Expectations

Sorry. I couldn't resist using the sign from St. Mark's UM -- blame it on Monty. It is his sermon title.

I imagine that he based the sermon on the lectionary reading for the week from Exodus. Here is a portion, from Exodus 33:21-23:

And the Lord continued, ‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.’

The glory of God is too much to be seen by us.

In my email today was this quote from St. Augustine:

We are talking about God. What wonder is it that you do not understand? If you do understand, then it is not God.

What are our expectations? Do we expect to understand the glory of God? Are we surprised that we don't "get it."? Do we ever let our inability to understand the creator of the universe in all of his majesty and power and glory stand in our way of faith?

What do we expect?