"Moses, the Mountain Climber" - Exodus 24:12-18 - February 10, 2002

This week the winter Olympics began in Salt Lake City, Utah. Thousands of athletes from all over the world have arrived there to compete on the slopes and ice arenas in the mountainous region of Utah. Many have been waiting for years just to have the opportunity to represent their respective country in these winter games. Every athlete has been training long hours, putting themselves through rigorous workouts and practices. Now, in a few short days, the very best will be determined. For a select few all those arduous months of hard work will result in a moment of glory.

Olympic snowboarding champion Karine Ruby of France is a tough competitor who seeks out the quiet mountain life of Chamonix, France. Ruby won the inaugural Olympic gold medal in women's snowboarding giant slalom at the Nagano Games in 1998. "I like the feeling of the mountains," she says." Ruby finds peace on the peaks. "I like the way people live. It is very simple. They are not stressed like city people."

When she’s not traveling the globe as a member of the media circus called the World Cup, the 23-year-old can be found in and around her mountain home. She loves to read, hike, go to the movies and have quiet dinners with friends. But what she loves most is how her day begins. "I can see the mountains out of my bedroom window," says Ruby, who has dominated the World Cup circuit, winning the overall title four of the last six seasons. "I love to see the mountains every day when I wake."

Ruby says she enjoys scaling peaks as much as she likes carving her way down them. "I’ve been climbing mountains since I was very young. It was my first love," she says. "When I was growing up, I went climbing three or four times a week. But now, I only go three or four times a year."

"I climb with ropes," she says. "Mostly on the small mountains near my home." But she says the lessons learned in climbing have helped her handle the pressure of the circuit. "Climbing makes you strong mentally," she says. "I’ve been doing a lot of training on the dual slalom. I’m getting used to having someone next to me. For me, the most difficult thing is to not pay too much attention to the person next to me. I have to fully concentrate on the course." (from www.nbcolympics.com)

Moses spent some time in the mountains too. Only Moses wasn’t climbing Mt. Sinai to play games. Moses ascended to the top of the mountain because God had called him there. While on the mountain he would receive instructions about God’s covenant with Israel. That took a period of forty days. The real test, however was the time Moses had to wait for God to appear. Not only did Moses make the climb to the summit, he had to endure six full days, sitting in the clouds, before God appeared to him "like a devouring fire." Like Ruby, Moses had to do a lot of climbing before he reached the top.

It reminds me of my days in the military when we had to "hurry up and wait." There’s nothing worse than being in boot camp and having a chief petty officer make you run a mile to the other side of the base to the mess hall. You’re hungry and tired and then you have to wait in a line that extends several blocks long. Of course this is one of the ways the military teaches endurance.

We live in a society that doesn’t like to wait. We are accustomed to fast-food restaurants, drive thru banks, drive thru beverage stores and high speed access to information. Many folks are opting for cable service for their computers which is a thousand times faster than the old fashioned phone line. A few weeks ago our son, who is in college, was complaining because he didn’t have a cell phone. He wanted to make calls from his car because he didn’t like waiting to get home to talk to his friends.

As you know many people are complaining at the airports because searching luggage is slowing them down. I heard of one couple who "Fed-Exed" their luggage two weeks in advance to Florida so they didn’t have to wait at the airport upon their departure. Nor did they have to wait at the baggage claim area for their luggage once they arrived.

Moses had no cell phone while on the mountain to check in with his people below. He had no television to watch, no way to receive daily news reports. Nor was there any airplane to fly him to the top of Mt. Sinai. Once he arrived there was nothing to see since his view was blocked by the clouds and nothing to do since he was alone. All he could do was wait. You wonder how many times he thought about forgetting the whole thing and going back down the mountain. He could have easily gotten bored and impatient, perhaps even cursing God for bringing him to the mountain top in the first place. It was a true test of endurance.

We live in a time when everyone is in a hurry. The faster we can get where we want to be the quicker we can grasp some moment of glory. We all want success, immediate results, quick answers to complex problems, fast trips and lots of good times which take no preparation. There can be no doubt that we are infected with "instant gratification." Our mission in life seems to be "get whatever you can and get it now!"

Moses was on a mission of faith. He was told to climb to the top of the mountain and wait. God would appear to him when God was ready, not Moses. It would happen and it would be wonderful, perhaps just as dramatic as Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush.

You can’t hurry God. God works on God’s time line and not ours. For six days absolutely nothing happened. It was not until the seventh day that God called Moses out of the cloud. Moses had endured through a time of nothingness, nothing to see, no sounds, no companions to help him pass the time.

Not only did Moses have to endure a time of nothingness, he had to do it alone. I believe that besides the fact we are all in such a big hurry the one thing that scares us to death is to be alone. Perhaps its the thought of losing our mate and having to live in a home with no one to talk with or no one to share our space. Perhaps its being faced with a problem that only we can solve without anyone’s help. Perhaps its the responsibility of providing leadership to a family, a company or a community and knowing that others are looking to you for advice and comfort.

To lead the Israelites must have been lonely for Moses. Remember when God first called him out of the burning bush? Moses had doubts about his ability to lead. God responded by saying, "But, I will be with you."

God is with us in our loneliness but not always visible. When Moses was on the mountain alone God was no where to be seen, but God was still there. Moses believed that so he waited. Ironically, Moses waited in the clouds and when God finally called to him, he called him back into the clouds again.

These cold, gray, days of winter in central Ohio can be very gloomy. You often hear people complaining of the absence of the sun. People feel down and sometimes depressed. Its not easy waiting for spring to arrive. That glorious, bright, warm, first day of spring only comes after a long, dull winter. But, its certainly worth the wait.

Mountain top moments are rare. Ruby had to train months before she could win a gold medal on the slopes of the Olympics. Moses had to wait for his moment of glory with God. Most of our life is spent in the clouds, enduring the hard realities of life, waiting yet anticipating an encounter with God. Its not that God isn’t with us the rest of the time, God is just not quite so luminous.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio