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October 9, 2005
First Things First
Exodus 32:1-14, Philippians 4:1-9
There's an old saying, "Good things come to those who wait."
I don't know about you, but I am not very good at waiting. If I arrive at a restaurant and they ask me to wait fifteen minutes to get a table, I'm out of there. While in college at Iowa, I rarely took advantage of Cambus, the free bus service to various points on campus, largely because I didn't have the patience to stand around and wait for the bus to arrive. And I won't even get started about my frustration with waiting for trains.
Good things may come to those who wait, but it doesn't make waiting any easier.
The Israelites were waiting. There they were, in the midst of the wilderness, milling around their camp, wondering what was next. They'd had plenty of adventure since they left Egypt. When there was no food, God had sent quail in the evening and manna in the morning (Ex. 16). When they found themselves in a place without water, God brought forth water from a rock (Ex. 17). Then when the Amalekites attacked them, God helped the Israelites win victory (ibid.). God made a covenant with the people, giving them the ten commandments and promising them that if they were faithful and followed that covenant, they would be God's "treasured possession out of all the peoples" (Ex. 19:5)
Lots had happened to the Israelites. But now they were waiting. God had once again summoned Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai for a conference. The Bible tells us Moses had been up there forty days and forty nights (Ex. 24:18), doesn't so much mean the specific number '40', as it does a long period of time. Moses had been on that mountain a long time, a really long time.
The people were starting to get restless. Some of them were worried, wondering if Moses was ever coming back. Maybe something had happened to him up there? Some were feeling annoyed, the memory of all the things they didn't like about Moses and his leadership style coming back to them. At any rate, they were tired of waiting and wanted to DO something. The other tribes around them all had household gods they could carry with them. Their gods didn't seem to disappear for days on end—maybe Israel should try one of those? So they went to Aaron, Moses' brother whom he left in charge, and said, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Ex. 32:1)
Maybe Aaron was a man of action, or maybe he just wanted everybody to be happy because he decided to give the people what they wanted. What could it hurt? He told them to get all the gold rings among the people and give them to him. So they did, and Aaron melted down the gold, formed it in a mold in the image of a calf. When the people saw it they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" Here was something right in front of them, something they could touch, and so they called it god and worshiped it. Aaron followed suit, building an altar and proclaiming that the next day would be a festival to the Lord. And so it was—the people rose early the next day, there were offerings and sacrifices, and there was eating and drinking and revelry.
What you may not know is, there's actually a great deal of irony and humor in the stories of the Old Testament. The irony here is, while the Israelites got tired of waiting for Moses to tell them what God would do next and so created an image of God they could worship, God was instructing Moses in how to build the tabernacle, and what the festivals would be, instructions on the altar and gold and decoration and eating and drinking. They were impatient for the very thing God was preparing for them. Had they waited, just a little bit longer. Had they just trusted the God who had brought them safe thus far.
God does not laugh at this irony, however. God is enraged. Not only was God busy giving instructions on how to worship, but the people were breaking the first two commandments: You shall have no other gods before me, and you shall not make for yourself an idol. God had sought Israel out, promised to be their God if they would be God's faithful people. They had just shown how faithful they could be.
In Psalm 106, the psalmist describes the difficulty this way:
They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image.
They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea…(vv. 19-22)
They forgot God, their Savior. They became so consumed by their worries, they forgot who God was, so full of concerns there was no room for God in them. And so the stiff-necked people went their own way, worked out their own plan, so that even the ridiculousness of a calf made of gold seemed like the way to go to them. God had done amazing things for the people-bringing them out of Egypt, providing for them in the wilderness, creating water where there was none—but once again, at the first sign of trouble, when the waiting grew a little longer than they liked, God's people were impatient and forgot.
Now, to be fair, the fact that this story made it into Exodus shows that the Israelites learned and that they remembered. Old Testament scholar Bernhard W. Anderson wrote how striking it was the Israel's storytellers were so candid about their lack of faith. "Where else in the ancient world—or in the modern world, for that matter—has a people had the courage to say that its origin was characterized by weakness, if not failure?" (Understanding the Old Testament, p. 87) By even telling the story, they kept God, and not themselves, on center stage, and the stories serve as a reminder for all of us.
We have had our own time in the wilderness at First Presbyterian Church. Last August, we left the sanctuary and moved our worship to Fellowship Hall for nine months while the building was renovated. At the same time, Larry Hayward left and we began waiting for our next pastor. The one period of waiting is over—we have settled into our renovated spaces, and while there remain a few finishing touches, the first phase of the renovation is completed.
But the other period of waiting continues, waiting for a pastor. The Pastor Nominating Committee is doing their job, and we need to give them the time and the confidentiality in which to do it. Unlike the building renovation with its specific time line, we don't know how long it will take for the PNC to find a pastor. And in the meantime, let's face it—the waiting and the not knowing get long and a little old. We're definitely waiting, but I wonder this week, have we wandered into forgetfulness? Do we still trust that God is with us, preparing something that is exactly what we need? Are there instances where we are trusting in ourselves or other individuals to take care of situations rather than first and foremost looking to God, praying about them and asking for God's guidance and leading? I even wondered if we have in some way turned this sanctuary into a sort of golden calf, trusting that it's beauty will somehow save us and take us where we need to go.
I think it's perfectly natural for us to feel a sense of dis-ease at this point in the life of our congregation. Phase I of the building renovation is completed, and we can't move to the second phase until we've finished paying for the first. We have been without an installed head of staff for fourteen months now, and everyone has their opinion about the local Aarons, Robin and Lori, and how we are doing and what we should be doing, while we wait for the new Moses. And none of this is a bad thing, as long as we remember not to forget. First things first. God is faithful. God is with us. God is worthy of our confidence and trust. God is doing things for us that we do not even recognize at this present time.
But how do wait in the meantime?
The Apostle Paul has some great advice for us in his letter to the church in Philippi. There is the wonderful part about rejoicing in the Lord always, not worrying about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
But the part I want to call our attention to is verse 8:
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Think about these things. Keep God's good works, God's faithfulness in our hearts and in our minds.
Remember.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7) Amen.
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
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