Exodus 33:12-23
Introduction
I’ve always treasured the Exodus story for a lot of reasons, and among those reasons is that Moses gets to have conversations with God—one on one, in real time, a distinct back and forth dialogue. And who among us wouldn’t love such an opportunity? But what’s interesting is Moses gets this incredible treasure, and yet, he still wanted more from God. He wanted to “behold” God’s presence; he wanted to literally see God because in these mountain top meetings it was still as if God was behind a curtain, or in today’s vernacular, God’s microphone is unmuted, but the video isn’t on, and all Moses sees is a black box where down in the corner it says, “God.”.
And while some of us would be happy to get even a postcard or a text message from God, Moses needed to see God because what he and his followers are going through doesn’t make sense, and so they want to know, for certain, God really is behind the curtain. Sure, God had freed the Israelites from Egypt and has been feeding them manna and giving them fresh water in the desert. Their needs are taken care of, but the truth is, other than God’s promise for a Promised Land, they are homeless and wandering in the wilderness. So, it’s natural that Moses, who is leading a frightened and cantankerous people, wishes for a little certainty. “Show me your glory,” he says. It’s not much Moses is asking for really. He’s just saying, “Let me see, for just a second, and then I won’t bother you about this anymore.” It’s not too much to ask, is it? After all, just a little “seeing” can be “believing” right? And not only can a little seeing be believing, but there can also come about a little bit of relief that though things don’t make any sense, God is in fact really there, really at work—evidence that God hasn’t given up.
And God understands and offers to meet Moses halfway. “I will make all my goodness pass before you… But you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” So God passes before Moses, but Moses doesn’t get to see the face of God, instead he only sees God’s back. God walks by Moses who is wedged into a crack in the mountain, and with a hand, God covers the opening in the rocks where Moses stands, and then after passing by, God’s hand is moved and Moses can see God walking away, seeing God’s back.
I’ve always had kind of a long history with this story. Not only have I preached this text many times, in college my religious studies professor and advisor, Dr. Frank Gorman—who was cantankerous himself— loved referencing this story in class, always making an off handed remark about how God’s face wasn’t much to see, but God’s backside was a sight to behold.
And then seminary would show me how most scholars attribute this seeing and not-seeing to the glory of God simply being too great for human eyes. But personally, I have found, again and again in this story a foundational and fundamental reminder that God keeps God’s promise to always be with us, not matter what; and that God will show us a hope filled way forward even when we ourselves can’t see it, or even believe there possibly could be a hope filled way forward. And so it’s this story I lean into when the world doesn’t make sense, and I don’t know what to do.
Move 1
Wilderness wanderings are still a fact of life today, even for those who faithfully follow God. And just like for Moses and the Israelites, these wilderness wanderings often leave us thinking and believing the wilderness around us doesn’t make any sense. And when nothing makes sense, our human nature seeks to make sense out of the nonsensical. But rarely are our efforts faithful or hope filled.
One glaring example of human beings trying to make sense when something doesn’t make sense is the cliché statement, “Everything happens for a reason.” I bristle when I hear this because I just can’t wrap my head around such a rationale. Saying “everything happens for a reason” means car accidents and cancer happen for a reason. Natural disasters and mass shootings happen for a reason. Bullying and suicide happen for a reason. Poverty, homelessness, sex trafficking happens for a reason. Terrorist attacks…happen for a reason. None of us honestly believe this. But what we do believe is that we need some sort of rationale for what doesn’t make sense even if the rationale is irrational. And I get this. And because I do I have no judgement to those who make such statements. But this irrational rationale is never sustainable when we are trying to figure out what to say or do when the world around us does not make sense.
Which is why the Exodus story is a crucial source of guidance and assurance when the world around us does not make sense. This story reveals to us that in the wilderness wanderings of life, we can know, for certain God is there, that God is at work, that God has not given up, and neither should we.
This is God’s promise to God’s children. Events and actions in the world often don’t make sense. But God’s promise remains no matter what. And because it does, God will lead us through all our wilderness wanderings.
Move 2
Artist Pablo Picasso, perhaps the most influential artist of the 20th century, once said, “The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?” This becomes a fascinating statement when you realize it comes from someone who painted more than 20,000 pieces of art throughout his life.
I came across this quote and perspective earlier this week in an article I’m going to speak more of in a moment. But this quote was striking because it rings with the whole notion of throwing your hands in the air when you are so frustrated and beaten down and you just want to give up saying, “What’s the point?! The world today really does not make sense.”
And that is what I have been thinking and feeling and saying throughout this past week as I watched and read and heard about what is happening in Israel and Palestine and Gaza. The atrocities. The terror. The deaths of so many— including innocent men, women, and children.
I take it all in and I can’t help but wonder, “How did we fall so far? How did we let ourselves get to this?” It breaks my heart. It breaks my spirit.
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Trying to process all that has happened within a few days has left me and many others feeling like Picasso: “The world today doesn’t make sense!”
Among them is Rev. Wesley Thomas, hospice chaplain and pastor in Alabama. He spoke of this struggle in an online opinion piece centered around his church’s worship service last Sunday—the day after the terrorist attacks in Israel, but was also rooted in that Picaso quote. I want to share with you at length a portion of what he said. Rev. Thomas writes,
“In my own creative gift that is the art of preaching, the events of this past week presented a similar confessed question that encircled my heart and spirit Sunday morning as I prepared to mount the sacred podium.
Considering what took place last week, I thought, “The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I preach about a God who does?”
There’s the father sitting before me in the sanctuary who is working two or three jobs just to make ends meet yet still faces the difficult choice between paying the utility bill or putting a smile on his child’s face with a gift for their upcoming birthday. His situation doesn’t make sense, so why should I preach to him about a God who does?
There’s the middle-aged sweet woman on the other side of the sanctuary who has deeply struggled with losing a loved one and has done the right things by going to therapy, taking classes on grief and praying to find healing, yet she still feels just as empty today as she did on the day her loved one died. Her situation doesn’t make sense, so why should I preach to her about a God who does?
There’s the teenager sitting in the back of the sanctuary who recently considered taking their life because they thought it was the only way to deal with life. Their situation doesn’t make sense, so why should I preach to them about a God who does?
This was the question I wrestled with Sunday morning as an artist standing at the canvass of the podium. Suddenly I began to contemplate how Picasso answered his question, and that’s when it hit me. If I had to guess, I believe Picasso’s answer is in his work. Because even after asking that profound question, Picasso continued to paint. And I believe the reason he continued is because he had hope that his paintings could possibly project sense into the world.
So, in spite of how last week made me feel…here I am. Doing what I do. I’m preaching. Preaching for the same reasons others are preaching today—because God’s word, God’s Good News, God’s assurances that God is still at work needs to be preached—no matter what in the world is happening that makes us throw up our hands and ask, “The world today doesn’t make any sense. So why should I do what I do?”
Conclusion
So what then are we to do when the world doesn’t make sense, and it’s hard to see and believe God is still at work—working for good?
We keep trusting and believing without seeing, the God we follow will eventually project sense into a senseless world.
We keep trusting and believing the love of the God we follow will eventually project love into a world so filled with hate. We keep trusting and believing the healing of the God we follow will eventually project healing into a world so deeply and profoundly hurt. We keep contemplating how we can help others believe, even though it is hard to see. We keep wrestling with the uncertainty, so it won’t consume us and harden our hearts and convince us there is no hope. We do what we do… we keep being who we are… because that is how we show ourselves and others in a world that so often seems determined to destroy itself, God has not given up…and neither should we.
We keep creating. We keep preaching. We keep serving. We keep sharing. We keep showing up. We keep helping. We keep giving. We keep painting a beautiful picture of the world because the world needs our God inspired art. When the world doesn’t make sense, we keep doing what God’s faithful are to do. Because to do anything else… doesn’t make sense. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, October 15, 2023
Gracious God, with all that is happening in and around Israel, we wonder what is an outcome Christians should be hoping for? So help us approach this question as Jesus would, so we know we should hope for an end to the violence, for there is no violent solution to this conflict because violence only begets violence.
We should hope for a growing recognition that all are made in your image and that human life is sacred.
We should learn from the Hebrew prophets of old and the great sages of our modern era, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that peace and justice are intertwined.
We should hope for a future in which Israelis and Palestinians enjoy security, freedom, and honored dignity in equal measure—for any system or plan that suggests one people can achieve such at the expense of the other will not bring true or lasting peace.
We should also remember that hope is not a feeling or an emotion or just a belief that everything’s going to be alright. Hope is not passive. Hope is what you do. And as Christians we have this hope, and that you Holy God are calling us to participate as ambassadors of reconciliation in a broken world yearning for wholeness.
So we pray you empower us to see the opportunity to listen and learn more about the fullness of the reality happening to your children even though they are so far away. Guide us to listen to the voices of Palestinian Christians who often feel forgotten by Christians in the West.
Help us to embrace peacemaking as central to our discipleship, making it an active pursuit of justice in our daily lives—risking our reputations and relationships if necessary. For when we do, we courageously pursue the kind of justice that never gives up on the redemptive power of love.
We cannot make sense of the world O God, but we know and trust you can. So use us in your redeeming work where justice, peace, and love flourish for all.
Listen now, we ask, to the prayers we lift in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our redeemer and sustainer, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”