Exodus Review...Bonus Edition

Okay...I really thought I was done with Exodus.  I was ready to leave the wilderness wandering behind.  I was ready to leave the griping and grumbling.  I was ready to move onto another way.  But, there is one more truth from the ending of Exodus that is so central:

When you mess up...own up.

The people were dancing around a Golden Calf.

They were throwing a party that most of the time when God's frozen chosen sit glued to their pews don't seem to really understand.

I am sure local law enforcement had been asked to investigate.

And God is done.  And Moses gets God to chance God's mind about this "stiff-necked people".  That actually gives me lots of hope that maybe I can try to talk to God about my own stuff.

But in order to do this at the deepest sense, when you mess up...own up.

Now, we live in a world of the classic, "Non-apology apology."  It goes like this: "Oh I am sorry if you were offended."  Which is less about truly being sorry and more that you are sorry this other person is bothering you.  Or, "I am sorry you see it that way."  Again...more about being bothered that someone can't seem to be as brilliant as you.  Or, "If I offended anyone..." which is totally code for, "You just don't understand."

When we mess up...own up.  We need process our pain so we don't pass it along.  We need to name and notice our grief, anger, frustration, and all those emotions that rage within us.  If we don't own our stuff, no one else will.

When we worship a God who is less divine accountant, less about making sure the bottom line is balanced or tilted toward the positive, it means we worship God who is most concerned with us being honest and open.  We don't need to hide or blame or bargain.  We need to be heart-felt and lean into the truth that God knows us better than we know ourselves.  We don't need to feel guilty about what stirs within us.  We need to move through the chaos to find that creative, generative spirit of God still hanging and hovering in our lives today.

I believe that it is in owning our stuff that we find more than a trace of God's grace for our lives here and now...as well as then and there.

Blessings ~