Face to Face

Today we continue our series on Grace everyday. We saw last week the starting place for grace - the natural world around us was created to bless us, and its important that we protect it and keep it nearby to experience and enjoy it. But perhaps more important than all that was the idea that grace comes to us when we are patient, even when things don’t go our way. The world can be a blessing, yes, but if its not right now, if the world is moving away from your ideal, be patient. Let God be at work, and receive what the world has to offer even if its not what you would choose for yourself.

That’s an important lesson, and a great place to start in our series on grace. Now we take our next step in the journey looking a little further into the story of the scriptures. After the creation and the flood, Abraham is chosen to be the father of a great nation, one that one day would be known as Israel. Joseph is the great grandson of Abraham, and if you remember the story, he is taken hostage to Egypt, but hundreds of years later his descendants number in the thousands and they are led by Moses back to the promised land, the land of Israel. Let’s hear our scripture from (Eric), which is about God’s presence with Israel as they journey to this promised land. The people have their tents set up and the tabernalce, the temporary building where God’s presence is seen is outside of their camp. This is Exodus 33:7-17. Let’s hear now the word of the Lord.

Exodus 33:7–17 NRSV

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each of them, at the entrance of their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and bow down, all of them, at the entrance of their tent. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp; but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent. Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.” The Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

And from 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

2 Corinthians 4:6–7 NRSV

For it is the God who said, “Let light 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. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

The word of the Lord for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. Lord, we want your glory. We want to experience your presence. Open our hearts and minds that we would experience you here and now in this place. Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

When I was in elementary school I remember vividly my art teacher. I remember how he would walk around class with a yard stick in his hand. The rumor was that the taped portion of the yard stick was because he broke it one day when he hit a student. He was no free spirited artist; he was exacting and demanding of his students. One day we had a very specific art project we had to do. We were asked to bring something from home to sketch and enlarge. I was into comic books at the time and picked the thirtieth anniversary edition of Iron Man. After enlarging it I got out a special gold pen that made the whole thing really pop and in the end, it was pretty good! I was proud of my enlarged creation. I think even my art teacher liked it because a few weeks later I found out that my drawing had been selected to be displayed in the Buffalo Museum of Art. I couldn’t believe it!

We had a special invitation to come see it, along with other works from students in the area. When we went there were so many people there! The crowds were lined up just to see my Iron Man poster! It was amazing! As we filed through it was a struggle to find my poster, but eventually we did see it. I was surprised at how quickly people were walking past it, but in the moment I was proud! I felt like, even though I’m not a great artist, I did something right, and I felt special. I especially loved that my family came down to see it. On the way home, though, my parents started talking about the time when both of my older brothers had their artwork in the museum. It made me very suspiscious, like suddenly I wasn’t so special anymore. I thought to myself, “what, do they just let anyone put their artwork in the museum?”

I imagine you’ve had a moment like that in your own life, a time where you went from feeling special to suddenly not so special. I coach a boys soccer team and one of the players hurt a fellow teammate last week and he went from feeling like he was the king of the team to a pariah. And sometimes it happens just that fast. From special to worthless. It can be so quick and so discouraging. You are well liked at work and something happens and people won’t even talk to you anymore, or the family is gathered and they act like you don’t even matter. For some going through that might mean you are having the worst day of your life.

Its like a wedding I heard about once where the bridal party arrived early and the seamstress was supposed to bring the wedding dresses. As the time for the wedding approached they noticed the dresses hadn’t arrived yet, so they call the seamstress. No answer. They call again, and again, no answer. Finally, with the weedding about to start the little flower girl notices the choir robes and the bride decides, “sure, why not?” And all the bridesmaids process in choir robes. The wedding day is supposed to be perfect, but something like that happens and suddenly it becomes anything but!

This wedding story isn’t too far off from what happens to the nation of Israel. They are the chosen people of God, but they’ve done something that has suddenly made them feel not so special anymore. After Israel was led out of slavery in Egypt they are wandering the desert, not finding this promised land of milk and honey. Instead they have stopped at a mountain and Moses, who has been leading them from the start, goes up to the top. There is thunder and lightning and swirling clouds and he’s given people specific instructions not to come up the mountain. He goes to receive the ten commandments and it takes forty days.

He’s been up on the mountain for so long, people started thinking he might be dead. They actually turn to Aaron, Moses’ brother, to lead them and the first thing they demand of their new leader is to have a god to follow. Moses had one god, so now, Aaron has to have one, too, right? So they give Aaron their gold and he makes a golden calf with it. Its a whole thing, and now in Exodus 33 God says to Moses, “look, you go and make this journey to the promised land on your own. I’ll send an angel, but I’m not sending my presence. If I did you would be dead.” The words from verse 5 are, “if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you.” That’s how bad their offense against God is.

Israel has gone from the chosen of God to rejected, from special to worthless in the blink of an eye. How could that be? Sure they did something wrong. Yes, they rejected God by making a false idol, but shouldn’t God just let it go and forgive them? Why should they lose their status as the beloved of God. Why would God be so quick to give up on them? So here’s Moses in verse 12. He’s gone to the tent of meeting where Moses speaks face to face with God. In another part it says that Moses’ face glows whenever he speaks with God. I love, too, this little note about how everyone would stand at the entrance of their tents when Moses would go out to the tent of meeting. They knew something divine was going to happen every time he went to the tent.

So there’s Moses, talking face to face with God, and it sounds like he’s complaining. He’s telling God, “look, you made me go get these people from Egypt and I did it. Now you’re just going to abandon us?” His specific complaint is that God has not let Moses “know whom you will send with me.” Eventually Moses convinces God that, because Israel is special, God should accompany them himself. And he says, “Now if I have found favor...” If you were here last week you heard that the word for favor is the same one as grace and grace means anything that we are drawn to. If I have found grace....if God really is drawn to me, Moses says, then why would God stop helping these people? I have found favor with God, so God should help Israel.

Its rather stunning on its surface, isn’t it? A human being bold enough to tell God what to do. A human willing to say, “God you like me, so you have to help these people.” How wild! And in the end, God agrees! God says, “I will do this thing you ask for, because you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” And, there it is. The two things that matter to God - that God is drawn to you and that God knows you by name.

The first, God being drawn to us, might feel impossible for us. How do we make that happen? Isn’t that just chance? Getting God’s grace means we are born to the right family or act the right way, and too many of us have found that we can’t earn God’s grace. Its impossible for us. We simply can’t do it. We will fail, we will fall short, we will eventually chase something else, gathering our gold to worship some idol. Throughout the scriptures that’s one of the main problems; Israel wants to be special to God, but they mess up, and lose hope, but God does eventually forgive them and restore them. That’s why we need Jesus.

Jesus shows us that God’s grace wasn’t just for the chosen nation of Israel. Grace was available to even more people. God never meant for just Israel to please God, but that, from the very beginning with Abraham, it was for everyone. Back in Genesis it says, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” It wasn’t just meant for a few; God planned this blessing to be for everyone. Grace is for all.

Then there’s the second part of what God says to Moses, “and I know you by name.” In Ancient times to say you know someone’s name was a big deal. It signaled identity and connection. It potentially points out where we are from, to whom we belong, and what we value. There are a couple of beautiful verses from Isaiah that show this. Give it a listen, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine (Is. 43:1).” Here’s another, “Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have writen your name on the palms of my hands (Is. 49:15-16). There’s this incredible connection, this intimacy between God and Moses and it leads to Israel getting bailed out when they have done an awful thing.

In a similar way our relationship with God, when we are people of grace, can rescue others. First we’ve got to develop that face to face relationship with God, though. I love that Moses went to the tent of meeting and Joshua came with him. Everyone else just stood outside their tents. They were awed by Moses going in, but Joshua followed him in. Are you ready for that step? Are you ready to not just talk about God, to think about God in your head, but to know God face to face? Some folks are too scared to do that, but God planned from the beginning for his favor, his grace to be available to all. Do you want to meet with God face to face?

If you do, let’s be like Moses and like Joshua. Let’s spend time in that place where we meet God. I think for a lot of us we think of church, and that’s a good thing! Many people have their first tentative steps toward a face to face relationship with God through the church, so come here. Be here regularly! Connect with God, but know that there is so much more out there. Grace everyday means we can experience it through nature, but also through the church, and through our friends and family, through singing or even through a book. When we take time to encounter God we are growing in grace.

Every day we have an opportunity to connect with God more and have that face to face intimacy with God. You can choose to grow in that relationship with God or you can choose to ignore it, but when you grow in grace, God is automatically drawn to you. It doesn’t mean you get everything you want, but you’ll have an intimacy with God that changes how you see and experience everything around you. It might even mean you advocate for God to rescue someone that everybody else has written off. They aren’t too far gone. God is at work and he wants you to help draw them back to him.

Let’s end with this. Larry Cook is the pastor of the Real Believers Faith Center. About a year ago he confronted some young men selling drugs in the alley between his church and the store on the corner. The store seemed to do more business in illegal goods than snacks or fuel. When he confonted the young men things got heated pretty quickly. Voices were raised.

“The owner don’t care about it,” one of the young men yelled at Pastor Cook. “If you want to do something about it, you need to buy the gas station.” “I will,” Cook responded. “I absolutely will.”

What the man selling drugs didn’t know is that Cook had actually been thinking about buying the store for the past 25 years. He believed that was exactly how he needed to help his neighborhood. He believed God would help him transform this sore spot in the neighborhood and that meant buying the store at the corner of a busy intersection.

The area has struggled a lot with a changing neighborhood. Then an interstate was built right through the middle of it which caused even more problems. Today, the area is filled with instability and poverty.

Last year in the fall the store came up for sale, and Cook and his wife put everything they had toward the purchase of the $3 million property. They’ve now reopened it under the name the Lion’s Den, a testament to faith surrounded by danger and their belief that even the most difficult people and places can be redeemed.

Sharon Cook said, “This is what Jesus would do. If he was walking around here, he would buy this gas station. He would feed the hungry. He would help the elderly just like we are doing.”

What a beautiful testament to what a deep faith in God can lead you to do in your community. A $3 million dollar property probably feels like a big risk to a lot of us, yet that’s what knowing God intimately can lead to. God is there. He’s waiting for you to meet with him face to face, so that you may know his favor, his grace that available to more people when we meet with him. Live for him, even if you don’t feel special, even if you fall short because his grace flows through you. When you live face to face with God he knows your name and it creates an opportunity for the whole world to know God’s grace. Amen? Amen.