Exodus 32.1-14.Changing Gods Mind.distrib

							Rev. Barbara H. Cathey
Edgewater Presbyterian Church
October 12, 2008
Exodus 31:1-14
                                     Changing God’s Mind

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s a message we’ve heard many times. It’s a
message we cling to.
But the lesson from Exodus just said that God changed “his” mind. Some people have joked that
this passage is a sign that God may not be a “he” after all. But thankfully, I have been privileged
to know – even here at this church – some men who are wise enough to be open to new
information and in such situations to change their minds.
So, if God changed God’s mind, how did it happen; and why did it happen; and what does it
mean for us?

Usually when we read this passage we focus on what took place at the base of Mt. Sinai. You’ve
read the book, you’ve heard the story, and you’ve probably seen the movie. Moses went up on
the mountain with God. And he was gone for a long time. Too long, in many people’s minds.
They began to worry. They grew impatient. They needed a leader. They wanted a god. And so
they go to Aaron and ask him to make them one. And Aaron, who had the fortitude of Jell-O,
said “OK.” He collected all the rings, and earrings and any other gold objects that the people had
brought out of Egypt. And he took those reminders of the good old days of slavery, melted them
down and then formed the infamous golden calf – so the people could have a god like lots of the
other people of the Middle East had. And the people were so happy that they threw a big party
for their new god.

While all this was going on down below, God and Moses were in deep conversation on top of the
mountain. God had given Moses the 10 commandments and lots of detailed instructions for
building a sacred space and how to worship there. But then God began to hear party noises, and
God looked down and listened to the festivities…and then God blew a gasket.

Just days before God had announced to the people:
        “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings and
        brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you
        shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples of the earth. Indeed, the whole
        earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” (Exodus
        19:4-5)
And the people had responded:
        “Everything that the Lord has spoken, we will do.” (Exodus 19:8)

That’s what they said, but then they turned around and worshipped a golden calf.
And if they weren’t going to keep their side of the bargain, neither was God.
God wants a divorce.
“Go down,” God tells Moses. “Your people, whom you have brought out of slavery have acted
perversely.”
God has already washed God’s hands of them. Next time they’re in slavery somewhere, let that
golden calf get them out. Next time they are starving, let them ask that golden calf for bread.
They are in the middle of the desert. Let’s see how long they survive with a golden calf as their
god!
Moses and God have a relationship at this point. Moses, in his own way, tells God to simmer
down (though Moses is the one who will get hot once he lays eyes on that golden calf). Moses
remembers how God delivered the people out of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.
Moses remembers how God had made promises to their ancestors – to Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob – how God had promised them descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; how God
had promised them a homeland; how God had promised to be their God and that they would be
God’s people.

Nothing Moses said was news to God. None of it was anything God didn’t already know. And
we don’t hear God say anything in response to Moses’ words. But God is open to what Moses
has to say. God values Moses’ faith and integrity, and takes Moses message to heart and allows it
to be a vital ingredient in shaping the future.

God was ready to abandon the people, as they had abandoned God. But God changed God’s
mind.
If God were a politician, he’d probably be accused of being wishy-washy. Somehow in this
country it has come to be seen as a strength to never be affected by new information or new
situations. I don’t understand why some people are looking for leaders who will only let a small
amount of information into their brains, then make a decision and never change – no matter if
their original information was wrong or if the whole situation changes. I don’t understand this,
but every day I see ridiculing political leaders who are open to changing their minds in response
to what they see and hear.

Fortunately, God is not running for office, because up on Mt. Sinai, God had the wisdom and the
grace and the compassion to change God’s mind. God’s relationship with Moses had such
integrity and such value that God was responsive to Moses’ plea for mercy. God was willing to
change a decision in order to be true to who God is and in order to accomplish God’s ultimate
desires for all humanity. God adjusted immediate plans so that God could accomplish ultimate
goals. God was open to change in order to accomplish what for God were the unchangeables:
love that never fails; faithfulness to God’s promises, and salvation and life for all people.

 When Israel was in its crisis of faith, that was the God they needed: a God who enters into
significant relationships and conversations with God’s people, a God who is open to changing,
yet a God who would never betray a promises or covenant or commitment to them even when
they betrayed God. They need a God whose love and faithfulness and grace are eternal.

And that is the God we need in our times of crisis. As our jobs are threatened, as people lose
their homes, as our savings disappear, as costs keep rising, as the things we took for granted
suddenly may not be, we may be feeling the same panic much of the rest of the world is feeling.
My brothers and sisters, this is a time to turn to God – because our God is a God who welcomes
us into a deep and mutual relationship; a God who is responsive to our prayers; a God who will
not abandon us even when we have abandoned God. Ours is a God whose love and faithfulness
and mercy never fail.

In these trying times, let us trust in God, who is wise enough to change in order to truly be our
God, now and forevermore. Amen.