The Glory of God Revealed

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Good morning.

I am Joan Benson, and I'm part of the North Berkeley Community Group and Women Reading Women.

Today's scripture reading is from the book of Exodus, chapter 33, verses 15 to 23, and

Exodus 33:15–23

from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18, as printed in the liturgy.

Exodus 33, 15.

Then Moses said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and your people unless you go with us?

What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?

And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.

Then Moses said, now show me your glory.

And the Lord said, I will cause, excuse me, all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.

I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

But he said, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.

Then the Lord said, there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.

When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face bids not be seen.

The grass withers, the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever.

And now a reading from Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians.

Second Corinthians 3, 18.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Well, thank you for that scripture reading, Joan, and good morning, Christ Church.

My name is Andrew, and one of the pastors here.

I was away last weekend on vacation with my family, but we're glad to be back.

Glad to be back worshiping with our church family.

Will you join me in prayer?

Lord God, we ask this morning that in the preaching of your word, you would allow us to see what you want us to see.

That you would allow us to see you, and not just see you, but behold you, oh God.

One thing have I desired of the Lord.

That will I seek after.

That I will dwell in the house of the Lord.

All the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the Lord.

And inquire in his temple.

That's what we want to see, oh God.

We want to behold your glory.

We thank you that you are the kind of God who has revealed that glory to us.

Full of grace and truth in your son, Jesus Christ.

Be honored in the preaching of your word, in the administration of the sacraments, in our fellowship here today, oh God.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, so we're continuing our series here.

This mini-series in Exodus chapters 32 to 34, right?

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

We're looking at this first great national rebellion.

The infamous incident of the golden calf turned into the first great national revival in history.

All right, so now what I want to do is I want to reset where we are in the story.

Remember, God has delivered his Hebrew people out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt, right?

And he's brought them through the Red Sea to this holy mountain.

And this mountain is called Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai.

Now, this is a special mountain, all right?

This is the same mountain where an 80-year-old refugee and shepherd named Moses first encountered Yahweh, the living God, in an unburning bush.

You can read about that in Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

So this is holy ground where we are.

God has told Moses all the way back then at the unburning bush that he's heard his people's cries, right?

And he tells Moses that he wants to use him to deliver his people and to unite them to himself in a covenant bond.

And here we are now in Exodus chapter 33, and God has done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

He's brought them back to this mountain because he wants to now ratify his covenant union with them.

He wants to bring them back to this holy site, like a sacred, nostalgic wedding venue.

Only this time, he's not manifesting himself in some little unburning bush.

The whole mountain is on fire, and there's a dark cloud, and there's rumblings of thunder and lightning,

and the presence of God here is undeniable.

It's unmistakable that God is here, and the people dare not approach this mountain.

So that's the scene, right?

And the people dare not approach, but God invites Moses up the mountain.

And so Moses goes up the mountain, and for 40 days, God reveals to Moses his detailed vision

for what he wants their union and their communion to look like as a family.

He's basically saying to Moses, this is the kind of beautiful home

and the kind of wonderful life and dwelling place I'm preparing for our family that I want us to enjoy.

But what happens when Moses is on the mountain after 40 days?

People grow impatient, right?

And at the very moment that God is detailing his plans to be intimately present with them,

they seek to force his presence and harness his power amongst themselves with the golden calf idol.

And God's heart breaks, and his anger burns, like with all the jealousy of a husband

who's only ever had eyes for his bride.

A husband who's been excitedly making all these plans for a beautiful life together with his precious bride.

And so God, he now desires to just wipe this people out, to just forsake his plan of union with them.

Just give them over to their new lover, give them over to their own self-destruction.

And he says, I'm just going to make a new nation out of you, Moses.

But what does Moses do?

He intercedes.

He pleads.

He says, but God, remember your promise.

And the crazy thing is, God relents.

He hears Moses' prayer, and he relents.

But still, we have this problem.

God does not want to dwell with this unfaithful people anymore.

He says, okay, I'm still going to let you live.

I'm still even going to let you go into the land flowing with milk and honey,

this promised land that I promised to send you into.

But I'm not going to go with you.

I'm not going to be present with you, because you are a stiff-necked people.

And I might destroy you on the way.

And so what happens?

The people mourn, and they strip off their ornaments.

Because of this great conundrum that their greatest need, the presence of God,

has now become their greatest threat at the same time.

Because, like, what is the promised land apart from the presence of God?

So what Moses does is he pitches a tent.

He pitches a tent far outside the camp.

Not among the people, but far outside the camp.

And amazingly, graciously, the presence of God in a cloud descends on that tent.

And he still meets with Moses.

He still meets with his people.

Even says that he speaks to Moses as a friend, face to face, mouth to mouth.

And as the people of God see the presence of God descend upon this tent,

they are filled with worship.

Because maybe they are not doomed after all.

Now it is in this tense of meeting that we find ourselves today in this passage.

Where Moses continues to intercede for his people who are still at odds with God.

And Moses says, you've told me to lead these people, God.

But who's going to go with me?

And God says, well, I will go with you.

My presence will go with you, Moses.

But Moses says, no, but unless you go with us.

With all of us.

What will distinguish me and your people amongst all the nations?

And this is where we left off last week.

In verse 17.

Where God graciously says to Moses, okay.

Okay, I will.

He says, I will do the very thing you have asked.

Because I am pleased with you.

And I know you by name.

Now if we don't grasp how crazy this is, we need to read this again.

This is crazy if you think about it.

The intercession and pleading of Moses has brought God from going,

I'm going to wipe them out.

To, oh, I'm going to let them go into the promised land,

but I'm not going to be with them.

To, now I'm going to be with them in my fullness and not destroy them.

Isn't that incredible?

That the prayers and the pleas of Moses would be heard and answered by God.

When everything that Moses asked for seemed so contrary to what his people deserved,

God granted his request.

Here in verse 17, the creator of the universe says to a mere mortal,

I will do the very thing you have asked.

Because I am pleased with you.

And I know you by name.

Wow, right?

Can you imagine if God said that to you?

I am so pleased with you.

And we have so personal a relationship that I will do the very thing you have asked.

It's like a blank check from the almighty God on high.

Now, if you had this many requests granted to you by God,

seemingly impossible requests granted to you by this God

who also just told you that he is pleased with you and he knows you by name,

what would you ask for next?

What would you ask for next?

If God wrote you like this blank check and your relationship with him was so deep,

so personal, so full of trust and confidence,

if God said to you,

I would do the very thing you ask because I am pleased with you,

what would you ask for next?

Instant retirement?

Impeccable health?

Your soulmate?

The picture of perfect family, eternal life, liberty, and happiness?

What would you ask for?

It's kind of hard to even imagine, right?

Like the most awesome thing we could think of probably seems too small a thing to ask for

with such a blank check from God, right?

But just because this question is hard to answer doesn't mean we should give up on considering

whether there might be a right answer.

Like what is the ultimate thing we could possibly ask of God,

especially if we knew he was pleased with us and knew us by name and had just promised to be present with us.

What more could we possibly ask for?

This morning, I think God wants us to consider the things that our hearts presently desire.

And I think God wants to show us what our hearts were made to rightly desire.

And this is so key to our understanding of revival.

Revival is all about our hearts' desires and returning to the purest and highest of possible desires.

Far from our culture's insistence that the heart just wants what it wants.

Revival comes when the heart wants what God wants it to want.

When we pray fervently, with sincerity, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

This is what God wants to show us today.

The heart of someone with an intimate relationship with God.

The heart of someone who is so convinced that God loves them,

so convinced that God cares for them and listens to them and is pleased with them

and will answer their prayers.

The heart of someone with a blank check from God.

What we see in our passage today in the person of Moses

is a man who had for 80 years lived without knowing the one true God of the universe.

And yet had come to experience the surprising defeat of the greatest empire in the world,

the parting of the Red Sea, manna and quail from heaven, water from a rock,

affirmative answers to his impossible prayer requests,

and a face-to-face conversational relationship with the living God

who also says to him,

I will do the very thing you have asked because I am pleased with you.

So basically here we have in Moses a man with every reason to believe

that he is loved and cared for by God

and every reason to believe that he has the very ear of God.

He's a man truly convinced that God is pleased with him

and will do the very thing he's asked.

So what does he ask for?

Verse 18.

Then Moses said,

Now show me your glory.

Now show me your glory.

Or more literally in the Hebrew,

Cause me to see,

Cause me to see your glory.

What does this man ask for?

Who's been given deliverance that he and his people don't deserve,

forgiveness that they don't deserve,

sustenance they don't deserve,

prayer requests answered that they don't deserve,

a promised land they don't deserve,

God's very presence that they don't deserve.

What do you ask for when you have it all,

even the affirmation of God and his promise to answer your prayers?

What do you ask of this kind of a God?

You ask him for more of him.

You ask for more of him,

to see more of him,

to know more of him,

to experience more of him

in all his inexhaustible fullness.

You ask to go deeper

into the bottomless well of living water

for fresh experiences of him

and all his goodness that are new

every single morning.

That's what Moses asked for.

when he asked to see the glory of God.

And that is the primal plea

and the burning pursuit

that catalyzes every revival,

a hunger and a thirst

for nothing but God and God alone.

As King David said in Psalm 27,

one thing have I desired of the Lord

that will I seek after,

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty,

the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

So with the rest of our time today,

we're going to look more closely

at Moses' bold request

and God's balanced response.

And the big idea is this,

to see the glory of God

is our greatest pursuit,

our greatest problem,

and our greatest privilege.

To see the glory of God

is our greatest pursuit,

our greatest problem,

and our greatest privilege.

Now maybe you're here

and you're not sure

you can even believe in God.

Or you're not sure

how to relate to this Old Testament account

about Moses.

Or maybe you identify as a Christian,

but you honestly don't feel

much of a hunger

or much of a thirst

for more of this God.

And so Moses' prayer

caused me to see your glory.

It kind of sounds abstract, irrelevant,

and unrelatable.

But I think that if we give

some attention to Moses' requests here

and consider what glory even is,

I wonder if you might find

Moses' prayer

to see the glory of God

more relatable than you might think.

And not only relatable,

but essential.

Even our greatest possible pursuit.

So let's start by considering

this word glory,

which admittedly is a hard word

to define and to describe.

Because as theologian Richard Gaffin,

one of my professors at Westminster,

he said,

glory is preeminently

a divine quality.

Only God has glory.

And so all other glories

are only derivatives.

So that makes it hard

to describe and define.

But still, I think we can arrive

at an approximate definition.

After all, God himself

has revealed his glory to us

that we might grasp,

that we might grasp

what he wants us to grasp

about who he is, right?

So let's go for it.

All right, in the Hebrew,

the word for glory

is this word kavod.

Kavod, which primarily

has this sense of weightiness.

Weightiness.

Now first, this might sound weird.

The glory of God

as the weightiness of God.

But maybe another helpful word

is like gravitas.

Or when we talk about

weighty matters

or weighty subjects.

These are subjects

of first importance, right?

Of most ultimate priority.

Things that matter the most.

So when we talk about

the glory of God,

we're talking about

the supreme weightiness of God.

God as the ultimate anchor

and foundation of all reality.

The ultimate reference point.

The sovereign creator

apart from whom nothing exists.

The glory of God

is the gravitas of God.

Now in the Greek,

the word for glory

is another word.

It's doxa.

Which carries this sense of honor

and recognition

and praiseworthiness.

So to talk about glory

is to talk about

what is worthy of praise.

What is worthy of my honor

and my worship.

The glory of God then points

to the supreme worthiness of God.

Worthy of all our worship

and honor and praise.

The only one before whom

we ought to bow down in worship.

And then when you put

these two words together,

kavod and doxa,

what they have in common

is that they both connotes

a sense of splendor

and majesty,

abundance and wonder.

And this is why

when the glory of God

is beheld

throughout the scriptures,

it makes people hide.

It makes people turn away.

It makes people fall to the ground

and gaze with wonder,

shock and awe.

Now we could dive deeper

into the many dimensions

of the glory of God.

But me and Jonathan's

favorite theologian,

Herman Baving,

he defines the glory of God

like this.

The glory of the Lord

is the splendor

and brilliance

that is inseparably associated

with all of God's attributes

and his self-revelation

in nature and grace.

The glorious form

in which he everywhere

appears to his creatures.

So there can really be

no end to this discussion

of the glory of God.

But I bring up

these three aspects,

the weightiness of God,

the praiseworthiness of God,

and the splendor of God

to highlight precisely

why the glory of God

is our greatest possible pursuit.

Because don't you see,

we're all looking

for something weighty.

that one thing

that matters most,

the heaviest of anchors,

right,

that will hold us fast

and keep our ships

from drifting

and sinking

under the waves

of this chaotic world.

We're all looking

for an ultimate

weighty foundation

that can hold us secure

amidst the shifting sentiments

of public opinion,

the shifting values

of each new generation

and every transition

of power

from one empire

to the next.

And we're also looking

for something worthy

of our worship,

someone to worship.

As the late essayist

and Pomona College professor

David Foster Wallace

once said,

here's something else

that's weird but true.

In the day-to-day trenches

of adult life,

there's actually

no such thing as atheism.

There's no such thing

as not worshiping.

Everybody worships.

The only choice we get

is what to worship.

Wallace was absolutely right.

We're all looking

for someone

to bow down to as Lord.

Something or someone

of the most ultimate,

far surpassing worth

to devote our lives to.

Someone worthy of ordering

and organizing

and orienting our lives,

our beliefs,

our values,

our commitments

and our every moment

of existence.

Someone to rescue us

from our otherwise

untethered,

arbitrary,

meaningless,

and ironically

self-conscious

self-worship.

And not only are we

looking for that

which is the weightiest

or the most praiseworthy,

but we're looking

for something

with such splendor.

Something so transcendently

beautiful

that it cannot

but take our breaths

away in its presence.

Something that is

more than just true

but something that is

so compelling

and captivating

that it's astoundingly

rapturous

beyond words.

This is what

the glory of God

is.

This is what

Moses is asking

to see.

the most ultimate

thing he could

conceive of.

God,

cause me to see

you.

In all your radiance,

in all your glory,

in all your fullness,

let me experience

all of who you are,

your very essence.

Reveal to me

your identity

and your character

in an undeniable way.

Moses wants to

behold God's glory

because he wants

to know God

even more.

And Moses wants

to know and behold God

because to know God

and to behold

his glory

is to know

and behold

the single most

important thing,

the single most

profound,

the single most

foundational reality.

What Moses is after

is what I want to call

that one thing.

And we all have it.

That one thing,

that one vision,

that one encounter,

that one experience,

the realest,

the most fundamental,

most transformative,

life-altering

and awe-inspiring

sight one could

possibly behold.

The glory,

the gravitas,

the awesomeness

and splendor

of God.

The one thing

we're all after,

a single orienting reality

that will anchor

and inspire

all of us

in this otherwise

chaotic,

uncertain,

arbitrary,

and meaningless world.

The one thing

to which all else

is subjected.

With a blank check

from God,

Moses asks

for more of God

because he's been

up the mountaintop

and he knows

that there's no

greater pursuit

than to behold

the glory of God.

Now based on

Moses' track record

of prayer requests

so far,

we might assume

that God's like,

alright,

one more,

Moses?

Sure,

I could do one more.

Sure,

you can see my glory.

But what we find here

in verses 19 to 20

is actually neither

a full yes

nor a full no.

It's more of,

I'll tell you

what I'm going to do

instead.

See,

because as much

as God loves Moses,

as much as God

is pleased with Moses

and has graciously

granted so many

of his prayers

already,

to see the glory

of God

is not a small

and simple thing.

To see the glory

of God

isn't just

our greatest pursuit

but it's also

our greatest problem.

Look at verse 19.

Here's the partial yes.

And the Lord said,

I will cause

all my goodness

to pass in front of you

and I will proclaim

my name,

the Lord,

in your presence.

I will have mercy

on whom I will have mercy

and I will have compassion

on whom I will have compassion.

But,

verse 20,

and here's the partial no,

but he said,

you cannot see my face

for no one may see me

and live.

Now I imagine that

for many of us,

we struggle here

with verse 20,

this concept

that people cannot

see God's face

and live.

Maybe you're still

caught up back

a couple verses earlier

with this notion

of God's fiery anger

burning against

idol-worshiping Israelites

and God wanting

to even wipe them out

as a whole entire nation

for worshiping

this golden calf.

And I can understand

how this irritates

our modern

Western sensibilities

that have so elevated

each one of us

human beings.

I can see

how this might trigger

even some of us

who have this

conception of God

that he's primarily

a wrathful God,

an angry God,

mostly to be feared.

And you know,

I would love to have

an extended conversation

with you,

our elders would as well,

but for the sake of time,

I want to share with you

some words from a book

I highly recommend.

It's by hip-hop artist

Jackie Hill Perry.

This book is titled

Holier Than Thou,

How God's Holiness

Helps Us Trust Him.

Because I think she

hits it right on the head

in her commitment

to the holiness of God

and in her explanation

of this interface

between this God

who is holy,

holy,

holy,

and his sin-stained

creatures,

including you and me.

Listen to what she writes.

She writes,

The holy,

holy,

holy God

should never be treated

as so familiar

to the degree

that he becomes

approachable

on our own terms.

I'm going to read that again.

The holy,

holy,

holy God

should never be treated

as so familiar

to the degree

that he becomes

approachable

on our own terms.

See,

the glory,

the gravitas of God

demands that we acknowledge

that he is God

and that we are not.

That he's the creator

and we're his creatures.

And therefore,

we must not approach him

on our own artificial terms,

but on his authoritative terms.

And according to God's terms,

his holy presence

cannot abide

that which is not holy.

Jackie Hill Perry,

she writes,

God's wrath

is nothing like the anger

we know of by experience.

Wrath isn't a response

to God's ego being bruised,

nor is it that he's a sadist

taking pleasure in our pain.

It is quite the opposite.

The wrath of God

is the holy revulsion

of God's being against

that which is a contradiction

to his holiness.

God cannot be indifferent

towards sin

because he is too

holy,

holy,

holy to do so.

The reason we,

she writes,

the reason we eventually

find the confidence

to accuse God

of injustice

whenever his gavel

falls too hard

for our liking

is because we have

a ridiculously low view

of sin

and an equally mediocre

grasp

of the holiness of God.

And that is why,

she writes,

we can ask to see his glory,

but it's either death

or a cleft

available to us

if God allows himself

to be seen.

And so when Moses

asks to see

the glory of God,

he's not only asking

for the deepest longing

of his heart

and for the very thing

he was meant to gaze upon

forever and ever

into eternity,

but he's also

making a death wish.

And that's the conundrum

for all of us.

How can we dwell

with a holy God?

How can we dwell

with a holy God?

But thankfully,

this isn't the end

of Moses' story,

nor is it the end of ours.

And that's where

this cleft comes in.

For to see the glory

of God is not only

our greatest pursuit

and our greatest problem,

but it's also

our greatest privilege.

Look with me

at verse 21.

Just as soon as God

introduces this tension

of,

I will cause all of me

to pass in front of you,

but you cannot see my face

or you will die,

God also says

in verse 21,

there is a place

near me

where you may stand

on a rock.

When my glory

passes by,

I will put you

in a cleft in the rock

and cover you

with my hand

until I have passed by.

Then I will remove

my hand

and you will see

my back,

but my face

must not be seen.

And do you know

what this is?

This is a foreshadowing

of the gospel.

The good news.

The good news

that when we couldn't

come nearer,

even behold,

the glory of God,

the glory of God

shining from the face

of Jesus Christ

has come near

and revealed himself

to us.

That when all we had

was a tent

far outside the camp,

the eternal word,

as the gospel of John

puts it,

the eternal word

became flesh

and dwelt among us,

tabernacled among us,

and we beheld his glory

full of grace

and truth.

You see,

because of Christ,

when even mighty Moses

with whom God

was pleased to answer

so many of his

prayer requests,

what mighty Moses

could only see

in part

in Christ,

God's own son,

we can see

in full

through his son

with whom

he is well pleased.

And what Moses

needed to shield him

from the unapproachable

glory of God,

his greatest need

and yet his greatest threat,

we have

in Christ.

a better rock,

a permanent rock,

a rock who will go

with us,

the ultimate cleft

to Haydn,

with no need to fear

the awesome glory

of God.

And this is the good news,

that at the cross,

the conundrum

of our greatest pursuit

being our greatest problem

because of sin,

at the cross,

it's resolved.

In Christ,

Jesus has put

the problem,

he's put our sin

to death

in his own body

and if we will trust him,

if we will hide ourselves

in him

as the ultimate cleft,

we can be called

the very righteousness

of God,

the very holiness

of God,

partakers in the glory

that once threatened

our existence

as people who once

so foolishly

ascribed all weightiness

and worthiness

and wonder

to created things

rather than

our creator.

And this is the gospel.

This is the gospel,

this is the heartbeat

of every revival

when people have caught

such a glimpse

of the glory of God

in Jesus Christ

that they humbly

yet boldly

seek more of him

and pray along with Moses,

oh God,

show me your glory.

And that's what we celebrate

today,

this Reformation Sunday

when we remember

Solus Christus.

There is only one mediator

between God and man

and it is his son,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

We don't need a priest,

we don't need to

fulfill any rituals,

we don't need to pay anything

out of our own pockets,

but solely through Christ.

We can come before

the throne of God's grace

with confidence.

Now perhaps you're here today

and you've been sitting

through this revival series,

right?

And we're, what,

nine sermons in now

to this revival series

and you're like,

ah, shoot.

I still don't feel anything.

I haven't made it

to the top of the mountain.

I haven't had that experience.

Come on, Jonathan.

Light us up, man.

Bring the fire.

Lead us up the mountain.

And I'm trying, man.

But you know,

this reminds me of a story

that one of my favorite

preachers,

Francis Chan,

loves to tell.

He tells the story

of this Indian pastor

who is his mentor.

And he's an incredibly

fruitful pastor in India.

He's planted like

thousands of churches.

But one day,

Francis Chan receives this call

from this pastor

and the pastor

is just weeping.

He's weeping

because he's just found out

that yet another

high-profile pastor

in America

has fallen,

has fallen,

has had another

moral failure.

And he's weeping

because he knows

what kind of effect

this is going to have

on the church in America.

We who so love

our celebrity pastors,

we who are so dependent

on these fiery guys

on YouTube and Instagram

just inspiring us

and carrying us

on their backs

up the mountain.

And what he says

to Francis Chan is,

Francis,

what's wrong

with you guys?

Don't you know

you can go up

the mountain yourselves?

Don't you know

that you can go up

the mountain yourselves

and behold a glory

far beyond

what Moses ever

could have dreamed of

until he saw

the transfigured Christ?

Well, that's who

we have now.

we have the Christ.

He has come.

He has come.

He has given himself

to us

to behold

the good news

of God's word

to us today,

the good news

of Reformation Sunday

is that in Christ

and through Christ

we can go up

the mountain.

We can behold

his glory.

Will you come?

Will you come

and see?

Will you come

to Jesus?

Come to this table

and behold

his glory

and find it

full of grace

and truth.

Will you pray with me?

and be damned

in theừng

and sab

and

who