William H. Willimon - "The Backside of God" (October 17, 1993)

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	(slow organ music)	0:00
	(choir singing)	0:37
-	I welcome you to this service of worship,	4:00
	here in Duke University chapel.	4:03
	We have been called worship	4:06
	by the Grimsley High School Madrigal singers	4:07
	under the direction of Miss Mutter Force,	4:10
	and we are appreciative of their visit with us	4:13
	here in Duke Chapel this Sunday	4:16
	and grateful for their ministry.	4:18
	Our guest organist is Dr. Thomas Clark.	4:21
	And leading the service today will be Dr. Paula Gilbert,	4:25
	the Associate Director of Continuing Education	4:29
	and Summer Programs, here at Duke University,	4:32
	and our lecture is Esther Atiba Ellis,	4:35
	who's a Duke sophomore.	4:39
	And now let us worship.	4:42
	Let us stand for the greeting.	4:45
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	4:52
	(congregation speaking)	4:56
	The risen Christ is with us.	4:58
	(congregation speaking)	5:00
	(choir singing)	5:03
-	Let us pray.	8:22
	We gather in faith and hope to worship and praise you,	8:26
	God of all people.	8:30
	You have fed us in ways we did not know	8:33
	and supported us when we had no strength of our own.	8:36
	You lead us through the wilderness of our modern life.	8:41
	This morning you bring us together	8:45
	to remember the good news of your healing love,	8:46
	and to experience the joy of your Spirit moving among us.	8:50
	Show us your glory to God in this hour, Amen.	8:55
-	Let us pray together, the prayer for illumination.	9:14
	Open our hearts and minds of God,	9:20
	by the power of your Holy Spirit.	9:23
	So that as the Word is read and proclaimed,	9:26
	we may hear your message with joy this day, Amen.	9:29
	This reading is taken from the 33rd chapter	9:36
	of the book of Exodus, starting with verse 12.	9:38
	Moses said to the Lord,	9:45
	"See, you have said to me, bring up this people,	9:47
	"but you have not let me know	9:52
	"whom you will send with me.	9:54
	"Yet you have said I know you by name	9:56
	and have also found favor in my sight.	9:59
	"Now if I have found favor in your sight,	10:03
	"show me your ways,	10:06
	"so that I make know you	10:08
	"and find favor in your sight.	10:10
	"Consider too that this nation is your people."	10:13
	He said, "My presence will go with you,	10:18
	"and I will give you rest."	10:21
	And he said to him,	10:23
	"If your presence will not go,	10:25
	"do not carry us up from here.	10:27
	"For how shall it be known	10:30
	"that I have found favor in your sight?	10:32
	"I and your people.	10:35
	"Unless you go with us,	10:37
	"In this way, we shall be distinct.	10:39
	"I and your people.	10:42
	"From every people on the face of the earth."	10:44
	The Lord said to Moses,	10:48
	"I will do the very thing that you have asked	10:50
	"for you have found favor in my sight	10:54
	"and I know you by name."	10:57
	Moses said, "Show me your glory, I pray."	11:00
	And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you.	11:04
	"And I will proclaim before you the name the Lord,	11:09
	"and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,	11:13
	"and I will show mercy to whom I show mercy."	11:17
	But he said, "You cannot see my face,	11:22
	"for no one shall see me and live."	11:26
	And the Lord continued,	11:31
	"See, there is a place by me,	11:32
	"where you shall stand on the rock	11:35
	"and while my glory passes by,	11:38
	"I will put you in a cleft of the rock,	11:41
	"and I will cover you with my hand	11:45
	"until I have passed by.	11:47
	"Then I will take away my hand,	11:50
	"and you shall see my back,	11:53
	"but my face shall not be seen."	11:56
	This is the word of the Lord.	11:59
	(congregation speaking)	12:02
-	Will you join me in reading responsibly	12:12
	psalm 99 found in your hymnal on page 819.	12:15
	The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble.	12:32
	The Lord sits enthroned upon the chair of them,	12:36
	let the earth quake.	12:40
	(congregation speaking)	12:42
	Let them praise your great and wondrous name.	12:48
	(congregation speaking)	12:52
	Mighty ruler, lover of justice.	12:54
	You have established equity.	12:57
	(congregation speaking)	13:00
	Extol the Lord our God, worship at the Lord's footstool.	13:04
	(congregation speaking)	13:09
	Moses and Aaron were among God's priest.	13:12
	Samuel also was among those who called on God's name.	13:16
	(congregation speaking)	13:21
	They kept God's testimonies	13:27
	and the statutes God gave them.	13:30
	(congregation speaking)	13:33
	Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his Holy Mountain.	13:43
	(congregation speaking)	13:48
	(choir singing)	13:52
-	You may be seated.	14:54
	This reading is from the Gospel according to St. Matthew,	15:04
	chapter 22, beginning with the 15th verse.	15:08
	Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him,	15:17
	and what he said.	15:20
	So they sent their disciples to him,	15:23
	along with the Herodians saying,	15:26
	"Teacher, we know that you are sincere	15:28
	"and teach the way of God,	15:32
	"in accordance with truth,	15:34
	"and show deference to no one.	15:36
	"For you do not regard people with partiality.	15:38
	"Tell us then, what do you think.	15:43
	"Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor or not?"	15:46
	But Jesus, aware of their malice said,	15:51
	"Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?	15:55
	"Show me the coin used for the tax."	15:58
	And they brought to him a denarius.	16:02
	And he said to them,	16:06
	"Whose head is this, and whose title?"	16:07
	They answered, "The Emperor's."	16:10
	Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the Emperor,	16:14
	"the things that are the Emperor's,	16:18
	"and to God, the things that are God's."	16:21
	When they heard this, they were amazed	16:25
	and they left him and went away.	16:28
	This is the word of the Lord.	16:32
	(congregation speaking)	16:35
	(choir singing)	17:27
-	I'd like to see God.	20:55
	Tell me it's a childish wish.	21:01
	Tell me God is invisible, indiscernible.	21:02
	I don't care I would still like to see God.	21:07
	I would like to know God's face.	21:12
	In one of his sermons, Frederick Buechner,	21:18
	fantasizes about what would happen	21:21
	if we all walked out on some October evening,	21:23
	and were astounded to see writing	21:28
	across the sky in large neon letters,	21:30
	the words, "I exist."	21:33
	"I exist," written out there for all to see.	21:39
	Then those doubters, those atheists	21:42
	would be caught up short, see God exists.	21:46
	Right there in the sky in neon, "I exist."	21:49
	But I'm not talking about that,	21:54
	'cause I have never doubted whether or not God exists.	21:57
	The question I've had from time to time	22:03
	during the course of life is:	22:05
	"Who is the God who exists?"	22:07
	Wha-	22:13
	Who is this God that we've got?	22:15
	And how can you answer that question?	22:20
	If you've never gazed upon the face of God,	22:23
	because you know from your own experience	22:28
	to really know somebody,	22:30
	you've got to stand face to face with that person.	22:32
	Does God have a kind face?	22:38
	Or is God's face the face	22:42
	of the cold ruler, obeying, insensitive,	22:45
	bureaucrat at the Department of Motor Vehicles?	22:50
	Sorry Des Moines, uh-	22:54
	water crashes down the Mississippi,	22:57
	you get in it's way, you're gonna get hurt.	22:59
	It's a rule, it's a rule, I can't help you.	23:01
	It's out of my hands, I'm sorry.	23:02
	Has the face of God ever been contorted in agony,	23:08
	after viewing the scenes on the evening news?	23:13
	Has a tear ever flowed down the face of God,	23:20
	upon hearing the cries of the little girl	23:26
	crying in the ruins of her village in Bosnia?	23:29
	I'd like to see that face.	23:34
	Because to know somebody,	23:39
	really know them,	23:43
	you've got to know them face to face.	23:43
	To gaze directly in those eyes,	23:46
	and hear that voice.	23:51
	Of course, our Old Testament lesson today,	23:54
	says that Moses knew the voice of God.	23:57
	Exodus says,	24:03
	Exodus 33:11,	24:05
	that God used to speak to Moses as one speaks to a friend.	24:08
	Ever since that day standing before the burning bush,	24:14
	Moses and God were real tight you see,	24:17
	on a first name basis.	24:20
	And so once Israel was delivered from Egyptian slavery,	24:24
	we aren't surprised	24:27
	that God calls Moses up to Mount Sinai for a chat.	24:30
	The people are left down in the valley,	24:36
	Moses is up in a little tête-à-tête with God.	24:38
	And you remember what happened on that occasion?	24:43
	You know that story, people down in the valley,	24:45
	the people go restless, the people began to ask,	24:47
	"Wait a minute, we're out here in the wilderness,	24:50
	"is God really here for us or not?	24:53
	"Is God really on our side out here	24:57
	in the middle of nowhere?"	24:59
	They grow restless.	25:02
	Not content with some distant, faceless God,	25:05
	up there on the mountain.	25:09
	The people rise up and they get organized	25:11
	and they put their jewelry together,	25:13
	and they make a golden calf	25:16
	and they bow down before the calf	25:17
	they fashioned for themselves, this calf of gold.	25:19
	And God is furious.	25:25
	Having delivered all the people from Egyptian slavery,	25:28
	having made a covenant to be their God,	25:31
	they'll be His people.	25:33
	God is furious	25:34
	that they so quickly broke their covenant.	25:37
	"Get out of here," God commands.	25:41
	Telling them, "You are an idolatrous people,	25:45
	bowing down before false gods."	25:48
	"Get out of here." God says,	25:53
	"You can make your own journey through the desert alone.	25:55
	"I won't go with you.	26:00
	If I went with you," God says-this is Exodus 33:3.	26:02
	"If I went you, I'd get so mad,	26:06
	"I would probably burn up all of you,	26:08
	cause you're a stiff necked people."	26:11
	And God washes his hands of Israel,	26:14
	and now they're on their own.	26:16
	And the people, by the time Moses gets back to them,	26:19
	they let up a tremendous wail,	26:22
	knowing that out there in the wilderness,	26:24
	unprotected, unguided, there is nothing left for them-	26:27
	they're history.	26:31
	Moses says to the people of Israel,	26:34
	"Wait a minute, let me talk to Him.	26:36
	Let me go up there and see what I can do for you."	26:39
	And that's where today's Scripture begins.	26:44
	Moses goes up on the mountain,	26:47
	and begins to bargain, to plead,	26:49
	to argue with God.	26:52
	Moses reminds God that the exodus was his idea,	26:55
	in the first place.	26:59
	Reminding God,	27:02
	here's Moses, "When you sent me to lead this crowd,	27:03
	"you told me you were going to give me some assistance.	27:07
	"Public Relations people to speak for me,	27:11
	secretarial support, where are they?"	27:13
	Exodus 33:12.	27:15
	And you love Moses at this point.	27:18
	And you just can't believe that it was once anybody	27:20
	that brash could go up there and talk to God.	27:22
	Would remind God,	27:26
	"Have you so quickly forgotten what you promised earlier?"	27:28
	And he really does talk to God,	27:33
	just like they're really close chums.	27:34
	"Besides," Moses continues to God,	27:37
	"This nation is your people.	27:40
	"You invented them, you called them,	27:42
	"you named them, you promised to be with them,	27:45
	and now they're your problem."	27:48
	Moses is pushy, assertive.	27:51
	Hear his prayer, not prayer humbly, bowing,	27:54
	quietly before God, but going up there	27:57
	and reminding God to be God.	27:59
	And you love Moses for this.	28:03
	Couple of years ago, I remember a Duke Freshman,	28:07
	read something in the Chronicle that pushed this button,	28:10
	and he didn't like it.	28:13
	He went right over to Allen building,	28:14
	he made an appointment to see the President,	28:16
	he walked right in there at the President,	28:18
	told him he didn't like what he had done.	28:20
	You ought to stand up, act like a president,	28:22
	do this, do that.	28:24
	The Executive Vice President	28:29
	couldn't get an appointment with the President,	28:31
	too scared to go in there.	28:34
	Now this Freshman goes in there	28:35
	and just argues and tells him and...	28:37
	And this is Moses-brash	28:41
	"Look! You said to me, God,	28:44
	"bring me this people,	28:45
	"but you haven't adequately shown me your ways.	28:49
	"Show me your ways	28:53
	so that I can know you and follow you,"	28:55
	Moses demands.	28:58
	And you expect God to say,	29:01
	"Who the heck are you?	29:04
	"Who do you think you are?	29:06
	"Barging in up here on my mountain,	29:08
	"reminding me who I am and what I said,	29:10
	"and what I ought to do?	29:12
	I oughta..."	29:13
	But no,	29:15
	God backs down.	29:17
	God repents, says,	29:19
	"All right, all right.	29:21
	"I didn't really mean what I said	29:23
	"about incinerating everybody out here in the desert.	29:25
	"I lost my head, I'll do what you ask.	29:27
	"I'll go with you.	29:30
	"Cause you know me, Moses.	29:32
	"I'm a sucker for a bunch of losers...	29:34
	Like all of you."	29:37
	And as if it were not enough for Moses	29:40
	to twist God's arm with his pushy, importunate prayer,	29:43
	Moses now demands, now that he's got this thing rolling,	29:47
	now that he's got God on a corner,	29:50
	"Show me your glory.	29:52
	Show me your glory."	29:57
	God promised Moses His presence.	30:01
	God promised guiding words,	30:05
	but it's not enough for Moses.	30:07
	Moses wants more, he wants it all.	30:09
	"Show me your glory."	30:11
	He wants to see God, he now wants to see God	30:13
	and all of God's unveiled immediate glory.	30:16
	And you notice that's when Moses has gone too far,	30:23
	and God says, "No.	30:28
	"I'll make my goodness pass before you.	30:33
	"I'll tell you my name.	30:36
	"I'll be gracious, merciful and forgiving.	30:39
	"But you can't see my face	30:42
	'cause nobody can see my face and live."	30:45
	God told Moses, "I'll give you my name.	30:52
	"I'll show you my goodness,	30:54
	"grace, mercy, but not my face.	30:55
	"You can't gaze upon my face and live.	30:57
	"I'll show you my back side."	31:04
	says God to Moses,	31:07
	"But not my face."	31:09
	I want you to think about that.	31:14
	God's face is like your face.	31:18
	Revelation of your innermost self.	31:23
	It's who you really are.	31:27
	It's how to tell whether you're being truthful,	31:31
	or honest, or.. is to look into their face!	31:33
	Let me look at your face,	31:38
	look at you straight in the eye, and then I'll know you.	31:40
	Moses knows God's name, Yahweh.	31:44
	Moses knows God's ways, merciful,	31:48
	but he shall not know God's face,	31:54
	and live.	31:57
	Long have I pondered this strange, evocative episode,	32:01
	here in the 33rd chapter of Exodus.	32:07
	I don't think it can be explained,	32:12
	but explored.	32:14
	In the beginning of the conversation,	32:18
	Moses asks for knowledge of God's ways.	32:20
	"I'm not going to venture forth	32:25
	"into some uncharted wilderness.	32:26
	"I don't know where I'm going.	32:28
	"I don't know which path to take,	32:29
	the whole nation of Israel in tow."	32:30
	Moses demands that God be his guide	32:34
	through the wilderness to give explicit directions	32:38
	for which step to take next in the journey	32:41
	toward the promised land.	32:43
	He wants marching orders to be faxed	32:45
	directly toward him from on high.	32:48
	And Moses, though you will note, receives no such orders,	32:51
	he doesn't get a map, rather, he gets a promise.	32:54
	I promise you, I'll be with you.	32:59
	God is merciful and gracious.	33:04
	God keeps God's promises.	33:07
	Even though God's people, do not always keep our promises.	33:10
	Which leads me to point one.	33:16
	Point one: Moses wanted a glimpse of God's glory.	33:19
	Show me your glory.	33:24
	Show me your glory, impress me with some stunning act	33:27
	of glorious reassurance	33:29
	that you are God.	33:31
	Big, certain, absolutely powerful God.	33:33
	Show me your glory!	33:37
	And God responds,	33:41
	"I'll show you my goodness.	33:43
	"I'll let my goodness	33:48
	pass before you,	33:51
	but not my glory."	33:55
	We- We come before God,	34:00
	on a morning like this one,	34:03
	in this glorious House of God,	34:04
	greedy for some glory.	34:09
	Give us some great sense	34:14
	of overwhelming glory.	34:16
	Let the organ music so good,	34:20
	let the choir be so good, let the sermon be so good,	34:22
	the building, let it all,	34:24
	let it be glorious, give us some glory.	34:25
	We want some absolutely convincing, irrefutable glory,	34:29
	sometime between 11 and noon.	34:34
	Have we bet our lives on a true God or a false one?	34:38
	On an omnipotent God or a merely well meaning,	34:43
	but impotent God.	34:47
	Show us your glory.	34:48
	How can we be certain?	34:49
	Show us your glory.	34:50
	And then we'll know for sure.	34:53
	Show us your glory.	34:57
	But we learned from this story	35:00
	that this God is not so much into glory	35:01
	as into goodness.	35:04
	God seems to say,	35:07
	"Don't hanker so much after the big and the glorious.	35:09
	"I'll give you something better than glory.	35:14
	"I'll give you my goodness before you.	35:17
	"I'll pass my goodness before you,	35:21
	"mercy and grace, I'll stick with you,	35:23
	"I'll take you back again.	35:26
	"You can have some of my goodness,	35:31
	but not the glory."	35:36
	I remember when I was ages [similar to]	35:41
	the members of our choir this morning,	35:45
	a teenager, you know,	35:47
	when you go to church youth conferences,	35:48
	they would always have somebody hired	35:51
	to come in and give you their testimony.	35:53
	Their testimony about how they had quote, "found Jesus."	35:56
	And the person they hired almost	36:00
	always had some unbelievably dramatic testimony.	36:01
	"I was a gang leader in Harlem,	36:05
	"I knifed three people to death.	36:07
	"I was on cocaine, I was...	36:08
	"You know, and then I found Jesus.	36:10
	"And look at me now I'm going around	36:13
	giving these testimonials to church youth groups."	36:14
	And it was dramatic, and it was impressive.	36:18
	It was also a little depressing because then,	36:23
	you know, I thought about me giving my testimony.	36:25
	I was born in Greenville, South Carolina.	36:29
	I was taken to church from as early as I can remember,	36:31
	I spent my youth uh, in the Methodist youth fellowship.	36:33
	Uh-	36:38
	That's not very glorious.	36:42
	It's just so mundane, just so ordinary,	36:46
	just so unimpressive.	36:48
	But maybe it's close to what God says here.	36:52
	"Look, I'll give you my daily ordinary presence.	36:55
	Don't hanker after the glory."	37:00
	Point two:	37:06
	Our Bible has God say,	37:09
	"My presence will go with you."	37:13
	Exodus 33:14.	37:17
	"My presence shall go with you."	37:18
	But a look at the Hebrew shows	37:23
	that there is no "with you" in the text.	37:24
	The Hebrew simply says,	37:27
	"My presence will go."	37:28
	Now maybe, will go with you,	37:31
	is implied by the statement.	37:34
	But then maybe not.	37:38
	Maybe all God said that afternoon	37:40
	was simply, "My presence will go."	37:42
	I will not move in with you.	37:49
	I won't settle down and be your tamed house pet	37:52
	like that golden calf.	37:55
	You won't put me on a leash.	37:58
	My presence will go.	38:00
	I will go.	38:05
	God will just go.	38:06
	Maybe we'll go on ahead of us into the wilderness,	38:10
	toward the land of...	38:15
	my presence will go.	38:16
	It's not always easy being with God,	38:21
	we want God to say, "No, I'll just be with you.	38:24
	"I'll be standing right there with you,	38:26
	you ring the bell, I'll be there."	38:28
	But maybe God will say,	38:30
	"Wait I'll.. I'm God, I'll go, I'll just go."	38:31
	Reminds me of the end of the Gospels there where	38:37
	the women go out to the tomb on Easter Sunday	38:41
	and they're looking for the dead body of Jesus	38:45
	and they've got in their hands,	38:47
	these spices to dress the dead, decaying body	38:48
	of their once beloved but now dead Lord.	38:52
	And you remember what the angel said to them	38:57
	when they got out of the cemetery?	38:59
	"Oh, he's not here, it's already 6:00am,	39:01
	"I mean, by this time he's already gone out to Galilee."	39:02
	And maybe the Angel reminded them of those words	39:07
	back in Exodus, "Did he not say to you?	39:10
	"My presence will go, it will go.	39:12
	"He's already out in Galilee."	39:15
	This is a living God. "My presence will go."	39:17
	Which may explain the third point,	39:23
	and that is why Moses	39:25
	was only able to see God's back side.	39:27
	And you can't read this story surely without a smile	39:34
	breaking out on your face.	39:37
	You will not be able to talk to me face to face	39:41
	because I, being a living God,	39:43
	always on the move- about the best glimpse	39:44
	you can get of me is my	39:46
	backside moving on,	39:49
	because I'll go.	39:53
	And Moses tried to hide in the cleft of the rock,	39:55
	and cop a peek,	39:58
	at the very face of God,	40:00
	but God says, "No, you can't pin me down	40:03
	"and stare into my face.	40:07
	"You already to get a glimpse of my backside	40:09
	"after I've done my work and moved on	40:11
	"but that'll be the closest you'll get."	40:13
	Moses, brashly wants to see God face to face,	40:16
	look at God, put God on a prayer leash,	40:19
	get God fixed, figured out.	40:24
	But even though Moses was the closest one	40:28
	that ever got to God,	40:30
	God says, "My presence will go."	40:31
	Going on ahead, God going ahead on before us.	40:35
	Nobody was ever on more familiar terms of God than Moses.	40:40
	And even for Moses, the closest glimpse you ever got of God,	40:44
	was a glance at God's backside,	40:47
	on the way God would go.	40:52
	Moses won't be able to see the face of God,	40:57
	who could do that and live?	40:59
	The story does not say that God is invisible.	41:03
	Rather it says to try to gaze directly	41:07
	into the face of God is death,	41:10
	not life.	41:13
	Oh we can gaze into the face of a golden calf,	41:16
	or any other idol made by the minds	41:21
	and the imagination of human beings.	41:24
	We can stare directly into the face	41:27
	of the flapping flag of our country.	41:30
	We can put our hands on the Cadillac that we drive,	41:34
	we can look at the report on how well we're doing	41:37
	on our IRA and pension fund,	41:40
	but we can't gaze	41:42
	directly upon the living God,	41:45
	because little God's spell death.	41:48
	Blessed assurance,	41:55
	Jesus is mine.	41:58
	No.	42:03
	Or since I took Jesus into my heart.	42:05
	No.	42:10
	Living breathing God of Israel	42:11
	is large and vital and moving and like giving.	42:15
	You can't see this God face to face and live.	42:18
	But what you can see	42:24
	is the goodness of this God,	42:27
	the acts of love and mercy	42:30
	towards us sometimes wayward,	42:33
	but still divinely beloved people.	42:35
	Those day to day mundane ordinary evidence	42:41
	of the goodness of God.	42:47
	The members of your family	42:50
	or friends that are seated next to you	42:53
	on the Pew this morning,	42:55
	you can see that.	42:57
	The roof that's over your head,	43:00
	the breakfast that you had this morning.	43:01
	The gift of music, the gift of this place.	43:05
	You can see the goodness of God,	43:10
	but not the face of God.	43:12
	I think this story reminds us	43:15
	that there really is a distance between us and God.	43:18
	And to attempt to negate or negotiate	43:22
	that distance is death,	43:24
	'cause we cannot contain in our limit,	43:27
	this God and live.	43:30
	All we can cower, clutching our false gods	43:34
	called clutchable gods, dead gods.	43:37
	But not this God, not the God of Moses,	43:43
	'cause this God will go.	43:47
	The story is full of delightful, playful ambiguity.	43:51
	You will note that on the one hand in this story,	43:56
	there is a closeness.	43:58
	Moses converses directly familiarly with God,	44:02
	bargaining, prompting, reminding, arguing,	44:05
	and he will just love Moses for it.	44:07
	But on the other hand, let it be said by God,	44:11
	that God will go.	44:14
	God will not be corralled,	44:17
	gazed upon by Moses much less by us.	44:19
	Mystery, imminence, closeness,	44:24
	transcendence, distance.	44:27
	I can't explain you this story.	44:31
	I can't explain God to you or to myself.	44:35
	We just have to live with the evidence of God's goodness	44:41
	as reflection of the true face of God,	44:45
	and go with that.	44:48
	And so here is the question,	44:52
	the question of this story, I think.	44:56
	Will you go with this God?	45:01
	That's a question left for those Hebrews down in the valley	45:06
	by the end of the story.	45:08
	Will you trust the goodness that you know?	45:11
	As evidence for the God that you may not know?	45:17
	Are you able to venture forth	45:22
	into whatever wilderness awaits you	45:24
	when you leave this place?	45:26
	Walking behind, breathless,	45:29
	trusting, following,	45:33
	after the backside of God?	45:36
	Will you?	45:40
	My favorite theologian, Karl Bart wrote,	45:45
	something like 20 or 30 volumes thick,	45:51
	dogmatic volumes, explaining God	45:54
	and religion and Jesus and everything.	45:57
	But one of my favorite quotes,	46:02
	buried deep after about 10 volumes	46:03
	of this kind of theology.	46:06
	Buried there deep in the Church's Dogmatics	46:09
	is Mark's confession.	46:11
	That when it all comes down to it,	46:15
	in faith, we are forced to say, says Barth,	46:18
	that our knowledge of God	46:23
	begins in all seriousness	46:27
	with the knowledge	46:30
	of the hiddennes of God.	46:32
	Amen.	46:37
	(bright organ music )	46:44
-	The Lord be with you.	50:39
	(congregation speaking)	50:40
	Let us pray.	50:42
	In peace let us pray to the Lord.	50:53
	Lord, hear our prayer.	50:57
	Oh God in mystery and silence	51:01
	you are present in our lives.	51:04
	You bring growth out of difficulty,	51:07
	new life out of destruction,	51:09
	hope out of despair.	51:12
	Help us to perceive your unseen hand	51:15
	in the unfolding of our lives.	51:17
	And to yield to the guidance of your Holy Spirit,	51:20
	that we may know the joy you give to your people.	51:24
	In peace, let us pray to the Lord.	51:29
	Lord, hear our prayer.	51:32
	Oh God of all times and all places,	51:36
	we pray for your church,	51:39
	set today amid the perplexities of a changing order.	51:41
	guard your church and its proclamation	51:46
	of the gospel of Jesus Christ	51:49
	and strengthen your church.	51:51
	That it may proclaim with boldness	51:54
	the coming of your kingdom.	51:56
	In peace let us pray to the Lord.	51:59
	Lord, hear our prayer.	52:02
	Oh God of the vineyard and of the harvest,	52:06
	we acknowledge that you create all things	52:08
	and call them good.	52:11
	Stir up in our minds and in our hearts,	52:13
	a knowledge of your creations goodness,	52:17
	so that we may serve as faithful laborers	52:20
	in the vineyard of your world	52:22
	and gather the bounty of your harvest,	52:25
	that those who hunger shall be satisfied.	52:27
	In peace, let us pray to the Lord.	52:32
	Hear our prayer.	52:35
	Almighty God you create us in your image.	52:38
	May your image be so imprinted upon our lives	52:42
	that we do not fear to battle with evil,	52:45
	nor mistake the silence of oppression for peace.	52:48
	But grant us your grace,	52:53
	that we may discern your will for righteousness	52:55
	and for justice.	52:58
	And grant that the discernment of our mind,	52:59
	be wedded to the actions of our lives.	53:02
	In peace, let us pray to the Lord.	53:06
	Hear our prayer.	53:09
	God of Moses and God Jesus,	53:12
	save us from being self centered in our prayers,	53:15
	and teach us how to pray for others.	53:19
	In your love, bind us to one another,	53:22
	so that we come to know their needs as deeply as our own,	53:26
	guide us to intercede for them	53:30
	with understanding and with sensitivity,	53:33
	and with imagination.	53:36
	In peace, let us pray to the Lord.	53:39
	Hear our prayer.	53:42
	You have shown us your glory of God	53:45
	in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.	53:47
	May the light of your glory instruct us always	53:51
	that in our lives, we may walk in the paths	53:55
	of your righteousness forevermore.	53:57
	Amen.	54:01
	And now let us worship with the offering	54:06
	of our gifts and of our lives to Almighty God.	54:08
	(choir singing)	55:00
	(choir singing)	58:36
	Let us pray.	1:00:26
	Our gracious God,	1:00:29
	the brightness of your face is hidden from our sight,	1:00:31
	yet you do not abandon us to the darkness of the world.	1:00:35
	We thank you that you sent your son Jesus Christ,	1:00:40
	to be the light of a dark world,	1:00:44
	to pierce the eternal mystery,	1:00:46
	so that in seeing him, we might also see you	1:00:49
	and behold your glory.	1:00:53
	We give thanks that your Gospel finds voice through us,	1:00:56
	and through our gifts.	1:01:00
	May our gifts honor you	1:01:02
	and may our lives serve you and your kingdom.	1:01:06
	Use us and use our gifts to feed the hungry	1:01:10
	and heal the sick,	1:01:14
	and clothe the naked and give joy to those who sorrow.	1:01:16
	You bestow upon us every good and perfect gift.	1:01:21
	Help us to thank you not only with our lips,	1:01:26
	but also with our lives and our spirits,	1:01:29
	so that always and everywhere	1:01:33
	we may recognize you and love you.	1:01:35
	We know you and see your glory	1:01:40
	and our Lord Jesus Christ.	1:01:43
	We know how to pray to you because he taught us	1:01:45
	to say as we pray.	1:01:49
	Our Father, who art in heaven,	1:01:51
	hallowed be thy name,	1:01:54
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:01:57
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:02:00
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:02:03
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:02:06
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:02:09
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:02:13
	but deliver us from evil,	1:02:16
	for thine is the kingdom	1:02:18
	and the power and the glory forever, Amen.	1:02:20
	(choir singing)	1:02:27
William	Now by the grace of our Lord	1:05:30
	and Savior, Jesus Christ,	1:05:32
	the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:05:34
	be with you now and always, Amen.	1:05:36
	(choir singing)	1:06:16

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "The Backside of God" (October 17, 1993)

Description:

Sermon start time: 20:55. Sermon end time: 46:42.
This sermon talks about the goodness and awesomeness of God. The preacher argues that we cannot make and tame God like an idol, but that we can know God through relationship. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4736mh6m

Date:

October 17, 1993

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Exodus

Chapter and Verse:

Exodus 33:12-23

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0338
ref9319_9v4
uachapelsermaud
duke:321572
dcrmv001324
ark:/87924/r4736mh6m
ce242ae0-93ce-4ff7-bfdc-497e2c7a5ac6

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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William H. Willimon - "The Backside of God" (October 17, 1993)

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Duke University Archives