Title: My Way, Or God’s Way?
Series: Living Godly Lives (Sermon # 1)
Text: Num 20:1-12
Date Preached: June 1, 2008
COPYRIGHT © Joe La Rue, 2008
Introduction
A. Hook: Years ago, Frank Sinatra had a popular song in which he sang,
“And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain
.
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more much more than this
I did it my way.”
(Paul Anka, “I Did It My Way” (1967)).
1. That song seems to characterize the times in which we live. This is a time when “authority” is not readily accepted; when there is a growing tendency to want to rebel against any and all authority, whether that be governmental authority, with the proliferation of anti-government groups and lawless gangs; or parental authority, as children are becoming more disrespectful and rebellious and in some cases violent toward their parents; or even spiritual authority, as more and more people refuse to consider what God says about matters pertaining to everyday life. And while I think we should be concerned about all of these, it’s the last one -- the rebelling against spiritual authority, that concerns me most.
2. Obviously, we see this attitude among non-Christian, secular people, but we also find it among Christians as well. I remember a time when a Christian came to see me for some spiritual advice, and they were contemplating doing something that the Bible clearly says is a sin. And they said to me, “I know this is wrong, but I’ve made up my mind, and I am going to do it anyway.” That sounds a whole lot like Mr. Sinatra, doesn’t it? “I did it my way!”
3. There are apparently a lot of Christians who believe in doing things “their way” these days. In April, 2005, Christianity Today published an article reporting the results of certain recent scientific poles which revealed the following:
a. About a third of all American evangelical Christians say that premarital sex is okay, and about 15 percent say that adultery is okay, even though the Bible says that these things are not okay.
b. Evangelical Christians and born-again Christians get divorced just as often, if not a little more, than the general population. And Barna has discovered that 90 percent of the born-again Christians who are divorced got divorced after they accepted Christ.
c. And when the polsters asked the question, "Do you object if a black neighbor moves in next door?", a surprisingly high number of Christians indicated that yes, they would object—even though the Bible tells us to love all people and treat everyone equally.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/april/32.70.html.
d. It seems that lots of Christians are singing with Sinatra, “I did it my way.”
B. The Bible has some interesting things to say about the difference between doing things my way, and doing things God’s way.
1. In Proverbs 14:12, we read: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov 14:12, NIV). Seems like it’s right, seems like it’s good, but leads to death. That’s man doing it his way. Now, contrast that with what the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6, NIV)
2. Who ultimately do you want directing your path? Do you want it to be God, who knows how to reach the finish line; or you and me, who aren’t even sure sometimes where the finish line is? If we want God to direct our paths, we’ve got to seek his will, and do things His way!
C. TRANS: I want to tell you a story this morning about someone who was faced with the temptation to do things his way instead of God’s way. His name was Moses. Listen to his story.
I. The Story of Moses
A. Moses was as close to God as what anyone could be. He was God’s leader, appointed to lead God’s people out of Egypt. The Bible says that God spoke to Moses, as a man speaks with his friend. Moses knew God. He was the one who had received the 10 Commandments and the rest of the Law. Moses knew that the very first Commandment was this, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall have no other Gods besides Me.” Moses knew that meant that God had to be first and foremost in His people’s lives. Moses should have known better than to even consider the temptation to disobey God’s way of doing things.
B. In fairness to Moses, I should tell you that, in spite of being so close to God, he was having a really rough time leading God’s people. He knew God was with him as the leader, but everyone else seemed to be questioning that fact.
1. It seemed that every time Moses turned around, the people were grumbling. “We don’t have enough food, Moses! Do you and God intend to starve us to death?” When God took care of that problem by giving the people manna from heaven to eat, they grumbled some more. “We don’t like our food, Moses! Are you and God trying to ruin our tastebuds? We want something different -- we want meat!” Well, God took care of that little problem, too. He provided them with birds to eat. But, the people continued to grumble. They complained when they needed water. They questioned whether Moses should be the leader. Instead of asking Moses to talk to God about their problems, they just grumbled and complained. And, to be honest, I imagine Moses was getting pretty sick of it.
a. What is the normal reaction when someone questions your ability, and you know you can do the thing they are saying you can’t do? You try to prove yourself, don’t you? You want to say, “See there, you were wrong about me!”
b. Moses was no different. For quite a while, now, the people had been saying to Moses, “You aren’t anything special. We don’t need you as a leader. We want someone else.” And, I think Moses was tempted, just like we would be, to show the people just who really was the one God had called to be the leader.
c. TRANS: If you have your Bibles, look with me at Numbers 20:1-13.
1In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! 4Why did you bring the LORD’S community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7The LORD said to Moses, 8“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9So Moses took the staff from the LORD’S presence, just as he commanded him. 10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
C. What was the big deal? Why did God get so mad?
1. Moses tried to give himself and Aaron credit for something only God could do. Did you catch what Moses asked the people? “Must we bring you water out of this rock?” Moses was attributing to himself something only God could do. It was as if he was saying, “Aaron and I are the ones performing this miracle.”
2. Then, in his anger, he disobeyed what God had said to do. God said, “Speak to the rock.” Moses, doing it “his way,” hit the rock with the staff. He wanted to make sure the people knew that he was the leader, so he demonstrated his authority by hitting the rock. Moses was tired of the people blaming him and doubting him. He was going to show them.
a. There is, however, a problem: God told Moses to speak to the rock. That was God’s way. Moses hit the rock. He did it his way.
b. And, to top it all off, he took the credit for the miracle -- “Must we bring water...?” God and me are doing this.
3. Now, let’s step back from the story for just a minute. One might say, “I don’t see what the big deal is. Speak to the rock,... hit the rock,...either way, water came out of the rock! What Moses did worked! What is the problem?”
a. The very fact that we would dare to ask this question shows that we don’t really want to accept God’s authority in our lives.
b. God told Moses to do a certain thing, and Moses disobeyed. He did not do what God told him to.
c. God viewed these actions as not trusting in Him and honoring Him as holy.
(1) When they tried to take credit for the miracle, they did not honor Him as holy.
(2) When they struck the rock, they did not trust Him to perform His miracle.
(3) And, while we might view this as a very minor thing -- after all, it all worked out -- God viewed it very seriously. God said that He expects to be obeyed. God said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
(4) And, while we might sympathize with Moses and understand why he did what he did, that still does not make his action RIGHT.
II. The Story of Us
A. We’ve been talking about Moses. Let me talk now about us. Let me apply this to us. Those of us who are Christians know that some things are right and some things are wrong, and God has told us which are which in His Word. And all of us are tempted at times to “do things our way,” just like Moses was; the real question is, Do we give in to the temptation like Moses did, or do we resist it? That is the question each of us must decide. God doesn’t speak to us today in the same manner He spoke to Moses, but He has spoken in His Word. So the question becomes, do we choose to do things God’s way, the way He says to do them in His Word, or do we choose to do things our way?
1. For instance, God says in his Word that we are to love all people. Do we do that, or do we pick who we are going to love? Are we willing to love the ones who hate us and are mean to us? Are we willing to love those poorer than us, as well as those richer than us? Are we willing to love those of a different racial background, or do we only love those “like us?” Do we treat all people fairly, and nicely, as God says to do? Or, do we pick and choose who we are going to be fair to, who we are going to be nice to? Do we do things our way, or God’s way?
2. God says in His Word to resist sin and strive for perfection. Do we do that, or do we tolerate sin in our lives, thinking it really isn’t that big of a deal? Do we make excuses for ourselves, saying things like, “I’m only human” or “everybody does it?” Unless we are resisting sin in our lives, we are doing it our way, and not God’s.
3. God says to be committed to Him, and to His Son Jesus Christ. Are we committed all the time, or are we only committed when it is convenient? Are we committed when other people are watching? Are we committed when no one is watching, and no one would ever know what we do, or what we don’t do? If we’re not committed to Jesus all the time, we’re doing it our way, and not God’s.
4. God says we should give Him the praise for the things He enables us to do. Do we do that? Or, do we boast about our accomplishments, instead of giving God the glory, to whom it belongs? When we say “Look at what I did” instead of “Look at what God has done through me” or “Look at what God has let me do” we are doing things our way instead of God’s.
B. I could go on and on. My point is this: Everyone of us faces the temptation to do things our way instead of God’s way.
Conclusion
A. And God takes this kind of disrespect towards Himself very seriously. Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land of Canaan because of this incident.
B. For the next several weeks I will share about how we can do things God’s way in our lives. Next week, I’m going to be sharing with you about how we need to do things God’s way even when no one else is looking. You know, it’s one thing to act like a Christian when other people are around. Sometimes it’s more difficult to live as God wants when I’m alone, and I know that no one else is looking. We’ll be talking about that next week. And the week following, we’ll talk about living Godly lives when everyone seems to be looking, and we have to make a choice to stand for God’s truth, even when it’s unpopular or disadvantageous for us to do so. The final week of June, we’ll talk about what happens when Godly people fall, what Godly people should do when they discover that they have failed to be Godly.
C. It starts, though, with a choice. We have to choose: Whose way will we follow? My way, or God’s way? Who will we let decide, me, or God? Will we do things MY way, or GOD’s way?
