This sermon was delivered to the congregation in Holy Trinity, in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 18th June 2017: by Gordon McCulloch. (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Our reading today are:n Exodus 19:2-8a, Psalm 100, Romans 5:1-8, Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23).
Please join me in my prayer. Let the words on my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord. Amen.
Introduction:
Good morning … and may I that this opportunity to wish all you fathers, a happy father’s day. … As normal, I did not know it was fathers day until very recently … and neither did I know I was to do today’s sermon. … So please forgive me as I don’t have a good Father’s day sermon for you. … Instead, I was instructed to preach from the Old Testament reading which I am not comfortable with, as it has taken me many years to get into the New, however, I was very pleased to write this sermon, I hope that you like it too.
So we will start this morning by quoting Romans 8:16 from my last sermon, the verse I regularly quote as I find it difficult to believe or accept and hopefully that one day I will: verse 16 reads, “… that we are the children of God: … and if children, then heirs; … heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; … if so that we suffer with him … that we may be also glorified together”. …
And from today’s Old Testament we read in verse 5, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant … you will be my treasured possession.”
I also find this verse difficult to accept; it is easy to read, and it is easy to be convincing, but to let it sink down or sink into our hearts … I find it most difficult, … because if we all believed it, … our lives would be so different, and so to would our outlook on life. I think we would be more jovial, and we should be happier, because we would know there is a God watching over us ever second of the day, guiding and directing us, letting us not fall into harm.
That is what the bible says, in the Old Testament, that we are his treasured possessions, and in the New, we are heirs with Christ. …
The apostle Paul also reminds us in Romans 14:8, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; … and whether we die, … we die unto the Lord: .. whether we live therefore, or die, we belong to the Lord's”. And I like that verse as it is full of hope, and that therefore is my theme for today that we are God’s treasured possessions; it is the Lord God Himself who draws us to him, and we remain close to the Lord as we continue in His Word.
I. OUR LORD DRAWS US TO HIMSELF
Our reading this morning is from the book of Exodus, the second book in the Bible, where the children of Israel fled from rule of Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan.
Verse 2, “After they set out from Rephidim, (Refidim), they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain”, ... the original translation tells us they broke camp there, travelled a distance, and they made camp again, to stay there in front of the mountain which is fair enough, however these Israelites did not know it yet, but this would become their routine for the next 40 years, as they would wander in the wilderness. They routinely would break camp, gather up all of their belongings and march for a day or so, then they would camp there a short time, and then move on, … time after time for 40 years.
Now this may sound simple, but if you consider that there were over 600,000 men in this camp, that is according to Numbers 1:46, and so add the women and children, we have well over 1 million people, in fact the population of a city, say of Glasgow for example. That is a large camp to break up in the morning … then move … then settle down again … and then as they settle, they would jockey for the best place, probably beside water, if there was water, … anyway, we read today that the Israelites have come to a mountain and camped in front of it, and we know from later verses that this is Mount Sinai where Moses was later given the Ten Commandments. Ok.
Verse 3 goes on to say, ”Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
Now, I said in my last sermon that we have a mediator for God and that is the Holy Spirit, but here in the Old Testament, Moses is their mediator, the go between God and man. … He is God’s spokesman to the people, and the people’s spokesman to God, and Moses faithfully carries out this duty … and today, the message that God wants Moses to communicate is fact that God wants the people to know that he really loves them. Now that is some message … Verse 4 says, ”You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
These people had witnessed first-hand, the plagues and all the other inflictions the Lord placed on the Egyptian, they even witnessed the parting of the Red Sea … and the killing or drowning of the Egyptian army, the greatest nation on the earth at that time, … and basically, the Lord had “carried them on eagle’s wings”. … The Lord had said, I “brought you to myself”, so can you see the similarity with the New Testament, where because of the death of Jesus, we have been bought or brought by God, for himself also.
And just like us, it took the Israelites ages to realise and accept this, … and like us, they too had called out to God for his help, as they realised how much they needed it, … and by doing so, the Lord drew himself closer to them, and kept them close … probably through attrition as they suffered in the dessert, ... but God goes on to tell them why he did this in verse 5, ”Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a treasured possession unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”
Again, that is a powerful verse in many ways, not least because the world at that time looked at Egypt as the great nation … and the children of Israel were just slaves really … but the Lord looked at the children of Israel as his treasured possession, his chosen people who believed in him. And then he added, “for all the earth is mine:” … … Today we know how great Egypt was through the history channel, … we also know how great and resilient the Nation of Israel is, surrounded by all those Arab nations, … and we also know from the bible that they will play a significant part in the future of our world. So whose side is or was God on then? … And I will just add, we belong to God also, don’t forget … don’t give up on that one.
Anyway, verse 6 goes one to say, ”And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which you shalt speak. … The Israelites or Jews were to become a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and one nation of the world chosen from among all the other nations by God himself, to be his treasured possession, and yet again today, we know this has actually happened. The Jews are the only Nation who are a race unto themselves, and we know, that only God could have done that through their obedience to him.
We also know it was not plain sailing either, because even here the Jews had to endure hardships, and we know they grumbled and complained all through the wilderness … (just like us), but we also know that God did deliver them unto the Promised Land. … And we can all relate to that, because we too feel at times that God is a long way off, even forsaking us completely, (at times) … but somehow, looking back, we seem to come through. … Yes we live in this sinful world, which more and more promotes sin, … we all have a sinful nature, (which is on the mend), … and we rarely see the purpose of God in our day-to-day lives, … but on reflection, we can cringe at what could have happened had God not intervened. Yes!
That is what separates us from non-believers, because when Jesus walked on this earth he said in Luke 3:34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stoned those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" …
Many times we too do not listen, or take heed of the warning signs, … that is when God is then forced to intervene; … and this is normally achieved with a lot of pain and discomfort. … And I am not saying we have chosen our particular paths for bad reasons, …we have all walked our chosen paths, … paths that we are comfortable with, paths we feel safe and convinced that we are doing the right thing, … but then all of a sudden, the Lord intervenes and says, I do not want you to go that way anymore, go this way, and forget everything that you have just achieved; … and you go what? … This is what the Lord does, and it is never easy … but eventually, and I mean eventually, years later, we see that it has all been for the best.
Be honest, has that happened to you? If it has, it is not pleasant, but God intervenes directly in our lives and changes us to where he wants us to go. … And the worse part is that we all ask God to intervene in our lives all the time, and change things, and when he does, we do the same as the Israelites did, we grumble and complain all the way. … But think about it, God himself has then intervened in our lives. …. The power of God that is so strong that it has got to hurt, and it does, … but it hurts the Lord as well, as he says, "How I wish to gather you under my wings, but you were not willing."
Jeremiah reminds us of this power of God in Chapter 31 verse 3 where he says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee close” … God draws us close to himself with his love and kindness, … a love which lasts forever, and surpasses our shortcomings and our sinfulness.
Anyway, to move on, Verse 7 says ”… and Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him” ... Yes Moses reminded the elders of their past; and reminded them how the Lord draws them close to himself, and this appears all very good as it goes onto say in verse 8, ”And all the people answered together, and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord”. …
You know, this sounds like the end of a Walton’s story, because verse 9 read … “the children of Israel all said, "The Lord loves us, and we will always love Him" … so sugary and sweet that it makes you sick … but I suppose it would have been nice if it stopped right there, but we know it didn’t, because we know the story goes a few verses later into chapter 20, … where Moses returns from the mountain with the Ten Commandments only to watch the people worshipping a golden calf of all things. ... They had obviously forgotten all about being God’s treasured possession … along with being a nation of priests and them saying, “all that the Lord has spoken we will do”. …
So that is one reason why we should come to church on a Sunday, lest we forget also, lest we forget that we do belong to the Lord … and that if we do forget, we must remember that the Lord will allow us to go down a wrong path for a while, before painfully correcting us and putting us back on course. … Our God says, "You are mine … you belong to me", … and we need to constantly remind ourselves of that, because as you know, this is an evil, sin-darkened world, … and Colossians 2, verses 6&7 tells us how to overcome that, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: … Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving”. … We therefore need to be thankful that the Lord draws us close, and that we are to stay close to Him by continuing in his word … by reading it … and by hearing it … and by studying it … and so on.
And scripture goes further in that we are to help those around us, Hebrews 10; 23 & 24 tells us to, “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess … for God who promises is faithful. … And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds".
Today, that is a sign of a believer, because if we look at the world around us, we don’t see that happening very much. We don’t find people trying to encourage one another onwards, rather the opposite … we see people keeping things to themselves, we see them causing divisions … and quarrels and stirring things up … and causing all kinds of conflict where it need not be.
And that gives us all the more reason why we Christians must remind ourselves that as we grow in the faith, and have seen God’s love acting on our lives, (ok painfully sometimes) … but we then need to encourage one another in love and good deeds …by living a good Christian life ourselves in God’s divine word.
Mathew gives us a similar message in chapter 5 verse 16 where he records Jesus saying, "… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven". … And True believers are excited to do all of this because the Lord has drawn them close to him … being his treasured possession.
The Lord would say to us this morning, that we as believers are his treasured possession … his kingdom of priests and his holy nation. We are the ones that he loves with an everlasting love. We are the ones that have been taken out of the darkness and brought into the light, so that we may continue in this light, right into eternity itself.
The apostle Peter himself summed this up in his letter in 1st Peter 2:9 ... almost quoting these same words from Moses way back in Exodus, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”.
So this week or next week or anytime that we may feel forgotten by the Lord, or forsaken by others we need to remember this, that the Lord himself has said, "You are my treasured possession … … I have drawn you close to my heart … so that you may continue in my word, and in the light of the knowledge of salvation …not just for ourselves, … but for others”.
Amen and let us pray
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died all those years ago to make us your treasured possession, that wthout him, you could not reach out to us at all. … …
Father we just do not know how close we are to you, regardless of how many times we read it in your words, so Father we ask this morning to show us just how much you have been watching over us all this time … and how much you have influencing our lives for your glory, and not ours. …
Father we ask that you show us that all our struggles have not been in vain, that we are on your chosen path to righteousness. … … and to meet with you eventually in heaven.
Father we ask in Jesus name, Amen.
