Is Moses recounting their sin and his intercession in order
to make them feel guilty about themselves and exalt him? It sounds a bit like that but at the same
time we need to remember that this is his final address to the people before
his death. He knows he won't get to the
promised land and they are on the edge of that moment. His concern is that they not forget
"twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace 'twill lead me
home." His desire is that they
never forget this time, never put lipstick on the pig, always remember the
outpouring of grace that was required to get them to this point. They did not deserve His love when He delivered
them from Egypt and they have done nothing in the past forty years to make
themselves more deserving. They exist at
all because He is merciful and loving and He has purposed to give them the
Land. Moses' concern is that they will
forget these things and become proud and there is nothing to be proud of,
nothing of themselves in which they can boast, their only hope, their only
boast, can be in the Lord God.
In Christ alone, my hope is found, He is my light, my
strength, my song. If God had not loved
us we would remain dead in sin, simple as that.
There would be no hope of glory, no possibility of resurrection to
eternal life with Him, only judgment. Our
proclamation is that God loves the world enough to hold His judgment in
abeyance for a time so that we have the opportunity to receive grace and mercy
from Him in Jesus. We who have received
those things have now the joyful opportunity to proclaim Him to the world and
yet we often keep these things to ourselves rather than risk rejection. We, like the Israelites, have been a stubborn
people who have loved our lives more than Him.
We have failed to glory in Him. We
are because He is says our liturgy. Our existence
is completely dependent on Him, both now in the life to come.
So long as we
continue to work for our salvation (as opposed to working out our salvation) we
will never rest, we won't find the refreshing for our souls Jesus promised
those who come to Him would receive. We are
contingent beings, that is what the words I spoke over you on Ash Wednesday are
meant to remind you. Remember the
context when God spoke them over Adam, who had indeed been created from dust,
to dust you shall return. If we, who
exist in time and space for a brief moment, fail to have faith in the One who
existed before creation, before time began, who is pure being and existence,
what fools we are. We will never have
rest so long as we depend on ourselves.
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