Let’s Face It
It is Friday, as I write this. Let’s keep it light. The first part of the story below is just for fun. We are dealing with the story of Moses on Sinai, delivering the commandments and the law to the people of the Covenant. Being in the holy presence of the Almighty affects Moses’s face. He shines with divine glory, and it lingers as he goes down the mountain to talk with the people. Moses is the conduit through which the ways and life of God get to the people. The appearance of the face of Moses in this foundational story pairs perfectly with the Gospel story of Jesus on the mountain when he is transfigured. The face of Jesus was changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. The three disciples with Jesus also see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Now here is a lighthearted lead-in to the Sinai event. Moses and Yahweh are talking:
Mo: I don’t even know how to describe what all is going on
down there with the folks on the promised land trail.
It is a real pain. It was smooth for a while after what you
did for us at the Red Sea. That was amazing.
I saw no way out of that tight spot; you came through for us.
But now, this movement to the land you promised,
wherever it is, and getting your law of the covenant delivered:
it is a real headache.
Yah: I will tell you what, just take two tablets and call me in the morning.
Mo: Yes, well about the tablets, I am afraid I smashed the first set.
Yah: I know. This time you cut the tablets of the covenant; I will inscribe them. They will be just the remedy when you fill in the people on that we have discussed.
Mo: Okay, I will. Well, this has been some talk. I feel different, warm;
is my face flushed?
Yah: Yes, and it won’t go unnoticed. Now, just go. But check back with me.
Mo: I will. I hope it all works out; this is a very stiff-necked people.
Yah: You’re telling me! Now, go and watch your step.
Now, for the real text, this is from the passage for Sunday, (Exodus 34:29-32):
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
What comes from the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, is the eventual complicated set of ordinances and statutes to keep the people safe and right with God. The people must face Moses, fresh from the presence of God. They also must face God, given the role he has assigned them in the covenant.
The Epiphany season ends with these manifestations of the Lord’s glory. We come before Jesus as his face displays the glory of his divine nature. Our baptismal union with Christ transforms us. The wording of the prayer right before the Sanctus, the “Holy, Holy, Holy,” in the Eucharist during the Epiphany season is powerful: In the mystery of the Word made flesh, [O God] you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Mount Sinai provided the statutes of the Old Covenant. The one who shone upon the mount of Transfiguration came and, in his person, provided our relationship in the New Covenant.
Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Son of God, sent to be the Incarnate One among us, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. The wording of Eucharistic Prayer B is instructive here. Addressing God, we say: In him, you have delivered us from evil, and made us worthy to stand before you. In him you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.
Human beings, frail as we are, having missed the mark of holiness, we could never face God the perfectly Holy One. We could never stand and face God in the context of the Great Judgement. I recall the description of the preacher and theologian Austin Farrer. He asks the Christian to imagine: You are standing before the Christ; you feel too unworthy even to look up at him; Jesus takes your face in his hands until your eyes meet; then, he smiles you into smiling back at him.
Face it, Jesus came, and it made all the difference. By his holiness and love, you are made worthy, brought into truth, righteousness, and life. Your face, indeed, your whole being shall shine with the reflected glory of God.