Called to be Different :: Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses [was delayed] in descending from the mountain, the people gathered upon Aaron and said to him, Arise. Make for us gods that will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don’t know what became of him. So Aaron said to them, tear off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. So all the people tore off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he took the gold from their hands and formed it with a stylus, and he made a molten calf, and they said, these [are] your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast for YHWH (vv 1-5).

[Introduction]

Lord, have mercy on us! That’s what the people cried out before the Exodus began.

But it is easy to forget that, isn’t it? That God hears your cry ... and has mercy because He is your God and there will be no other.

When Moses was on top of the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, the people forgot all about God and his mercy. They forgot who God was. They forgot how he set them free. They forgot who they were. They forgot that they were God’s people. They forgot he saved them by baptizing them in the sea and making them his own. They forgot they were called to be different. Yet God never left them, even when they wandered away. He just kept blessing them.

That is a pretty succinct summary of what happened in our reading from Exodus 32. And it is a great starting point for us to reflect on as we come to the end of our first week of Lent. In today’s reading, we will remember that ... 

WE ARE CALLED TO BE DIFFERENT EVEN AS WE WANDER IN THE WILDERNESS WITH GOD’S BLESSING

This is our theme this week.

I.  Israel was called in the wilderness to be different.

By the time our reading begins, the sons of Israel have been in the wilderness just a little longer than two months. Pharaoh had released God’s people from their bondage in Egypt right after the 14th day of the first month of their new New Year, when they slaughtered lambs for the first time for Passover, and all the firstborn sons who were not covered by the blood of the lamb were destroyed by the Angel of Death. 

Then after passing through the sea with walls of water on the left and on their right ... after watching Pharaoh and the Egyptian Army drown in the same sea (because God destroys all evil with his great flood of water and the Word) ... after wandering through the Wilderness of Sin, where they learned that God would bless them every day with the bread of heaven ... they came to rest at the foot of this mountain called Sinai. Here, God cared for them every day. Here, they saw the Lord descend upon the mountain so that they would know he was always with them. Here, they heard him speak his Ten Words for the first time (20:1-17). And here, they swore they would obey (24:3), making a vow to be different than everyone else. 

But oh, how quickly we all forget ... even when ... the cloud of YHWH was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel through all their journeys (Ex 40:38).

The fact is, people don’t like the idea of being different than the world around them. The people of Israel wanted kings ... like the world around them. They wanted a theology of anything goes ... like the world around them. They longed for something they thought would be better than the bread of heaven ... like the world around them. ... Cucumbers and melons, and leeks and onions and fish (Nm 11:5) ... They wanted to live their lives their way on their time and with their tradition, no matter what. They didn’t want to be different ... even if they had been given a promise of a land flowing with milk and honey.

So the people gathered upon Aaron and said to him, Arise! Make for us gods that will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don’t know what became of him (v 1). 

Oh, how quickly we all forget ... even when God is with us. 

Here, they were being nourished by God’s Word ... being fed with the bread of heaven, which tasted like wafers with honey ... receiving sweet living water from the rock ... resting under God’s care ... and they wanted something of their own creation. 

II. Do we ever actually remember all that we are called to be?

We make many promises in our lifetime ... marriage vows, confirmation vows, baptismal vows. We make promises to pay our bills on time every month for our entire life, promises to take out the garbage, and to clean our room. We make promise upon promise, and we fail and forget. And then we pay the price. 

Let’s face it, we actually are like everyone else ... We are idol worshipers. 

And we should not want to be that. We should want to be different. 

No one can serve two masters, Jesus teaches us in his Sermon on the Mount, For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be nurtured constantly by God through his Word and sacraments, or we will be inclined to fall into the same traps Israel did by despising God in favor of ourselves and our feelings. Like Israel, you have been given a new name in the baptism of water and word. You are called Christian. You have been set free from bondage to sin, death, and the devil. God is always with you. He is always caring for you and nurturing you in his Divine Service to you. He does this so you will have faith.

Therefore, repent every one of you, and be different. 

Do not return to your former way of life, like Israel ... throwing festive parties at the altar of your false gods. Don’t be like Israel by trying to turn the Divine Service into something we do instead of what God does. 

III. While you are wandering in the wilderness, return to the Divine Service to be different. 

You will not have another god before me, he declares. 

This isn’t just another law. ... It’s also a promise. When we were dead in our sin and trespasses, dancing and singing and playing with our other gods, the Lord Almighty came to us ... and rescued us ... making atonement for us ... on the mountain nonetheless. God came down from heaven in the flesh to be with you and to set you free. God who made you Lutheran. And that is a good thing. He blotted out your sin with the blood of Jesus, who was born to live the life that you couldn’t and can’t and won’t live on your own. While bearing all the sin of the world on his body, Jesus was crucified for you on the mountain of God. Jesus died for your sin on the mountain of God. And because God is just and merciful and gracious and full of covenantal love, he raised Jesus from the dead to give all who have faith in him the hope of eternal life until that day when the wilderness wanderings actually end. He has washed you in the water of baptism, where he made you his own, saving you. And he feeds you his body and blood ... true bread and drink of heaven ... that are like wafers with sweet wine. 

Now you can remember who you are ... those called to receive God’s gifts in Word and sacrament.

[Conclusion]

While our worship is a precious moment of joyful fellowship ... communion ... with our risen and triumphant Lord. It’s time to remember that the very same God, who blessed Moses and the sons of Israel, has in his mercy blessed us with at least one talent. He first loved us so that we will love each other. And now we are called the children of God! 

It’s good to remember that. It’s good to know that it is God who remembers who we are and what we are. It is good to be different ... in Jesus’ name. Amen