Hey, let me ask you a question — What’s the biggest change you’ve ever seen? I’m not talking about personal things, but global. And I’m not talking about things that effected just you or your family, but monumental changes that effected everyone. In your lifetime, what change have you seen take place that’s effected the whole world? What comes to mind first? Now that you’ve got that change firmly in your mind, let me ask a follow up question — Was that change characterized by a specific event? Was there a particular event that came to symbolize global change?

Of course, how you answer those two questions (biggest change and symbolic event) will vary a great deal depending on how old you are. For most of our congregation, it’s quite possibly “The Rise of Terrorism” as symbolized by 9/11. And yet, for the remaining wise seniors in our congregation (there are a few!), nothing could eclipse World War II, which could be symbolized by either the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor at the beginning of the war, or the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan near the end of the war. And what will the next generations look to? It’s probably too soon to say for anyone under the age of 25, and we hope it won’t prove to be a tragedy like the one’s I’ve mentioned, but if history is a guide, it most likely will be.

I was thinking about this because we’ve come to a life-changing event for an entire nation. After being eyewitness to a dramatic series of terrible plagues; and then eyewitnesses to the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptian Army; you would think the people of Israel could handle just about anything that came their way. But in Exodus 19:7-25, our passage for this week, God shows up. We’re told that God descends on Mt. Sinai in fire and that He answered Moses in thunder. And we’re told that “all the people in the camp trembled.” The people were more scared of God than they were of the plagues or the Egyptians or the miracles. Why?

You’ll just have to come Sunday to find out! See you then! Dr. Dave