Exodus 33:19–20

Midweek 1

Theme: Hope

¹⁹And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and bI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." ²⁰But He said, "You cannot see My face, afor no man can see Me and live!"

Have you ever felt behind? Perhaps at no time more than the Christmas season we start to feel like we are left behind. There are so many things to do we feel like we will never get caught up with it all. Life goes on at a rapid pace and leaves us behind wondering what happened; where the time went.

But it’s not only during the holidays; it happens all year long. There are tough times in the economy and in spite of all are hard work and trying to keep on top of bills and being smart about how we spend our money we feel hopelessly behind. Sickness rolls through your life or the life of someone you love. Maybe it’s a sickness for which there is no cure. Maybe it’s a sickness that strikes early in life when you should be so vital. Maybe a chronic condition that you will have to live with all your life. You feel left behind. Or maybe it’s relationships that are going bad despite your best efforts. Again, you feel helplessly behind. Maybe even you feel angry with God. It seems unfair and you think God has been unfair with you.

Some people have the impression that Christians don’t have problems in life. We think that a loving God should make everything all right for his children. But Jesus said that “God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good.” Christian faith doesn’t exempt us from the things common to all people. Being a child of God is no ticket to “the good life,” or a life without suffering or pain. God nowhere tells us in Scripture that our lives will be pain-free or comfortable or easy. Every time we think God is being unfair to us it is because we think God should conform of our specifications. We think God should be the way we want him to be and do what we want him to do. This is nothing more than creating a false god in our minds; an idol. We are trying to create a god in our own image who will do what we want him to do.

But there was something that happened to Moses that might help us understand our situation in a positive, encouraging way. The Lord did much for Moses and Moses responded with so much for the Lord. He had gone to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go.” He had led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. He had led them in the wilderness and down to Mount Sinai. He had given Israel the Ten Commandments. He dealt with the idolatry of the golden calf. After all that service for the Lord, Moses asked to see God’s face. How great it would be to see the face of God, to see the face of all perfection, all holiness. The face that is pure love and totally satisfying to see. Wouldn’t it be great to see the face of God?

That’s how it is for us Christians today. God has given us so much; creation and preservation, the coming of Jesus into the flesh for our salvation, and the Holy Spirit, who works saving faith in us through the Gospel. We have responded to what the Lord has done for us; we come to church; offer our praise and offerings; volunteer in church; and many other things each in his own way according to his own talents and gifts.

Of course, we haven’t responded as we ought. Who could? Still, God does so much for us. Having done so much, wouldn’t it be nice to see the face of God? To see all perfection, all holiness and total satisfaction? We are just like Moses. In spite of our faith and worship and service we want something more. We want to feel more happiness, more joy, more love, more power, more righteous. We yearn for more, just as Moses.

But how did God respond to this deep seated yearning of Moses? God said, “No man can see my face. As much as I love you, you cannot see my face.” Here we go again. Moses felt left behind once again. He was left out. Just as we so often are behind. Moses felt it was unfair, just as we often feel God is being unfair.

But the Lord did not completely leave Moses behind. God said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, “the Lord,” and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

That’s what happened. God hid Moses on a cliff of rock and passed by while covering Moses with his hands until he had passed by. Then he took his hand away and allowed Moses to see his back, but not his face.

God showed Moses his goodness and mercy. But he did not allow Moses to see his glory. Just as he does not allow us to see his glory directly. He hides himself in our suffering and pain. He hides himself in the cross. He hides himself in his own death. He does not allow us to look directly at his glory so He put Moses behind his glory and filled him with hope. I say again, He put Moses behind his glory and filled him with hope. God showed Moses his goodness and mercy. It was the goodness and mercy of God that filled Moses with great hope. Just like it is God’s goodness and mercy that fills us with hope. Not his glory, but his mercy. Mercy that he shows us through the suffering and death of Jesus. Mercy that he shows us in our own suffering and pain. It is that mercy that gives us hope. Hope in the coming of Jesus. Hope in the Gospel of forgiveness.

That’s what the coming of Jesus does for us. It fills us with hope. It fills us with the hope that one day we will see the face of God in his kingdom. We haven’t seen the face of God; but we follow Jesus, who is the face of God to us. “For God who said, ‘Let the light shine out of the darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Jesus comes so that we might follow him, sustained by his mercy and filled with hope. He comes to us in Word and Sacrament and gives us hope for the day when we no longer will be left behind but shall see God face-to-face. He gives us hope for the day when our tears will be wiped away; when our sickness will end; when we will no longer be in pain.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY WE ARE FILLED WITH HOPE. Moses pushed on toward the Promised Land and so do we. We follow behind Jesus, the face of God to us, who goes before us, drawing us on with hope. The next time you are feeling left behind in life, remember that Christ is in you, the hope of glory. Amen.