Surviving (And Thriving) By Grace | Exodus 34:1-9

We kicked off our spring outdoor gatherings this past Sunday. After coming back from leave this past Sunday, I had the privilege to preach this message from the book of Exodus. Check out the audio or video. The manuscript is copied below.

Well, good morning, Karis. It’s so good to be back. Next week, we’ll jump back in where we left off in Galatians. Today, I want to give some words of encouragement from Exodus as we start into Sundays again.

For those of you that didn’t know, my wife Amy has been battling breast cancer over the last several months. I want to start out by saying thanks - first, for the many ways you, our church family, have loved us so well during this time, and second, for my fellow elders carrying my load during this tough season. I especially want to thank Pastor Rob who has given so much and has done such a great job. It’s been a hard season. But God has been kind to us - and especially through you.

Survival is Success

You’re here! I got to spend some time at my favorite coffee shop this week. It had been nearly a year. Have you heard how restaurants define success during this pandemic? Survival. If you’re still here - even barely hanging on - you’ve succeeded. Really! You made it. I have, too. And that’s something to rejoice in. Maybe we crawled in here. But we survived this. And that’s awesome. 

Now I’ll talk about how we’ve made it later this morning. But one question you may have as you sit here is this: Now what? What’s next? What’s the plan? Where are we going? Well, I’ll seek to answer that in the coming weeks. But today, I want to accomplish something much more simple. I just want us to soak briefly in the character and works of God. Who is He? How have we seen Him work? In our lives? And in this season? And what are some initial ways we should respond? I don’t think we get to these answers through any better path than Exodus 34 and the verses around it. It’s my prayer that His identity will collide with your reality today. 

Who is He? Who is our God? We learn that here in this passage that’s quoted more than any other in the Old Testament. Tim Mackie calls this the “John 3:16” of ancient Israel - the theme verse of God’s covenant people. It’s arguably one of the most important passages in all of Scripture. It’s the first passage in the Bible that really lays out who God is. Here we really see a definition of who He is. We get a beautiful summary of God’s attributes. In His own words, through Moses, we learn about His character.

What We Learn About God in Chapter 34

But which God is this? Verse 6 starts out with “The LORD, the LORD.” It’s repeated for emphasis. This is God’s covenant name. His salvation name. You may have heard it translated as Yahweh. This is the name God gives to Moses back in Exodus 3. This isn’t some vague spiritual being out there somewhere. This is the God of Israel, the one true God. Who creates. Who redeems. 

Pull up those verses, and I want to draw your attention to seven things we see here about God - truths that are just as relevant today as they were then.

First, He is “merciful.” This points to the compassion of God. He cares. He looks at us like a Father looks at His child and feels for us. He’s drawn to us. He has sympathy for us.

Second, He is “gracious.” He gives us His goodness, His favor, that we don’t deserve. He’s kind to His people. He welcomes us to His table.

Third, He is “slow to anger.” The Lord is patient with us. He knows we’re frail. We’re just human. He knows we’re fallen. We’re sinners. He doesn’t lose His temper with us. He’s long-suffering. 

Fourth, He is full of “steadfast love.” You may have seen this as loving-kindness in other translations. This is His goodness toward His covenant people, those He has chosen.

Fifth, He is full of “faithfulness.” This refers to His loyalty toward us. He keeps His promises. He doesn’t turn His back on those who are His. He is totally trustworthy.

Sixth, he forgives. He’s eager to do so. Verse 7. “Forgiving iniquity and transgression” - two words for sin. He looks at sinners like us, through all those attributes we’ve just seen, and He’s moved to graciously forgive our wrongdoing.

But, seventh, He’s also just. Things get awkward, we cringe, when we read that He “will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” But, we know that sins of parents often get passed on to their kids. And they end up reaping the consequences, also.

But notice the contrast here. He shows His steadfast love to “thousands” - that’s talking about generations there. The judgment, though, just goes to the “third or fourth.” The emphasis is clear. God’s love and forgiveness overwhelms and overshadows His justice and wrath. But that doesn’t mean the Lord is a softie.

And that’s good! All this says is that God is a defender of His people. And He won’t allow those who claim His name to make a mockery of His grace. But He’s eager and willing to pour out forgiveness to those who humbly fall before Him.  

There’s a tension here. But isn’t it also seen in Jesus? In Christ, we see all of these attributes. He dined with the tax collectors. But He denounced the Pharisees. He rubbed shoulders with the poor. He touched and healed the sick. But He also flipped over some tables in the temple. Do you want to see God? Look at Exodus 34. But, also, look at Jesus.

Doesn’t Jesus also resolve that tension, though? Look at this list. We fall way short. But Jesus took the justice of God upon His shoulders. He went up on the cross. He did it for us. If we trust Him. So that we could experience all of God’s glory we see here. 

And it’s glorious, isn’t it? Here’s where I want to turn now. Take these realities about God. When are they experienced by us? And how does He express them toward us? And I’ll try to answer those questions by reminding us of the context of the passage - what’s going on in the nation of Israel in Exodus.

When We Experience These Realities

When do we experience these realities about God? If we’re in Christ, all our lives. But I want you to think about two angles on that. First, this is who He is, in our hard days as much as the easy. Think about where we’re at here in Exodus. They’re en route to the Promised Land. But they’re wandering around in the desert. Enemies have already attacked, and they know more are coming. They have no idea what’s ahead. They’re tired, and they’re deeply afraid. 

Think about our last year - just how hard it’s been living through this pandemic. When we’re burdened with trials - this is who He is. All these truths we see here. They’re true in the winter, as much as in the spring. In the fire and the floods - not just in the sun and breeze. In the hard days, we see these truths more clearly.

Second, this is who He is, on our bad days as well as our good. Think about’s happening in this scene. Moses is getting a second copy of the commandments. The first time, Moses is up on the mountain, getting God’s law. Israel is down the hill already breaking it. 

So Moses ends up smashing both tablets. They’re falling down before a golden calf - and this is right after the Lord had rescued them from Egypt. They’re turning their backs on God. They’re being foolish, rebellious. 

This has been a tough year. And it’s brought out the worst in us. We’ve also turned to other things. When we’re consumed with idols - this is who He is. All these attributes here. When we seem to go four steps back for every two steps forward. When we look around and see more wreckage than progress. In these bad days, we can even better grasp these truths.  

Most of us come in here feeling beaten up. We’re sad and disappointed. I want you to hear: how you’re feeling - who you are - that’s precisely what makes the Lord drawn to you. He’s drawn to the weak and worn. To the dazed and confused. To the disheveled and dirty. The broken, the humble.  

How He Expresses These Realities

Back to His character we’ve seen. How does He express those realities toward us? 

First, He not only rescues but preserves. What’s gone on in Exodus? The Lord rescues His people out of Egypt. By the blood painted on the doors. And through the parted sea. God sees them in their suffering. He acts. He rescues them. 

But He also preserves them. There they are in the desert. He keeps them safe.  Their enemies don’t destroy them. And, yes, they turn to sin, but God still doesn’t turn His back on them. He saves, but He also keeps. And God reaffirms His commitment to God’s people there. 

Ponder where we’ve been again. Some really dark days. But how can we still see the light? Because of Jesus. Because of the Spirit’s work in our lives. If you’ve been a follower of Jesus. And you’re still a follower of Jesus, it’s because of Him. The only way we become His and stay His is by His grace. 

Second, He not only disciplines but transforms. So what happened just before this - when Moses came down that mountain? God’s people were judged. Moses fed them a golden calf smoothie. Many of them died - through a slaughter and then a plague. But what’s the Lord doing? He’s refining His people. He’s creating a remnant. He’s disciplining them. And He’s transforming them. And that’s a hard thing. For sure. But it’s a good thing. 

Look over the last year. Across America, the trials of this season have caused many to walk away. And those of us who are left - we’ll be changed by all of this. And that’s because Jesus loves us enough not to leave us the same. If you’re a Christian, He’s committed to remaking you into the image of God. 

He rescues and preserves. He disciplines and transforms. We see this glimpse of Jesus in Moses, who leads the nation out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land. But also pleads with God again and again to not give up on the people of God along the way. Jesus does that also for us. If we’ve survived, it’s because of Christ - His works, His prayers.

As I mentioned, I’ve been out for awhile, as our family has battled cancer. One thing that bothers me is this whole language that surrounds those who are in the fight. What do I mean? Well, we celebrate people who have gotten through the disease. They’ve beaten cancer, we say. And we kind of ignore the reality that so many people don’t make it through. 

Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve watched my wife. It’s rough. And man, is she tough. If I were in her shoes, I’d have been a total mess. Now people in the fight need encouragement. For sure. And those that make it need to be celebrated for what they’ve been through. I’m so proud of Amy. Of course, there is the possibility that you could refuse treatments and just lay down and give up. But those who don’t make it don’t do so because they’re not tough enough. And those who do survive don’t do so because they’re extra strong.

And it’s the same way with us spiritually. We don’t make it through the sufferings of this world. We don’t survive the sin - in us and around us. We don’t make it spiritually in our own strength. We only do it because of who He is and how He works. My wife would be the first to say - her kicking cancer’s butt isn’t her own doing. It’s the same with our spiritual lives.  

How We Might Respond

Now I do want to touch on the question, “Now what?” But I just want to take baby steps today. If you survive a car wreck, and you wake up from a coma, there’s a time to talk about going back to work or catching up on classes, but that time needs to wait. First, you need to take some breaths, looks around a bit, and reflect. Here are five ways I want to encourage and challenge you today.

First, thank Him. Give Him praise. So many have walked way from Jesus in these trials. So many have thrown their hearts fully into their idols. But if you’re grasping on to your faith, even by a thread, thank Him. It’s all by Him. 

Second, trust Him. For the next couple of days. For however many years He gives you. John Piper, in his great book Future Grace, argues that God’s point in showing us His goodness now isn’t primarily so we’d say thanks. It’s that we’d trust Him going forward. He’s sustained us. He has so much more for us. Let’s trust His future grace for us.

Third, ask Him. Specifically, ask Him, what do you want to do in me? And in us? One thing I think we’ve all expressed is that we just so much want things to go back to normal. But let me say, shouldn’t we want so much more than that? God’s goal for us isn’t just for us to survive, but thrive. 

And the norm for us isn’t supposed to be easy. As humans. Especially as Christians. And trials are the main means by which we grow.    

How does God want to change our church? How does He want to change you and me? Let’s ask Him. 

Fourth, go to Him. In your pain. In your rebellion. Go to Him. Don’t ignore what you’ve experienced. Don’t stuff it down and refuse to deal with it. Take it to Him. Humble yourself and repent. Trust in Him and worship. And experience His healing.   

I love the book Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. There he writes these words: 

“Whatever is crumbling all around you in your life, wherever you feel stuck, this remains, undeflectable: his heart for you, the real you, is gentle and lowly. So go to him. That place in your life where you feel most defeated, he is there; he lives there, right there, and his heart for you, not on the other side of it but in that darkness, is gentle and lowly. Your anguish is his home. Go to him. 'If you knew his heart, you would.’” (Dane Ortlund)   

Run to Him. With me, call out to Him. And see what you’ll find.

Fifth, follow after Him. Don’t misunderstand what I’ve said. God uses means. You’ve got to go get the chemo. You have to drag yourself out of bed. It’s the same for us now and throughout the Christian life. It’s gonna be hard for us to step back into many of our rhythms again. But we have to battle to do it. 

To be honest, getting back in the game has felt overwhelming to me. But we have to fight through it - to get back in gospel community and back on mission together. Philippians 2:12 and 13 tell us that as we walk the Christian life, God works in us - Paul says “to will and to work for His good pleasure.” He gives us the desire. He gives us the energy. Choose - in His power - to keep going and not give up.   

Thriving - by His Grace

If you’re like most of us, you’ve made it to this point by the skin of your teeth, as they say. You’ve questioned God’s character. You’ve doubted His works. Come back to Him - with me. Cancer and COVID have shaken my family to the core. Thank Him with me. We’re here. Trust Him with us. There’s hope. Ask Him. Seek out change. Go to Him. With your sin, your sorrow, and be healed. Follow Him with me. Trust Him to help you take the best next step. 

This has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. But if straining your muscles ends up making you stronger, if cutting out tumors results in making you healthier - even though both hurt and hurt terribly - perhaps 2020 could be the best thing that’s ever happened to the church as a whole and each of us here. 

Church, we’ll survive - and thrive - only through who He is - our merciful, gracious, slow to anger, full of steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving and just God. Let’s not forget that. As the tune “Amazing Grace” puts it: “Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come. ’Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” Let’s pray.