Sunday, October 12, 2008

Faithful - October 12, 2008 - Eggebeen

Preached at St. Luke's Presbyterian Church
Rolling Hills Estates
Presbytery-wide Pulpit Swap

Exodus 32:1-14

Temptation …

Mae West said: I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

Oscar Wilde said: I can resist everything except temptation … and … The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

Temptation …

The Devil tempts good people with good things …

We’re not tempted to mug the neighbor … or kick the dog … well, maybe the cat.

Because we’re good people … the Devil tempts us with “good” things …

Like work and overwork … and commitment and over-commitment … taking on too many responsibilities … after all, “If you want a job done right, do it yourself.”

Good things like our health, until we become sick about it.

Or protecting our children until we turn them into frightened little marshmallows afraid of their own shadow.

Good things … taken too far.

We’re not tempted by evil things … we’re tempted by good things.

Jesus in the wilderness …
He’s hungry … why not turn a few stones into bread …
Feed yourself … feed the world …
Good ideas.
But not now, not this way.

In our story today, God becomes the tempter.

Let’s take a look at the story … [read text]

Moses on the mountain takes longer than expected …
Aaron gets edgy …
Folks grow restless …

How about a diversion?
We’ll make a Golden Calf …
Give me your gold rings … earrings, nose rings, toe rings … rings for this and rings for that …

A project to pass the time …
Keep ‘em busy …
Not a bad idea …

And lo and behold, a thing of beauty …
A sight for sore eyes …
Gleaming in the morning sun …
Party time
Whoopee and Yippee kai yay …

Now here’s where the story gets funny … and I mean humorous … Hebrews sitting around the campfire, chuckling … God and Moses, like parents, a good old fashioned spat about the kids!

When the kids do something really crazy – what does Mom say to Dad?
Does she say, “Our child”?
No, she says, “Your daughter. Takes after your side of the family. That’s your DNA showing.”

God says to Moses, Not my side of the family; your side, Moses.
Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt.

God disavows responsibility:

And then says:
Let me alone … I’m throwing a hissy fit right now; I don’t want anyone trying to change my mind.

God and Moses having a spat over the kids.

So, here’s the temptation: God says to Moses, I’m willing to start all over with a new plan, and just like Abraham long ago, you’re going to be the cornerstone, the head honcho, the Daddy of a brand new nation.

Wow.

Wonder what Moses thought?
Hey, instead of Israelites, they’ll be called Mosites … or how about Mosers … or even Mosanians …

Temptation …
Was God tempted to give up?
Was Moses tempted to throw in the towel?

What with all the complaining, all the setbacks … after deliverance from their enemies, bread in the morning and quail at night, still the constant complaining.
Was God tempted?
Was Moses tempted?

Are we tempted?
New anything sometimes sounds better than what we’ve got … new job, new family, new spouse … new church, new faith, new car, new home … just get me outta here!

There is such a thing called a “fresh start.”
A time for things to end … and a time for something new.

Destructive relationships …
Bad habits …
Angry thoughts, old grudges …

The church needs to quit a few things …
Like hanging on to the 1950s …
Or the 1960s …
Old ideas that once worked but no longer deliver the goods …
It’s time for Christians to quit thinking we’ve got a lock on the truth and everyone else is wrong …
It’s time for Christians to quit name-calling: evangelical, liberal, conservative, fundamentalist … does anyone have a clear idea what those terms mean?
It’s time for Christians to quit all forms of racism and discrimination … and to quit pretending that the church is free of such demonic patterns.
It’s time for Christians to quit small ideas: who’s in and who’s out … who believes and who doesn’t …
There’s lots of things worth quitting …

But now and then, we’re tempted to abandon good things … walk away because it’s too hard to finish …
Mountain climbers defeated 100 feet shy of the summit.
A runner slows down ten feet from the tape.

Not always easy to discern the difference between the legitimate end of something … and abandonment.

In this remarkable story, a twist:

Moses has to tell God a thing or two.
And uses a little psychology on God:
What will the neighbors think if you quit now, LORD?
Won’t our enemies feel smug about it all?
LORD, this is not a good idea.
LORD, remember who you are.
Remember LORD, you made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel …

Moses had to sit God down and give God a talking-to.

And the Text says: The LORD changed His mind!

Why would Israel include such an unusual story in its memory?

Because leadership requires clarity …
And nothing clarifies more quickly than the option to quit.
Was God helping Moses make a decision?
Was God helping Jesus make a decision?

It was the Spirit of God that drove Jesus into the wilderness … to be tempted … because great leaders are forged in the fires of temptation.

Who am I really?
What has to happen to make God’s project work?
Is it all on my shoulders?
Am I ready for the long haul?

Great things require great commitment …
Faith, hope and love.
Grace, mercy and peace.
Marriage, family and friends.
The church, servanthood and mission.
Great things require great commitment!

Jesus has to choose …
Moses has to choose …

Great leaders have to choose … and choose again, time and again …
On every page of the Bible, prophet, priest and king …
Abraham, Jeremiah and David …
Peter, Paul and Mary … not the musical group!
They all have to choose, time and again …

But I wonder, did God have to choose again?
Was God ready to quit?
Would God give up?

Is God using reverse psychology?
Is God playing a game with Moses?

The story doesn’t have any answers!
It’s a better story without answers … it’s good to wonder now and then … what would have happened … if other choices had been made.
But this much is clear … Moses rises to occasion …

Moses stays with God’s project …
Moses takes the high road …
And we know the rest of the story … they’re not called Mosites; they’re called Israelites!

Great leaders are always tempted to quit.
Somewhere along the line, the going gets rough … God has trouble with Israel, Moses has trouble with Aaron … folks have trouble with one another … the row isn’t easy to hoe, and the road isn’t easy to travel.

But what a time to take inventory!
Take a closer look at things.
Are we just a little tired, or are we bone weary?
It is a permanent setback, or a momentary delay?
Is this a bump in the road, or a chasm a mile wide?
What are the core values here?
Is it a good plan?
Is it still a good plan?
What do I have to learn?
Can I weather the storm?
Can I take a deep breath?
Can I hang in there for a while longer, or have I done enough?

All the women and men who’ve shaped this world for good.
Dark moments, bitter thoughts, lots of second-guessing … scary dreams …
Abraham Lincoln …
Dwight Eisenhower …
Winston Churchill …

Great leaders experience profound moments of doubt and uncertainty … only dictators and small-minded women and men never doubt, never raise a question … only dangerous people have unrelenting clarity of purpose and unquestioned motive.
Real leaders have their moments.

Jesus says, Now my soul is troubled [John 12:27].

In the Garden of Gethsemane … Is there any way out? Jesus asks of the Father.

Great leaders experience times of soul-searching and doubt …

Martin Luther …
John Calvin …
John Knox …
St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross with his “dark night of the soul.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. in a Selma, Alabama jail cell …
Mother Teresa on the streets of Calcutta …
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. at Yale and Riverside Church in New York City … called a traitor when he dared to preach peace!

Great leaders always experience times of soul-searching and doubt … but doubt and soul-searching are the hammer and chisel that shape greatness!
To be a Moses …

In a time when impatience rules the day …
When the call to arms is quick and furious …
When folks tells us we have enemies, and we’d better be afraid …
When religious leaders urge their folks to quit the church because we can’t get along, and it’s hopeless, and it’ll never work …
When values are abandoned for a quick fix …
When anger and bigotry raise their ugly heads …

It’s time for great leaders –
Elders and deacons …
Sunday School teachers and pastors …
You and me …

Think it through all over again …
And then stay the course.
Steady as she goes.
Focused and faithful!
God’s project first and last!

We can all be Moses, somewhere for someone!
The times call for it.
Our families require it.
The Presbyterian Church needs it.
Our nation deserves it.

To be a Moses. Amen and Amen!

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