Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to the LORD to look; otherwise many of them will perish.”
I have missed a few days reading and writing, and when I say ‘missed’, I mean I genuinely missed this morning ritual of mine. After nearly 48 hours of no power (lights, heat, ability to cook, phones, etc), we regained our electricity after 3 freak storms left Portland with 6” of snow on top of 2” of ice. Walking was treacherous, driving unthinkable, even if we could have gotten the car out of the garage or driveway. In any case, I’m sitting in my prayer chair, with a lovely cup of coffee, reading and writing. I hope to never take this for granted again!
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday in my tradition, the first day of the preparatory 40 days in advance of Easter. I find I have a more meaningful Easter, if I’ve spent at least some time thinking about why Jesus Christ means something to me. Otherwise, Easter is about pretty flowers, good music, and eggs benedict. All good stuff, to be sure, but I like having something with a little more depth to appreciate and marvel.
Today’s reading offers me something nice to kick off my Lenten discipline of intentional reflections. Moses has been told to warn the people that they cannot break through or look at the Lord lest they be killed. This goes for their livestock as well, and even priests. I’m not sure what I think about a time when the people understood God to be that distant, or that punitive.
That, for me is one of the gems of Christ. Through Jesus, God came face to face with humanity, and humanity came face to face with God. That impenetrable separation was breached. The curtain was torn, and humanity and God met.
Through Jesus’ life and teachings, I have a human model of what God wants me to do and be. More than words on a page or a stone tablet, I can model my life on the life of another human. Granted that human was also God, so living up to that model is impossible. But at least it’s a visible, relatable person I can aspire to be like. This morning, I’m thinking about God made man, and how grateful I am that rather than being warned away from God’s presence, I’m invited deeper into it, through the person of Jesus Christ.
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