October 10th - Reflection

Exodus 19:7-20 (NRSV)
God meets Moses on the mountain
So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after."

When Moses had told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses: "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and prepare for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch them, but they shall be stoned or shot with arrows; whether animal or human being, they shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain." So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, "Prepare for the third day; do not go near a woman."


On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder. When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Reflection
Here the people come in preparation to meet God. They are here to see God. This is the time that law and grace meet. This is not a stopping place or the goal of the journey, it is the place we come together with God. And we prepare ourselves for this meeting. We clean up and get ready.

God will present the law. The law is not a method for meeting God; it is not a merit system that we work our way through. The law becomes our pattern of life that we learn to live in the presence of God. So we prepare to hear the voice of God.

No need to go near the mountain where God will reside. We will hear the voice and the Word and know that this is God. We don't need to touch. We need to listen and understand this voice that is external and not some mere thought or imagination. God is real. God is present. And the people are ready. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, permit me to draw near but not too near. For your Word is all I need. I know you are here and present. As I stop to listen, I come prepared to live the life you would have me live. Lead me, guide me and bring me to everlasting life. --- Amen