This morning’s scripture lessons were the last few verses from the Book of Exodus which we trekked through all summer and the first verses from the Gospel of John. Simply stated, their message is that God is with us. Before I went on vacation last week, I read them and took copies of them with me so that they could sit with me for a while. I wanted to think about the difference it makes in our lives that we live knowing that God is with us. I mean, we have been told since we were young, and we tell our children and grandchildren the good news that God is with them and loves them unconditionally. We live with that belief. BUT, when do you feel God’s close presence in your life? I am not talking about that easy ‘I believe in God feeling, but the feeling that ‘God is as close as your breath’ that is promised in the Bible and is the gift of our covenantal relationship with our God. Heavy stuff to ponder in a cabin in New Hampshire.
And I did…. And I decided to think where God was with me on my trip. We all have had what is called ‘mountain top experiences’ where we experience the wonder and awe of God through God’s amazing creation, but on a mountain where I hiked to a summit on a trail that was a bit too challenging for me, I had a different experience of God. Oh yes… it was all beautiful on the top and you probably think that is where I felt God and all …but I really felt God’s presence not in the beauty but in the unity of our group as we supported each other up the hill and over the rocks. You see, we chose not to go on the hike that was suggested we try but on another that was a bit out of our league. And when we got half way up and realized that although extremely challenging, the only thing we could do was continue to the top as going down the steep rocks we went up on all fours was not an option. But God was there and there was beauty in it. We never panicked. We continued. And in our concern for each other and the unity of the struggle, God was present.
I also felt God’s presence in my swims across Newfound Lake, a beautiful lake nestled in the southern edge of the White Mountains. The water is cold and I have to wear a wet suit. It appears black unless you are swimming in it when you know that it is a dark ‘pine tree’ green. And the beauty of it is the beams of light that shine through the water and dissipate in the great depths of the water. They are a light springtime green. I love to watch the water as I stroke through it and to look at the lake surrounded by huge mountains when I am in its middle. And I thank God for it but also thank God for my ability to swim and most importantly the presence and support of my companion I cajoled each day to go with me who is in the water gliding along next to me in a canoe. I am not alone. I am protected. I am loved. God is between and with us.
You see, the experience of God was that God goes with us. Sure, God was on that beautiful mountain top with a view overlooking the adjoining range and God is the creator of the beauty of Newfound Lake…. But more poignantly God was with my little hiking group in the care, the concern, and the support we gave to each other on the hard trip up the mountain and God was felt in the bond between the rower and the swimmer as we crossed the lake.
The message of the passage read in Exodus is the same for us as it was for the Ancient Hebrews. God is with us in our journeys. We do not journey alone. And we all know the passage from John 1. We read it every Christmas as it tells the message that God with us and has been since the beginning. It is a poem which speaks to the glory and wonder of God and also the fact that God is with us intimately as well. We know this.
The beauty of God, the incredible magnificence of our Creator, is that our God is both transcendent and intimate. The final chapter of Exodus is when God comes down from that mountain top where only Moses can experience and talk to the Lord, and dwells among the people. This is seen as the great paradox of God, the great tension and the great beauty…a merging of both the far and near, the in and the out, the transcendence and eminence, the vertical and horizontal… all at the same time. It points to the fact that God is with us where ever we are, in the wilderness and exile times of our lives and when things are right with our worlds and at the same time God is also far greater than our world, our imagination, and our concepts of love and perfection. Some might ask how God can be both but the reality is how can God not be and be God.
God is outside our experience. We can only know in part what God is. We know in part what love is but God is all love.
We know in part what beauty is, but God is all beauty.
We know in part what power is, what justice and righteousness are and what peace and shalom feels like but God is the totality of all those things.
But we are also promised an intimate relationship with God. God beckons us into a relationship with one another and with all creation and promises to be there within it. God is in you, God is in the person sitting close to you this morning. God is in the freshwater we drink, the breeze we enjoy in this early September heat. But God is also in the people of the Bahamas, the family at our Southern border wanting to come and be safe in our country, God is with the children in our Child Care Center, the two new trees in our yard we planted this summer, and in the butterflies in our yard. God rejoices with us, God cries with us, God holds us when we need to feel God’s care. We named the sermon series this summer The Story of God’s Love for God’s People and realize it was not just in the covenant relationship God has made but in the promise that God will be with God’s people always.
And, dear Riviera family, God is here. I sense it and it permeates our worship and the ministries of this church. I felt it the first time I came here and walked into this sanctuary. God has called us here and fills us when we enter this sanctuary. God is indeed here but God is outside here as well.
And because of that, we are called to serve. We are called to show the world that God is with us, with all of us, with all of God’s creation. And we have so many wonderful ministries that do just that.
This morning has been called our Open House. And it is called that because at lunch you will have the opportunity to hear about wonderful programs happening here in which you can be involved. Tables are set up with information and elders will be there to answer questions about the many ministries in which our little church is involved. Sign up to be a part of the Ukulele Ensemble, to help with children, to feed homeless, to plan fellowship events. Whatever skills God has given you, there is some way you can be involved in the ministry of this church.
And you ask why? Because, God is here. You will find and experience God working with others in the ministry of this church. What wonderful experiences await! Amen!
Exodus 40:34-38 & John 1:1-14a