Exodus 32:7-14
Proper 19 (24) - Year C
Jeremiah (v28) "I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back."
Exodus (v14) "And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people."
What is your sense about today. Is there a "Moses" around (might it be a reluctant and yet forthright "you") that will put our losing actions in a larger context? Are things going to play out the way they are going to play out, "Moses" or no "Moses", "you" or no "you"?
Can a vote and participation in a democratic process be seen as an appeal to avoid utter disaster? Was Dick Chaney accurate that a vote for anyone other than himself and his party is a vote for guaranteed disaster and thus playing the role of the Lord in the passage from Jeremiah?
Can speaking to folks and writing letters to the editor bring a new perspective on how our decisions and behaviors will be seen by the "Egyptians" (or the "enemy" of the day)?
The way we envision the movement of history, able to change or immutable, shapes our responses to the opportunities we have. If we claim to be in the presence of a living and loving (therefore, changing?) GOD this will guide our responses in a way different from the opposite claim of an unchanging God (who "lives" and "loves" attending only to their own prior and internal determinations).
So, which GOD would you want to find you or your loved one when you have strayed? Which would you want to find an enemy of yours? Are they the same GOD? Does this explain our reluctance to repent or urge to revenge?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/september2004.html
Play these two back and forth -- G*D, in Jeremiah's mouth, comes out as destruction - once decided always decided; G*D, in relation to Moses, comes out as remover of destruction - twice thought, a different decision.
Now we need to wonder whether one of these models is standard or if they are contextually driven. As I look over the breadth of G*D's story as it comes through the Bible, thinking twice is more often the case. This seems to be because of a prior decision never finally gone back on - steadfast love. Sometimes the rethinking of this takes more time than people have in their lives, but the rethinking does occur.
Whether Moses or Jeremiah in their settings, or you and I in ours, it is appropriate to ask for a second thought in light of a first thought to experience and enact steadfast love. Imagine what would happen if the church institutional or any congregation were to re-ask every question they have been faced with in the last 10 years in light of imitating G*D's steadfast love in their context.
- - - - - - -
one messenger reports
Moses tried to calm his God down
think twice was the calland this great God
backed off angry threats
deciding not to destroyas messengers report
about my life and tries
is God calmer for my presence