October 22 2017 "Who Wants to Know"

October 22, 2017 *Exodus 33.12-23, Matthew 22.15-22 “Who Wants to Know?” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

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The story is told of a father teaching his three-year old daughter the Lord’s Prayer. She would repeat the lines after him. Finally, she decided to go solo. He listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer. Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, but deliver us from e-mail.” We come to God in prayer as little children with so much to learn.

In this morning’s scripture, we find ourselves in the middle of a conversation between Moses and God. Actually, it was more like an argument.  [slide # 1 Moses lightening] The people of God have been delivered from slavery to the Egyptians. They were finally making their exodus.

We all understand what it is to be finally free. We may have seen a day when we became free from a mortgage, car payment, or some other debt. Last week we heard Joyce say that Kevin was free and clear from treatment for his broken hip. Others have a circle on the calendar for the day they were free from radiation treatments or free from the strain of being away from a loved one who may be returning home after months overseas in military service in Afghanistan or somewhere. We know what it is to be free.

God delivered the people as God delivers us time and time again. Moses was the leader God used to plan and work so they could leave an unwelcome and unpleasant situation. [slide #2 Moses leading] In our scripture this morning, Moses is talking with God, asking God about what steps to take now that they were free.

Deliverance, though welcome, requires that some serious decisions be made. After being released from the hospital a patient may have to decide where to go to rehab, temporarily or permanently. After being released from prison, an inmate may decide to go to a halfway house, or a relative’s, or back into trouble.  After being released from debt one may make new pledges for ministry or promises to grandchildren. After being released from slavery a slave may go to a safe house or back through the underground channels with which they had traveled in the dark of night.

Moses wanted God to tell him where they were to go now that they had finally escaped the oppressive Egyptians. In verse 12: ¹² Moses said to the Lord, and the Message paraphrase of the bible says it well: [slide # 3 Moses bowed down]  "Look, you tell me, 'Lead this people,' but you don't let me know whom you're going to send with me. You tell me, 'I know you well and you are special to me.' If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don't forget, this is your people, your responsibility."

God did not give Moses specific directions to go here or there. Moses was forced to live with the ambiguity, forced to trust God, forced to cling to God. I am reading a book called Grace to Lead written by retired Bishop Kenneth Carder [slide # 4 Bishop Carder]  from Tennessee who works in memory care facilities and Laceye Warner [slide # 5 Professor Warner] co-writer – an associate professor of evangelism and Methodist Studies at our Duke University; they emphasize the value of not always knowing the details in life. Those who calmly accept the fact that you do not always know the details of what a day may hold are called in the book “high hope” individuals. [slide # 6 HIGH HOPE]

A leadership scholar is quoted in the book as saying, “High hope individuals are better able to cope with ambiguity and uncertainty and indeed, are engaged by the challenge of journeying into an undefined future without having all the answers yet knowing that in time the answers will be revealed. (page 28)

The details of where God is leading us from day to day, as much as we want to know them, will not take us as far as simply knowing that we are cared about and beloved by God.

As God’s people waited before God, hoping God would lead them somewhere nice, God describes Moses and the children of God, saying ‘I know you…I know you by name. I think highly of you.” ‘I favor you’ or as the NRSV version in our pew says ‘You have found favor in my sight.” [slide # 7 favor]

Clearly, God looks at faithful followers with plans to favor them, treat them with fondness and affection, and give them privileges that reflect enormous love.

Being a child of God is not so much about what our future holds or where our path leads. When we come before God asking questions, God wants to know who is asking. The point is who wants to know the future God has in mind for us. Who are we when we pray?

We all pray because we want to hear from God. Like Moses, we may even be the type to get up in God’s face a little and persist and even argue with God about the way things are. When we go to God, who are we? Do we really want to know what God is thinking? Sometimes we are not looking for answers. Sometime we just want to complain, or argue or rage or make a demand. We do not want to have a relationship with God. Sometime we want to push God away. Sometime.

Are we the one wanting to learn so we can lead? Are we wanting to receive a blessing? Give a blessing? When we come to God in prayer, who are we? Who are we as we come listening, hoping to hear what God has to say about our future?

As children of God, we are who God says we are. We are special, we are favored, [slide # 8 favorite] we can anticipate God’s affection, fondness, smiles and support. To know how precious we are to God is the first step on a journey toward peace and spiritual prosperity.

In a few weeks on November 19^th we will have an opportunity to prayerfully bring our yearly pledges to be consecrated. As always, when we come to worship, we come as the beloved.  [slide # 9 God’s beloved]

In verse 14 God speaks saying, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ [slide # 10 REST] What is better than that? God’s Love helps us to rest. When we rest in God’s love and care, if only for a moment in the day, we find comfort, healing, direction, peace, and joy.

In verse 18, Moses asks God to show him his glorious presence. We all appreciate experiences that are glorious, things that are admirable, noteworthy, things that fill us with delight, that move us to tears of joy and jaw dropping awe. We all appreciate experiences that are glorious.

God answers, you can see my glory but only so far. You cannot see my face, for no one can see my face and live.

How wise God is. We humans can only take so much. If we saw God’s face, we would feel overwhelmed. We do not have the capacity to endure the joy of Heaven in our present state no more than we could fly to South America on the outside of a plane as opposed to inside a pressurized cabin. You have seen people laugh so hard, they split a gut or tears start to roll. The joy of Heaven would be too much for us to experience on earth. At the same time, seeing God shed tears would be too much for us. I imagine, after seeing God cry, we would not be able to stop crying. Some sights could literally break our hearts and blow our minds.

God did not tell Moses everything he wanted to know when he wanted to know it, nor did he get to see God’s face that day. Surely, he still felt loved by God.

We also come to God, knowing we are beloved, [slide # 11 you…my beloved] we may not know what the future holds, but we know who we are – we are the beloved. And we know who holds the future. May God’s loving comfort, healing, direction, peace, and joy be yours today and always. Amen [slide # 12 step into….]