The Whoppers We Tell to God

 

The Whoppers We Tell to God

 

Exodus 19:2-8a
19:2 They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

19:3 Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:

19:4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

19:5 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,

19:6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

19:7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

19:8a The people all answered as one: "Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do."

 

“I’ll never do it again.” As a kid, I probably made that promise to my angry dad a thousand times, in an attempt to stave off a more immediate consequence to something I had done wrong. Israel was no different. Humanity, as a whole, is no different. The problem is so much more complex, though, as we look at this lectionary passage from Exodus this weekend.

 

First of all, what is the infraction or infractions we are dealing with in this text? Go back to my conflict with my father, and the same question applies. Now, my parents were pretty lenient with me and my two brothers, for the most part, but we did have rules. Why? This is the first question we come to: Why do we have rules at all? Whose purpose do they serve? 

 

In terms of my parents and our “household” rules, some of them—honestly—were for the benefit of my parents. We were “regulated” to keep them from having to constantly deal with the inevitable conflicts that occur between siblings. They needed time to carry out their OWN relationship, and we WAY too often got in the way, or should I say our BEHAVIOR got in the way! Some of the rules about how we should conduct ourselves in the home were to offer our parents a moment’s peace. Other rules were designed to keep us brothers from hurting each other, plain and simple. Some of our rules were crafted to promote mutual RESPECT for each other, inclusively. Of course parents should be respected—even the Bible tells us so—but siblings should be afforded a measure of respect, as well. The Bible also urges parents to not “break the spirit” of their children, fostering instead an environment of love and acceptance, and not just for the members of the household, but for others, as well. And this leads to the next reason for rules for children: they are part of our developmental growth, so we understand that we are being “launched” into a world full of rules and laws, and we’d better know how to properly conduct ourselves. 

 

This “household” rule examples certainly apply to the wider society, as well. We, as human beings, must live with each other. As I write this, I’m watching the live news coverage of the arraignment of former President Donald Trump. This event has, like pretty much all things “Trump,” has divided us into two camps. One camp proclaims that the “rules” are for all Americans and must be applied equitably. The other camp believes Trump is being treated unjustly by applying these rules to him. Regardless of what you believe about this typically polarizing event, rest assured you will never hear from Donald J. Trump are the words, “I’ll never do it again.”

 

God has given Israel rules. I would never argue that NONE of these laws are for God’s benefit, especially as we often view God in the rule of “parent” of the human race! Even GOD needs a sabbath, and this may well include some peace from us and our self-emolliated conflicts. However, the Bible tries to make clear that the main purpose of God’s law is to help God’s people “live in harmony” with one another, and to respect the rest of the creation we inhabit. God’s laws are both guiding AND developmental, for humans and our society.

 

In the Exodus text, “God” communicates this fact: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians…” Is this a threat, spoken by God to Moses, for him to pass on to the people? I don’t know about you, but I do NOT see the God of the Bible and of Jesus Christ as a God who makes threats, even in “parent” mode. And yes, my mother DID occasionally make that dreaded statement, “Just WAIT until your father gets home!” As I read this text, I think “God” is saying this NOT as a threat, but first of all, as a sad reality: in order to “save” Israel, God had to smite the Egyptians. It seems that God is more grieved by this reality, and in this “reminding” of Israel, God focuses on the positive outcome, namely how God “bore you on eagles’ wings” and drew them to Godself. Like all parents, sometimes in attempting to bring justice and favor to one’s own children, our Parent God must level accusations against a persecuting or unjust party. As a parent, it is never pleasant to do this, and rarely is it fully “true” that the opposing party is fully “at fault” in the situation! As we read texts like Exodus, we must always remember the statement that “history is written by the winners.” The God of the Bible seems not to want to abide a world where there are “winners” and “losers.” God’s highest aim appears to be God’s desire that all of God’s children may live together in unity. 

 

Again, as I write this message on Tuesday before our Western PA United Methodist Annual Conference, we are confronted with a “rules” conflict between factions that are all people of God. On Wednesday at 4:00PM the “special session” of the Annual Conference will most likely approve—by majority vote—the disaffiliation of 300 of our local churches from the denomination. This schism is over rules: rules of our denominational Book of Discipline that one party wants upheld and not changed, and that the other party that wants a few of them changed, and are protesting what they see as an injustice created BY these rules; “rules” that govern how we interpret the scriptures; and how the accountability for these various rules is or isn’t carried out. The problem is that each faction tends to see the other as the “Egyptians.” Maybe we need to adopt God’s “reasons” for why rules and laws exist—to help God’s people live together in unity, instead of just obeying rules “because they are the rules.” It is my observation that there are those folk who painstakingly and passionately OBEY rules, just for the sake of obedience, with little thought as to the reason the rule or law may exist, in the first place. Obeying a rule is not a “victory” if the reason the rule exists is either ignored or even negated by the vociferousness with which some prosecute the rule’s adherence. 

 

This latter element is one of the several issues that visits Israel regularly. However, let’s focus on the whoppers Israel regularly tells to God, such as the one in today’s text: "Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do”; or the other one they invoke, from time to time, when caught in the act, “We’ll never do it again.” In fact, succeeding texts in the Bible make clear that they DIDN’T “do” what the Lord had spoken to them, and neither did they keep their promise to never break the rules again. Time and time again, Israel’s selfish and self-serving behavior led them to ignore the rules or disobey God’s law, if it benefitted them. For example, the code of hospitality—“welcoming the stranger” or foreigner in the land—which is one of the highest of the formative laws God gave God’s people, was regularly violated by Israel.

 

Even more unfortunately, we modern Christian members of God’s “family” have been guilty of the same “whoppers” we have told to God concerning our own behavior. And we have unevenly applied our understanding of God’s laws, when it serves us. In the Christian realm, we have people who claim to be “Pro-Life,” but who support capital punishment and reject refugees and immigrants. We have persons who champion the rights of the LGBTQ community, but often ignore God’s moral laws of respecting relationship covenants, and abide hurtful, promiscuous behavior. We proclaim ourselves as “anti-racists,” and yet propagate systemic racism when it benefits our socio-economic class, and even vote for racist leaders. I’m not sure which is worse—telling whoppers to God, or living out the very whoppers we tell? 

 

In the Hebrew Bible, Moses often goes to bat for Israel before God. Remember the times God gets so upset at the two-faced behavior of God’s people that God tells Moses that God is considering wiping them out and starting over with fresh stock. Moses “argues with God,” several of the Exodus texts tell us, and “wins” the argument and “God repents of the evil that God was going to do against the people.” In our understanding as Christ followers, it is the Son of God who “goes to bat” for us all, as we can never keep our promises. When I think about the schism going on in the United Methodist Church, I fear that both sides of the “split” are believing that the separation will enable them to “start over” to rebuild their faith system without the “persecution” (or at least the pestering) of the other. In this, we are “guilty” of the same oversimplification of reality that is ascribed to God in the texts I just referenced. We need a “Moses” to tell us we are being led astray by our OWN whoppers!

 

So, what are the “so whats” we can get from this story in Exodus? First of all, Israel survived, and is even thriving, to this day. This is testimony that GOD keeps GOD’S promises, not that Israel was good at keeping theirs. But God IS faithful, and we can count on it, even when God can’t count on us! Secondly, we should rejoice in the “Moses” we have—Jesus Christ—who HAS gone to bat for us before God. And finally, it would behoove us to revisit WHY we have rules and laws—that we may live together in unity—and purpose to use these rules as a way to respect one another, to this end. And we should stop making promises we just won’t keep, and work together to formulate relationship-nurturing agreements and compromises we can, to the glory of God! Amen.