Soccer in the rain and the Gospel

Exodus 25:1-9

Exodus 25:1-9 

English Standard Version 

  I have always said that if I lived in downtown Cincinnati, I wouldn't be able to stop buying Reds season tickets so that I could drop in to baseball games whenever they were home.  If I were in walking distance, how could I not go to a game when they were right there?  They're so close... I would have to go.  I'd want to be in the stadium to experience the game.

  Scripture paints a picture of intimacy between God and the Israelites.  One of the first instructions that Moses receives is for an offering, all for the purpose of building a sanctuary, that God may dwell in their midst.  God wants to be near them.  God loves the people and wants there to be a place set aside to spend time with them.  And wouldn't it be even better if it were built out of a freewill offering, motivated by gratitude, given in thanks by the people?

  It makes me ask myself... how do I make time for God?  Where in my life am I creating space to spend time with the God who loves me, whom I love?  Where does that exist, and why do I let so many other things compete for space?  They are louder, but none are lovelier.  So many cause stress and heartache, and yet because they are more demanding, more pressing, I turn to them.  

  May we all pray for wisdom to discern, wisdom to discipline ourselves, that there may be a communion in our lives between us and God, that we may be enriched by God in our midst.

Exodus 24:15-18

Exodus 24:15-18 

English Standard Version 

  All of Scripture is pointing back to the creation story, and all of Scripture is pointing ahead to Christ.  In creation, God works for 6 days, and all things are done, so God rests and enjoys communion with God's creation.  Things are complete.  In the same way, the Lord's glory covers the mountain for 6 days, creating the atmosphere where God can then commune with Moses on the mountain, so that the people of God can be re-created here at Mt. Sinai.  

  This process takes forty days, the same number of days that Christ goes into the wilderness to prepare for his public ministry, the same number of years the Israelites will dwell in the wilderness before they enter the Promised Land.  

  Scripture is a spiral, returning to the same point over and over, and yet the people are different, having grown, having learned about God, traveling forward, ever closer to the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

  We are the same way -- we grow every year as we return to the same points -- to Lent, to Advent, to Easter, to Christmas, to Pentecost.  We change, we grow, and so we are not the same, and every year, we are closer to the fullness of the Kingdom of God.  The more we learn about our past, about our history, the better we understand the future, and the people we are called to be.  We don't leave the past behind, but grow out of it, into a future where the past is redeemed and we are restored to right relationship with God and one another.

Sermon for May 4, 2025 on Mark 9

Exodus 24:1-3, 9-11

Exodus 24:1-3

English Standard Version 

  This is one of the most remarkable passages in all of Scripture in my opinion, and wildly underreported.  We often hear about how God places Moses in the cleft of a rock and God's glory passes over Moses, but we don't think about the earlier part where Moses and Aaron, along with 70 other elders of Israel, go up on the mountain with God and eat and drink.  They dine with God, and they're clearly overwhelmed by God's glory, for their own language falls short in efforts to describe what is under God's feet.  Even the ground is too glorious for words -- they think it's like sapphire, but clearly superior to that.  

  And I will never stop being amazed that after seeing this incredible thing, Aaron and the others allowed a false altar to be built by the people while Moses was up on the mountain.  They witnessed something incredible... and then came down the mountain and presumed God had forgotten about them.  How could they do that?

  It's easy for me to assume that faith was easier back in Old Testament days, when God seemed more real.  But I don't think it was any easier.  People were just like you and I -- impatient and uncertain, always wondering if they were betting their life in the right direction.  So take heart -- it's not just us that have questions and anxiety and uncertainty.  That's been a constant theme of humanity, and God remains faithful still, gracious in the midst of our broken humanity.  God continues to reach out and make a way forward, thanks be to God!

Exodus 20:17

Exodus 20:17

English Standard Version

  I've always heard that this commandment is a reward for keeping all the others.  If we keep the other commandments, we won't want anyone else's life.  We'll be perfectly at peace with our own, at rest with God, and living in harmony with our neighbors.

  Is it true?  

  I'm not sure... but it's a beautiful thing to strive for.  What does it look like to live selflessly today, to worship God out of gratitude, and to give thanks in all things?

  May we seek God today, and join our the song of our hearts with the choir of the angels in celebrating who God is and how great God's love is.