Reflection: "Forgiveness"I’m pretty sure you’ll agree with me when I say that it’s often hard to rebuild trust after you’ve been hurt deeply. Sometimes the hurt has happened to us, but often it’s been our own fault and someone else has been the recipient, resulting in the two of us now being deeply divided.
Unfortunately, this kind of hurt and division happens too often in our churches and sometimes even between nations and groups within nations. Think of churches that have split, often on minor theological grounds, distrust that exists between countries like Israel and Palestine, or the many years of feuding between the Protestants and the Catholics in Northern Ireland. These divisions can run incredibly deep and last for years, if not generations. Despite efforts to bridge the gap, we may not be able to rebuild the trust necessary to heal hurts and mend division. In today’s story from Exodus, we hear that after all the good things God has done for the people of Israel - bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, rescuing them and feeding them along the way – they still manage to so easily break their relationship with God – and in the worst possible way, by making an image of him and worshipping it. While Moses is up on Mt. Sinai (which literally means "the mountain of God"), receiving the ten commandments, the people began worrying about being left without a leader. They were also fearful that they couldn’t actually see their God. Maybe the real problem was that Moses had been away for 40 days and 40 nights and they had very short memories about how bad their lives had been in Egypt, before God rescued them. They pleaded with their High Priest, Aaron, the brother of Moses, to give them a god that they could see. Aaron was conflicted as to what to do, but he took a strange course of action by suggesting that they gather all the gold jewellery the Egyptians had given them and melt it down to make a golden calf. Whether Aaron thought that the idol would be a reminder of their God, whom they called JHWH (we pronounce it Jahweh), or whether he just did it to keep the people placated until Moses returned, is not clear. But then, the people went even further and made sacrifices to this “new” god and had a festival with food and wine. This new, more convenient, god only demanded sacrifices, not the right relationships that were the hallmark of their covenant with Jahweh. This action would break the most important Jewish commandment against worshipping other gods and idols: And after they made the idol and worshipped it, God found it difficult to forgive his people for worshipping this new golden image god. We read that God commanded Moses to go down to "your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt." Previously, the Lord had repeatedly referred to Israel as "my people", whom "I brought out of the land of Egypt". The Lord appears to reject his past relationship with his people and pushes the Israelites onto Moses; these are now Moses' people (i.e. not God’s) whom Moses brought out of Egypt. That is similar to the claim made by the Israelites themselves in 32:1, where they talk about "Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt" (not God). The split between God and Israel appears to be mutual at this stage. The Lord's next statement to Moses is very dramatic and a bit terrifying: "Now let me alone, so that . . . I may consume them" (32:10). He was planning to destroy the Israelites in the wilderness and end the whole relationship with his chosen people. Moreover, he makes Moses a tempting offer: "I will make you a great nation" (32:10). In effect, he offers Moses the chance to become the new Abraham, the sole originator of a whole new people who will be a substitute for the Israelites that he’s about to destroy. The good news (for the Israelites) is that Moses isn’t about to let go of his relationship with God, nor his people. He pleads with God to forgive the Israelites and then pleads with the people to return to the one true God. Moses denies himself the opportunity to become the new Abraham and, instead, prays and intercedes for Israel with three strong reasons why the Lord should not carry out the planned destruction of the Israelites, reminding him that “these are not my people. They are "your people, Lord, whom "you brought out . . . of Egypt". Lastly, in v.13 Moses reminds God of the promises of land and descendants that he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who was later renamed “Israel”), a long time ago. Moses hadn’t been successful in changing God's mind in the past, but advocating for others, denying one's own interests and appealing to the mercy of God, has a particularly powerful effect on God and he takes it very seriously. We read that “the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people". Fortunately, God was then, and is now, in the business of grace and forgiveness, of rebuilding relationships. However badly we’ve hurt God or others, God can, and does, heal those broken relationships if we start with an open acknowledgement of the wrongs we’ve done, then it opens us to being able to receive forgiveness from God and allows us to restore our relationship with him. Only then, can God start the task of rebuilding trust and restoring those broken relationships we have with others. It may take a long time, and will certainly involve considerable effort from us, but we can trust in the God whose business is restoring broken relationships. I wonder if you can identify the golden calves in our culture today – you know, the ones that draw our loyalty and love away from God, when we get impatient with waiting for his response to our prayers? Have we made the God, whom we worship, into an idol, a small, fixed statue, that we try to control and manipulate as a substitute for the free, untamed, mysterious and surprising God of the universe, who won’t be tied down to small and humanly-constructed images, ideologies, institutions, and idols? How do we maintain this story's delicate balance between divine judgment, with consequences for disobedience, and God's leaning toward mercy, forgiveness, and faithfulness to the promises that he’s made to his people? It’s obvious to me that prayer and intercession have the potential to have real impact, especially when we’re advocating for others and calling on God's compassion. How often have we become impatient, waiting for God to give us the direction in our lives? Sometimes we feel that God is "late", thus causing us anguish, consternation, discomfort, and embarrassment. The truth is - God is always on time, but his timetable just isn’t the same as ours. God says, “Wait. I always keep my word, but I'm in no hurry - you need time to prepare.” Patience brings out the best in every soul and promises from God are always on time. Don't worry about God's delay - worry about your own delay before coming to God! As Paul said to the people in Philippi, we need to focus on whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable. Keep remembering these things and focus on what God has provided and give him praise and thanksgiving. This is the way to find inner peace. Our God is so big that he’s always willing to forgive us – but are we ready to accept his forgiveness? I pray that we will be savvy enough to recognise redemption when it comes and that we can then be thankful that he is mightier that we can ever realise. Go into this coming week, looking for ways to repair broken relationships and to break down the images and idols that we’ve come to worship, asking God to forgive our foolish way and return us to his fold. Our God is a forgiving one, but we need to do our part by changing our ways and seeking his blessing on our lives. Pastor Rick
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