A Rocky Mountain High

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”

8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:1-18, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a packed church in Memphis, Tennessee, attempting to awaken the conscience of a nation. He eloquently described the history of the struggle for civil rights in America and the difficult days that lay ahead. Nearing the end of his sermon, King reached a crescendo when he said, "I’ve been to the mountaintop." Those simple words were greeted with a thunderous response from the congregants. They knew the reference to Moses. They knew the ancient story of liberation. And they knew of their own restless yearning for freedom and equality. King concluded his message with hope, saying, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Those would be his last public words. The following day, King was shot dead outside of the Lorraine Motel. 

Today’s reading returns us to the Exodus story that nourished Dr. King and provided inspiration for the civil rights movement. God has summoned Moses to the mountaintop for one more glimpse of divine glory. The nation of Israel has left the oppressive, but familiar, land of Egypt and is venturing toward an unknown land of promise. In between the agony they once knew and the glory that awaits them is a wilderness experience that will test their faith. The desert will become God’s pathway to the promise. 

When life grew hard during Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, I suspect that Moses frequently recalled his mountaintop experience on Sinai. A mountaintop gives perspective. The panoramic view provides a larger landscape for our vision. 

What inspires you when you find yourself lost in a spiritual desert? What sustains you during difficult days and long nights of struggle? Call to mind where you once caught sight of God’s presence. And look in faith to the future of God’s glory. 


PRAYER:
God of fire and of cloud, grant us a vision of your abiding presence and give us strength for today. As Moses requested, so we cry out from our hearts: "Show us your glory." Enlighten the eyes of our heart that we may see you as you truly are. Grant us a revelation from above. Enliven us by your Spirit, so that we might know you as you truly are. Amen.