Seeking and Being Sought
After a summer hiatus, sermonthreads is back, looking each week at the texts to be preaching the following Sunday. This week: Exodus 32:7-14, I Timothy 1:12-17 and Luke 15:1-10.
The Exodus reading has perhaps the most fascinating, and for some folk, most troubling component. It talks about God changing God's mind! For those taught that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, the idea that God could change a plan could be troublesome. But for those who believe in the power of prayer, it is exhilarating!
The story takes place while Moses is up on the mountain conversing with God and receiving the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew people, newly freed from Egypt, have grown impatient down in the wilderness waiting for Moses to return. Some think he may have died, and Joshua with him. So they ask Aaron to give them a god to worship. A golden calf is made from the jewelry they purloined from the Egyptians at their leavetaking, and a great orgy follows in the manner of ecstatic religious celebrations of the Middle East at that time.
Moses knows none of this, but God does. And God gets most perturbed by this activity. God threatens to "consume" all of the people, except Moses. He says he'll make a new nation for Moses to lead.
Now at this point, given the grief these folk have given Moses throughout the flight from Egypt, you might think he would take God up on that option. But Moses instead pleads for the people. He tells God that it would be such a waste to destroy them when God just went to a lot of trouble to liberate them. Moses says it would embarrass God in front of the Egyptians. And Moses says God would be going back on promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). All of this Moses sees as contrary to God's essential character. Note that Moses does not excuse the actions of the people; he's not appealing out of mercy for them overtly, but out of a desire for God not to contradict what is essential about God.
Amazingly, God agrees with Moses and decides not to consume the people with anger.
So, my questions include wondering why Moses stuck with these difficult folk, what Moses said that convinced God, and how this all relates to prayer and to forgiveness? More tomorrow on the other texts.
The Exodus reading has perhaps the most fascinating, and for some folk, most troubling component. It talks about God changing God's mind! For those taught that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, the idea that God could change a plan could be troublesome. But for those who believe in the power of prayer, it is exhilarating!
The story takes place while Moses is up on the mountain conversing with God and receiving the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew people, newly freed from Egypt, have grown impatient down in the wilderness waiting for Moses to return. Some think he may have died, and Joshua with him. So they ask Aaron to give them a god to worship. A golden calf is made from the jewelry they purloined from the Egyptians at their leavetaking, and a great orgy follows in the manner of ecstatic religious celebrations of the Middle East at that time.
Moses knows none of this, but God does. And God gets most perturbed by this activity. God threatens to "consume" all of the people, except Moses. He says he'll make a new nation for Moses to lead.
Now at this point, given the grief these folk have given Moses throughout the flight from Egypt, you might think he would take God up on that option. But Moses instead pleads for the people. He tells God that it would be such a waste to destroy them when God just went to a lot of trouble to liberate them. Moses says it would embarrass God in front of the Egyptians. And Moses says God would be going back on promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). All of this Moses sees as contrary to God's essential character. Note that Moses does not excuse the actions of the people; he's not appealing out of mercy for them overtly, but out of a desire for God not to contradict what is essential about God.
Amazingly, God agrees with Moses and decides not to consume the people with anger.
So, my questions include wondering why Moses stuck with these difficult folk, what Moses said that convinced God, and how this all relates to prayer and to forgiveness? More tomorrow on the other texts.
Labels: September 16
posted by shelly @ 12:41 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:16 PM,
Geoff said…
Shelly - I just had to read Abraham's classic "haggling" with God over the fate of Lot, Sodom, etc. in Genesis today! The character of divine "negotiator" seems really intriguing in both of these stories. Reflecting on a modern sense of prayer and church, it seems interesting that this could be part of the "still speaking..." campaign. Not only is God still speaking, but God is still interpreting what God meant before! Maybe we need to back up one step and remind people that "God is still thinking."
(I like your point that Moses essentially convinces God that what is most unalterably GOD is the relationship to His people.) I take away that God is in a conversation with us that has the power to be redemptive, and I feel much better about the fact that I have to go back to my Systematics readings now!
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