Sermon - January 9, 2011

The Gospel:                    This is the Word of the Lord
Moses, Mission with a Man: How to Meet God
Exodus 19:1-13, John 4:19-26

   What is tops on your list for 2011?  What is your number one priority?  Home remodeling? Farm improvements? Better grades at school? Spending time with family? Reduce debt and try to get ahead?  To what will you give your attention, time, and effort this year? What is really important in day to day life? You might be surprised to discover the answer to those questions in this morning's reading from Exodus 19.
    What do grousy, grumpy, grumbling nomads, wandering in the Sinai desert some 5,000 years ago have to do with my plans for this year - or even for this afternoon for that matter?  God meeting with Moses has much to say about our meeting with God. Basically, as God's children, priority one in the life is spending time with the Lord.
    In Exodus chapter 19, the children of Israel assembled before the Lord at the designated meeting place: Mt. Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain vs. 2.  It was the fulfillment of God's promise to Moses way back in Chapter three that he would bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt and they would worship Him in the shadow of this mountain. And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." This was no chance meeting. It was a God appointment. Imagine standing there, with nearly two million people impossibly freed from Egypt before the mighty granite rock looming from the desert floor, exactly as God promised.
    The Children of Israel had encountered God all along their journey: in the signs given in Egypt, the dividing of the Red Sea, and the provision of quails and bread from heaven. But before they could meet with God, before Moses would trek up the mountain, before God would come down to the Mountain peak, Israel needed to be prepared. Remember, they had been grousing and complaining, distrusting and accusing Moses, but really distrusting God. God does not rush upon a person, or storm into our presence. Neither can we casually thoughtlessly romp into His Presence. God is not to be trifled with. He is the Lord! Knowing the power and majesty of God Prophet Amos admonishes a wayward Israel centuries later, "Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” Am 4:12
   God led His people to the place of meeting, but required of them to prepare – not just  upper echelon, the priests. They didn't even go up the Mountain with Moses, but God required of every single person for things:
    1. Willingness to Obey. Now if then you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, they you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” vs. 3-6 
     Maybe you have little or no interest in drawing closer to God. You like your life the way it is. Why change? And you have no heart to be part of a kingdom of priests, much less a holy nation. But what will you do when you are face to face with Christ, at the end of your life. What will you say “Sorry, Lord, I missed the part about obey.” Today's Church on the whole is so glib about the Presence of mighty God. We want His blessings, but we are lazy about His presence. Moses went up the mountain and down again seven times. The first time was to tell the people, “Are you willing to obey?”  In one chorus, about 2 million voices answered, “Yes, we are willing!”
    Every Saturday I devote myself to prayer and preparation of Sunday's sermon. But it would be useless, if there is no one to respond to the word delivered. So Church, are you willing to obey? If so, answer with the Children of Israel, “Yes, we are willing!”
   Obedience is essential, but unless you seek to be sensitive and listen to the Word of God, you won't know what to obey. There are a lot of things people attribute to the Bible that are not in the Bible. Cleanliness is next to godliness is wholesome thought, but it's not said anywhere in the Bible. The second requirement for preparation to meet God is being sensitive to listen. The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” vs. 9  Moses spoke the words God spoke and if the people were willing to listen, then they would recognize God's Word through Moses and would believe him and trust him.
   The third step in preparing to me the Lord was to be consecrated. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of the people. vs. 10,11.  God is holy, pure, and cannot withstand unholiness, impurity. To meet a Holy God, a person must be made holy, consecrated.  To be consecrated means to be dedicated to a sacred purpose, devoted to God. People today by and large have all but forgotten what holiness is. It's no wonder. The tendency of our times is to have Church play second fiddle to other activities of our life, or even simmer on the backburner until we feel the need. So the church attempts to appeal to the secular nature of life in hopes of attracting more people to support the church. That's totally backward.
    God never intended to be an accessory to our life, but the main event: His praise is our glory. Our praise is His habitation. His dwelling place. When we as the Church seek to be more Holy, God is in His element among us, to do greater things. We are to be consecrated. To be consecrated means we throw competing affections and abandon trivial pursuits to come before God to seek His face. We leave the game, shopping, and housework for later, To wash one's clothes is a biblical metaphor for confession: as we would say, “come clean” before the Lord. Christ has done that for us if we accept it. 
   Finally, to be prepared to meet Him God requires deep respect for God. Be awed by His presence. The Children of Israel were to fear the Lord with such reverence they were not to approach the mountain, or touch it. They were to wait for God to speak to Moses and then deliver the word to them.
   Modern day believers run the very great risk losing that awe, that fear of God for the mighty God He is. We want a trendy, chummy Savior and be palsy with God, we can treat as casually as the clerk at Wal-Mart. Getting too close to God is getting close to the self we don't want to see or know. But to deny God as far exalted above and beyond us, is to deny His power to save us.
  You don't have to be a cloistered mystic to sense God's power in a lightening storm, or His artistry on an ice frosted morning, or His peace in a magnificent sunset. His diversity in wildlife, His order in the stars. His miracles in the shrill giggles of a baby, and His love in the eyes of a beloved. Begin there, and trust the Lord to lovingly guide you closer to Him, baby steps at a time, until the experience of being with God in His holiness and glory touches the longing of your heart.
   Jesus said, “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23 How can we worship God at all if we are unprepared to meet Him? What practical steps can we learn from the Children of Israel in Exodus 19 to make God our #1 priority and prepare to meet Him.
   1. Meet with the Almighty at a regular time and place. Don't wait for Sunday, or two weeks, or until Easter. Make a standing appointment with the Lord every day. God appointed a place to meet His children. Find a place to meet your God. The towering trees or lakeshore of a Christian camp or retreat are wonderful sites, but impractical on a daily basis. Find some place in your home that you shut off, set apart, free from distractions, where you can camp, and meet with your Lord. Just as Moses built the tent of meeting, the tabernacle to be a holy place to meet with God, find a space at home to tabernacle with Jesus.
    Go to that place at a specific time; not as a ritual, but as a discipline to form the habit of meeting daily with God. On some occasions it might not be possible to meet at the same time that day, but schedule a daily time, as you would an appointment with the most important person in your life.
    2. Be prepared: We are so accustomed in our busy lives, to get out of bed and get going on our agendas. But the day will be far more meaningful if first on your agenda is preparing to meet the day with the Lord. When you come to your sacred space, prepare your heart for whom you are about to be with. Just as you prepare to go to work, or go to school, for company coming, or for a dear friend, prepare to meet your Lord. Light a votive candle, sing a hymn, focus on the fact that God is always present to us, command the racing thoughts to quiet. If they persist, ask the Lord for His grace to still them. Then come clean. Sacrifice whatever might hinder receiving him: sin, desire, anticipating the big game or clearance sale at Kohl's. Let it go and trust God with it.
   3. Listen. To listen to God, you need to read the Scriptures. A daily devotional is helpful, but at sometime, begin to read the Scriptures from beginning to end. There is no better way to become familiar with the entire sweep of God's Word than to begin with “In the beginning” in Genesis and read through Revelation to “He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'” Do not hurry. The point is not to read the entire Bible in a week, but to come know God. Sometimes you may read a chapter, or two or three. Sometimes one verse will open your awareness of His Holy Presence. Let the Holy Spirit guide you and show you the truth God desires to reveal.  Read prayerfully and aloud so you hear the Word in your own voice so that it penetrates through your hearing down to your heart.
     4.Journal: Every person who has told me they don't like to write, but  followed the suggestion to journal anyway, have found it so beneficial, they wouldn't give it up. There is something about the eye/hand/heart coordination that slows the mind and frees the spirit. This is not a ledger of expenses or accounting of hours, but rather a record of where and how you have experienced the love, power, influence, and presence of God in the events of the day. Prayerful journaling makes us pause long enough to become aware of God who is always here. 
    Through your time with God pray: pray aloud, pray in the Spirit if that is your gift, pray silently, and be silent in God's silence. Day by day, as you make your time with God your first priority, God's priorities will fill your time. Each day as you tabernacle with God in your sacred space, you will discover the sacred placed beneath everything you see in this world. As you devote time to God alone, you will find more time to love and do for others. God honors those who honor Him. If you take the time to prepare and  faithfully meet with God, God will meet you everywhere to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Amen.

 

 

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