Pretend you’ve won a fantastic trip to an exotic location… sounds like a dream come true, right? Is there someone in your life that you wouldn’t go without? This person would be someone so connected and so dear to you that the thought of being away from them for an extended period of time would make you decide to pass on the trip unless they could go with you. Maybe you don’t have anyone like that in your life. But as children of God, we should be that way about the Lord. We know He promises to go with us wherever we go. But His presence can be something we know and interact with, or something we push away and keep at a distance. Are we so desperate for God’s presence in our lives that we would forgo anything – even things that seem like a dream come true – to be with Him, wherever He is?

The new year is often a time for resolutions; we commit to changes we believe are good and needed. But by this time, many of our resolutions are fading or forgotten. It’s not that we always just ignore them. We have reasons and excuses for why we can’t continue or why this day is different and makes follow through impossible. The problem is that whether we have a legitimate reason or we are just making up an excuse, we still live with the fallout. Dropping our healthy eating plan or our exercise regimen may or may not be reasonable, but it always has consequences. The Israelites have sinned against God. Aaron tries to excuse himself. And the people are in humiliating chaos. So Moses and the Lord call them to a decision. Through that decision, they learn about the chance to make a choice after they’ve made the wrong choice. We are invited to the same opportunity today!

COMMUNION

Do you know someone who can never bring themselves to apologize? There are probably many different reasons that people struggle to say they are sorry. But if you’re the one who has been hurt, this refusal is almost a second betrayal. We can forgive people for being less than perfect. However, if that person wants to try to pretend they didn’t do anything wrong, it creates a second hurdle for us. Perhaps they think that they can ignore their wrong and it will just cease to exist. Or maybe they don’t like that they are supposed to adhere to some moral rules. In any case, when someone crosses a line and refuses to make things right, it causes serious damage to the relationship. Israel has betrayed the Lord by building a golden calf as an idol and essentially turning their back on the true and living God. We’ll see the effects of this, but also the foundation that opened the door for a remedy.

Have you ever struggled with the fact that you can’t see or hear God physically? As a normal person, it is a challenge to interact with someone that isn’t ever visible. In dark moments, we question if He’s there, if He cares, and if He even exists. Our humanity prefers to know through our physical senses or abilities. If we can touch something with our hands or see it for ourselves, we’re a lot more confident in what we know. Or if we can understand a truth for ourselves and have it make sense to us, we will readily accept that truth. But when we’re asked to know God by faith alone, we often struggle. Israel struggled too. In some sense, they could see and hear God. But they preferred to find a god more manageable and controllable. While Moses is on Mount Sinai talking with the Lord, Israel comes up with an unbelievable plan to make another god for themselves. And surprisingly, we can probably all relate!

You probably have some place in your home where you are currently hiding presents. Whether you live alone or with a whole gang of people, we recognize that we don’t leave gifts out in the open lest we spoil the surprise for someone. The norm is to wrap the present so that even when we give it, we don’t give away the identity of the item until it is opened. Surprises can be a lot of fun… or they can be quite scary. But did you ever think how much surprise is woven into the fabric of the Christmas story? Actually, the whole idea behind that first Christmas was shocking to God’s people of that time. And today, we can still be surprised when we truly take a look at what the story says. Maybe the best surprise you’ll get this Christmas will be from this part of the Christmas story!

Christmas season often brings up pictures of warm fires in cozy homes with a sweet family gathered together. We talk about the treasured moments we get to spend with those we love at Christmas to the degree that belonging is almost entirely interwoven into the whole feel of Christmas. But many people do not have that kind of togetherness or belonging on Christmas – or at any other time throughout the year. They feel like outsiders and for many that feeling is painful and filled with overtones of rejection. The ironic thing is that the Christmas story itself is full of outsiders that God chose to include. If you’re an outsider, you are specifically invited in. And if you are an insider, part of following God is to look for outsiders to include! We’ll look at a part of the Christmas story today and see how this whole story revolves around outsiders.