I am waiting til I don’t know when.

Cuz I’m sure it’s going to happen then.

Time keeps creeping through the neighborhood.

Killing old folks, waking up babies

Just like we knew it would.

This is the first line from Arcade Fire’s Kettles.  I love this song.  It’s beautiful and sad at the same time, and it makes me think of growing old.  I’m almost 28 years old, still a young man by most standards.  But I’m amazed at how quickly time has gone since my world was all about Knothole baseball, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and longing for the day that I could drive.  Time goes fast.  Now, I look back at the days of childhood and realize how quickly it went.  Holidays like Halloween where all the kids are dressed up in their zombie, princess or Ben 10 costumes just remind all of the adults, “hey, you’re not a kid any more.”  I’m reminded daily.

Right now, I’m busy building a business for my family, developing vision for a future that I’m not sure will ever happen.  But I work hard and trust that it will.  I don’t know what it will be like to grow older.  Will I automatically pick up hobbies like model making and woodworking.  Will my grandkids buy me Athearn and woodworking supplies to keep me happy?  Will I have grandkids?  What will the nation and the economy look like?  Will I still have the freedom that I enjoy today?

No one really knows.  Time goes by.  There is a season for everything in this world.  I will spend my days seeking the Kingdom, and I long for the day when I no longer feel age, or time for that matter.  God is growing me into a man, and I am learning more and more what it means to take on that responsibility, to be his Son.  There will be a day when we receive new, glorious bodies and are united with Christ as his perfect Bride.  Oh, what a day!

“Just like a seed, down in the soil.  Gotta give it time.”

I got an answer in my study this morning to the question I had (in our Spirit class) last week about seeking God’s face. You may or may not be interested, but thought I’d share.

As a reminder, my confusion was based off of Exodus 33:18, where Moses asks God to “Please show me your glory,” and God responds “you cannot see my face.” I did not understand this when comparing to David’s response to God in Ps. 27:8 which is “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” It seemed odd to me that David, knowing this story in Exodus, would seek God’s face which would kill him.

So, the big E on the eye chart I was missing was the sin of the golden calf. God’s relationship with Israel changed in several ways after Moses came down Mt. Sinai the first time and they were worshiping an idol. Here are 3 major changes:

1. The Angel – Previously, God had sent his angel with Israel to destroy their enemies (23:23). Now the angel is with them lest God himself would destroy them (33:5).

2. Tent of Meeting – God had commanded Israel to build the Tabernacle. Its purpose was to be the place where God could meet with his covenant people. (29:42-43). After the calf, the Tent of Meeting was only for Moses and Joshua and it was set apart from the people themselves. There was as shift from a tent where God would dwell with his people to a means where he was set apart from them.

3. Moses and the Glory of God – In God’s original descent upon Mt. Sinai, all of God’s people could see His glory, (24:16-17), and it looked like a consuming fire to them. When God spoke to Moses on the mountain after the calf, it changed in 3 ways:
a) No display of God’s glory before all people
b) Moses’ face was covered by God’s hand so he could see only the back parts of God’s glory.
c) The Israelites saw God’s glory only as a reflection from Moses’ face (34:30). Going forward, the covenant that God makes with Israel focuses on the role of the mediator. Through him God will display his glory to his people.

Along with this change in the display of God’s glory, there was a change in the purpose of revealing God’s glory. At first, it was “to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning” (20:20). After the “great sin”, when the Lord passes by Moses, what Moses learns about God is not fear, but that God is a gracious God, full of compassion. (33:19, 34:6-7)

(All of this found in Sailhamer’s The Pentateuch as Narrative commentary, forgive the improper citation.)

So, what I gather is that there was a time of covenant between God and his people where he would reveal his glory. That was lost and things were changed after the golden calf incident. Moses, who had seen God’s glory face to face was not pleading that God would again reveal his glory to him, but God would only allow it in part. As this relates to David, there seems to be a prompting by God to David (and all people) to “seek my face” (Ps. 27:8a). And David responds that his heart says, “Your face, LORD, do I seek”. And then in v. 9, he asks God not to “hide” HIs face from him, apparently as God did with Moses.

So, there appears to be this beckoning and call back to the pre-calf covenant state of relationship, prompted by our gracious, compassionate God who is slow to anger.

All this to say, I want to seek God’s face with all my heart.

At the end of Colplay’s song, Death and all His Friends, there is a line that says, ” and in the end, we lie awake and dream of making our escape.”  I love this line.  Why?  It’s all about the escape.  It’s all about getting out of this fallen world.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  While I live on this earth, I am a tool in God’s hands to do his work.  I want to see his Kingdom come, and I’m not here just to punch the clock until we get to heaven.  But this song helps me have hope.  

Peter says this in 1 Peter 1:13 – Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

In essence, he is saying that hope is fuels the Christian.  Hope is what gives us energy.  Hope is what drives us on.  Have you ever been motivated about something in the future that you wanted badly?  A new car, a vacation, the weekend to party?  As Christians, we are tasked with setting our hope fully on future grace that will be revealed on the Day.  

This is very difficult for me, because I hope in things that are trivial much of the time.  I love sports, and I’ll put my hope in whether or not I can get cheap Celtics tickets to watch Garnett, Ray Allen and Pierce.  ”If only I could get to the Gardens and watch them play.” – weak.  But, it’s so common.  Maybe we put our hope in a pay raise or people, which eventually lets us down.  Maybe our hope is in looking great, having the best Indian jewelry or latest designer trends.  I see so much of this.  We are brainwashed by the Paris Hilton’s of the world.  MTV has conformed our minds that our hope must lie in being young, in looking great.  I mean, I’ve shopped at places like BagYou before, but I can’t think that the latest and coolest bag is going to fulfill me.  My hope cannot be connected with fashion or physical goods. 

All hope must be set fully on the grace that is to come.  All hope must be set on the Re-Creation.  So, this brings up one major question for me as a Christian.  What about all of these desires I have that are not “heavenly”?  Is this wrong?  Does this keep me from setting my hope fully for when Jesus Christ is revealed.  

C.S. Lewis speaks to this -There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we desire anything else.C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Ah, so this is the key.  When we have these desires that are not of heaven, we must realize that there is something in the root of this desire that is actually longing for heaven.  Is it love, true love that can only be given by the perfect Father?  Is it fellowship?  Is it great food or great drink?  Is it healing?  Is it the escape of death?  All desires in us have their root in God.  He designed us to desire Him.  And so, these tugs at my soul will help me hope in the great escape that is to come.  

Here’s the video if you’re interested:  Try……..Try………