Entitled?

Good morning!  Hope this is a wonderful day for you.  The message today is taken from chapter 12 of The Story.

Recently, my husband Charlie and I were out running some errands.  Longfellow the dachshund, the little angel dog, was in the car with us, sitting quietly on Charlie's lap.  We had previously stopped for coffee and still had a few delicious pastries in a small white bag in the car, which we would finish off later.  At least that was the plan.   Until......we had to run into another store for something and couldn't take the dog. So there was Longfellow, all alone in the car.  All alone......except for the bag of pastries sitting on the floor.  Which we had totally forgotten.  We got back into the car; Longfellow sat back on Charlie's lap and we just went on with our afternoon.  Until I picked up the white bag that was now empty.  It looked exactly as it had been before, no rips, no chew marks.....nothing.  Completely untouched.  Except it was empty. I looked at the little long-nosed not-so-angelic weiner dog  sitting on Charlie's lap and said, "Did you eat these?"  Of course, he just continued to stare innocently into my eyes.  But I knew what he did. Little sneaky guy took what wasn't his and left the bag sitting there looking like it wasn't touched.  It was there for the taking, so he took it.  He was entitled.  At least, that's what he believed.

Today we have a story about a man who thought he was entitled to take what he wanted, too.  He is the king that God chose for Israel and he takes that job very seriously.  He's handsome, brave, and full of faith in God.  Under his leadership, Israel has become a united nation; a feared nation.  His armies have kept the encroaching kingdoms away from Israel's borders.  According to  Samuel 8:14, the LORD gives victory to this king wherever he goes. Larger than life, an honest to God hero, he is everything you could want in a king.  His name is David..........the one God considers a man after his own heart.  With David reigning over a now united Israel, there is justice and peace throughout the country.  Everything is going as perfectly as it can.  Life is good.

And then disaster strikes.  In his life so far, David has faced lions, bears, that giant Goliath, and enemy kings with large armies.  He faced each challenge without fear, knowing that God was with him, protecting him.  He is now unstoppable.  He has it all......everything he could ever want.  Wealthy and powerful, he is surrounded by people who jumped at his commands.  Then he sees a woman, a woman who is the wife of another man.  She is beautiful and he wants her.  so he takes what isn't his, she becomes pregnant, he tries to hide his wrongdoing, and he arranges for the husband to die in the battle field.

Why would he jeopardize his standing as king? Why would he sin against God like this?      He has broken several commandments with his actions.  He has coveted another man's wife; he committed adultery; he had an innocent man, a good man, killed so his sin would not be found out.  David, the man who relied on God for his safety, actually now thinks he is entitled to take what he wants, even though deep inside him he knows what he is doing is wrong.  Dead wrong.  In his position as king, he has now put himself above the law.  His own desires now take a higher precedence than being a servant of the living God. He has misused his authority as king to serve his own needs.

Well, he gets caught.  God, from whom N.O.T.H.I.N.G., absolutely nothing is hidden, calls him out on what he's done.  He sends Nathan, the prophet, after him.  Nathan confronts David with his wrongdoing, "Why have you despised the word of the LORD to do what is evil in his sight?  You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites." (2 Samuel 11:9)  Then Nathan goes to tell David the punishment that will be heaped upon David's head: David took Uriah's woman in secret; God is going to take all of David's women away from him and give them to David's neighbor, right out in the open, shaming him before the whole nation.

David repents.  Truly repents.  He has the courage to face the enormity of the sin he committed.  He writes in Psalm 51:1,2. " Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."  He admits his sin against God, "For I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight." (Psalm 51:3,4)

We know that David gets to keep his wives, but his child with Bathsheba dies and nothing is ever the same again.  The children of the royal house of David run amok; rape, murder, and rebellion are now part of the family's narrative.

Where are we in this story? Are we any less sinful than David?  No.  Of course not.  Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5:21-22,27-28 "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment'.  But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say,'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire." You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

So that's where we are in the story.  if we think that we are above God's law, if we think that we are entitled to think what we like, as long as we don't act on those thoughts, we're wrong.  N.O.T.H.I.N.G. is hidden from God.  Nothing.  That's the bad news.

The good news is that there is hope for us to overcome and move past our unworthy thoughts and desires.  While David was a bad example of resisting temptation, there is another king that we can look to for much better guidance.  Today we are observing Christ the King Sunday.  Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior is the God has chosen for us who will never let us down, who will never sin secretly, who will never put his own needs before ours, who will never, never feel entitle to sin against the Father or use his power for himself.  We know that by his life.  He resisted temptation in the desert and through his ministry, even when he was nailed to a cross. He could have had the same life David did, but chose a better way.  According to Philippians 2:8-11.  "He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-even death on a cross.   Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

And, even better news, we have been empowered from on high to overcome.  We don't have to be stuck in our old lives; we don't have to be stuck in hidden lives.  There's hope for us all.  No one is beyond God's reach.  No one at all.  But....... if we do fall, we can go to our merciful God and ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ.

So today, remember that you don't have to be like Longfellow and King David and secretly take what is not yours.  Instead, take what God has freely and abundantly given you, share the gifts, spiritual and material with those who are in need. Go in peace this week.  Amen.

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Legacies

Good morning!  Hope you are all doing well this beautiful fall day.  
The message today is based on chapter 7 from The Story and readings from Judges

This past 10 days, my husband and I visited Ireland for the first time.  And no, neither one of us have a drop of Irish blood in us, even though Charlie does have red hair and blue eyes.   We were asked that many times when we were there.  Lots of people go over to Ireland to find their roots, to reconnect with the past, to see where their families came from, many of them trying to reconnect with old values, old ways, to understand themselves better, to experience the feeling of being connected to something bigger than them.  We didn't have the blood thing going, but we did feel a connection there.  A very strong connection as we visited ancient cathedrals, as we stood on the ancient cliffs of Moher (yes, I actually climbed up there in almost gale force winds; a hurricane was coming our way), a connection with people who were God's children through the ages, knowing that throughout all of history, God has never given up on us humans.  All around us we saw legacies of old civilizations, of places where people lived and worshipped.

Today, we see a people, the Israelites, who have been given a wonderful legacy to hand down to their children.  But, for whatever reason, they have chosen to turn from it.

So the children of Israel are in trouble again.  Chaos, suffering, disobedience.  Same old, same old.  They are in the promised land.  We know from our readings this morning and from the reading of chapter 7 in The Story that they couldn't stay faithful to the covenant they had made with God.  Remember the covenant?  No?  Well, neither did they.  There were the Ten Commandments, rules and reminders of how to love God and each other in practical ways. The love that was described in these commands was filled with values such as loyalty, faithfulness, respect, honor, honesty, meekness.  Meekness being strength without arrogance. Moses' last words to them were, "Seem I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."


And they all agreed with a roar of triumph.  They were finally going into the promised land and Joshua, the great soldier would lead them.    And you know from the last chapter they did enter the land under Joshua's leadership.  But then he died.  And they no longer had their hero. As the years went by,  people moved away from the commands God gave them.  Their behavior changed.  Respect and integrity for God, for each other, for the very foundations of spirituality and morality that kept them together and taught the world about the God they served were seen less and less.  These are the values that distinguished them from other nations, that gave a witness to the very nature of the God they served. They began to worship other gods; their values changed.

The saddest part was the legacy they were not leaving for their children.  Their children grew up not knowing the power, the loyalty and faithfulness of God.  They just saw the growing unease and fear that was enveloping their nation.The questions that generation may have asked were:  Who is this God anyway? Why can't we can't see him?  If God is so powerful, why are we experiencing so many problems? Where is God in the misery all around us? And so they turned away and became more and more distant from God.  All the good teachings were disregarded; chaos took over as they embraced the behaviors and the religions of those who lived in the land before they conquered it. The nation weakened and became prey to stronger, better organized nations that surrounded them. Only after they realized how deep into trouble they were, did they even remember there was a God to whom they could turn.


Each time this happened, God would send them a hero, someone to deliver them, someone who could lead them to show power over the enemy, to defeat mighty warriors.  With that feeling of triumph, they would follow the ways of God, under the leadership of their hero because that hero was a living, tangible reminder that God was with them.  But then the hero died and the cycle started all over again because they couldn't fight temptation without a living reminder of the presence and power of God.


Where are we in this story?  As believers of Jesus Christ we've been called to be a holy nation.  How do we stay the course?  We know that, in Christ we do have our deliverer, our hero, the one who leads us each day.  And though he died, he rose to life again. He is here today in our worship, in our sacraments he is present with us. Water, bread, and wine.  Tangibles.  Something we can touch and see. Living reminders that help us to know deep within our hearts that God is near so that we can resist temptation, so that we can stay the course, as difficult as it can be at times.  And we have each other, real people, going through our own difficulties, celebrating joys, growing in faith by trial and error, knowing that we are forgiven.


Yet following Jesus still is not easy, is it?  We have a world all around us that pulls at us from all directions, just like the Israelites.  And what about loving God with all of our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves?  Not so easy either, remembering those commands, remembering to be truthful, faithful, not carry hurt, hate, guilt, fear, distrust in our hearts.  Remembering that love is not just a feeling, but an action, a way of life.  When Jesus asked Peter after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, "Do you love me?" he wasn't talking about emotions.  He was asking if Peter was willing to carry on the work Jesus had begun, if Peter was willing to risk his life in order to teach the people of the world about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.   He wanted to know if Peter would hold onto the teachings of Jesus with his heart, his mind, and his spirit.  Could he pick up his cross and follow Jesus?  Could he lose his life in order to gain it?


So are we able to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus?  Are we ready to lose our lives in order to gain a new life with him?  Are we able to look past our own selves and see the needs of others, to be brave and bold and listen to the Spirit of God leading us?


Following Jesus doesn't mean we all have to keep in perfect step with each other, like those North Korean army parades we see on the news.  No expression on our faces and our weapons in our hands.  Total uniformity.  A show of power, power that chills, power that divides. No.  We don't lose ourselves; in following Jesus we find ourselves.  We have all been made in the image of God, yet we are all different.  Each of us is special in our own way.  Each of us is loved by God.  That love is also full of respect, loyalty, faithfulness, honesty, and amazing strength without arrogance.  We are not just pieces on a chess board; we are not domestic pets to be herded around and shown affection whenever the owner feels like it.  God's image.  That's us.


And that's the legacy we are charged with to hand down to our children, to the generations that follow us.  That's the legacy that we offer to others who don't know our merciful and grace-filled God.  We can teach them about leading a life of purpose, not rebellion.  We can teach them how to let go of those things that keep us from growing in faith.  We can teach them how to live each day with joy and thanksgiving.  We can teach them that God's presence is still with us and always will be.  Think and pray about that this coming week.  Are we willing to take on the work that Jesus began all those years ago?  Can we love God, our neighbor, even our enemy in a way that witnesses to the power, sovereignty, and incredible love that God still has for us all?  Amen.

Wandering

Hi! Good morning and blessings to you all on this frosty, fall day.  The message today is based on chapter 6 from The Story and Number 11:4-15, Deuteronomy 8:11-20.

 

Tonight Charlie and I leave for a trip to Ireland.  We've been planning this trip for 6 months.  We  have our passports, our Euros, reservations, plane tickets, train reservations for our transportation from one city to another.  We have written out an itinerary and have a good idea where we will be each day and where the best places to eat are. We’ve scoped out the pubs, too.  I’ve heard it on good authority that you can’t go to Ireland and not visit a few pubs.

 I wish my life was so planned out.  But it isn’t.  Not for me, not really for anyone.  We can do our best to plan ahead, but those unforeseen things can pop up very easily and we find ourselves wandering in a place we never expected to be, whether it is physical, emotional, mental.  We never know how we will react until we are actually in that position. 

Today we will talk about a group that is in a place they never expected to be.  It’s the children of Israel.  Remember them? We’ve been following their progress.  Now they are wandering all over the desert.  Complaining, disobeying, trying to go off in their own direction, not satisfied with anything God is doing. Always anxious about something. Today in our 1^st reading, we heard that they are not happy with what is on the menu.  They’re bored with what God has provided for them.  They are sobbing to Moses, the man who faced down Pharaoh many times to get them out of Egypt, “If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Numbers 11:4-6. 

What short memories they have.  For years and years the children of Israel cried out to God to deliver them from their bondage to slavery.  So God did the impossible and got over a million people out of the country on foot with an army on horses after them.  They even crossed through a river and didn’t get wet.  Now they are looking around at the dismal landscape, the boring food and are wondering if freedom from slavery was worth the price they were paying.

Poor Moses.  He’s still wondering why God chose him to lead this ungrateful and unruly bunch out of Egypt.  In desperation, frustration, and exasperation, he cries out to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly?  Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all these people on me?...........I am not able to carry all these people alone, for they are too heavy for me.  If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once.” Numbers 11:11,14,15.

Nobody is very happy with God right now.  The people are way more than angry over their circumstances, stuck out in the middle of nowhere and Moses would rather be dead than spend one more day with them.  Because nobody can see past their present circumstances.  I guess you could say their vision is impaired, nearsighted.  They can see what is right in front of them, but can’t see into the distance.  God’s vision for their future as a holy nation is too far away for them to focus on.  The here and now is what is important to them.  So instead of asking God to help them to see their circumstances through God’s eyes, to help them to adjust their vision, they just all whine and complain and think about the good ole days that never were.

Where are we in this story?  Because this story is about us, too.  We go through these desert periods, too.  We know that God is with us, we know that the scripture says that all things work for the good for those who love God.  We know that Jesus, our Savior died so that we may live new and transformed lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit.  We know that our sins are forgiven, we don’t have to carry around a suitcase full of guilt and shame over anything we did or didn’t do in our lives.  We know there is a higher purpose for our lives.  We know we are to serve as a light to the world, a witness of the justice, mercy, and power of the living God.  We are to stand up for the helpless, to feed the hungry, to help the poor.

And then something happens; life changes for some reason.  Joblessness, health crisis, family problem, addiction, accident, sudden death of a loved one.   We find ourselves out in a desolate place and we can’t see that vision anymore.  All we can see is what is in front of us and somehow we step off the path.  And the more we focus on what is in front of us, the bigger it gets until everything else is obliterated.  You might notice something in your peripheral vision, but not enough to command your attention.  Fear and anxiety take over.  And we get lost….and angry.  At ourselves, at God, at other people in our lives.

How do we make it through the hard times without turning from God?  Because God never abandons us; it’s usually the other way around.  How do we remember who we are in the hard times?  The children of Israel were punished by God for their disobedience and their lack of trust in God.  Not one of them who  were over 20 years old when they left Egypt would enter the promised land.  They would die in the wilderness.  They didn’t get to see the land of milk and honey.  Was this unfair of God?   Maybe a little too harsh?  They had turned their back on God’s plan for them. 

How do we escape their fate in the desert places of our lives, when our lives are off course, when our itinerary for life’s journey just went down the toilet?   Do you feel like you are wandering in your own wilderness right now and would love some clear direction as to which way you need to be going?  Are you worried that maybe you missed the entrance into the promised land because of fear and distrust and now disconnected from God and can’t seem to find your way back? And if and when you do find your way back, will God even want you anymore?

Take heart!  You might feel lost, but you’re still in God’s sight.  You might feel alone…….but you’re not.  The children of Israel finally did enter the promised land.  They might not have been happy with the food and accommodations along the way, but their clothes never wore out, their shoes protected their feet all those years. Clothes are protection and shoes help our feet to move forward.  God protected  and guided them throughout their desert experience.  They could not go onto harder things, like the actual taking of the land, until they trusted and loved God.  Their desert experienced turned them into a nation.

No matter what your circumstances, in the good times, in the bad times, remember who you are.  You have been made in the image of God.  You are loved.  There are no places in your life that are hidden from God so don’t even try to hide from the one who created all things in the first place.  Through Jesus Christ, we have entered into freedom, into a place of grace and forgiveness.  If you feel like you’ve lost your way, remember, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.

Stop running….stop feeling guilty……stop isolating yourself.  You are not lost.  God is now in charge of your itinerary and has a new destination for you that lines up with his vision for your life.  You might even need a new passport for the journey.  Remember always that Jesus loves you and so do your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Come on back.   Amen.

 

New Commands and a New Covenant

Good morning! Hope you are all enjoying our intro to winter this weekend. The message today is based on readings from Exodus chapters 19 and 20 and the 5th chapter of the Story.

Maybe you haven't noticed that human beings are by nature rebellious? There are some of us who are openly rebellious to rules. Anybody here? There are others who follow rules but grumble and rebel inside where it can't be seen. Right? I will admit to being one of the second group. An example is when, as a student, I was given instructions on an assignment. I had this terrible habit of looking like I was listening, but was really zoning out. Didn't hear any of it. It was instinctive. Not good when you have an important assignment and have no clue what you're supposed to do. By outward appearance it seemed like I was sitting there taking it all in, being an obedient student, but inside, my rebellious heart was beating loudly.

In our story today, we see rebelliousness in the people Moses, our reluctant hero, delivered out of slavery. Moses' problems are clearly not over. They're complaining and complaining and complaining. He might have prevailed over Pharaoh, but now he's in charge of people he doesn't know and they don't know him. And none of them, including Moses really know much about God.

So it's time for them to be introduced to their God. On the first day of the third month, they arrive at the Sinai Desert and are camped at the foot of the mountain. Moses goes up the mountain to speak to God. God says to Moses, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites".

It was a common practice in those days for nations to enter into covenants or treaties with each other. Usually the smaller nations were forced into it with a larger more powerful nation. If the smaller nation obeyed the rules or terms set by the larger one and acknowledged the other's power over it, the larger power would not invade and would protect it against other invaders. The smaller nations entered into these in fear that their nations would be destroyed if they refused the covenant.

This is not the covenant God is proposing. Yes, God is definitely more powerful than they are. But this covenant will not mean enslavement again for them; this covenant will set them free to be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. Sounds good.......but what does that mean? And what are are the terms of this covenant?

The nation of Israel is soon to find out. Moses gathers them altogether for the holy moment of their meeting with God. They're all cleaned up and begin to tremble when the thunder and lightning begin. Then when God descends on the mountain, there is billowing smoke and fire. Very dramatic. The ground even shakes. It literally puts the fear of God in them.

God calls Moses up to the top of Mount Sinai and gives Moses what we know as the Ten Commandments. The commandments are the first set of terms in this new covenant between God and Israel. The first commandments teach us how to honor God. "I am The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have not other gods before me." Then they are warned not to make any idols or to worship them, not to make wrongful use of God's name, and to observe one day a week as a holy day, a day of rest.

In the rest the commandments, God is teaching them how to recognize destructive behavior, we call it sin, and to refrain from it. Simply put, these are all practical ways in which they learn how to care about each other in their daily lives. They are all about building healthy relationships, with God and with each other, about staying faithful and loyal to the one true God and treating each other with dignity and respect. That is what authentic holiness is all about.

Moses goes back to the people, tells them about his meeting with God, and they promise that they will do everything the God has said. "No problem, God. You said it, we''ll do it!" Moses builds an altar at the foot of the mountain where they sacrifice young bulls. Moses takes half of the blood and puts it in bowls and then splashes the other half on the altar. Then he splashes blood on the people and says, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." In this way, the covenant was sealed between God and the children of Israel. They were now a holy nation of the one true God. At least, they were supposed to be. Unfortunately, they had the commandments, but their hearts were not changed and they were unable to live out this covenant in spirit and in truth. That old rebelliousness hadn't been routed out of their hearts.

What about us today? Where do we fit into this story? Are we part of this covenant, too? Yes.......No. Huh? Well, these commandments are still very much a part of our lives. They still point out to us where the sin is in our lives, how we fall short in our lives; they still teach us in a practical, no nonsense kind of way how to love God and each other. They still teach us how to treat others with dignity and respect. Yes to all that. But now, we have entered into a new covenant that does not do away with the old one, but helps us to understand more deeply what those commandments are all about. In this new covenant, we are empowered to live them fully out of love for God and each other, not just obey them because we don't want to be punished. Our very hearts are changed and our lives transformed. The blood that seals this covenant is not from a bull or any other four-legged animal. The blood that seals this holy covenant with God is the blood of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus who loves us passionately and powerfully. Jesus who heals us and brings us out of the darkness of this world and our own natures.

We will be hearing Jesus' own words soon as we receive Holy Communion. "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:20b) The new covenant in my blood. In baptism, we enter into this new covenant with the living God. No, this morning there won't be smoke billowing, no flames of fire. There won't be a thundering voice. Yet God's mighty power will be here. The very presence of the living God will be with us in the sacrament, in the bread and the wine. The forgiving, transformative power of God working within us, through us in this world. In this new covenant we do not have to be slaves to our own nature, that old rebellious nature. We are a new creation; the old has passed away. That's great news. It gives us hope for a new life in Christ. Rejoice! Amen.

Deliverance

 

 

                                                              

 Good morning!! Hope you are enjoying our beautiful early fall weather.  The message today is based on Chapter 4 of The Story.

Today we look at the story of the Exodus. Most of us are familiar with it. Moses goes down to Egypt to bring out the Israelites. Before that happens God sends plagues on Egypt to 'encourage' the Pharaoh to let the enslaved Israelites go....locusts, flies, frogs....other equally hideous things. This fall season seems to be a good time to talk about the plagues of Egypt what with the invasion of the very strange looking stink bugs (which I'm convinced crawled out of the pits of hell along with cockroaches and mosquitos) and those darn Canadian geese making such a ruckus on their flight down south. And how about those squirrels. They are absolutely manic about now. I seem to spend most of my time behind the wheel trying not to kill one of those varmints who seem set on jumping under my tires.  In fact, I almost flattened one this morning on my way to work.

Except......we are not going to be talking about those plagues at all today. Instead we will be looking a plague that many of us fight and that is lack of confidence in the gifts God has given us.  This plague causes spiritual paralysis and keeps us sitting on the sidelines instead of actively joining in the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.  The whole Exodus story almost didn't happen because the person God chose to lead the people out decided to focus on his weaknesses and not on God's own strength.

Just a little history first......The children of Israel weren't from a country called Israel. They were all descended from a man called Israel, who we also know as Jacob, son of Isaac who was the son of Abraham. I'm sure you remember that God made a promise to Abraham that from him God would build a great nation. So here they are. Abraham's descendants; a mighty nation, strong and powerful. Except........no......... they aren't......not even close. Instead they are in bondage. They have been living in Egypt for several hundred years and have been enslaved by the Egyptians. They are in misery, suffering, crying out to God for deliverance. Looks like God's promise has not come to pass. Could Abraham have been mistaken, after all?

Nope. Not at all. It is now time for action. We read that God speaks to Moses and asks him to speak to Pharaoh, to tell him to let the children of Israel go. "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land.....so come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites out of Egypt." Exodus 3:7,8, 10.

I would like to tell you that Moses is thrilled and honored to be the one God was sending with such an awesome responsibility. Here's a big job to do and God goes looking for Moses,who is probably standing at that very moment knee deep in sheep dung. Right? It shouldn't be surprising. If you read through the Bible, you see that is how God calls people, right out of their ordinary, everyday lives.

But....that's not what happens. Too bad. There are a lot of people who desperately need help. While God has chosen Moses as the perfect person for the job, the perfect person replies, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11. Which is Bible speak for "Send someone else, I can't do it." Ouch..... Moses further elaborates in Ex 4:10, "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

It sounds as if Moses looks at what he perceives as his lack of abilities and totally ignores the fact that he is made in God's own image, and that he has all he needs to accomplish the formidable task that is set before him. There is not one of us here today reading this that can honestly judge Moses for refusing. Moses isn't a coward; he isn't disrespectful. He knows that this is a monumental job and he doesn't think he has the ability to save all these people. In his own misguided way, he is being honest with God.

The problem here isn't just Moses' lack of confidence in himself; he didn't listen carefully to God. Let's go back to God's call to Moses. "I have heard their cry.......and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians." God is going to deliver them. God. Almighty, everlasting, creator of all things. And here Moses is worrying because he is not eloquent and won't b able to get the job done.

So here we are today in 2014. Baptized, marked with the cross of Christ forever, sealed with the Holy Spirit. We've been set free from the bondage of sin and death by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been invited into relationship with the living God. Yet, how many times when we look in the mirror do we see the reflection of all we are not, instead of the reflection of all we are in Christ? Focusing on the negatives not only in our own characters, but in those around us and not the positives can certainly limit what we can accomplish in this life. Not only do we not value the gifts we've been given, we don't even take the time to find out what they are. Instead we lament the gifts we don’t have. 

The problem with thinking like this is that when we are challenged to do something out of our comfort zone, we ask God to send someone else, like Moses did. We have a much better example to follow. Jesus. He didn't ask God to send someone else. His humanity didn't stop him from doing the work set out before him. He had faith, like Abraham, that God was fully able to accomplish what God had promised. There are people all over the world who are crying out to God. People suffering, living in misery. Needing deliverance. And we are the ones being sent out to deliver them. That is, if we will move our feet and take the first step in faith.

God is working in this world through us. Us. Not aliens from outer space. Us. Humans. Full of weaknesses, yet full of strengths. We are called just as we are, all of us gifted in different ways. The challenge for us this week, which I pass on to you, is to trust that God sees in us the reflection of Jesus, bold and faithful. And that those traits that we hate in ourselves will be turned around so that they'll be a blessing to others.

Amen.

God Builds a Nation

Hi, good morning! I know, this is a little late this week. Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful almost fall weather. The message today is based on Chapter 2 of The Story (Zondervan, 2011, Grand Rapids) and Genesis 12:1-9, 15:1-6.

  

 For those of you who are as unco-ordinated as I am, can you remember the first time you had to take a step on a balance beam in gym class? I do. It was terrifying. In fact through the four years of high school, I never did walk on that beam by myself. Never. Someone always had to hold me by the arm to give me balance. I just never had much of it on my own. Still don't. But to pass gym class, I had to at least give it a try. Pretty scary to take that first step. It's a good thing someone was holding me up.

That's how it is for many of us when God calls us to take a step out in faith. You know, a challenge faces you that you haven't faced before and you think, " I cannot do this. it is impossible. Lord, is this really you?

In our story today, we meet two people who are challenged by God beyond their understanding or imagination. Even beyond their physical capabilities. Yet they accept the challenge.

The world has recovered from the flood; the earth is getting repopulated pretty quickly, peopled are farming the land, kingdoms are being built, economies are developing. Many people remember who the living God is, many don't. Those that don't remember, they just produce their own idols to worship.........some things never change. That rebelliousness that began with Adam and Eve is alive and well; it's time for God to act on the next step of the plan to bring humankind back into relationship with him.

So God picks a young, dynamic man, full of energy and determination, to build this nation. A person people will look at, be amazed by, and follow to the ends of the earth. It will all happen quickly and, poof, with a wave of God's Holy Ghost magic wand, a nation will be built. Yay, God!

Except......nope......that's not what happened. That God. Never does things the way we expect, how we think it should all be done. And not in our time frame either. Hmm. What really happened was that God approaches a 75 year old man named Abraham, takes the guy aside, and says to him, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you."  Abraham is 75 and his wife, Sarah, is 65 and childless.  Great nation?  Pretty outrageous of God. But that old gentleman, Abraham, believes God and moves his household and travels a long distance to where God leads him.

Now Abraham and Sarah are in their new location in Canaan. God now tells Abraham that his offspring will be given this land. Time passes and passes....and passes....and......passes....but no offspring yet; no heir through which this promise will take place. Abraham is waiting patiently for God to act. Sarah is waiting, too. Her patience is not quite as extensive as Abraham's. Sarah decides that Abraham will have a child by another woman, her maid Hagar.  Did Sarah lack faith? Maybe....maybe not. Why does she decide that Abraham's only chance to have a child of his own will be by another woman? Does she have a character flaw or is she spiritually lacking?  

 

Or does she think she is not included in God's promise because of her age and the fact that she never has been able to bear children? Then again it might be that she just may have the personality to want to get things done. As the wife of a very wealthy man, Sarah is in charge of a large household. She is used to making decisions. Maybe she was thinking, "Okay, Abe, God promised you a child and it's been now 10 years since we left our home and moved to Canaan, years since God took you outside and said, 'Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them; so shall your descendants be.' But nothing has happened, Abe, my darling. So maybe God is waiting for us to take the initiative and do something. After all......you're not getting any younger....."

 

 So she comes up with a solution. Yes, her maid Hagar does get pregnant and a child is born. But instead of solving the problem, life just gets more complicated. She and Hagar are not good to each other and it turns out that the child born to Abraham by Hagar is not the child through whom God will make the great nation that was promised. 

Now what? It's not looking too good for a new baby for Abraham and Sarah. Did God really make all those promises? Maybe Abraham was just projecting his own yearnings and confused his own thoughts with God's words. It happens......sometimes the words from God's mouth to our ears get pretty garbled. Not for Abraham, though. He trusts God and he is still confident that it was God speaking. As the apostle Paul wrote many, many centuries later, "He [Abraham] did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:19-21)

More years go by and it is now almost 25 years since Abraham was promised an heir. Twenty five years......think about it. His centennial birthday is coming up real soon. This amazing man has not given up. And his faith is finally rewarded. The miracle that he is waiting for does happen. Sarah does give birth to that promised baby, Isaac, and he is the heir through which the promise of a nation will be fulfilled.

That's Abraham and Sarah's story. What is your story? Where is God leading you in your life? Is there a first step that you need to take? Are you facing a challenge that you haven't faced before? Are you the one who is thinking, " I cannot do this. It is impossible. Lord, is this really you? Am I the one now, not Abraham, who is projecting my own yearnings, my own disappointments, my own ambitions and confusing my own thoughts with your words?"

I know, so many questions, so many things to think about. So stop worrying so much! Take some deep breaths and be still and quiet..........

That first step of faith can be just like taking the first step on the balance beam; it can be terrifying for those who don't have a good sense of balance.......standing up there alone, knowing that you can fall at any time. Keep in mind, though, that when we take that first step of faith, we don't do it alone.

There is someone present to hold us up; we have the presence, strength, and sense of purpose of God with us. We also have each other to encourage us alone the way.

Maybe you feel you are not up to the direction your life has taken. Are there excuses that keep stopping you from taking that first step? Maybe you lack confidence in your abilities, your knowledge, your age, your gender, etc.

Again...stop....be quiet.....take some more deep breaths. If those reasons are so compelling, why did God call you anyway to this new path? To make your life more complicated? Consider this, "But God chose what is foolish to confound the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:27).

You are not alone in this life's journey. God still has a plan for this world, for each one of us. Remember who you are. As Christians, we believe that Jesus died and rose to life to bring us back into relationship with God. You are now empowered by God's Spirit so that you can face that journey ahead. No matter how impossible and scary it might seem........Remember, Abraham never lost faith.........100 hundred years old......babies.......diapers.......midnight feedings...............

Amen.