334 SE Tecumseh Road  P.O. Box 5  Tecumseh, Kansas 66542  (785) 379-5005  Fax - (785) 379-5061

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Looking for the glory Exodus 34:29-35 Moses has had a very difficult task, leading those stiffnecked Israelites through the wilderness, listening and responding to their relentless complaining. I can just imagine what Moses must from time to time have said in private, perhaps confiding only in his brother Aaron or his sister Miriam: So tell me God - why me? Why did I let you talk me into this? There’s just got to be a better way to make a living. I should go back to Egypt and just leave them out here to fend for themselves. I wish that you, Aaron, would just take over from me – after all, you’re a better talker, and the people seem to be closer to you and Miriam than they are to me. Come to think of it, I’ve heard words to that effect from clergy colleagues, asking that same question: Why me, God? (Of course you understand that I never ask myself that question, because folks at Big Springs and Tecumseh don’t do any grumbling – right? Well – isn’t that right?) OK, back to Moses. He’s called up to the top of Mt. Sinai, and once again receives instructions from God about what is to go on the tablets – God’s laws for God’s people. He’s also reminded (in no uncertain terms) that while he and only he will have this one-on-one encounter with God, even Moses will NOT be allowed to see the face of God. If he did, he would perish. So that’s what Moses has been up to as the passage for today starts out: As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Ex. 34:29, NRSV) His face was so radiant that the people were afraid to come near him. To quiet their fears and to reassure them, Moses puts a veil over his face to protect the people from the brilliant glow of his skin and face. Imagine that. Moses’ encounter with God, and with the word of God, makes his face to shine like the sun. It gives him a glow, and in that glow may be seen not the radiance of Moses himself, but the radiance which comes only from the glory of God. Moses himself did not know that his face was radiant because he had been talking with God. The people immediately knew Moses was different, changed, transformed, transfigured. Can we still hear that? Can we still see that? Do we know what the glory of God looks like when reflected in faces of those around us? When Moses speaks with God, the veil comes off and the spirit of Moses is recharged, ready to face, listen to, and love God’s stiffnecked people. So what do we do, you and I – what do we do to seek the glory of God, and to radiate that glory all around?  - Pastor Piet - February 18, 2007: Transfiguration Sunday   (Please read the scripture passage in its entirety, and also read Luke 9:28-36)