1. We hear a lot about the “New Normal”
a. We experienced it after 911 – Homeland Security with inspection lines in security
b. Right now we are headed into an unknown future – 6’; face masks; rubber gloves (maybe return to ladies’ gloves of the 50’s); change in blowing out birthday candles – FOREVER?
2. Will we go back to the “way we were” or into a new something?
a. Lives of individuals and families
b. Life of the church
c. When the dust settles what will we look like?
3. God rescued the Hebrews from Egypt
a. Plagues/Red Sea
b. Provided for the needs of the Hebrews – physical/spiritual
c. Brought them to the Promised Land – 12 spies
d. Response of the people after the 10 spies’ report – Numbers 14:1-4
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
4. In some ways our time of “shelter in place” has been a wilderness experience and still is
a. Remember, “Egypt” comes from the word for “Restraint” in Hebrew – Will we go back to the Egypt of the “tyranny of the urgent” – run ragged with overly full schedules – sports; obligations; activities OR
b. Does God have something for us? His leadership; rest and reflection
I. In the Wilderness, It is Tempting to Exchange Liberty for Security
A. Freedom Requires Payment
1. “Freedom isn’t free” – [US Armed Forces
2. For Israel – Passover lambs; witnessing the plagues; Red Sea
3. For Christians:
a. Jesus’ Crucifixion – John 3:16, et al
b. Death of Self – Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
B. Freedom Requires Effort
1. Following the LORD in the wilderness was not “easy” – Commemorated in Feast of Tabernacles
2. Following Jesus is not Easy
a. Embracing Scriptures – John 8:31-32
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
b. Sacrificing Self – Romans 12:1
C. Freedom Requires Risk
1. Freedom can be messy – bad choices; enemies like Amalek and Edom
2. Vigilance
Proverbs 4:23 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
1 Peter 5:8 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
II. In the Wilderness, It is Tempting to Ignore God’s Instructions and Go Our Own Way
A. Abram and His TWO Calls
1. BEFORE Haran – Acts 7:2-4
2. IN Haran – Genesis 11:32-12.4
B. Hebrews and Meat – Numbers 11:4-6
1. Wanted more than Manna –
2. God Provided More – Numbers 11:19-20 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
Numbers 11:21-23 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
3. Sometimes God disciplines us by giving us what we think we want
1. As we come out of the National Lockdown, what will become of us? What will we look like? “Business as usual” or have we learned something?
2. Is there something better?
a. Not just about facemasks and hand sanitizer
b. But the leadership of God and the surrender of his followers
c. Will we focus on God in our decisions or go our own way – as we have done?
d. Will we walk “before God” into the unknown as Abram was directed (Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,)
Many years ago, King George VI of England addressed the British Commonwealth on New Year’s Eve at a moment in history when the whole world stood on the brink of uncertainty. Despondency and uncertainty filled the air. The king’s own body was racked by cancer. Before that year was over, his life ended (1952).
Unaware of his own physical maladies, he uttered these memorable words: "I said to the man at the gate of the year, ’Give me a light that I might walk safely into the unknown.’ And he said to me, ’Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. It shall be to you safer than the light and better than the known.’ "
3. This is a watershed moment for us – what path will we choose?
4. Our mission hasn’t changed. The Spanish Flu of 1918, killing millions worldwide or the COVID-19 virus which has killed thousands worldwide has not given us a pass on our mission.
