Moses, The Helper

(Exodus 2:11-21 & 3:11-21)

INTRODUCTION

It is fun to watch young children try to help their parents. Remember the first time you tried to teach your child to crack an egg? The egg shells scattered throughout the scrambled eggs gave an interesting crunch as you and your child ate that breakfast. Remember when they tried to help you clear the table and dropped your great grandmother’s antique plate

and broke it into three dozen pieces. When my son was three and one half years old, he helped me by licking a roll of one hundred postage stamps, putting some on envelopes and the rest on the headboard of his bed.

Often the learning, helping process involves making mistakes. Remember helping teach someone to drive a stick shift car? Lurch, Lurch, Lurch. Was your first attempt at helping your food budget by planting a garden wiped out by a late frost? Over the years I have helped several young men, who were ready to enter college, learn how to do their own laundry. A couple did not heed my instructions to wash colored clothes separate from whites. One called me asking, "How do I make pink underwear white again?" The first time I used a cash register I needed help and still made plenty of mistakes. I kept trying and I learned.

We all want to help ourselves have a better life: And most want to help those around us when ever possible. At times we fail. Do we quit? No, we keep on trying. We keep on helping. Today, I want to tell you about

Moses, the Helper. Before Moses could become a Great Deliverer he had to learn how to help. HE MADE MISTAKES: BUT HE DID NOT QUIT. He did not give up. Let us see if we can learn something about helping and persevering as we look at three experiences in Moses’ history.

I. HELP THAT BROUGHT MOSES EXILE.

Most of us know the story of Moses. Because Pharaoh had commanded all new born Hebrew boys to be thrown into the Nile River. Moses’ Mother hid him for three months and then prepared a basket boat, and knowing that Pharaoh’s daughter would come to a certain spot to bathe, she put him in the boat and placed it into the reeds along the banks of the Nile. In a sly way, she obeyed Pharaoh. The princess found and fell in love with the baby. We all know that a woman can not resist picking up a baby. She took Moses as her son and chose Moses’ Mother to become the baby’s nurse. In

his early years, Moses probably spent more time with his real mother than he did with the Egyptians. Formative years are important.

Moses was raised as Pharaoh’s adopted Grandson—But his Mother taught him of his heritage and of the God of the Hebrews. Moses loved the Jews and at about age forty he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Thinking that no one was watching, he killed him and buried him in the sand. His brand of justice was observed by some Hebrews and, probably out of jealousy and a lack of gratefulness, they turned against Moses. Moses was afraid, and rightly so, because Pharaoh heard of his actions and tried to kill Moses. As a result Moses ran away to live in Midian.

On impulse, Moses tried to help. Tried to deliver justice. He did not think it through. He did not have a plan. He had not prayed about what to do to solve the problem of unjust treatment. He acted on emotion. When we want to help we must be sure that we are walking in all of God’s light. We must be sure that we are helping in Biblically mandated ways. Some try

to help by cutting corners.(Mythical Robin Hood sounds like a hero. He was a thief.) We need to ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" As we get to know Jesus better he will teach us when to encourage, to do

nothing, to speak, to be quiet, to aid, or to caution… A growing Bible knowledge will help us to much easier understand the will and ways of God. That is one of the reasons that we provide Sunday School. Studying

the lesson and paying attention to the holy teacher helps us to learn holy truths.

Some Christians try to do too much. As a result, they get strung out, frazzled, burned out, and never quite get done what really needs done. Ever see someone start all kinds of projects and finish few? We need to

know our gifts and graces. Our strengths and weaknesses. We are not Messiahs. We can not do everything: But what we do must be done to the glory of God. God calls not just pastors but everyone to His service.