11-29-2022

Good Morning All,

    Exodus 24:16-17; “The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 
Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel”

    It was a time when it should have been obvious.  The Children of Israel had just witnessed the 10 plagues in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, watched Pharaoh’s army drown as the waters returned, been fed manna, drank water from a rock, were led by a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, and now were at Mount Sinai and were witnessing the glory of God as it rested on the top of the mountain.  With all those miraculous interventions, there could be no doubt about God.

    Do you ever think, “If I could witness that; I would have absolutely no doubt, I would believe forever.”  Look at all the events that had happened how could you not believe in God?  If God would only do something big; it would change everything.

    The truth is it didn’t even change things then.  While Moses was on the mountain with God, the Israelites were building an idol, a golden calf, to worship.  They probably believed in God but that didn’t stop them from rebelling against God.  Adam and Eve knew God but rebelled against him.  Cain knew God but rebelled and killed his brother.  Knowledge and faith aren’t necessarily the same thing.

    We claim that if God would only visibly show himself, we would believe in him, but would we surrender to him or would we rebel just like the others?  The very crux of our Christian faith is found in the explanation to the second article where Luther writes,” I believe that Jesus Christ… is my LORD.”  That is what it is about; we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  These people saw God as God; they just didn’t want him to be their God.  There are many like that today, people who reject or rebel against God.  They want a God of action.  When the drought was on or the hurricane hit, or wars occur or any one of a number of calamities occur; they wonder, where is God?  Why doesn’t He act?

    The reason is because God has chosen a different way to interact with the world; He does it through the Church.  Jesus gave the Church the authority that he had on earth; the power to forgive sins, the mysteries of the sacraments and his Word, the truth of salvation, and the task of reconciling the world.  When you wonder where God is, where is that awe and majesty; it is in your hands entrusted to you by our Lord Jesus.  We are the living establishment of that majesty here on earth.  That is why Peter called us a peculiar or separate nation, set apart for God’s purpose.

    There are those who would still rebel, but we have God’s grace and mercy, which we see every single day.  The obvious lives in us all the time, God’s Spirit resides in you to set you free, to give you the direction you should go, to give you comfort, peace and ultimately eternal life.  The glory of the Lord was seen on Mount Sinai now it should be seen in you.

Father of all grace, we are often slow to reflect your glory to those around us and we are slow to see that glory as well.  Give us the strength and the wisdom to go forth as your agents of change, your hands of mercy in a world that is so in need of your love.  All this we ask in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret