First Presbyterian Church
Distinct, Dissolved, Melted, and Tossed
Sermon for October 16, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

In Hebrew, the word ‘face' is sometimes translated as ‘presence.' If you see someone's face, it means you are in the presence of one another. If someone hides their face, it means they are not to be found. Our first reading is found on page 80 in your pew Bibles. We'll be reading from my translation. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Exodus 33:12-23.

And Moses said to Yahweh, “Consider, you have said to me ‘Bring up this people' but you have not let me know whom you are sending with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you also find acceptance in my sight.' Now, if I find acceptance in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find acceptance in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

Yahweh said, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”

And Moses said to Yahweh, If your presence will not go with us, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found acceptance in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? We are distinct, I and your people, from all the nations who are on the face of the land.”

Yahweh said to Moses, “This thing of which you speak, I will do; for you find acceptance in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Moses said, “Show me your glory, please.”

And Yahweh said, “I will make all my goodness pass over your face and will proclaim before you ‘my name is Yahweh and I will accept who I accept, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” Yahweh said, “You aren't able to see my face, for no human sees me and lives.”

And Yahweh said, “See there is a place by me where you will stand upon the rock, and while my glory passes over I will set you in a crevice of the rock, and I will lay my palm over you until I pass over; then I will take away my palm, and you will see my back, but my face you will not see.”

This ends our reading from the book of Exodus. In this part of the Bible, God's face is so powerful, a human being must be protected from it. Did you notice that God's palm could be close to Moses without any ill effects, but Moses couldn't even look at God's distant face? But the point is, God protected Moses, this human being that has mostly argued with God and complained about the people God's making him lead. God stayed with Moses and with the people of God.

In our psalm reading also, God is distant and powerful. But God uses that power for justice and forgiveness. Listen for the word of God as we read it together in Psalm 99.

Psalm 99:1 The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he!

4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Extol the LORD our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he!

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.

8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

9 Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy.

This ends our reading from the Psalms. In Paul's time, philosophy students were supposed to imitate their teachers. The teachers exhorted and expected their students to imitate them. Paul spoke of living in hope that Christ will come and evil would be destroyed. For the Christians in Thessalonica, that means giving up memberships in Roman cults that worship the emperor and support the Roman military presence. Instead of viewing Augustus as the benefactor and inaugurator 1 of the new era, Paul speaks of Jesus' return, ushering in the new age when evil is destroyed. Christians had to give up the civic and social benefits of belonging to the emperor's cult. But Paul reminds them they have something greater. Listen for the word of God as it is found in 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10.

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace. 2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you,

5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

This ends our reading of God's word. The Thessalonians weren't subject to the presumed powers of the false gods of the empire. Jesus provides us with another way to live. Let's listen to our anthem.

Anthem “Make me humble”

Paul commends the Thessalonians for many things, and remembers how they turned from idols to serve a living and true God. We are not in danger of worshiping the Roman emperor, but other idols tempt us.

Theologian William Willimon explains the problems with idols. “The issue is not if we will worship, but whom. …False gods can be so demanding. When our gods are the work of our hands, mere projections of our insatiable need, relentless attempts at self-salvation, we must stay busy. … We rest in the realization that the true God created us for worship, not work. Life within a ‘permanent factory of idols' is grim. …Idolatry itself is punishment in that it is painful not to be who we were created to be. [For example] Monogamy tends to take less work, and far less rationalization, than adultery. We were created to worship the true and living God whom we have met in Jesus Christ. Life is better without false consolations. Our hearts are restless until they find rest in the God whom we were created to worship.” 2

When we worship God, we show ourselves what it is we value. We affirm what we believe. The gospel comforts and challenges us. Stories and verses are held in tension with one another. The Bible speaks of God as near and dear, as well as far and wide. The gospel writers tell about Jesus doing and saying different things at different times. Hearing their views of who Jesus is, what he came for, and when he become the Christ (was it birth, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection?) informs our faith and pulls us to salvation.

When I was first learning about American history, I remember learning about America as a great melting pot. People would come from all over, leave their heritage behind and become Americans. The melting pot was like one big slow cooked stew, where every chunk is covered with the same sauce, and has the same flavor. It was like the song “In Christ there is no east and west, in him no south and north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

During a very dull sermon about twenty-five or so years ago (I was listening, not preaching), I read the preface in the Mission Yearbook. In that edition, it talked about the problems of the melting pot metaphor. We aren't all the same; we all have traditions that are worth keeping. The author offered up the idea of thinking of the nation as a tossed salad; everyone contributing a unique flavor, but none melting into the other, no one overshadowing anybody. One Presbyterian has made the suggestion that we sing “In Christ there is both east and west, in him both south and north, and one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

Appreciating each others' differences is part of the gospel. Treating other people with kindness and respect, even if they look and think differently from you is a Christ-like act. Sometimes when our experience is limited, we assume the way we look and act is normal; it generally doesn't occur to us that there is another way to look and be, but when we encounter someone different, we may assume the other is abnormal at best and wrong at worst.

But when our hearts are open to the working of the Spirit, when we are steeped in the teachings of Jesus, we know how to respond to God at work in our lives.

Lei Garcia, a Christian singer, artist, and community leader in the Philippines came to us Friday as part of the Presbyterian International Peacemaker program. She creates programs for people of faith to learn about human rights in the Philippines. She sings and speaks internationally about peace. Perhaps some of you are thinking (dope slap) "Oh, I forgot". Not to worry. She left us her power point presentation on the laptop; you can see it anytime. I'm going to share one of her stories with you this morning.

A group of bishops, pastors, priests, nuns, religious workers and students were on their way to an Aeta community, an indigenous people's community in the mountains of Central Luzon, to conduct a Seminar on Ecology and Environmental Protection. “After hiking for almost five hours, [they] rested under a mango tree heavy with fruit. … Each of them picked a mango to ease their hunger. Some of them were ‘smart' enough to keep some for the long journey ahead. One of the bishops noticed that while everyone was busy picking mangoes, the Aetas, who were guiding them, only took one mango each. Puzzled, the bishop asked them why they only took one and didn't get some more for the long journey ahead. The Aetas replied, ‘We take only one for each of us because we know that there are many travelers passing this way and we need to leave some mangoes for them so they too can eat.'” 3

Many of us assume there will always be enough, so we don't think twice about taking what we want. But others know the world differently.

There are Christians who think that believing in Jesus Christ means we have no questions and everything is settled. When we take in new members, we ask them “do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior? Do you intend to be Christ's faithful disciple obeying his word, and showing his love, to your life's end?”

The customary answer is “I do.” Some people think that “I do” means “Yes, I understand completely and fully why Jesus Christ came, what salvation means, and the holy spirit works. The way we do things at this church is the only right way.”

But I don't think that. When I speak of turning to Jesus Christ and accepting him as my Lord and Savior, I mean that the work and teaching Jesus did on earth was God's work and God's teaching. As a Christian I am called to follow Christ, to do what he did, to value what he valued, to worship the God he worshiped. When we say Jesus Christ is part of the trinity, we mean God's substance is in him. We each have to work out what that means.

For many of us Presbyterians, believing in Jesus Christ means we are full of questions. We join a church because we trust that God will respond to our questions in helpful and thoughtful ways through this particular community of faith. This is where we want to work through our faith. We bring our distinct identities here, not so they can be dissolved but so they can be shared with others committed to serving God through Jesus Christ.

________

1New Interpreter's Bible, vol. XI, p. 677.

2 Willimon, William, Journal for Preachers, Easter 1999, quoted in Context, August 15, 1999, p. 3.

3 Lei Garcia, personal communication, 10-15- 05.