Guest Preacher Susan Brouillette  

Exodus 33:18-23  Once upon a time there was a small and humble kingdom that was very proficient at meeting the needs of it subjects.  In the kingdom lived a girl who enjoyed all the good things that her surroundings had to offer.  The bounty of the kingdom was more than sufficient to help the little girl grow and flourish.  In addition to filling the girl’s need for food and shelter, the King and Queen safeguarded their subjects by the fortifications they established around the kingdom as well as brandishing their mighty arms as a deterrent to those who might intend to harm the kingdom.  One day the little girl was told that she would have to leave in order to fulfill her destiny.   For months leading up to her departure she petitioned the king and the queen to go with her so that they could protect her and keep her safe. With all her hear she pleaded with them to change their mind.  She tried to persuade them that they had obligated themselves to going with her in light of their past benevolence and devotion. She implied that past kindness bound them to an unspoken contract to give her anything she wanted.   The king and queen refused to budge citing other responsibilities that would not allow them to leave the kingdom. She wanted to say to them, “I know what is best. Stop being difficult and just do this.” She knew better however and just said “please” in a way that the last part of the word seemed to drag out for ever.   The king and the queen did not change their decision—but after conferring with the queen the king arose from his throne and went over to the little girl.  Bending down he said to her “by virtue of our responsibilities, we cannot go with you.  To do so would be to compromise ourselves as well as you in the process.  However, you will be safe and all of your needs met if you make the rules of the kingdom your own and extend the kingdom to the rest of the world.  

Soon afterwards she was told to walk to the end of the drawbridge and persons she did not know came and whisked her away.  As part of the familial bond that existed between her and the others, she had been coddled and cared for.  It was hard to think of a time when she did not get something she really wanted. She and the other children in the caravan were taken to a foreign land. This may sound like a fictional novel set in the middle ages about a young heroine but its really just a description, albeit embellished,  of many children’s experience of the first day of kindergarten.  I suspect that some of us would like to have a god that we could carry around in our pocket and take out whenever we are afraid.  One that we could summon whenever our world is shaken and we find ourselves outside our comfort zone.  When things come crashing down around us we look for something to prop us up. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if with a wink and nod our wish could be our command.   We would never have to worry about having enough.  All of our needs as well as our wants would be met.  We could feel safe and secure in the knowledge that no matter what besieges us or pose a threat, we would be unharmed and untouched.  Our god in a pocket would not only be a deterrent to others not to mess with us, but it would also give us the power to compel other people to do what we want them to do without bickering about it.  We would be able to control everything and everyone.   I think in many respects we live like we have a god in a pocket now.  I propose that it goes by the name of money.  I don’t know about you but I almost feel like master of my universe when I am shopping or dashing in and out of the drive through.  These are times that I feel empowered by my checkbook and debit card. Because people want me to keep coming back they are nice to me and want to make sure I am contented with my experience.  In other words when I am in a department store, or a restaurant, or a salon, I am the center of their world, everything revolves around me.  After all isn’t that why they are always so pleasant and want to know if they can help me find something.  Similarly when I am dining out I am always being asked whether everything is ok with my meal and is there something else I would want.  There is nothing that beats that great feeling when I pull up to  McDonald’s drive-up window and know that I am about to get everything just the way I want it.   Having our every need met is something that can easily seduce us into thinking that we can control everything.  I guess you could say that the way we rub our wallets trying to pull out our cash or swipe our credit cards is not much different than the way Aladdin rubbed the magic lamp to summons the genie to grant his wish.   The credit crisis, with words like “depression” and “deep recession”, talk of “global warming” and theories that it may be destabilizing the weather systems as well as the ecosystems of our planet, fears that sources of energy are becoming tighter and tighter and we can expect more and more disruptions in oil markets, reports that the US military is spread too thin and its power to unilaterally influence the rest of the world, and the increasing possibility that IU and Purdue as well as the Colts could have less than stellar seasons, are a bit intimidating and raise doubts about our ability to insulate our selves from an uncertain and hostile world .  If life is truly a journey we might find that we are entering a foreign land with the potential for hazards and booby traps in every direction.  The future is not as certain as it might have seemed at one time and we realize that the charms and amulets that we tucked into our pockets and the recesses of our minds are not real and have no real power.  It is when we realize our finiteness and limitations that we turn to Yahweh, the Great “I am”, God of Moses, Abraham, and Isaac.   

This is the situation the Israelites are facing in today’s reading from the book of Exodus.  The Israelites were so intent on taking control of their situation that they fabricated a false god into which they could project their own wants and desires.  When God had discovered what they had done He was furious.  It was not clear to Moses what God’s response would be.  Moses knew that the journey was not over and that they would be soon be entering potentially hostile territory and more than likely had concerns that the large group of refugees could be attacked.  Recognizing that the Israelites were defenseless and vulnerable in case of attack, Moses pleads with God to make Himself visibly present most likely as a deterrent to persons wishing to do the Israelites harm, assurance that God’s arms were outstretched and protecting them, and to vouchsafe and uphold Moses’ authority.  Moses comes at God from various directions reminding Him that He had told the people they were special to him and that he was committed to them and for that reason he was obligated to “be present and go with them”.   I don’t know about you but I can hear myself trying to twist someone’s arm and get them to change in following exchange between Moses and God:
Moses:  “You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in my sight.’  Moses adds “Consider this too that this nation is your people.” God responds “My angel will go with you and I will give you rest.”This is not want Moses wants to hear and snaps back “if you yourself will not go, do not carry us up.”  If I am not mistaken, that has echoes of “if you don’t care enough about me to do blank leave me alone. Moses then tries to butter God up by appealing to God’s desire to be in a devoted and faithful relationship with God’s people.   

He points out “For how shall it be known that I and your people have your favor unless you go with us.”  Then it is almost a brief moment of silence when God pauses to think about what Moses has said before responding.  God then acknowledges that He does desire to be involved with Moses and the Israelites.  Sympathetic to their fears and need to be reassured, God tells Moses that while He cannot put the totality of Himself into a box that they can have possession of and take along with them during their journey from Sinai to

What is meaningful to me about this passage is that God’s desire to be in relationship with us is evidenced by His willingness to engage Moses in conversation.  God was also willing to reveal his very self to Moses and in turn added to the intimacy of their relationship.  I suspect that has relevance for us today in two ways, as much as we might like and as hard as we might try, we cannot and should not attempt to tell God what to do.  We can tell God what we are feeling and want-but telling God what to do is something all together different, in essence by telling Him what to do we are attempting to make ourselves God.  I realize that most of us do not do this intentionally, but given that we live in a world in which we are accustomed to things bending to our will, I would think it would be a struggle not to want to carry this into our relationship with God as well as others.  Not only do not we distort our relationship with God, but we miss out on experiencing the fullness and Glory of God.  Instead of just “showing up” and being present as Moses had petitioned God—God chose instead “to make all of [God’s goodness] pass before [Moses] and to share with his people his very self.  When we lock and load on outcomes that we ourselves have predetermined we miss out on the more pleasing and affirming expressions of God’s love for us.    I think the second part of the message is that God chose to reveal himself in an intimate manner.  There was a closeness, an authenticity if you will that could not have been expressed in its fullest sense if had been done in front of a large group. This suggests to me that the two ways we can help others know God is to share our experience of God and His word.  Our authority for being a royal priesthood comes not from something we attach to ourselves, but that the revelation of God through his word and creation makes us the beneficiaries of God’s grace.   The following poem by Marie Howe entitled “Even if I Don’t See it Again” can describe our experience of God when we do not hold God to certain expectations or set conditions on God’s love:  Even if I don’t see it again—nor even feel itI know it is—and that if once it hailed meIt ever does— And so it is myself I want to turn in that directionNot as towards a place, but it was a tiltingwithin myself. as one turns a mirror to flash the light to whereit isn’t—I was blinded like that—and swam in what shone at me.  Only able to endure it by being no one and sospecifically myself I though I’d diefrom being loved like that.