow, and God’s anger continues to rise against these stiff-necked people. If God showed himself to the people, they would be consumed. And pastor Moses, whose habit it is to go camping with God on the mountain, believed that he and those he was leading were in jeopardy of losing God’s presence as they made their way to the Promised Land. These are God’s Chosen People, the Ones whom God should favor.
Yes, the people need to be led. Moses is desperate, and Moses wants confirmation
of God’s abiding presence.
We know that Moses and God are friends. God knows him well; he called Moses by name at the burning bush. “Moses, Moses.”
This same Moses is afraid of whom God will send to guide the sojourning people of Israel. He does not want any old angel. No, Moses wants God himself to lead the journey. Here, and throughout this text, as Terrence Freitheim states, Moses is saying: “If God were not to go, then there would be no sense for the people to continue on their journey.”[1] Moses goes so far as to say to God, “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place.”[2]
God confirms that his Presence will be with them and that Moses has found favor in his sight. But that is not enough for Moses. He wants assurance that God himself will be the guide for their journey. Just in case God forgot, Moses reminds God that this is no random crew of travelers: these are God’s people.
In this passage, Moses may not appear to be the most trusting man, but like a child at Christmas, he knows how to ask for what he wants. What does he have to lose? Truly, nothing and everything. So, first he asks, “Show me your ways,” then, later, he makes another request. Boldly. “Show me your glory.”
Moses is desperate for God’s presence. He has known God in the past, and he knows that he cannot make it without God. Moses now needs God more than ever because the people of Israel are losing their way. I wonder: Does Moses know what he is asking for? Sure, he has spent plenty of time in the clouds with God, but does he know what this glory is and what it could do?
“Show me your glory.” So, what is God’s response to Moses’ bold request? Though God had promised his presence, God has his own plan. Indeed, God has favored Moses and has set him apart. There is good news here. God will show his goodness and be with his people. God will also proclaim his intimate and personal name: the LORD, who will do as he pleases. But wait, there is even more
After the list of things that the LORD promises to do for Moses, the LORD generously offers another gift. It is as if God is showing off here. Essentially, the LORD is saying, “Moses, I will be with you. I am not going to leave you alone. You are mine, and these are my people, no matter what they have done. Here’s my plan. Remember, if you were to see me, you would die, so we’ll do it this way…You’ll go over that way, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the mountain. My intimate touch will protect you from my overwhelming glory. I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by…then I will give you a glimpse.”
Imagine if the LORD’s offer for Moses to see the LORD’s back is a preparation for the way in which the LORD will lead Moses and the people. Since the LORD will be leading, it is the LORD’s back which they will see hour by hour. And, it is the LORD’s back which will be a comfort and confirmation of God’s Presence as the LORD leads the people.
The promise of Presence is just that for Moses, a promise. In this story, we do not learn if the LORD’s promise to abide is fulfilled, we only have hope. We have something to look forward to.
What if the LORD’s willingness to show his back is an allusion to the kind of relationship that God’s people will be invited into in the future, in Christ, when we can see God face to face, and live? Though Moses could not see God’s face and live, we can now see God and find life in the face of Christ. As the Gospel writer John tells us, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”[3]
We read this text through New Testament eyes. The cleft of the rock in which God promises to hide us is Christ. His hand, which covers and protects us, just might be the Holy Spirit. The LORD is pointing to Christ, in whom we are hidden. In this Advent season, we can be reminded that just as the LORD was with Moses, Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.”
In the LORD’s mercy, the LORD takes the risk to reveal himself and his glory for the sake of the LORD’s people.
Friends, if you hear nothing else, hear this: we serve a God, you serve a God who longs to lead his people: even you, even me. Just as God promised to lead Moses, the pastor desperate for God’s presence, God promises to be our God and go before and with us, we who are desperate to see the glory of the LORD revealed in Jesus Christ.
[1] Interpretation, 298
[2] JPS Hebrew English, 187
[3] First John 1:14, NIV.