church

INI
Reminiscere, The Second Sunday in Lent
March 8, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

CATCHING A GLIMPSE OF GOD
Exodus 33:17-23

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen. The Word of God that I would lay on your hearts this morning comes f
rom the book of Exodus, chapter 33, beginning with the 17th verse, as follows:

So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken;
for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” And he said,
“Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass
before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see
Me, and live.” And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand
on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the
cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will
take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Here ends our text.

In Christ Jesus, our only Savior, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Did you ever wonder what God looks like? I think everybody wonders about
things like that from time to time. Not very often, of course. I'm afraid we
spend most of our days too wrapped up in the things we see around us to pay
much attention to eternal matters. But every now and then - when you're
reading your Bible quietly at home, or when you're gazing up at a silent, starlit
sky, when you see the last pink rays of sunset touching the snowy peak of Mt.
Rainier, or when the preacher says something in church that piques your interest
- every now and then, your mind wanders from the finite to the infinite. Did you
ever wish -- that=2 0you could catch a glimpse of God?

Moses did. And in our text for today, we hear of how Moses went one step
further: he actually asked God if he could see His unconcealed glory. How did
God answer this strange request? "Yes and no." It's the same answer He gives
us, when we want to "see" God, to know more about Who God is, and how He
works in this world. If we ask to "see" God, He will always grant the request,
but there will always be limits on how much He allows us to "see". The theme
of today's message is:

CATCHING A GLIMPSE OF GOD
I. He never lets us see more than is good for us
II. He always lets us see enough to save us!

You're familiar with Mt. Sinai - that's where God gave the Old Covenant to the
Children of Israel. At Mt. Sinai God handed down those two tablets of stone,
the Ten Commandments, to Moses. Here is where the action of our text takes
place.

As a prophet and a leader of God's people, Moses was an exceptional person.
God Himself said that, among prophets, Moses was unique. Al the other
prophets of God received God's Word in visions and dreams, but "My servant
Moses...is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly,
and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord." Num 12:8-9. As our
text takes place, Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai communing with the Lord for
forty days and forty nights. That very fact showed the special position he held
in God's eyes. All during this time, Moses had been growing bolder and bolder,
requesting more and more favors of God. Moses asked God to give him
wisdom, so that he might know the right way to lead the people in their journey
through the wilderness. God granted the request. He asked God to continue to
go before them in the form of a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by
night. God said yes. Finally, Moses got up his nerve for a final request. "And
Moses said, 'Please, show me Your glory.'" Moses wanted to SEE God!

Surprisingly, God agreed to this, too. But there were conditions. God told
Moses to stand in a hollow place in the rock of the mountain. When he was in
position, God covered the cleft in the rock where Moses was while the glory of
the Lord passed by the place. Then God removed His "hand" from the cleft,
and permitted Moses to glimpse the very "back" of the dazzling brightness of
His glory. "But why the back?" you might ask. Why did God only allow Moses
to see the afterglow of His shining presence? Why not show Moses His glory
head on? Simple - it was because God loved Moses, and knew that such a sight
would kill him!

You might have noticed this: in Scripture, whenever man comes in direct
contact with God, the reaction is always the same: stark terror! What was
Isaiah’s reaction when confronted with the divine in his vision of God’s throne
room? He said “Woe is me, for I am undone! [“I’ve had it now! I’m dead!”
Why?] Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips.” What was the fisherman Peter’s reaction when Jesus instantly
ordered fish to fill his nets? “He fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from
me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” – Lk 5:8. What was the shepherds’ reaction
on the plains outside Bethlehem when confronted, not even by God, but just
God’s messengers, the angels? Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. – Lk
2:9. When man meets God, the result is fear. Why is that? It’s because, ever
since Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden, every human being is sinfu l
and corrupt. And sin cannot stand in the presence of the holy God. God knew
that there on Mt. Sinai. He knew that a mortal human simply couldn't survive
being exposed to the fullness of God's glory. So God explained to Moses, Thou
canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. Moses was
allowed to catch a glimpse of God, but that was all.

The same is true about us Christians today. God never lets us see more of Him
than is good for us. There’s a member in our church in Virginia who works for
the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. He told me once about how certain int
elligence files are classified with the words "NEED TO KNOW" written
across the cover. That signifies that only those agents who really need that
information to carry out their work are allowed to see the file. For others, the
information is unnecessary. In some cases such knowledge might even prove
dangerous! That's just the way God, in His grace, allows us insight into His
nature. He does let us "see" His glory, in a sense; He does allow us to
understand certain things about Him and the way He works in our lives, but it's
on always on a "need-to-know" basis. Beyond a certain point, our human minds
aren't given the power to understand Gods ways. In Isaiah, God tells us, "'My
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.'" Is 55:8-9.

Now is that because God is exclusive, and delights in keeping us in ignorance
about His ways? No, it's because He loves us! He wouldn't allow Moses to look
Him full in the face and die, and He'll never give us more information about
Himself or the way He works in our lives than is good for us.

Think about it - would you really want to understand exactly how God is
working in your life, and what He has planned for your future? Would you want
to know beforehand when God will allow an accident or illness to enter your
life to test your faith and make it stronger? Would you like to know the exact
times God has chosen to take you and your loved ones home to Heaven in
death? I, for one, don't want to see that part of God! Would you really like to
see the full glory of God and heaven right now? I submit to you that if we did,
you and I would find it utterly impossible to go on living in this flawed and
imperfect world. No, God knows what is best, and that's why He never lets us
see more than is good for us.

The simple truth is that there are some things about Himself that God doesn't
reveal to us, and doesn't want us snooping into. The best example is the
question, "Why some and not others?" Those five simple words have had
religious scholars going around in circles for centuries, trying to figure out why
some people are saved, and others aren't. The Bible tells us that if a person is
saved, the credit is God's and not his. But if a person is lost, the person himself
is to blame, never God. How do these facts agree? They don't! God just asks us
to believe it. God told Moses simply, I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Let's not try to
rationalize and explain this mystery. Many denominations have gone beyond
what God's Word says on this matter and ended up with a big bundle of false
teachings as a result. Rather, let's just rejoice that we are among those to whom
God has revealed salvation!

And that brings us to the second truth that our text illustrates - God never lets
us see more than is good for us...but He always lets us see enough! He certainly
gave Moses an eyeful, didn't He? Even hidden in the cleft of the rock, Moses
saw more than enough of God's glory to convince him that this mighty God,
this dazzling bright Deity could accomplish anything! If Moses needed
reassurance, now he had no doubt in his mind. This mighty God could, and
would, lead the Israelites in to conquer the land of Palestine, even though they
were hugely outnumbered. This dazzling brightness even turned out to be
enough to convince the Israelites, themselves; because they saw the glory of
God reflected in Moses' face! "Now it was so, when Moses came down from
Mount Sinai...that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he
talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses,
behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him." If
they had had any doubts about Moses' authority as their leader, they sure didn't
now. God's glory, reflected in Moses' face, was enough to convince them.

The same is true about us. God doesn't reveal everything about Himself to us,
but He always lets us see enough - enough to save us! He gives us His holy Law
so we can see clearly that we're sinners. He makes us join the confession of the
publican in the Temple who said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” And then,
after revealing our sin to us so clearly, God reveals to us the glory of His
Gospel, so we can see that there's a cure for sin.

Many things about God, and God's ways, are hidden from our eyes. But the
glory of God's Gospel has been clearly revealed to us. We’re now in Lent. This
is the season when we follow our Savior into the Garden of Gethsemane and
see Him struggling in prayer, sweating great drops of blood in dread of the
coming ordeal. We stand in the courts of Pilate as the lash of the Roman whip
cuts into Jesus' back again and again. We linger on the hilltop of Calvary as the
clanging strokes of the hammer drive the nails through His hands and feet. We
hear the final words from the parched lips of the innocent Son of God: "It is
finished!" Here we get a head-on view of the love of God for sinners. Here are
eyes are opened, and we see the real meaning of God's grace. On that hill of
Calvary, we see the definition of compassion. That's where the true glory of
God is revealed to our eyes. As Paul said, "It is the God who commanded light
to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." II Cor 4:6.

Truly God's glory has shone into your heart, and into mine. For the Lord has let
us in on His plan - a wonderful plan for the salvation of mankind. A plan which
no one could ever have guessed. In His love for you and me, the Lord willed
that His own=2 0precious Son should bear the punishment for the sins of the
world. Yes, my friend, that His innocent Son should bear on His shoulders the
full weight of your sins, and of mine too. What a wonderful plan! That by His
substitutionary atonement on the cross, Jesus should free us from all the guilt
that nags at our conscience and makes us feel wretched! We see so many about
us with long faces, people who are obviously still dragging that weight around,
still burdened by the knowledge of the wrongs they've committed. You can live
that way, too – many so-called "Christians" do -- but what a waste of time!
What a false message to give to the world around you! How can you sorrow and
despair when God for Christ's sake has cast your sins into the depths of the sea?
How can you wear a long face when God for Christ's sake has opened the doors
of heaven to you, and promised you that eternal paradise is your certain
destination? Once again today, your loving Savior says to you, "My son, my
daughter: be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven you!" Paul asks a series of
joyful questions, questions that need no answer: What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
fre ely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is
God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and
furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? –Rom
8:31-35.

If you're like me, perhaps you've always had a secret curiosity about what it
would like to be very wealthy. One of our professors at Immanuel College
surprised us once by saying that he never had a desire for wealth. In fact, he
said that he prayed every night that God would keep him “a little poor!” For a
poor man, he said, never has more than is good for him, and it's easier for poor
man to be thankful when God provides e nough for his needs. The same is true
of our knowledge of God: maybe it’s good that He keeps us “a little poor.” He
never lets us see more than is good for us, but He always lets us see enough to
save us. For now, our vision of God is imperfect and incomplete. On the Day
of Judgement, that will change. Paul told the Corinthians, "Now we see in a
mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know
just as I also am known." I Cor 13:12. Until that day, let the philosophers
ramble on about who God is and what He looks like. We Christians have seen
all we need to see. We've seen the face of our Savior, dying on the cross for us.
And there we truly HAVE caught a glimpse of God! AMEN.