"Radical Faithfulness"
Introduction: As I have gotten older I've had the opportunity to think a great deal about ministry in general and I have come to the conclusion that the single most important thing is faithfulness; not ability, or talent, or position, or anything else. Faithfulness is first on my list because I have come to realize and appreciate the truth that faithfulness is first on God's list too and what's important to Him ought to be important to us too! In our text we have a statement by Jehovah Himself that says everything that we need to know about how God feels about this subject. There are three things that I gleaned from the text we are considering this morning. First, it's important to set the scene for what is said. Moses is the undisputed and unchallenged leader of the children of Israel, at least up to this point. In our text we learn that Moses sister Miriam and brother Aaron decide to challenge Moses and God intervenes on Moses behalf. Let's read the text:
Numbers 12:1-16
Numbers 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) 4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. 13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. 15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. 16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.
Hebrews 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Hebrews 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
What do we learn from the Scripture? First, we learn that Moses was a:
I. Faithful Servant -- His Character
God refers to Moses as His servant...who is faithful.
a. A faithful servant is attentive to the words of his Master
In verses 6-8 God speaks about this aspect of His relationship with Moses.
b. A faithful servant adheres to the words of his Master
But it is not enough to hear for Moses was obedient to his Master.
c. A faithful servant acts on the words of his Master
Moses spoke to the people as a herald for Jehovah. He delivered God's Word to them, even when it was difficult.
The second: God refers to Moses as His servant...who is faithful...in all Mine house. This means that Moses was also a steward.
II. Faithful Steward -- His Conduct
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
a. A faithful steward recognizes the authority of his master
Matthew 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
b. A faithful steward is responsible for his master's assets
Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
c. A faithful steward gives his master assurance
Someone said that; "Character is what you are when no one is looking..." or "Character is what you are when you are alone..." Either way a faithful steward give his Master the assurance that whether he comes or goes, is present or absent, he is trustworthy and reliable.
I have come to realize that the stewardship of time is the single most important aspect of our lives. Treasures and talents are important but nothing compares with the importance of time.
John Taylor recently invented a clock called the chronophage. Literally it means "time eater." It was donated to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge. It combines the Greek word for time, "chronos," and the word "phageo," meaning "to eat". A monster-looking grasshopper with a mouthful of teeth devours every second with the movement of its jaw. A chain rattles in a tiny wooden coffin at the back of the clock, and then slams shut marking the tolling of the hour. Taylor, 72, says it is the sound of his mortality.
The pendulum swings erratically. It will slow to a near stop, and then race ahead, reminding us of occasions when time flies or seems as though it has come to a standstill. The timepiece is accurate only once every five minutes. Blue lights play an optical illusion. They will whirl around the clock one second and then suddenly appear to freeze the next. Einstein said an hour sitting next to a pretty girl can be like a minute, and a minute sitting on a hot stove can seem like an hour.
John Taylor says, "Clocks are boring. They just tell the time, and people treat them as boring objects. This clock actually interacts with you." One reason he built this $1.5 million clock was to remind viewers not to take time for granted.
Our biggest issue with time is not how to organize or plan our time. We know how to make a to do list or we have a daytime or calendar. Our biggest issue is being convinced we don't have a lot of time. We need to do what matters. Therefore, we need God's wisdom so we can live a life that is rich in its relationship with God and meaningful in its service for God.
(From a sermon by Ed Sasnett, "The Stewardship of Time" 1/19/2009)
III. Faithful Supplicant -- His compassion
Moses faithfulness to "...all his Master's house..." is revealed in his willingness to pray
a. His intervention
Aaron pleads with his brother to intervene on behalf of their sister. I believe that Miriam was the instigator of this plot to overthrow her brother. It was a "coup de tat" of her own design. How do you come to that conclusion pastor. It's an easy deduction. Aaron is a weak character evidenced by his willingness to go along with the people in the calf worship and Miriam is the one who is punished with leprosy. "Be sure your sins will find you out."
Prayer for Compassion
Then we can pray a prayer like David Mains prayed years ago. He was once pastor of the Circle Urban Church, an inner city church in Chicago, and one day, in the course of his ministry among such great need, he prayed, "Lord, let me see the world as you see it, and break my heart with the things that break yours."
Do you know: he really meant that prayer, and the next day he found himself weeping so much, he had to ask God to stop.
I encourage you -- trust the Lord on this one. If you find your heart a little calloused this morning about the needs of so many around us, then be honest with Him. Tell Him, "I'm sorry that I'm not sorry. Would you please soften my callous heart. Would you please break my heart with the things that break yours."
From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Real Compassion, 10/22/2009
b. His intercession
At great personal risk Moses intercedes on his sister's behalf. This is not the only time we see Moses faithfulness to intercede. He does it many times and under many different circumstances. Could you and I pray for someone who has betrayed our trust and what makes it even worse is this is a close family member! Would it surprise you to know that your pastor prays for you even when you have not been loyal or faithful and even if you have betrayed his trust?
Andrew Murray writes, "God regards intercession as the highest expression of His people's readiness to receive and to yield themselves wholly to the working of His Almighty power." (God's Best Secrets, pg. 50)
WILL YOU PRAY FOR THE TALIBAN?
I am all too ready to say that the TALIBAN deserve God's judgment without really thinking twice. I tend to think of them in the same way that I think about SODOM AND GOMORRAH. But did Sodom and Gomorrah really deserve to be judged? Does the Taliban? If I knew that a large city governed by the Taliban was about to be bombed to the ground, am I really willing to INTERCEDE on behalf of those who may be genuinely seeking God in the hope that perhaps some could come to know Christ and be saved? That's exactly what Moses did.
Conclusion: Dr. L. C. Johnson said, "I can't evaluate my own ministry." One fellow said, "We don't like you and we think you are a failure." Another fellow says, "We think you are great!" That confuses me. Sometimes, even when you talk to your wife, you get the suspicion that she feels that you're not so hot. There's no way for me to know what I have done, except this. I can know whether I have been faithful or not!
Faithfulness in Battle
John Wesley once said: "Give me a hundred men who love nothing but God and hate nothing but sin, and I will shake the whole world for Christ."
It doesn't take many... but it does take someone who decides to be faithful.
In December 1944, the German army launched an unexpected attack. In what was to become known as the Battle of Bulge, the Nazis drove deep behind Allied lines. Writing in WW II about the reaction of the American troops to this attack, James Jones said
"No one of these little road junction stands could have had a profound effect on the German drive. But hundreds of them, impromptu little battles at nameless bridges and unknown crossroads, had an effect of slowing enormously the German impetus... These little die-hard 'one man stands,' alone in the snow and fog without communications, would prove enormously effective out of all proportion to their size."
From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Time In The Trenches, 10/19/2009
