Ensign: The Backside of God
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 29 July 2016
Ten thousand points to whoever realizes this is not meant to be an insult.
A few months ago I read a collection of sermons with this title. The Backside of God And Other Occasional Sermons by John N. Brittain (ISBN 0788015583) who as of the year 2000 was chaplain at the University of Evansville reminds me of some sermons I've heard or could imagine being given in my area. There's a series on the Christian journey, two wedding sermons, two sermons for the beginning of the school year, but the title derives from actually wanting to see God.
My first experience in literature with asking to see God, or at least a god, is not this one. Rather, it's the Greek myth regarding the birth of Dionysus. The story goes that Zeus the king of the gods, despite being married to Hera queen of the gods (who was also his sister, and that's a dynamic in itself) was more than willing and able to have affairs with mortal -- read, non-godly -- women. Semele was one of them, and when Hera found out tricked Semele into asking Zeus to see god.
That is, to see him her lover in his full glory.
And since mortals can't handle seeing the full glory of god, or God, without dying themselves, Semele died and Zeus carried away the child she was pregnant with. The child who became Dionysus, the god of wine -- never understood when I was a kid why wine was worth commemorating as vital to life, unlike war, wisdom, or the sea -- and the father of drama. The earliest plays were rituals acting out Dionysus' death and resurrection.
Sound familiar?
In Exodus 33, Moses had gone into the tabernacle to meet the LORD after destroying the golden calf the Israelites had made with his first copy of those stones bearing the Ten Commandments in the previous chapter. Beginning with verse twelve we see Moses express his doubts -- don't all leaders have them? -- and then asking the LORD "If I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation thy people."
Moses did not only remember Whose He was, but who he was part of as well.
"And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Moses' request in verse eighteen didn't catch the LORD by surprise, but it sure surprises us. For me what happens next is further proof for me that the Bible is not fiction -- God doesn't waffle, nor is He given an easy way out. But He sets the terms for delivering on any request we make to Him. He promises to let Moses see Him, but not His face. Verses nineteen through twenty-three detail how Moses will stand on a rock
-- the symbolism here should be easy --
and the LORD will put His hand over his eyes and then walk by, letting Moses see the back, the backside, of Him. I suspect it's something even the most hardened of believers ask, not only to see evidence of God but also to see HIM. But there is only so much as human beings that we can handle or comprehend. A faith that is demanding proof without being willing to believe there is more to life that this moment, this interaction, this ... life will be easily swept away by the next big thing.
Blessed the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
The sixth of the beatitudes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:8) leads me at least to ask when will I ever see God, when will I ever be pure, in the Godly sense of without sin, enough? I'm guessing you reading this are, but for me it's in the process of becoming pure. While I'm in the process of living as I should be as a child of God's and helping others to see Who is in me, remembering Whose I am, I'm seeing the proof all around me. It's brighter than any fireworks.
David
P.S. I write this devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages us too! If it's not or you just want me to get lost, please let me know. Thank you!
Thank YOU, Lord, that we can always come to you in prayer and that we can count on you to provide for all our needs, even when we don't know always what they are. And we come to you in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and all over the world.
Thank You as well, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You also for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You by Your Son Our Brother, Jesus Christ.
And I pray that we will all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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