Sunday, October 22, 2023

Twenty-Nineth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:
– First Reading: Exodus 33:12-23
– Psalm 99:1-9
– Second Reading: I Thessalonians 1:1-10
– Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-22

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

Moses cannot see from where he is how they will get to the Promised Land.  He is left sort of scratching his head and wondering aloud, “How did I end up here?”

He wants, and even needs, the assurance and reassurance at this point of his life and ministry—he’s had it with all this wilderness!  So, he calls out for the Lord to let him see the Lord’s face.  “Let me see you face to face.”  Moses ends up having this experience of all the goodness of God which passes him by, and he sees the back of God.  He doesn’t see face to face, but a glimpse of God’s back was enough.

Rather than seeing the back of God, what if we look back.  When we pause in our life—when we pause and look back, we see the goodness of God.  Even when we are in the middle of struggle and, like right now, in all out crisis—as we look back, we see the story of our lives and how God has sustained us.  That story is spirituality.  Stopping to steep ourselves in that story is spirituality.

God does not remove the wilderness.  God did not remove the wilderness from Moses or the people of Israel, but God did sustain Moses and God did sustain Israel in the wilderness.  As we look back at our story we are steeped in spirituality.  As we look back, we see how God has sustained us and held us and loved us and known us all along.

Moses looks at God’s back—he looks back and the goodness of God is there.  And it is here too.

—

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk