On the way back down the mountain, you can tell that Moses is picking up steam. You would think Moses had a good right to be angry. He just defended the Isrealites before God. He had already put up with them from Egypt, through the Red Sea, with all their complaining, all the way to Sinai, and now he is mad!

Have you ever defended someone who was accused of something, only to yell at them later because they put you in the position of defending them when they were clearly wrong? Or, to put the shoe on the other foot, so to speak, you act up in school, your Mom storms down to defend you, and then finds out you really were misbehaving? I'd rather do detention in school for a month than ever to face Mom when she's mad!! The Isrealites don't even realize how close they came to being annihilated, and Moses is becoming angrier with each step down that mountain.

The story continues after the reading today with him talking to Joshua, who is standing guard at the outskirts of the camp. It is not clear whether or not Joshua really knows what is going on down below. Joshua tells Moses he hears the sounds of war in the camp, to which Moses replies something like, "That's not war, that's a party!" By the time he storms into the camp, he is so angry he throws down the tablets God gave him, takes their gold calf, grinds it to a powder, puts it in water, and makes them drink it!

Moses confronts Aaron, who makes excuses that he was coerced, and when he put the gold in the fire, it came out as a golden calf. It all sounds pretty lame. Aaron was supposed to be watching over things while he was gone, and Moses doesn't sound too pleased about this excuse. Moses then calls out to see who all is still loyal to him, and the Levites respond. He sends the Levites out to kill everyone who isn't with him. Hey! Wasn't he just pleading with God to keep Him from doing just this? Boy, am I thankful God is more forgiving than Moses!

The Psalm we heard today is attributed to King David, written after being called to task by the Prophet Nathan for having sent Uziah the Hitterite to the front lines to be killed, so he can have Uziah's wife, Bathsheba. David has sinned royally, and he knows it. He repents of his actions, but still pays the consequences, which means he loses the son he had with Bathsheba. In the psalm, the words that have always struck me are the words, "my sacrifice is a contrite spirit; a humble heart you will not refuse." God does not want burnt offerings, but that we obey and love Him. Notice that the psalmist talks of wanting God's love.

The second reading today from I Timothy is by Paul, in which he states that he is the foremost of sinners.

All these readings have one thing in common. Each of the people portrayed here are big sinners. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a slave, and was on the run, before God called him. Before King David made this big mistake with Bathsheba, the people were boasting that Saul had slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. He was a man of war. When he asked God if he could build a temple, God refused, because he was not a man of peace. David did some horrific things, but God still loved him.

Saul of Tarsis, later called Paul, was known by everyone in his day for having run down Christians and sent them to be killed. He was educated: a Pharisee, a Roman citizen, and able to read and write. Early on in Acts we hear of him holding the cloaks for people as they stone Stephen. While he was dying, Stephen prayed for all of them. If Saul had not been knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus, there might not have been a church as we know it today. Perhaps he was saved because of Stephen's prayer.

In the third reading today, the Gospel, Jesus talks about forgiveness and repentence. The scribes and Pharisees complain about his hanging out with the riff-raff of his day. Jesus counters with a few parables. He talks about the shepherd leaving his sheep to save a lost lamb; and then about a housewife who loses a coin worth about a day's wage, cleaning up until she finds it. The kernal to both of these parables is that there will be rejoicing in heaven over each and every person who repents and is saved. God loves us so much that he is willing to go looking for those who are lost.

Paul understood this, when he said that he was thankful for the mercy of Christ Jesus that he was forgiven, especially since he was such a great sinner.

Why did God love David, Moses, and Paul so much?

God loves us all very much, but I think they sincerely loved God. Moses was zealous, and God loved him in spite of the fact that he lost patience and often complained about the people he was stuck leading. He may have had a terrible temper, but he loved God with his whole heart.

David sinned greatly, but he loved greatly, too. You have to be sincere, and very uninhibited, to dance in the street before the Ark of the Covenant as it travels through Jerusalem. It's not something a hypocrite would do. As his wife, Micah, pointed out, it's not generally the thing a king should do. It's undignified, but God didn't mind.

Paul was also fervent. After his conversion, he began to show a humility that showed how thankful he was that he had been changed. He travelled extensively to preach the Gospel, even when he knew it would lead to his death. In his epistles, he speaks eloquently about love, and its importance above everything else.

It's important not to be tempted to go out and sin just because God loves sinners. God didn't love these people more because they were sinners, but because they loved Him. We all fall short of God's perfection. Paul complained in his epistle to the Romans about this very thing. He complained of wanting to be good, but failing, because he was weak, and of a carnal nature. God knows how weak we are, and loves us, anyway. What God is looking for is encapsulated in the Greek word metanoia, which means to repent or turn back.

I used to find it difficult to read the Old Testament because I just couldn't see the compassion in the Old Testament God, until I began to see it as a kind of progression, from God educating a more primitive society to one more capable of understanding the teachings of Jesus.

Take Exodus, for example. When I read it, I couldn't believe how dense those people were! God sent Moses to them to rescue them from Egypt. He parted the Red Sea for them, turned brackish water sweet, sent manna from heaven so they wouldn't starve, had Moses strike water from a rock when they were thirsty, and led them in the wilderness with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If I had witnessed even one of these miracles, I would not have had the chutzpah to complain about accommodations! Yet, they never stop complaining! I admire God's patience!

It would have made no headway with the Isrealite people of Moses' day to preach the Sermon on the Mount. They would not have been able to understand it. God had to take the time to have them wander in the wilderness until at least some of them could get it and follow Him. Yet, they still sinned when they got to the promised land. Things haven't changed all that much, have they? Over and over, though, God says in the Old Testament, that he desires obedience and not sacrifice. Obedience, yes, but the God of Moses, our God, really wants love. Isn't that unique? What other God, in all the religions of the world, wants love?

Observant Jews to this day repeat this in the Shema: Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohenu Adonai ehod--"Hear, O Isreal: the Lord your God, the Lord is One. You shall love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deut 6:4-9) Jesus quotes this line from Deuteronomy as one of the two great commandments, the second being to love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus was willing to come down, live as one of us, and die a painful, humiliating death on the cross, to prove his love for us. He rose from the dead to prove that death has been conquered. What he really wants is for us to love him in return, for, as he said, if we truly love him, we will obey his commandments, and love one another. And, as Peter said in his first epistle (1 Peter 4:8), love covers a multitude of sins.

Amen