God's Going with Us

We are still in the book of Exodus in our semi-continuous lectionary readings from the First/Old Testament on Sundays.

This Sunday upcoming, October 18, we'll hear Moses negotiating with God (Exodus 33:12-23).

God is telling Moses to "bring up" the people of Israel to the land that God is giving them and "bring up" the people to know and love and serve God.

Moses is willing and wants to obey God. And Moses knows that if God stays put on Mount Sinai, the people of Israel will never complete their journey. So, he emphasizes, pleading with God, "Please don't tell us to keep going if you aren't going with us."

God's reply? "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Beloved ones, is there anything more we could ask for? God's presence and the gift of rest.

We have come a long way toward being able to restore the campus of St Paul's, toward rejoicing over the progress thus far, toward revitalizing our work and witness in this community. We couldn't have done anything that has been done if God had not journeyed with us. 

We have a much longer journey still ahead. We are not going it alone. God's reply is the same: "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

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