Exodus Sermon Aug 5

NOT BY SIGHT

“We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).

I’ve been reading a book this last week called Transforming Worldviews in prep for a course I am taking. This book suggests that modern thought has been dominated by science and reason for the last 300 years. While science and reason are responsible for great advancements in technology and healthy living, they have also contributed to a decrease in faith.

            When science and reason dominate our thinking we tend to see everything as explainable. We observe and come up with rational arguments for a how a thing came to be. If something cannot be proved by science then logically it does not exist. This becomes problematic when we apply science to the work of God. If a miracle, as we call it, cannot be tested according to our scientific observations and if there is no precedent in recent history to compare it to, reason calls this a myth or a legend. Red Sea crossings and feeding the 5000 become “nice” stories but do we really believe them?

            I am not saying we should reject science and reason. We need both faith and reason in our worship of God, but we have tended to lean too heavily on reason when faith is what is required.

            We live by faith, not by sight. This is a great challenge for our day. To live by faith in God who does not always act in an observable manner which can be subjected to scientific analysis.

            As we study Exodus 5-6 this morning I would like to highlight the weakness of man’s reason and the greatness of God’s actions.

Context

To begin with we need to set the stage of this event by giving a context for what takes place.

            Moses is born to Israelite parents and due to peculiar circumstances is adopted by an Egyptian princess. He is privileged to grow up, study and live in the palace for the first 40 years of his life. Caught between being a Hebrew and an Egyptian, he kills an Egyptian to save a Hebrew, and then runs away.

            For the next 40 years he lives in exile in the wilderness until he discovers a burning bush that talks. God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush and tells him he is going to use Moses to deliver his people from slavery to the Egyptians. Moses hedges and is reluctant to accept this command but God assures him of his presence and gives him a partner to help him – his brother Aaron.

           

1. From Great Heights to Crushing Lows

What happens next is encouraging for these servants of God. Moses and Aaron are well-received by the Israelite elders (4:29-31). They tell the elders that the LORD has spoken and he is going to set the Israelites free from bondage. They even perform signs in front of the people and they believe. In response to this news and the signs confirming the LORD’s promise, the people bow down and worship.

            This is fantastic. Moses who was so unsure of his own abilities to lead is here encouraged to see a thrilling acceptance of his mission among the people. Maybe the next step will be easier than he thought.

            Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and declare “Let my people go” (5:1-5). You can just see them walking up boldly, chests a little higher than usual, and all they have to do is blurt out the words. And Pharaoh says, “Why would I do that?” In fact he says, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go” (5:2). And why would Pharaoh let cheap labor just walk off the job? He is building a city on the backs and the blood of the Hebrews. Let them go and the projects stall. Egyptians aren’t going to want to step in and haul bricks. With Pharaoh’s rejection, the air goes out of Moses’ chest and his confidence is a little shaken.

            As a consequence of this little encounter, Pharaoh decides to make life tougher for the Israelites (5:6-18). In short, he takes away the supply of straw to make bricks but demands the same production of bricks from the slaves. They have to scrounge for miles to find stubble to give the bricks consistency but it is difficult. If they don’t make enough bricks the foremen get whipped.

            So the same amount of bricks is required and the Israelites realize they are in trouble. Moses and Aaron come to meet with the Israelite foremen and find rejection and dejection (5:19-21). Basically they get cursed out for making life so hard for the Israelites. “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (5:21).

            You can see in this short summary how Moses and Aaron went from heroes to zeroes very quickly. First they are cheered and, you could say, a revival broke out. They think nothing can stop them and discover it’s not so easy with Pharaoh. The king increases the workload and Moses is cursed for his shortsightedness.

            Crushing setbacks like this will suck our energies and reduce our faith to a shambles. It is tough to keep going forward when we get discouraged. We can go from great highs in spiritual experience and believe that the LORD will always be with us, but then the next day we get a phone call with the worst news. Perhaps our spiritual high is busted by critical words from another Christian. We can go from exquisite faith in God to feeling lower than dirt in a matter of moments. That’s life, we say.

            Where do you turn when you are faced with hurts, disappointments and setbacks? To whom do you vent when someone pops your bubble? Who do you complain to?

2. Moses questions the LORD’s plan

Moses went to God with his beefs.

            However, Moses went with an accusation. He felt abandoned at the critical moment and could not understand how God could leave him in the lurch. Look at the words Moses uses to blast the LORD, “O LORD, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all” (5:23).

            Here is the critical question: Why did God set Moses up to fail? Or did he? Did Moses fail? Did God’s plan A fall apart before the might of Pharaoh? Why did God allow this?

            First of all we need to recognize Moses’ part in this supposed failure. You see, Moses did not listen to God’s instructions very carefully. Compare what happened in 5:1 with what God instructed him to do in 3:18:

            God said to take the elders with him when he went to the king of Egypt; Moses only took Aaron with him.

            God said to tell the king that Moses had met with God; Moses went blustering in and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says…” The difference is terminology. Speaking the language of the culture, saying “he met with him” is code for “I had a vision of God” which Egyptians would have respected.

            God said to ask the king to “let us take a 3 day journey to worship God”; Moses demanded immediate emancipation for his people.

            You know, despite the human element that ultimately messes up God’s plans, the LORD still accomplishes his purposes. Moses was nervous, misspoke, fumbled the ball…however you want to put it, but it didn’t matter. From a scientific perspective this experiment was a failure. From a faith perspective God was just getting started. You can’t see that from human reasoning.

            What about God’s perspective? God knew that Pharaoh would turn down the request for a religious holiday. That’s exactly what he wanted. Asking for time to worship their God was a legitimate request that any nation would respect. In denying this request, Pharaoh reveals his injustice and gives God full justification in taking action against him.

            God knew that Pharaoh would take this attitude. In 4:21 God said he would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the people go. Why would God allow this to happen?

            We can only see this in hindsight, but consider this: Without the increased struggle from forced labor, do you think that the people would want to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness? They would have said “forget it.” And without the increased difficulties in winning their freedom, do you think Moses and Aaron would have learned to depend on God? And without these trials, how would God have demonstrated his superior power and character as Almighty God to the Egyptians and to the world?

            Egypt was the United States of its time and context. So if God revealed himself in a powerful way to this nation, the whole world was sure to know of it, because all eyes were on Egypt at that time. God’s plan was going perfectly…

3. God answers Moses with his Names

In order to assure Moses of God’s ability, the LORD reminds Moses who he is through his names.

a) What we need to know about God’s might – What Moses needed to remember is that God is powerful. The LORD said, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country” (6:1).

                There are three things we need to know about God’s mighty power: 1) Nothing can stop God from doing what he wants to do. If God is God then nothing will keep him from accomplishing his purposes. If someone like Pharaoh can upset God’s plans then he is not really God. Daniel 4:35 says, “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand…”

            2) God does whatever he pleases. As it says in Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” If God wills that something will happen, it will happen. Ultimately the only thing that determines what God will accomplish and what he won’t is his own will.

            3) No power on earth, or anywhere in the universe, is greater than God’s power. His is a superior power to all other powers. Every morning when the sun rises we see a minor display of his wonder and majesty as this blazing orb 865, 000 miles thick, and 1.3 million times heavier than the earth and one million degrees centigrade emerges to warm our planet. Every morning we awaken to the thrilling power and glory of God as he shows us a new day filling us with hope that one day we will enter a land where the greatest beauties of this earth will seem like blurry copies of the clear magnificence of God. Whatever you have experienced in terms of awe, you haven’t’ seen nothing yet.

b) From El Shaddai…God is powerful and his hand is mighty. That’s what his name means. God gives Moses a brief history lesson of his name. He reminds him that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob only knew God as God Almighty, or El Shaddai (El = God; Shaddai = Mighty).

            Shaddai is translated in our Bibles as “Almighty” but it could mean something like “the God who is sufficient for our personal inadequacies.” He is the God who is sufficient when his people are at their weakest point.

            It was El Shaddai who appeared to establish a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. El Shaddai, God Almighty, promised them that they would have the land of Canaan to call their own. El Shaddai made them his people, and as it says in 6:5, he heard their groaning, the groaning of his own people.

            Now why does God tell Moses this? How does this encourage Moses that his efforts were not wasted and that God will deliver his people?

            God was saying something like this: “The name Yahweh is a greater name than the name God Almighty.” He did not reveal himself as Yahweh to the patriarchs, but the name God Almighty was special to them and they believed in what God said. That was a name they could be confident in: God Almighty. Now how much more should Moses trust in God with a name like Yahweh?

c) …to Yahweh – Remember Yahweh? When Moses asked what the name of God was so he could tell Israel who sent him, God answered saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” Yahweh. In your Bibles LORD – all capitals. This is the fullest revelation of God, the supreme name of God. So if El Shaddai is a name to be trusted as the promise-giver, Yahweh can be trusted as the Deliverer. Listen to what YAHWEH says he will do for Israel in 6:6-8:

1) I will bring you out from under the yoke.

2) I will free you from being slaves.

3) I will redeem you (purchase you from your owner).

4) I will take you as my own people.

5) I will be your God.

6) I will bring you to the Land.

7) I will give it to you as a possession.

            Take note of who does what. What does Moses do? Nothing really. What does YAHWEH do? He says, “I will…I will.”

            And if you study this closely you will find that these seven statements are an exact reflection of the covenant that El Shaddai makes with Abraham in Genesis17:3-8. In brief, he tells Abraham he will make him a great nation, he will be his God and give him a special land. What God promises he will do. More than five hundred years had passed but God was going to keep his promise to Abraham and the people of Israel.

            At the beginning of verse 6 and at the end of verse 8, like bookends, God says “I am the LORD.” I AM WHO I AM. His name is solid and trustworthy. In the culture and times of Genghis Khan, the great warrior of the eastern plains would make promises saying, “My name is iron.” Iron was the strongest thing he could think of to indicate the strength of his word. The LORD’s name surpasses all strength and power and assures us He will deliver his people.

            Fifteen hundred years after Moses a man came walking amongst the people teaching the word of the LORD with great authority. When questioned about his origins and his right to speak, he answered, “I tell you the truth…before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). When the Jews heard this they picked up stones to stone Jesus, because he said this to them: “I AM WHO I AM.” This man, whom they could touch and argue with, claimed to be Yahweh. And they could not believe what they heard.

            Jesus is Yahweh. Consider the mission of Jesus in terms of Exodus 6:6-8:

1) I will bring you out from under the yoke, the oppression of your sinful life.

2) I will free you from slavery to sin.

3) I will redeem you, I will purchase you with my blood.

4) I will take you as my own people.

5) I will be your God.

6) I will bring you to the Land – everlasting life with Jesus.

7) I will give it to you for your very own possession.

            Jesus came to deliver us in the most powerful action the world has ever known, the weakness of the cross. Even though he is all-powerful he did not turn away from the cross but endured all its agony to reveal that even in trial and suffering God is omnipotent

The omnipotence of God means eternal, unshakeable refuge in the everlasting glory of God no matter what happens on this earth. It means that in all things God is working even if we do not see the evidence of his hand with all our powers of observation.

            If even Pharaoh fulfilled God’s plan without his knowledge of ever doing so, what else has God planned that we have not yet comprehended? When we go forth in confidence and expect a “yes” and receive a “no” even though we trusted the Lord, does that mean that God deserted us? Or could it mean that something bigger is on the horizon?

            Even Christians can become disillusioned wondering if God is involved with their lives. Sometimes it feels as though God has wound up the world like a clock and let it go until it winds down. That is the false teaching of dualism that says God is in heaven, we are on earth, and never the two shall intermingle until Christ comes again.

            I can’t believe that and I declare to you today that I won’t believe that. The story of Exodus reveals Yahweh, I AM WHO I AM, as one who is involved with his people in ways that they don’t even realize.

            By faith I encourage you to believe that in the mundane moments of your life, God is at work. When your experience disappointment or setback, consider what greater things God might have in store for you than you previously imagined.

            We live by faith and not by sight. Pray that God might give you vision to see in the ordinary and daily trials his Almighty hand.

                                                            AMEN

           

Messenger Article July 2012

Reconciling our Faith and Heritage

Castigated, exiled and now humbled in their return to a once proud city, the people gathered in the shadow of their restored walls and temple. For seventy years the site of the city had been desolate, barren, rubble hardly worth calling a village. Now by the grace of God this people had been allowed to come home and rebuild and rededicate the Holy place. There would be a sense of restrained celebration; more so there would be a call to repentance and confession before God.

This was the scene in Nehemiah 9 following centuries of rebellion in the face of a faithful God. Here was a people of a proud spiritual heritage clinging to their advantages in the faith: children of Abraham, descendents of the Patriarchs, possessing the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets, and bearing the physical markings of circumcision that set them apart.

They did celebrate the return of God’s people. But first they rehearsed in prayer the long sad story of God’s calling and their wickedness, of God’s many acts of deliverance and their swift amnesia concerning God’s marvels on their behalf. “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands,” they prayed (Neh. 9:16).

Celebrating a heritage of faith in honesty and humility will not allow only the highlights, if Nehemiah is to be considered, it will also admit the sins of our past. For what is the focus of our celebration: our accomplishments or God’s faithfulness?

Indeed, as the returning exiles recalled their spiritual heritage they remembered that God called Abram, finding his heart faithful to Him and making a covenant with him, then keeping His promise all these centuries (9:7-8). God saw the suffering of Abraham’s descendents in Egypt, heard their cry, He sent them signs and delivered them from slavery (9:9-12). As the litany continues it persistently focuses on what God has done and how the people failed. In this way it underlines the gracious action of God on behalf of His people. Even their return to Israel from the faraway land of Persia was itself an act of extreme grace, though God is faithful and always keeps His promises.

What do we celebrate in this anniversary of 200 years of the EMC? Klaas Reimer’s courageous, albeit personally heartbreaking decision to leave the Grosse Gemeinde (Large Church) in search of holiness? Or God’s mercy in permitting these sojourners to find their own way in faith? Or God’s grace in blessing the spiritual journey of these few who, though misguided in earlier times, eventually came to see the importance of sharing the treasures of their faith with non-Mennonites? In any case we must see the flaw of human effort and the power of God to take our feeble attempts and build his kingdom.

What sins need confessing if we were to follow the example of Nehemiah’s celebratory/confessional prayer? Allow me to suggest three sins:

We sin when we focus on too heavily on our Low German roots. This exclusivity is not as overt as it once was but its undertones are still evident in our circles. Who one is related to in the EMC was at one time a significant identifier and contributed to the “family” atmosphere of the conference. With the welcome influx of non-cultural Mennonites the genealogical connection tends to sideline newcomers and put them on the fringe of life in the EMC. Though less pervasive it remains important to some who your parents are and what connection you can make to other EMCers. Many whose names are not Penner, Friesen, Koop or Plett feel alienated by such terminology and classification.

We sin when we focus on cultural markers. Low German conversations have long been held over those of other backgrounds. Our great-grandparents, having immigrated to Canada for religious freedom, refused to speak English as if it were some heathen language. With subtle levity and a hint of sincere intention, many Mennonites quipped that God spoke German. After all did not the Holy Scriptures declare, “Und Gott sprach: Es werde Licht” (And God said, “Let there be light”) (Genesis 1:3)? While the German culture is a part of our past, after six generations is it not time to adopt a more inclusive conversation, especially in the church? If we are to truly be evangelical in an English-dominated nation we must repent of “lingual superiority.”

We sin when we allow Theological Triumphalism to trump our attitudes. This attitude has on various occasions hurt the testimony of the EMC. Though not taught overtly it was apparent to some of us growing up in the EMC that we had the correct faith over and above others.  Other denominations, even Mennonite denominations, were a few points short of the position we had attained. Those of mainline traditions were especially suspect. We were taught in the home that Catholics were errant in their traditions. Though we are many branches of the olive tree we are all of the same root of faith. When Jesus said that the world would know his disciples by their love for each other he did not allow for denominational prejudice.

Shall we then throw out the DGR heritage altogether? No, of course not. Rather, we need to be sensitive to the fact that not all EMC members eat farmer sausage and joke in Low German. In fact, those cultural markers really have nothing to do with the principles that make our conference Evangelical Mennonite. Adult-believers’ baptism, the “Way of Love,” discipleship, Christ-centered and Bible-believing is what makes us EMC.

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church he wrestled with the issue of heritage and faith. He said, “If anyone thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:4-8).

In Greek class we were taught not to translate “rubbish” in its true vernacular. Suffice to say that when Paul compared his spiritual heritage with knowing Christ he considered his pedigree excrement in comparison to exalting Jesus. If anything gets in the way of people of all walks and ethnicities coming to know Jesus let us consider it waste compared to boasting in Christ and his Cross. If in our heritage we have something worth sharing let us do so in humility and with a careful attitude in its impact on others.

We rejoice in the faithfulness of our spiritual forefathers and the faith they have handed down to us. It is a worthy inheritance. Celebrate the enduring name of Christ which will survive all tribes and tongues and crown Him Lord of all.

If you celebrate with perogies and borscht, remember, we stole those from the Ukrainians.