Good morning! Hope you are all enjoying our intro to winter this weekend. The message today is based on readings from Exodus chapters 19 and 20 and the 5th chapter of the Story.
Maybe you haven't noticed that human beings are by nature rebellious? There are some of us who are openly rebellious to rules. Anybody here? There are others who follow rules but grumble and rebel inside where it can't be seen. Right? I will admit to being one of the second group. An example is when, as a student, I was given instructions on an assignment. I had this terrible habit of looking like I was listening, but was really zoning out. Didn't hear any of it. It was instinctive. Not good when you have an important assignment and have no clue what you're supposed to do. By outward appearance it seemed like I was sitting there taking it all in, being an obedient student, but inside, my rebellious heart was beating loudly.
In our story today, we see rebelliousness in the people Moses, our reluctant hero, delivered out of slavery. Moses' problems are clearly not over. They're complaining and complaining and complaining. He might have prevailed over Pharaoh, but now he's in charge of people he doesn't know and they don't know him. And none of them, including Moses really know much about God.
So it's time for them to be introduced to their God. On the first day of the third month, they arrive at the Sinai Desert and are camped at the foot of the mountain. Moses goes up the mountain to speak to God. God says to Moses, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites".
It was a common practice in those days for nations to enter into covenants or treaties with each other. Usually the smaller nations were forced into it with a larger more powerful nation. If the smaller nation obeyed the rules or terms set by the larger one and acknowledged the other's power over it, the larger power would not invade and would protect it against other invaders. The smaller nations entered into these in fear that their nations would be destroyed if they refused the covenant.
This is not the covenant God is proposing. Yes, God is definitely more powerful than they are. But this covenant will not mean enslavement again for them; this covenant will set them free to be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. Sounds good.......but what does that mean? And what are are the terms of this covenant?
The nation of Israel is soon to find out. Moses gathers them altogether for the holy moment of their meeting with God. They're all cleaned up and begin to tremble when the thunder and lightning begin. Then when God descends on the mountain, there is billowing smoke and fire. Very dramatic. The ground even shakes. It literally puts the fear of God in them.
God calls Moses up to the top of Mount Sinai and gives Moses what we know as the Ten Commandments. The commandments are the first set of terms in this new covenant between God and Israel. The first commandments teach us how to honor God. "I am The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have not other gods before me." Then they are warned not to make any idols or to worship them, not to make wrongful use of God's name, and to observe one day a week as a holy day, a day of rest.
In the rest the commandments, God is teaching them how to recognize destructive behavior, we call it sin, and to refrain from it. Simply put, these are all practical ways in which they learn how to care about each other in their daily lives. They are all about building healthy relationships, with God and with each other, about staying faithful and loyal to the one true God and treating each other with dignity and respect. That is what authentic holiness is all about.
Moses goes back to the people, tells them about his meeting with God, and they promise that they will do everything the God has said. "No problem, God. You said it, we''ll do it!" Moses builds an altar at the foot of the mountain where they sacrifice young bulls. Moses takes half of the blood and puts it in bowls and then splashes the other half on the altar. Then he splashes blood on the people and says, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." In this way, the covenant was sealed between God and the children of Israel. They were now a holy nation of the one true God. At least, they were supposed to be. Unfortunately, they had the commandments, but their hearts were not changed and they were unable to live out this covenant in spirit and in truth. That old rebelliousness hadn't been routed out of their hearts.
What about us today? Where do we fit into this story? Are we part of this covenant, too? Yes.......No. Huh? Well, these commandments are still very much a part of our lives. They still point out to us where the sin is in our lives, how we fall short in our lives; they still teach us in a practical, no nonsense kind of way how to love God and each other. They still teach us how to treat others with dignity and respect. Yes to all that. But now, we have entered into a new covenant that does not do away with the old one, but helps us to understand more deeply what those commandments are all about. In this new covenant, we are empowered to live them fully out of love for God and each other, not just obey them because we don't want to be punished. Our very hearts are changed and our lives transformed. The blood that seals this covenant is not from a bull or any other four-legged animal. The blood that seals this holy covenant with God is the blood of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus who loves us passionately and powerfully. Jesus who heals us and brings us out of the darkness of this world and our own natures.
We will be hearing Jesus' own words soon as we receive Holy Communion. "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:20b) The new covenant in my blood. In baptism, we enter into this new covenant with the living God. No, this morning there won't be smoke billowing, no flames of fire. There won't be a thundering voice. Yet God's mighty power will be here. The very presence of the living God will be with us in the sacrament, in the bread and the wine. The forgiving, transformative power of God working within us, through us in this world. In this new covenant we do not have to be slaves to our own nature, that old rebellious nature. We are a new creation; the old has passed away. That's great news. It gives us hope for a new life in Christ. Rejoice! Amen.
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