Romans #26

RESPONDING TO GOD’S AMAZING MERCIES

God is good! He is exceedingly, abundantly good! His love endures forever and he loves us without wavering. Even when we were lost in our sins he loved us. God gave us Jesus, His only Son when we hated him and despised God. He loved us when we were unlovable. God is gracious to us!

            Now how do we respond to a God like this?

            Worship!

            That does not mean turning in your hymnal to song number seven (though I do love that song) or gazing upon the wall. It has less to do with liturgy or form than we typically think. We need organized worship times but this is not what I am talking about.

            One evening when Sharon, Katy and Ethan were out and I was left alone with the dogs, I went to the backyard for the dogs’ sake. I was struggling. I needed to hear from God. More Bible study would not help, so I turned to my iPod to play my favorites.        

            I tell you this not to brag; I believe the Lord brought it to my mind to share. In fact, I would rather keep it private. I needed to worship God with my heart. Three songs helped me particularly: We remember (Newsboys); Living Water; and Rich Mullins “sing your praise to the Lord.”

            My heart was broken by these songs. The songs were not worship. No, inside of me there was a yearning for God in my time of struggle. Eventually I fell to my knees, my arms went up in praise, tears coming to my eyes. Yes, part of me wondered what my neighbor thought, since the music was in my earphones and all he could see was a guy silent on his knees arms outstretched. It didn’t matter.

            What part of this was worship? Some of it. All of it. None of it. The part that was from the heart.

            What is worship?

            We are going to look at two verses this morning in chapter 12 of Romans. These two verses have immensely more to say about worship than I can adequately convey. But we are going to unpack them and begin to study the practical chapters of Romans. Now that we know that God loves us so much, what are we going to do about it?

1. Offer your body to the Lord

The Apostle Paul calls on all who have understood and received God’s salvation to worship him. Here he provides the “how” of worship and urges believers to respond appropriately.

            We begin with a significant “Therefore.” Did you know there are four “therefore” statements in Romans? In the NIV there are five, but for our point let’s stick with these four. Romans 3:20 is the “therefore” of condemnation: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” Romans 5:1 is the “therefore” of justification: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:1 is the “therefore” of assurance: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And Romans 12:1 is the “therefore” of surrender.[i]

            Paul is saying that even though we were condemned by our sins we have been saved through faith in Christ and the condemnation is gone. This is his entire argument of chapters 1-11, and now he is saying in light of all this, we should surrender to God. How?

            In view of God’s mercies…for some reason the NIV translates this singularly as “mercy.” But when you read the text of Romans you are compelled to agree that God’s mercies are abundant and many.

            In view of God’s mercies, Paul first urges us to surrender our bodies to the Lord. Isn’t that strange? I believe that as Christians we value our bodies the least. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the hope that our misshapen bodies will be made new in eternity. Most of us might look at our bodies as agents of sin. We have believed the lie of the ancient Greek philosophers that taught that our bodies are evil and only the spirit is good.

            But God wants our bodies. That says a lot about how God views our bodies right now. A few chapters back, Paul had written, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Rom 6:13).

            The body is where action takes place. This is movement and presence. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we bring our bodies with us. What we do matters. Our bodies are instruments of worship. The opposite of offering our bodies to sin is to offer them to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

            Someone said that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar. No, that’s only true if someone else is doing the offering. You must offer yourself.

            Douglas J. Moo wrote, "Worship is not merely, or even mainly, what we do on Sunday morning. Worship is a 24/7 matter. We worship God when we give ourselves to him in service. We worship God when we show love to others, when we do our jobs faithfully and with integrity, when we play with our kids and nurture our families. God wants us always to be bringing glory to him by the way we live."

            “This is your spiritual act of worship.” It is too bad, scholars say, that translators used “spiritual” instead of “rational” or “reasonable.” For it is the mind that Paul is thinking of in respect to worship, because the mind of the sinner is what was messed up. It is the mind that is retrained in chapters 1-11 to consider what God has done. Now Paul calls upon the Christian to exercise his or her mind to conclude that the worship of sacrificial service is the only proper response to God’s mercies.

            When we offer our bodies in sacrifice like this we profess that our bodies belong to God. My life is not my own. This body is surrendered to the Lord’s purposes, to do, to speak, to act according to what is pleasing to God. This becomes our driving desire: to please God.

            Our response of gratitude must be to give back to God as a sacrifice of praise. It is a living sacrifice expressed in service. Worship is not a Sunday morning activity then, it is a lifestyle.

2. Renew your mind in Christ

Paul has hinted at the place of our minds in worship, now he comes directly to the point. You can bring your body to a worship service but unless the mind is engaged you may as well be a corpse in a pew.

            Tony Evans says, “If you limit worship to where you are, the minute you leave that place of worship you will leave your attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up church bulletin.”

            The same is true for the lifestyle of worship. Our minds are thinking all the time. Even when we go to sleep our minds don’t quit. What are you thinking about? We might say, “I can’t help what I think,” but this is not true.

            Paul wrote, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…” (12:2a). The word “conform” in Greek is where we get our word “scheme” from and sometimes is translated “fashion.” In other words, don’t follow the scheme of this world; don’t be fashioned by society’s values.

            Those values are primarily selfish, not selfless. One of those annoying weight loss commercials featured a man who said to his wife, “If I lose X amount of pounds, I’m going to buy myself a new boat for my birthday.” Another joyfully proclaimed, “Now I can go out with my friends.” Why couldn’t she go out before? Here is a creature created in the image of God denying others the joy of knowing her because she is overweight.

            When believers are conformed to the values of this world others can see little difference between a Christian and everyone else. One value that the world needs to see in us is “selflessness.” There is enough selfishness already.

            “…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (12:2b). That word “transformed” refers to an inner change. We get the word “metamorphosis” from this Greek word. A metamorphosis is not something we can do on our own. If we present ourselves as living sacrifices and reflect upon the mercies of God as evidenced in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will transform our minds.[ii]

            This is the same word that is used for the transfiguration of Jesus in the gospels. Although the evangelists say that his hands, his face, and his clothing shone, Mark is clear that Jesus himself was transfigured before them.[iii] A complete change came over him. When Paul uses this word of us he speaks of a similar transformation where fundamentally our character and conduct change from world values driven to Christ values driven.

            One man expressed these values exceptionally this last week. Whether he is a follower of Christ or not, I don’t know. This man is a Winnipeg Transit Bus Driver and as he was bringing his bus through the Portage and Main intersection he spied a homeless man with no shoes. He stopped the bus, an unscheduled stop, and hopped out to give the man his own shoes.

            Our knowledge of Christ and our relationship to Him and with Him is attractive, so much so that others are drawn to the mysterious, they are drawn to that "something about you" which haunts their thoughts and wets their appetite for what you possess. As we go about our daily lives with its demands and challenges and in the process of life demonstrate joy and peace; when we respond to humanities pain and needs around us, a fragrance is released. People wonder, "What was that? Why did you do that? Why do you care what happens to me?" The fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is released and lives are touched and changed.[iv]

It is in these moments we become living and holy sacrifices; in these moments, we WORSHIP.

This is how our minds are renewed in Christ. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your  minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24). The new self is Christ. Living like Christ is worship.

3. Surrender your will to God

Worship is surrender of the body; worship is the surrender of your mind; and worship is the surrender of your will. The body represents our movement, conduct and actions; the mind represents our thought life, our reasoning, our logic and our values; the will then, represents our purposes, our agendas and ambitions.

            Once you give your body and your mind to God, then Paul writes, “…you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (12:2c).

            When we think of the will of God we may be tempted to think of “the will of God for my life.” It is not that specific to me in my situation; that’s not what Paul means. There is something much broader in mind.

            To the Ephesians Paul wrote that they should understand what the Lord’s will is (Eph 5:17). God’s will is his basic scheme for life. When we learn what his will is we will demonstrate it to others. An example of this is Christ’s command that we love one another – everyone will know we follow him if we love each other. This is his will and we are to demonstrate it.

            Verses 3-8 stand as further examples of the Lord’s will in this respect. Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought (v. 3), remember you are part of a body (v. 4-5), and respect the place of your gift within a fully gifted church (v. 6-8).

            The end goal is to so surrender your will to God’s will, his plans, his purposes, that you can approve his will. That sounds like us giving God the thumbs up on his plans. Rather the picture we have of approving God’s will is that we rejoice in his will and rejoice in doing his will – that’s what approving his will means.

            There’s a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst.

To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."

Surrendering our will to God is exemplified in this young woman’s application. If we are honest and forthright about ourselves we will admit that we have no idea where we are going and that we need to follow someone who does. Surrendering our will to God to follow his will is shedding the false pretense that we are in control and confessing that, in all reality, God is the only One who knows what’s going on. That means in success and failure, in pleasure and in pain, in joy and in sorrow. Your will is my will Lord; Let your will be done.

Conclusion

How shall we respond to the mercies of God?

            We must respond to the grace of God in Christ Jesus. He has personified the love of God in his sacrifice on the cross. We respond first by believing in Jesus as our Savior. We respond secondly by gratefully worshiping him by a lifestyle of worship expressed in service.

            Jesus was eating with a Pharisee who had invited him to dinner. While Jesus was reclining at the table a woman of sinful reputation came in to that house with a jar of perfume. She wept and wept, tears streaming on Jesus’ feet, which she then dried with her hair. She kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them in an extravagant display of love for her Savior.

            The Pharisee host was incensed and said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.”

            Jesus replied, “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

            The Pharisee replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled.”

            “Right,” said Jesus. “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured out perfume on my feet. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

            We do not have Jesus here to wash his feet or anoint him. But we want to love him and worship him. How do we do that? Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these people you do to me.”

            What is worship without sacrifice? What is worship without love? I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies, minds and wills as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your reasonable act of worship.

                                                            AMEN

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[i] Brian Bill, Pontiac Church, sermon: Understanding your shape

[ii] Bill

[iii] John Stott, BST, The Message of Romans

[iv] From a sermon by Dale Pilgrim, Live It Up, 5/9/2011

Sept 16 Deacon Commissioning Message

CHOOSE TO BE A “SPIRITUAL” LEADER

Jesus taught that the world’s idea of leadership is lording it over others. When the average person gains a title the normal inclination of the heart is to boss those under him or her as if they were servants to their whims.

            Jesus, in contrast, said “Not so with you…” Whoever wants to be great must be your servant. The higher the appointment of leadership the greater the responsibility to serve for the person who follows Jesus.

            Ed and Kathy are called “deacons” today. To some of you that may seem like a promotion. In Christ’s reality it puts them at your disposal, at your service, at your feet as it were. A deacon is a servant and a leader in serving.

            Just because we give someone the title “deacon” does not mean that they now know how to serve. Ed and Kathy were chosen to officially serve because they demonstrated a giftedness in serving, but they still need to learn to serve.

            Joshua 24 is a text that contains a call to serve, not just as a deacon but as a leader of your home. Whether you hold the title of deacon or father or mother in your home, you have to choose to be a leader in that role. Let’s look at some of the choices a servant leader needs to make.

1. Choose to fear the LORD

When Joshua and Israel had conquered the Promised Land and achieved their first goal as a nation, Joshua was an old man. As a way of saying farewell to Israel he gave them one last charge.

            He recounted all the things the LORD had done for them: how God had called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be their patriarchs; how God called Moses to lead them out of slavery; how God saved them from the Egyptians when they crossed the Red Sea; and how God gave them the land they now lived in.

            Then Joshua said this, “Now fear the LORD…” (14). “Fear” is a confusing word to our ears, especially in relation to our relationship with God. But Joshua uses it in response to recounting the great works of God.

            As we look upon the wonderful things God has done for us, specifically Christ on the cross, our response can only be a holy, reverent and submissive fear. It is, in different terms, worship. Fear is putting God’s priorities before our own. Fearing God is worshiping God.

           

2. Choose to serve the LORD

Joshua continued, he said, “…and serve him with all faithfulness.”

            “Serve” comes from the same root as “worship.” So worship leads to serving. If we choose to worship the LORD in spirit and in truth then the natural outcome will be our desire to serve the LORD.

            Someone asked Pastor Ray Pritchard for advice with a spiritual struggle. Very simply, this person lived like a Christian on Sunday and a “worldling” on Monday to Saturday. He was frustrated with living a double life. “My Christian life is dull and dry,” he said. Pritchard replied, “You didn’t get where you are overnight, and you won’t get out of this mess overnight. You must begin each day by choosing to serve the Lord, and then you must follow up that decision with a hundred small choices in the right direction. That’s really what serving the Lord means. If it doesn’t involve the nitty-gritty choices you make every day, then you’re still trying to straddle the fence.”

            If you are not serving God, you are serving someone else. Elijah challenged the people at Mount Carmel, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kgs 18:21).     Choosing to serve God is choosing to be on the Lord’s side.

           

3. Choose to eliminate distractions

Actually, what Joshua said was, “Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”

            The gods beyond the River and in Egypt could be characterized as material gods that gave power and prestige. The gods of the Amorites were gods of fertility and sexual pleasure. These were real threats to the Israelites since the first idols had influenced them for hundreds of years. The second sets of idols were a peer-pressure-sort of influence. So Joshua could be saying, put away the old ungodly habits and don’t let the new fads suck you in. Put them so far away from you that they will have no power over you. Don’t hide them in a closet. Anything you hide in a closet is bound to be found by your children and they will think it is okay to use that idol          

Perhaps distraction is too light a term. But I think that what Joshua would call an idol is what we call distractions from our one calling.

An idol is really anything that is loved or feared more than God. It can involve the worship of a person, an image, object or idea. The things that take our attention are not always evil in nature. They can be so basic: gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and television and internet and facebook and sports and shopping and exercise and so on…all of them can be deadly substitutes for God. The human heart is an idol factory – it is always finding things to worship or obsess over.

The home is the foundation of worship for the family. As the example is set in the home, so the family worships at church. No wonder that Paul wrote Timothy about deacons saying, “A deacon must…manage his children and his household well” (1 Tim 3:12).

The word “manage” bothered me a bit, so I studied it briefly and came to the following conclusion. Manage means to rule or preside over the home. But in the context of being Christlike what does this mean? How did Christ rule? Jesus came to serve not to be served, and that is how he led. In Ephesians 5 men are told to love their wives like Christ loved the church. How did he do that? By dying for her. Therefore, leaders in the home are willing to die, both physically and metaphorically, for their families.

4. Choose God regardless of others

Whether you are a deacon or a parent or the head of your house, choose God regardless of the current trend or fad. Joshua told the people of Israel, “Choose today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

            In the vernacular of our day, he said, “I don’t care what you do, my family is going to serve the LORD.”

            The people responded saying, “We too will serve him…”

            Joshua said, “You are not able to serve the LORD.” He is a jealous God and you won’t be able to stick with him. You will go after idols.

            They said, “No! We’ll be good.”

            Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves…” Your words stand as a testimony against you if you show by your actions that you choose otherwise.

            Ed and Kathy have today confessed that they will serve the LORD in their home first and then in the Church.

            What we need in every home connected to KEMC is the same dedication to serve the LORD. You need to be a high priest in your home. Women can be spiritual leaders in the home as much as men. However, if the ladies set the tone, sometimes men don’t follow. The whole family is blessed when both men and women decide to make worship and service of the LORD a hallmark of the home.

            So, who will stand and make that commitment today? As for me and my house we will serve the LORD. Who will be a deacon in the home? Who will lead worship in the home? Will you stand regardless of what others think or do?

AMEN

Exodus summer sermon

CROSSING OVER

Historian Daniel Boorstin tells us about an interesting shift that occurred in the 19^th century: we stopped calling people who went on trips travelers and started calling them tourists.

            A “traveler” literally means “one who travails.” He labors, suffers and endures. A traveler is someone who went through great difficulties to get somewhere important. He would immerse himself in the new culture, learn the language of the place he was in, and eat what’s set before him. He may never go back to where he came from.

            A “tourist,” on the other hand, is “one who goes in circles.” He is taking an exotic detour on the way home. He is only passing through so he samples food but does not adopt it. He may pick up a few phrases of the language but doesn’t need to immerse himself in it. He is, after all, only visiting.

            Mark Buchanan says we have made a similar shift in the church. At some point we stopped calling Christians disciples and started calling them believers. A disciple is one who follows and imitates Jesus. She loses her life in order to find it. She learns the language and culture of Christ until she resembles her Lord and is shaped by his values. She is not the same person she was before and her friends barely recognize her.

            A believer is not so radical. She holds certain beliefs, but how deep these go depends on her mood. She wonders if her faith has made any difference in her life. She feels alone and disappointed at times, maybe a little afraid. Friends would say she has not changed much.

            If you are a disciple you are a believer, but you can be a believer without being a disciple. You can hold membership in a church, say the right things, do the right things, and still not follow Jesus.

            Buchanan says that the kingdom of God is made up of travailers but the church is largely populated with tourists. The kingdom is full of disciples, but the church with believers. No wonder we feel like we are going in circles.[i]

            The children of Israel were acting like tourists in the narrative of Exodus 14. When you grow tired or anxious about the journey a tourist can always go back. They definitely wanted to go back home, even to Egypt. But the Lord had called them to be travelers, to leave behind one life and receive another.

            As in all journeys there were obstacles. The greatest obstacle to reaching the new destination was themselves.

            **Note: this sermon is not the usual exegetical style but rather takes a theme that was prominent in my heart as I read the text.

1. Leaving the Land of Hard Hearts

Part of going on a journey of this magnitude is sacrifice. You have to leave the past behind, leave the “old man” at home and journey forward.

            For Israel, leaving Egypt and the life of slavery was more than walking out the door free and clear. They also had to leave behind the attitude of slavery. Physically they were free; mentally they were still in chains to old thinking.

            They lived in a land of hard hearts. The Egyptians did not believe in Yahweh, and when you live in a culture that is resistant to God, that attitude of unbelief wears on you. It is extremely difficult to fight that influence. When you are outnumbered by unbelievers we tend to keep quiet about faith.

            In our text we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. What does it mean to have a hard heart? And does God do the hardening or do we?

a) The process of hardening the heart – If we study the concordance we will see that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart occurs 14 times in Exodus. Six times it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart; three times he hardened his own heart; and five times it is indefinite. One thing is clear: the hardening of one’s heart is a process. Pharaoh’s heart was not hardened once but repeatedly.

b) The origin of the hard heart – A hard heart is a heart that has become calloused and unreceptive to the presence and command of God. We say that God hardens the heart, and he does, but when God hardens a person’s heart he does not cause the person to think and do other than what that person is inclined to do. God doesn’t make us sin. Pharaoh never wanted to let the Israelites go, and God hardened his heart so that he would pursue the Israelites after he released them. Pharaoh was already predisposed to do that; God just gave him a nudge.

            We see this in verses 4-5: the Lord said, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them…” and then when the king of Egypt discovered they had left “Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds.” So people harden their hearts which results in sin, but they also sin which results in a hardened heart.

c) Hard hearts are blind hearts – A hard heart actually dulls the senses and clouds judgment. One of the peculiar scenes of our text is that the Egyptian army went headlong after the Israelites into the divided sea. The only explanation that is given for this foolhardy charge is the Lord saying he will harden their hearts so that they will go in after them (14:17). When you see the God of your enemy doing a marvelous thing like holding back millions of liters of water so that they can go through a sea on dry ground you probably would think twice about chasing them. But the minds of the Egyptians were blinded by hard-heartedness so that reason took a holiday.

            This is how people become trapped in their sins. A hard heart will not see the danger of repeated visits to a forbidden website. Uncontrolled rage can blind us to its consequences. Hearts harden; sin blinds.

d) Hard-heartedness can be contagious – It doesn’t say this anywhere in the narrative. To have a hard heart towards God is human nature. I believe that it is also contagious in the sense that when a group of people resist the Lord repeatedly and agree together on a godless course of action that many others will be affected. I think that the Israelites learned to be a little Egyptian in their hearts having lived with them for 400 years. And it would take time for them to shake that attitude and be transformed in their minds to be a people of God.

            We see the evidence of Israel’s hard hearts later in Exodus. Psalm 95 warned God’s people not to harden their hearts as they did at Meribah, a reference to an incident when the people rebelled against God. Why did they rebel? Because of unbelief and lack of trust in the God who delivered them. The poison of hard-heartedness spread to everyone, and everyone rebelled against God.

e) God can use hard hearts – Even when a person hardens their heart God finds a way to use that heart. The Lord said, “And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen” (14:17b). God had three purposes in hardening the hearts of Pharaoh and his men. One was the release of Israel from Egypt; Two, that God would be glorified through these events; and Three, that Egypt and the world would know that God is LORD.[ii]

            While I was researching for this sermon I ran across an amateur archaeologist who claimed to have found the actual crossing site at the Red Sea. There were photos of chariot wheels covered in coral and scientific data to show why this was the exact site. I was pumped to show this stuff to you. Then I ran across websites that called all of this a hoax.

            I guess I wanted to bring the Red Sea Crossing to life for you and prove that it was real. That’s why I got excited initially about this material. Then I thought, why do I have to prove this story was fact? Did I not believe it myself? I realized that my heart was hard to the truth of this crossing and that God would actually part a vast body of water for his people.

            The biblical record is right here. I don’t have to prove that it was real. It was an historical event that took place. What is required of us is to believe, to have soft hearts that receive what God can do.

            Hard-heartedness has trouble accepting this truth. It is also unwilling to apologize or confess sin; it is unwilling to see another’s point of view; it is unwilling to forgive; and it is unwilling to obey God’s clear commands.

2. Standing Clueless before God

I suppose we should not be too hard on ourselves. After all, the Israelites had a lot to learn about having believing hearts too.

            When Pharaoh decided to give chase and round up two million straying people with only 600 chariots, he caught them between a rock and a hard place. To the east was the sea, to the south and west were the mountains, and the north was blocked by Pharaoh’s army.

            Israel’s reaction to seeing battle chariots drawing down on them was to be expected. “They were terrified and cried out to the LORD” (10b). Then they turned on Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (14:11).

            There’s the tourist. When Israel left Egypt they were ecstatic to leave slavery and become a nation. They were loaded with booty from Egyptians just wanting to get rid of them. They were “on top of the world” giddy. God is good. Then they find themselves trapped in an insurmountable situation and anything they believed or learned about God disappeared in a cloud of fear.

            Moses, to his credit, offers good counsel. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (13-14).

            Wow what inspiring words. Don’t be afraid. Stand still. Look for God’s deliverance. Moses is looking out at the army of Pharaoh and thinking God is going to rain fire on them or something. Either way, God will fight for you. So just wait, he says.

            Moses is still learning. Israel is still learning. Hey, we are still learning too.

            God says, “MOVE!” The LORD says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (14:15-16).

            Let’s take a moment to review this. Moses knew that God had led them to a place where they were boxed in and trapped as it were. The pillar of fire and the cloud of God’s glory had led the way. God told Moses he was going to glorify himself with Pharaoh’s army and lead them to Canaan. Moses also knew that God had given him power in his staff. Therefore, Moses should have known that the only way out was through the sea – the direction of Canaan.

            God loves when we use our heads and reason things out. Moses should have done that – reasoned out the situation – and figured out what God wanted him to do without asking for guidance. But isn’t that what we do often? We ask God for guidance when it is plainly obvious what we should be doing.

            This is the reaction of a tough heart – not hard necessarily – and a dull mind. We pray when we should move. We ask God to speak into our friend’s heart when he wants us to speak into our friend’s heart about him. Move! As you move God softens your heart to the things of God. But you got to move.

3. Following the Lord where he leads

We love to be in control. If any of us had a choice of being a passenger in the car or a driver, most of us would choose to be a driver. This is especially true if you know where you are going and the driver does not.

            Look at the “driving” of God. In 13:17-22, God does not take the short route, he does not want them to face war with the Philistines, but leads them through the desert. Then after going south, God leads them back up north and pins them against the sea (14:2). Clearly God does not have a map.

            We question the Driver don’t we? What are you doing God? Where are you leading me?

            But look, God’s direction and plan may not make sense to us in the present moment but it will. The LORD told Moses, “Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert” (14:3). Pharaoh then sets out to trap Israel and falls into God’s trap instead.

            One thing I have learned from our study of Exodus this summer is that the LORD is very involved in this narrative. The LORD is not absent, or sitting on his throne way up in heaven. The LORD is not deaf or dull to the plight of his people. The LORD is not impotent or unwilling or unable to fight for his people. On the contrary, the LORD has his hands all over this journey.

            Moses is told to stretch his hand over the sea and the LORD sends an east wind to open up the water and turn it into dry land (21). The LORD throws the Egyptians into confusion; he makes the wheels come off the chariots; he creates terror in their hearts so that they know it is the LORD fighting against them (24-25). Then the LORD sweeps the Egyptians away into the sea and drowns them, none surviving (26-28).

            Egyptians lay dead all over the shore, no longer able to terrify the Israelites, no longer able to bring them back into slavery, and no longer a threat to their hopes and dreams. They are dead. “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (4:31). The great thaw has begun; the hardened heart is softening.

            God may lead us in strange paths, uncomfortable ways, even into painful experiences, but he is still leading us. He knows the way through the wilderness, all we have to do is follow. “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing…” (Psalm 23).

Conclusion

This summer we have rehearsed the story of Moses and the Exodus. Three events stand out for me this morning: Passover – the sacrifice of the lamb with the blood smeared over the door to protect the firstborn from the angel of death; the Red Sea Crossing – passing through the water which meant both life and death depending on whose side you were on; and the Journey to the Promised Land – we haven’t studied this yet (maybe next summer) but freedom comes with a cost as we will see.

            Can you see the metaphor?

            First we have the lamb that was slain, and the Lamb that was slain for us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is our salvation, our deliverance from the slavery to our sins and hard heartedness.

            Then we have the Red Sea which symbolizes our baptism into the death and life of Christ. We have passed through leaving the old life behind where we resisted God and have come through as new people, a people of God who follow after Jesus.

            Finally, we have the journey ahead of us and we press on through the wilderness of life to lay hold of God’s promises.

            People, because you are sitting here today I am assuming you are “saved.” You have crossed over. The question I pose to you as you go away from this sanctuary this morning is this: Are you a traveler or a tourist? Are you immersing yourself in the language of Christ, the character and customs of our Lord, and the transforming power of his presence? Are you taste testing or are you gorging on the bread of life and digesting him into your life? Are you a believer in Jesus or are you a disciple of Christ?

            If you have crossed over, been baptized in the water and the blood, then you will be different. If you are not different then may I suggest that your heart is hard and resistant to what the Holy Spirit wants to do in you and where God wants to lead you.

            But you don’t have to remain hard hearted. The first step is admitting your resistance to Jesus; the second is to truly cross over, to leave the old life behind and welcome the new life in Christ. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17).

            To the hard hearted God has said, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezek 11:19).

            Leave your heart with God today and walk out of here with the joy of the Lord.

                                                            AMEN

           

---

[i] Mark Buchanan, Your Church is too Safe, Zondervan, pp. 59-60

[ii] Bob Deffinbaugh, adapted from his sermon The Red Sea: Israel’s Deliverance and Egypt’s Defeat (Exodus 13:17-14:31)

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.