A Discussion on the Mountain

During my first career as a science teacher I would begin my chemistry unit by holding up a small black box and asking the simple question, what is inside? After a brief struggle with that question I moved closer to the point of the exercise and asked, how can we find out? Before long students were asking questions such as is it light? Is it heavy? Does it make a sound when you shake it? Eventually students discovered that that there is a good deal of information we can glean about something through indirect observations of an object.

As they became more comfortable with the thought that they did not have to make direct visual contact with something to know something about it, students would start pushing the agenda. "Now we get it Mr. Schacht," they would say. "We will use this amazing new insight to master this chemistry stuff." "Yeah for science! Nice lesson Mr. Schacht. Now, what's in the box?"

With a mischievous grin I would shrug my shoulders, reach up to a hook dangling from the ceiling and carefully hang the box above my desk. "Sometimes," I told my students, "we never find out for sure." Ha, ha, Mr. Schacht. Now really...what's in the box?

You see, as a middle school teacher, one of the trickiest transitions I had to make with students was moving from a science experience based solely on direct observation of the world around us to the more abstract world of chemistry. It took some time for students to realize that I really was not going to tell them the contents of the box. Once they dealt with that reality I knew I could use my black box as an important reference point as we readied for the next important chemistry lesson — using models of things we cannot see to explain some characteristics of those things.

As humans, from infants to eighth graders to adults, we want something — we need something — we can see, smell, hear, taste, or touch to help make sense of it. Scientific models are useful for giving learners something to see and perhaps touch. But models are limited in that there is no model that is a perfect representation of the actual object. Students in the learning process run the danger of losing perspective about the purpose of the model and it becomes a substitute for the real thing.

Odd as it may seem, these experiences from my teaching days are, in part, what drew me to today's text from Exodus. Here you've got folks focusing their attention on a model, or a representation rather than the real thing. You've got a bit of a mystery of something still unknown. And you have some evidence that tells us about this mystery — evidence that points us to a better understanding of God.

The first half of this passage we know quite well. Thanks in large part to an iconic (if faulty) cinematic interpretation, this story is a fall back illustration of a people violating the second commandment. A little background is helpful to completely set the scene. Remember it is not all that long before this passage that we read of The Exodus — the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in Egypt. That signature moment indicating God's intimate relationship with God's people of that time.

At the start of our passage today, the one who led them on this journey, Moses, has been up on Mt. Sinai for over a month and the people are growing anxious. In the Israelites' plea we begin to learn about their reverence for Moses. They wonder aloud to Moses' brother Aaron as to the whereabouts of this one who "brought us up out of the land of Egypt". So closely is Moses tied to God's presence in their lives, some begin to despair that with Moses out of the picture, then so is God. The well known response to this dilemma was to fashion another visible symbol of God in their midst. Aaron molds a golden calf and proclaims it as the image of the one "who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" The narrative from these actions is now set. The people, scripture tells us are more tuned into that which represents God, rather than on their relationship with God's self.

That is the familiar part of this story. But after this, a strange thing happens. The traditional telling of this story be it in the aforementioned movie or standard Sunday School materials, then leaps over the next half dozen or so verses and lands our story right in the middle of Moses' journey down the mountain. In that version the story ends with Moses seeing the people worshipping the golden calf and angrily smashing the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. What we miss is a remarkable insight into God and God's relationship with humanity. We miss, in my mind, the best part! So let us reflect here, in those famous words, on the rest of the story.

Today's scripture continues from the calf's creation to tell of God's reaction. Pay close attention and one can hear God the loving Father groaning at the growing distance between God and the people. God details the account of what is happening in the valley and tells Moses quite urgently to get down there! Listen to God's exasperation — "I have seen how stiff-necked they are." Hear God's distress in telling Moses to "leave me alone". The people have distanced themselves from God and now God seeks solitude so that in God's words, "my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them." God has decided to destroy the people and start fresh making "a great nation" of Moses.

Now, prepare yourselves for Moses' response. Faced with this impending disaster, not to mention a significant promotion, Moses does not leave God alone. Instead Moses starts to protest God's decision and argue with God. What is even more interesting is how Moses states his case. First, Moses lifts up the true identity of these people God is set out to destroy. Despite the fact the people have turned too much attention on Moses and the golden calf, the things that represent the God who delivered them...despite the fact that even God called them Moses' people, Moses points out that it is God who delivered the people from Egypt. "Why," Moses asks God, "does your wrath burn hot against your people."

But he doesn't stop there. Next Moses steps out even more boldly, imploring God to, in essence, protect the divine reputation. Moses' question this time is, in essence, "what would the Egyptians say?" Why would this God make the effort to bring these people out of Egypt only to destroy them in the mountains? Finally, Moses highlights God's previous promises to "Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants." These were God's promises. If God goes through with this plan to chuck everything and start over, Moses argues, all future promises are suspect.

Give this a moment to sink in. Remember...this is God Moses is talking to. Using scripture and God's previous actions and pronouncements Moses is staking out a challenge that God's own credibility is at stake. At the height of his argument Moses tops it all off with a direct appeal to God to "change your mind, do not bring disaster on your people." And, as scripture tells us, "the Lord changed his mind".

This episode from Exodus gives us a glimpse into God that frankly we have not been taught to see. Through these seven short verses we find a God who can be reasoned with. We discover a God who listens to the appeals of God's people on the basis of history and experience. We come to know a God who values the divine-human relationship so much that even as we pray, "Your will be done" not only does God allow us to make our case to God, but perhaps we ought to.

Make your case to the God who sides with the oppressed that genocide in Sudan cannot continue.

Make your case to the God of justice that where one lives should not decide who has enough to eat.

Make your case to the God of peace that unnecessary and unjust violence must cease

Particularly in light of the turmoil of recent days this is a message we are ready to hear. Maybe it is just me, but something about these current happenings has felt a little more desperate than usual. Events in our nation and world, particularly in the financial sector, seem to be spiraling out of control, leaving most everyone truly uneasy about what is going to happen next. Today's scripture reading from Exodus serves both as a cautionary tale and as a note of comfort. We are cautioned about the distance we place between ourselves and God when we look for salvation in the temporary things of this world, whether it is a golden calf in the valley or a bronze bull on Wall Street.

At the same time we are comforted by the reminder of a God who dwells within us and our lives. A God who groans when distance grows, but one who listens to our appeals. A God whose mercy and grace breaks through to bridge that gap.

But you don't have to just think these things through or trust in them because I or anybody else says so. Earlier I spoke of our need as human beings to see, touch, hear, taste, or smell something to experience it richly. This God, who is attentive to our needs, is ever mindful of that. God provides enduring symbols of the divine promise to stand with us. The waters of baptism roll over us, drawing us to the cross of Christ, God in flesh who came to dwell with us. And in just a few moments we will gaze upon the altar as we hear the words of Jesus blessing the bread and the wine. God's feast prepared we will gather around to touch, taste and smell these tangible symbols of the great mystery of our faith — God's promise of eternal life in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is true that in this life we can never really know some things on our own. But we have something a little more substantial than a little black box to point to when we feel that ache of absence. Through Christ, God grants us the faith to point to the cross and these other sacramental symbols of God's real presence in our lives.

Amen.