Certain of God’s Presence: Exodus 33: 12-18; 34:5-8; Heb.4: 14-16
This week has been devoted to a final push of class work for my master’s in theological studies. One of the first intensive classes this week was called Cultural Perspectives on Death and Dying. I know, that sounds so uplifting, right? On the second day of class, we had a guest speaker who truly brought us all to tears and taught us the importance of God’s presence in our lives. His name was Shadi Haddad. He is a Syrian Christian refugee. His home and life were destroyed in the civil war that has raged there for years.
Some of the more powerful and heart-wrenching things he talked about was that even in the midst of all the war and turmoil, they all still tried to have a normal life. He would leave for work every day and his wife would take the kids to kindergarten. The difference, he said, was that he told them goodbye every single day as if it would be the last day he would see them alive. They never knew when a bomb would strike the block they lived on, their faith community, or the kindergarten his kids attended. He talked about being a refugee and the struggle: his kids speak Dutch and have no concept of where they came from. His home, life, and entire community in Syria have been obliterated off the face of the planet. But his story is not an isolated incident—almost 900,000 share the same trauma of death, destruction, and untold suffering in just this one crisis.
There was a lingering question Shadi in all of this: how certain is your faith in God’s presence when you have nothing else left in your life? His responded that he was the most certain of God’s presence when he had nothing else left. There are two ways we see this presence in the scriptures for today: God as an assurance to Moses, and God as the intercessor in Hebrews.
Moses was a very smart leader, but he was not always a very trusting leader. When we think of Moses and his interactions with God, we need to remember that this is the man who needed a literal, talking, burning bush a few feet in front of him in order to do God’s will. And yet, I think we all joke about Moses but find ourselves needing that assurance in our lives as well, so let’s not give Mosses too hard of a time. When we encounter Moses in this scripture, we see that he’s still struggling with this idea of fully believing God. One would think the aforementioned burning bush would be enough, but I suppose we all get a bit forgetful and wonder what God has done for us lately. Moses wants another sign. God, if you’re there, how do we know you will be with us all the way into the promised land.
Essentially Moses, though he’s literally talking to God, wants a sign that God’s presence will be with him and the Hebrew people as they go from where they are now into the promised land. God assures him, “Yeah, Moses, I’ll be there.” But Moses doesn’t miss a beat, “WELLLLL…are you sure about that God? Cause it could be really bad if you don’t. You know we’re the chosen people and all, so people are going to talk if you don’t show up for us like you said you would.” God assures Moses again that God will be with them. Moses then demands to see God’s glorious presence as a guarantee. He still needed more assurance from God. We read in chapter 34 where God reveals that very presence to Moses, and even that glimpse of the power of God’s presence made Moses’ face glow and his hair turn white. The fullness of God’s presence was overwhelming and nearly undid him.
In times of doubt, dismay, suffering, these are the times we should remember and know the most that God is present with us, for God has assured us always of that presence. Pastor Rick Warren has a tough teaching on God’s presence. He writes, “God doesn’t owe us an explanation for everything, and actually, what I’ve found is that explanations don’t comfort. What comforts is the presence of God, not the explanation of God.” There’s a bit of sharpness in that quote, but it’s true. God could have explained the next steps to Moses in the gravest of details. But Moses didn’t need a holy roadmap. He needed to see and feel the very presence of God, to know that God was there and would not leave him. For us, it is no different. We need that same assurance and awareness of God’s presence.
But it is different because we also need God as intercessor as Hebrews tells us. So that we all have the same definition, an intercessor is one who intervenes in prayer on behalf of another. Hebrews refers to Jesus as the Great High Priest. In ancient days, the Jewish people had a temple and deep inside was the Holy of Holies. Only the chief priest could go in at the appointed times, after being properly prepared, and be in the very presence of God to submit prayers and offerings on behalf of the people. There was a separation between the people and how they could experience God’s presence in their lives. They had to rely on the chief priest. Jesus, in his love and gift of grace on the cross, broke that barrier down. There are no extra steps to get to God’s presence. There’s not a layer of middle management between us and God in the form of a specially called chief priest.
You can summon up your faith and pray directly to God any time you want and need. You can pray as much as you want, any time you want, in many ways, in Jesus’s name, Amen. The truth of the matter is that there is no long road to get to God. Any barrier remaining between us and God, you and I have most likely built. God does not take that holy presence away from us and leave us to suffer. We may not get the answers we want. We may have to wait for God’s timing. We may not have an easy road completely free of suffering and pain, but in every moment—good, bad, and painful—God is there.
Hebrews, then, tells us to come boldly to the throne of God, who is gracious, who is merciful, and who will give us grace when we need it most. I’ve often counseled and talked with people who said they felt like God is no longer there. There are a number of inappropriate responses to this: blaming them for not “feeling” God, questioning their faith, telling them their suffering is trivial at best. Some of these responses I have unfortunately offered in my ignorance. But the truth I have come to know is that we won’t get the burning bush and blazing glory every single day of our lives. We may not even get the still, small voice. But still through those times all is quiet, God is there, and will never, ever leave us.
Each time I think of God’s presence, I think of that look on Shadi’s face through the computer as he described bombs going off everywhere, fearing for his kid’s lives day in and day out, having to escape and leave his wife and kids behind to prepare a place for them in Holland. The only thing he had to rely on to keep his family safe across the thousands of miles that separated them was prayer and God’s presence. There was nothing left but him and God.
When there is nothing else left in life but faith, will we still find the faith to trust in God’s presence in our lives? I asked myself that question the whole time I wrote this sermon. That question can be tough for us in the struggle of life. I pray, then, that we will all find the strength to say with resolve, “My Jesus, I love Thee. I know Thou art mine.” Most of all, though, I pray that we remember God is always there in every single moment of life, and God is still there even if nothing else is left. That’s the promise we can hold on to forever.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/292521305948996