A Merciful and Gracious God

Deacon Tom Writes,

“A Merciful and Gracious God”

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus, God joins Moses on Mount Sinai and reveals some things about Himself. For instance, God tells Moses that He is “Lord”, that He is “a merciful and gracious God”, and that He is,  “…slow to anger and rich in kindness and mercy”. What an encounter on a mountaintop in the middle of the desert! And how does Moses respond? He petitions God to “come along in our company”. In other words, Moses wants God to be an abiding presence in the community and a source of pardon, peace, and forgiveness in the midst of His stiff-neck travelling companions.

This ancient text invites us to reflect on our own experience of God. For instance, do we see God as Our Lord? Do we acknowledge Him as a presence or a reality in our life? Do we feel as comfortable with God as we do a close friend, a trusted confidant, and life companion who always has our best interest at heart? Have we any personal experience that affirms that God is “merciful and gracious”? Can we speak first-hand about God’s pardon and forgiveness? If we are having trouble recalling any personal encounter with God, perhaps it’s time to offer up this prayer, “do come along in my company” personalizing that request Moses made of God during his encounter with the Almighty.

Just like the Israelites wandering in the desert, we too may be going through our own desert experience. The severity and the magnitude of the problems we face today have driven many people to despair. There are those who genuinely believe that a “merciful and gracious God” could not sit idly by and watch the wars, the natural disasters, the greed and violence go on. Their choice is to cut God out of their lives and strike out on their own. This isn’t a phenomenon new to our times; Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19^th century German philosopher, thought that God was the culprit for all of humanities problems giving rise to the expression  “God is dead”. But, the Christian reality is that God isn’t to blame for the conditions from which we suffer, but rather He is our help in times of need, just as Moses discovered way back when.  In the midst of crisis and uncertainty, when the Israelites were lost, hungry, homeless and afraid, God reached out to them and offered to be their companion on the journey that we know as Salvation History. God is anything but dead, and He has never abandoned us. God is with us on our life’s journey if we just ask Him to, “come along in our company.”

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image credit:  http://aacciaio.hubpages.com/hub/The-Holy-Trinity-in-Christianity