When the people saw that
Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron,
and said to him,
“Come, make gods for us, who
shall go before us;
as for this Moses, the man
who brought us up out of the land
of Egypt,
we do not know what has
become of him.”
Aaron said to them,
“Take off the gold rings that
are on the ears of your wives,
your sons, and your
daughters, and bring them to me.”
So all the people took off
the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold
from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they
said,
“These are your gods, O
Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
When Aaron saw this, he built
an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said,
“Tomorrow shall be a festival
to the Lord.”
They rose early the next day,
and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
The Lord said to Moses,
“Go down at once!
Your people, whom you brought
up out of the land
of Egypt,
have acted perversely;
they have been quick to turn
aside from the way that I commanded them;
they have cast for themselves
an image of a calf,
and have worshiped it and
sacrificed to it, and said,
‘These are your gods, O
Israel,
who brought you up out of the
land of Egypt!’”
The Lord said to Moses,
“I have seen this people, how
stiff-necked they are.
Now let me alone,
so that my wrath may burn hot
against them and I may consume them;
and of you I will make a
great nation.”
But Moses implored the Lord
his God, and said,
“O Lord, why does your wrath
burn hot against your people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a
mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians
say,
‘It was with evil intent that
he brought them out to kill them in the mountains,
and to consume them from the
face of the earth’?
Turn from your fierce
wrath;
change your mind and do not
bring disaster on your people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your
servants,
how you swore to them by your
own self, saying to them,
‘I will multiply your
descendants like the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have
promised I will give to your descendants,
and they shall inherit it
forever.’”
And the Lord changed the
Lord’s mind about the disaster that the Lord planned to bring on the Lord’s
people.
***
Oh, us Presbyterians and our
meetings. I was recently at Synod, our regional governing body for Northern
California, Nevada, and Oregon, which coordinates mission for the
three state areas, and helps to distribute funds and grants to lower governing
bodies, such as Presbyteries and churches. There, in Burlingame, California,
various commissioners from Presbyteries work over three days to evaluate grants
and finances and Synod personnel procedures, etc. Board yet?
Well, in my committee -
evaluating grant requests, there were the problems of doing smaller committee
work by consensus in the larger body, of having no guiding mission or goals by
which to evaluate grants, yet following to the letter limiting criteria, and a
moderator who had no process besides the loudest holding the most sway. We met
from 10am - 4:30p.m. and only accomplished 2 action items and unapproved 3
items for the Synod floor. Board and frustrated yet?
At one point a creative grant
proposal came forth. A church had recently begun to acquire a deaf population
and it was asking for monies to provide deaf interpreters to sign during
worship and meetings. It seemed obvious for approval - inclusive, justice
oriented, filling a need, generating growth, so much so that I wondered about
own church and how we would welcome those with disabilities. There at Synod the
entire committee was encouraged by the proposal, but alas the proposal did not
meet the criteria for the grant for which the church applied, and instead met
the criteria for another grant for which there was still money available. There
was hesitation, resistance, we’ve never switched a before. It is neither
encouraged or discouraged by the Synod Administrative Manuel and its polity. A
retired pastor pushed saying, “At this point, I am at the age where I am more
willing to let go of the rules to see ministry happen.” I replied with obvious
look around the room, “Being the youngest person in the room, I know we are
called to order, but also creativity and I think there is a way here for both.”
The stated clerk was summoned and we were directed that the options were that
grant applicants should reapply the next year under the alternative grant or be
advised to meet the criteria. Then, with that loud voice, the grant became a
mute point.
I was beyond frustrated, and
upon leaving the meeting wondered if I would not make a better American Baptist
or UCC pastor, where there were less committees and more actions, where
processes seemed less stilted and more organic. For me, Moses had gone up the
mountain, and when he had not come down by 4:30p.m. I had begun to make a
golden calf. Yes, my calf was about the work of God, but it also was about
efficiency, and competency, about good communication, vision and leadership.
You have to look no further than our session, to see that these traits are
those which out of which I make a golden calf. Yes, our elders are called to
those positions because of their gifts for ministry, but I wonder are there
ways I have silenced those with alternative gifts. Walking out of that meeting,
and at other times when processes don’t seem to be function, my stress makes a
Golden Calf of competence and efficiency.
So quickly, I had forgotten
the way God had led us Presbyterians out of Egypt. In frustration it was easy
to dismiss this denomination which nurtured my upbringing through a
congregation of parents and grandparents, not too different than this one, the
denomination which ordained me at twenty-eight, which supports me with
everything from mentors to health insurance, which recently voted approval, on
a national level, causes I believe in, a denomination which has supported this
local church and its mission projects, such as Open Door and Backpack, this
denomination which is this church - the people in its pews, who I am faithfully
and consistently in awe, your love and generous care for one another, your
Christian ability to have conversations about touch issues and to remain
partners in Christ even if you agree to disagree. This truly Presbyterian trait
of dialogue, which I value so much, and our slow careful pace for which just a
couple months ago, I wrote a newsletter article heralding. It was easy in
frustration and a bit of hopelessness about that meeting to make a golden calf.
To say, God is not in present in this process, it is taking too long, I want to
turn to something else.
I think about the ways we do
this over and over with our leaders. We expect change and we expect it right
now, and we forget to look at the pattern behind us, and instead only look at
the problems before us. First we say,
“Come, make gods for us, who
shall go before us;
as for this Moses, the man who
brought us up out of the land
of Egypt,
we do not know what has
become of him.”
I think about the ways we do
this over and over with our leaders. We expect change and we expect it right
now, and we forget to look at the pattern behind us, and instead only look at
the problems before us. I remember those that were so driven by Obama’s Change
campaign and within a year, were saying how disappointed they were, that he was
moving so slowly, that he had had forgotten his campaign promises. I look back
over those promises and now and the end of his presidency I believe he
accomplished many of them - whether you support them or not. I think about our
students teachers who work so hard adapting to the needs of each student and
learning their quirks and gifts, and I remember one parent complaining in the
first week that the teacher had not taken care of her child’s one particular
need. I wonder how often we look forward to what is not yet in front of us,
instead of looking behind us to the pattern of freedom from Egypt, of manna
in the desert, in water sprung from a rock.
At this point the Israelites
have been wandering for decades in the desert, and Moses goes up the mountain
and is delayed for forty days. The people do not know what has happened to
Moses. They send no search party, there is no time of prayer and fasting, not
even a moment for grieving Moses who they championed as the one who brought
them out of the land
of Egypt. So quickly they
move on from leader to leader. They go to Aaron, Moses’ most trusted elder and
give to him their earrings and gold, treasures which they have carried through
the desert. I imagine them, with these jewels they packed away and wore in the
dust and sand, little memories of significant moments, of weddings and
anniversaries, family heirlooms, clung to as they left their homes. Now lifted
up to charismatic Aaron, who their new idol, and voice of God. With the gold he
makes for them a golden calf, saying this calf is the God who brought you out
of Egypt,
this calf who wasn’t even there, becomes for them larger than Moses, and larger
than God.
Not dissimilarly, God too
seems to forget. God is angered that both Moses’ leadership and God’s
faithfulness have so easily been perverted to that of an idol, a golden calf.
God says to Moses, “Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against
them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” God has
forgotten the larger purpose of the Exodus, and instead focuses on the present.
God too has been looking with nearsightedness, and Moses attempts to show God,
that by remembering a mere chapter in a novel, God is no different than the
Israelites. Moses first reminds God that it was God, not simply Moses who
brought the people out of Egypt,
that it was God who swore to Abraham, and Isaac, and the Israelites
saying,
‘I will multiply your
descendants like the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have
promised I will give to your descendants,
and they shall inherit it
forever.’
Moses is doing what God has
taught Moses. Moses is remaining faithful, remembering the promise, and
following God. There are times when leaders want to give up on their people
because the people have given up on them. This is the human part. The God part
is remembering the purpose and the promise. The God part, is the part which
runs through the whole narrative.
I stand here and I think of
our denomination, and while God can and does easily work outside of it, just as
God could have easily worked through a new linage in Moses, I know that God is
at work in this denomination. I can stand here, as woman and as a pastor, and
it is one of the few pulpits in town which are open to women, and this happened
through that arduous process I witnessed at Synod. That same Synod, where, that
same committee moderator made to me some really great suggestions for possible
youth trips, and for continuing education. That same Synod, which provides
money to our presbytery, which provides money to our church, so I can go down
downstairs on a school day, and see kids not only being fed physically, but
also mentally and emotionally. Our same denomination, where I can watch our
congregation gathered around a line of masking tape renewing their baptismal
promises to care and support one another. I have to remember that God is not in
a golden calf. God is in the promise, the longevity, and I am called to follow
that promise, that longevity, to look forward with hindsight, with assurance
and hope. God is in the promise, God is the longevity.
