2020.10.18 | Blessed Assurance

—Bulletin Oct 18, 2020—

“Blessed Assurance”

The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring

Sometimes I wonder how historians will describe these surreal times that we’re living through. For starters, it seems like we have a whole new set of terms that we are using now that were never part of our vocabulary before, or that we never used to reference, but now use in every other sentence. Some examples follow:  

  • CI/CT: Contact Investigation & Contact Tracing 

  • Coronavirus 

  • Hand sanitizer & Hand Washing

  • Isolation & Quarantine

  • Physical Distancing & Social Distancing

  • PPE: Personal Protective Equipment 

  • Public Health DashBoard

  • Public Health Officer 

  • Public Health Order 

  • Reopening Plan

  • Shelter In Place 

  • Surge

  • Unprecedented & Uncertain Times

  • Zoom 

These terms contribute to the climate and culture of what some now refer to as “COVID Time”--the likes of which none of us has experienced and that hopefully future generations will not endure. 

That said, our generation is not unique in experiencing circumstances that were unknown to previous generations, nor the feelings of anxiety and fear that life in a “Brave New World” can foster. 

The Hebrew people’s experience of life in the Wilderness of Sinai was fraught with uncertain and unprecedented times, which fostered emotionally and spiritually ambiguity and angst for Moses, Aaron, Deborah, and the whole enterouge. So it is helpful for us to review stories from their annuals and discern what insights we might draw from their experiences. 

II

In today’s scripture reading, God and Moses are in the midst of a vigorous conversation in which the prophet is interceding on behalf of the people and begging for God’s comfort and guidance through the Wilderness--despite the golden calf debauchery and their overall tendency toward ungratefulness and infidelity.

The prophet specifically asks God to grant him a specific blessing. That blessing was for God to show his “glory” to Moses--so that he might have more credibility with the people.  But what does that mean? What does it mean for God’s glory to be revealed? 

The term is multivalent. Based on how it is used both here, in verse 18, and in Exodus 16: 6-7, it seems that God’s glory is equated with God’s “aura,” with God’s radiance or with a light shining around God’s face. So that’s what Moses asks for. He asks to see God’s radiance, God’s face. But, as it turns out, he doesn’t get what he asks for. 

On first blush, God declines Moses' request and counters with the offer to send an angel to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, but God refuses to continue on the journey with the Hebrew people. 

But Moses perists. 

God counters with a reminder that the Hebrew people were a mess. They wouldn’t follow a leader if their lives depended upon it. So it would be better if God just sent an angel to lead them, and they parted company while the relationship was still amicable.

Moses agreed with God that the people were unworthy of the blessing that he had requested, but Moses repeated the request anyway--perhaps as much for his own sake as for the sake of the people. 

Finally, for reasons that are not entirely clear, God compromises and tells Moses that if he stands in the cleft of the mountain while God passes by, God will reveal his backside to the prophet. Moses was not entirely satisfied with the deal that God proposed, but he accepted it. 

Moses stepped into the cleft of the rock, and God did as God said. God revealed his backside to Moses, and the prophet went back to “herding cats” in the Wilderness, and God led the way to the Promised Land. 

III

So what are the life lessons that we can learn from today’s story and apply to our own lives? 

 The answer lies in God’s response to Moses: 

 God doesn’t grant Moses his wish, but he gives him what he needs. God doesn’t make leadership any easier for Moses. Instead, God challenges Moses to develop the faith, the leadership skills, and the real-life credibility needed to be an effective leader. 

 I remember, for example, how one of my seminary professors, Dr. Fackre, told us students that the only true authority that a leader ever has is the authority that is given to her or him from the people. 

 Moses gained his authority over time as a result of the faith formation and skills that he developed through life experience, and the maturing of relationships with the people. It didn’t come from a special blessing, from an anointing, or from seeing the face of God. 

 In addition, we are shown rather than told through this discourse between Moses and God that life in the faith doesn’t always provide us with foreknowledge of things to come. Sometimes the only way through life is through it. And, the only way to see the hand of God at work in our lives is through hindsight. 

 I certainly can attest to that in my own life. When I was in my early twenties I had a clear plan of how I thought my vocation would unfold. Let’s just say things didn’t work out in quite that logical of an order. But in the end, it’s all good. For example, I never expected to be serving in the National Offices in my early thirties. I fully expected that service in the wider church was in my future, but I had imagined that being later rather than earlier in my vocation. 

 But as it turned out, the way things unfold was for the best. Those 6+ years of experience in Cleveland helped equip me for the COVID-response work that we are currently engaged in. 

 Perhaps you have a similar experience with regard to your own life--in that you couldn’t quite see God’s hand at work in your life, in the midst of a challenge, but you are able to do so now, in hindsight. I hope that is true or will be true for you in the not too distant future. Amen. 

Arlene Nehring