God turns his back..?

Exodus 33: 12-23, 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10

It has been another tough week for the people living in Gaza & the people living in Israel.

Almost every conversation I’ve had has turned, sooner or later to the need for peace with justice for the Middle East. And even while such terrible events come to our living rooms via the news, we are also living our own lives – with the inevitable ups and downs we face.

We might want to ask ‘where is God?’.

 

I think it is a fair question – with a complex answer – one we need to be honest about.

There are times when God feels far away. There are times when we feel we need to see God at work. So, like Moses, we may call out in distress for God to show us his face.

What happens next?

 

Let’s look at the Exodus story.

 

Moses is having a wobble - and you can't really blame him. After much pleading with Pharoah, and many miraculous interventions from God, God’s people have been released from Egypt. Then the people wander in the wilderness, complaining about the lack of food and water – and again are miraculously provided for by God. 

Finally the people have arrived at Mount Sinai, and Moses goes up the mountain to receive God’s law. This is no quick task – there’s far more to this law than just the 10 commandments - and the people grow tired of waiting and set up the Golden Calf to worship. God is furious and sends Moses back down the mountain: Moses is furious and smashes the tablets bearing the 10 commandments. Then God orders the people to travel away from Mount Sinai towards the promised Land.

But it seems that God is almost ready to give up on his people altogether. 

He tells Moses that although he will send an angel to show God’s people the way, God himself will not accompany them. So Moses, in the passage we heard, is trying to convince God to come with the people, to stay close to them all the way to the Promised Land.

 

As we contemplate the events in the midst of that same promised land; or as we navigate the deserts of our own lives, we, too, might want to cry ‘Where are you God?’.
And when we most need to know God with us, we might wonder whether God turns his back on us. 

But to Moses, God makes it clear that he is not refused the sight of God's face because God does not care enough to bother - God in fact goes to a lot of trouble to show himself, but to spare Moses too much. God is with Moses, with his people, but God’s presence is not dazzling clear in every moment.

 

How can we understand this?

So often in the Bible God is described as loving people like his children. Any of us who have cared for children know that there are times when you want to protect them.

For me it used to come when Ellie climbed in a playground. I wanted to say ‘oh be careful’ I wanted to be there ready if she slipped so much as an inch. Actually sometimes I just want to scoop her up and hold her safe. But I had to bite my tongue, and fold my arms, and try to smile & let her explore and grow and learn, because you can be too close and not give them room to live.

 

It is not good for human beings to see too much of God with us. What would life be like if we knew always, exactly what God thought of what we do - if we lived face-to-face with God? What if we could feel every disappointment we cause God? What if we knew exactly what God wants of us and if we knew exactly where we would fail God, even before it happened. What if we could see each step of our life before we lived it? Life would be almost unimaginably hard and would hardly be life at all. 

Somehow life is only life if we are allowed by God to find our own way - to know something of God with us, but not to be so stifled or so controlled that we cannot really live at all. 

Perhaps instead of thinking that God turns his back on us, we can see that God spares us his face. He gives us room to discover his will, rather than forcing us to live in the full glare of God’s presence.

But this doesn't mean that God doesn't care - he knows Moses by name, he allows Moses to plead for God's help & presence, and he shows him his back - not because he has turned his back on Moses, but so that Moses can freely follow.

Moses discovers that God will lead his people to the promised Land. 
God will give his people glimpses of his glory, but never subject them to the full realisation of his will, leaving no room for their own free wills.
God will never abandon his people.

And this same God will never desert us, however far he may feel from us. 
God deals with us as he deals with Moses. 
God knows us by name, 
God gives us glimpses of his presence, 
God leads us home.

 

And the letter to the Thessalonians reminds us that we are not alone – we do not each have to seek God’s presence as individuals. 

Paul writes to the church of the Thessalonians:

“We always give thanks to God for all of you … remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

This is one of Paul’s earliest letters, written to encourage a church he had founded in Thessalonica. 

We find here his earliest reference to Faith, hope and love, a theme he will return to in his letter to the Corinthians.

 

Paul describes in the Thessalonians

The work of faith

The labour of love

The steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

It is their knowledge of God’s love in Jesus Christ that provides the church at Thessalonica with their sight of God with them – they are steadfast in their hope of the presence of the living Christ. But in their works of faith and their labours of love they also support and encourage one another, they are bound together in the power of the Holy Spirit, and so become an example to other believers around.

 

Perhaps sometimes when we need to see God’s face we need to be shown God’s love by the people around us. And sometimes we are called to be a mirror of God’s loving presence to other people.

 

I hope you rejoiced with me at the news that the new Bishop of St David’s is to be Dorrien Davies. 

Susan & I first met Dorrien when he was Canon Residentiary at the Cathedral, and he has been Archdeacon of Carmarthen for the last six years. 

The Electoral College, who selected him, commented on his ability to lead and their confidence in ‘what he reflected of Jesus’. 

I can think of no higher compliment to pay any Christian than that they reflect Jesus.

 

May we all grow into that image of Jesus Christ, reflecting God’s love for one another, and supporting each other when God feels close and when God feels far away.

To the glory of God’s name. Amen.