Leadership
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
Exodus 17: 1-7
July 8, 2001
Out West, a cowboy was driving down a dirt road, his dog riding in back of the pickup truck, his faithful horse in the trailer behind. He failed to negotiate a curve and had a terrible accident.
Sometime later, a highway patrol officer came on the scene. An animal lover, he saw the horse first. Realizing the serious nature of its injuries, he drew his service revolver and put the animal out of his misery. He walked around the accident and found the dog, also hurt critically. He couldn’t bear to hear it whine in pain, so he ended the dog’s suffering as well.
Finally he located the cowboy --who suffered multiple fractures--off in the weeds. "Hey, are you okay?" the cop asked. The cowboy took one look at the smoking revolver in the trooper’s hand and quickly replied, "Never felt better!"
A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years his superior called him in and asked, "Do you have anything to say?" The monk replied, "Food bad." After another 10 years the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, "Bed hard." Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, "I quit." "It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here."
An older couple died in an auto accident and taken to Heaven. As they began to look all around at their setting for eternity. The wife was amazed at the beauty, the peace and the contentment she felt and commented over and over about what a nice place Heaven was and how fortunate she felt to be there.
The husband sneered, "If it weren’t for you and your oat bran muffins & health food , we’d have been here 15 years ago."
In Exodus 17 the Israelites seemed to be in a hurry to be anywhere but where God had brought them.
Ex 17:1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" 4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Prayer
1. There was a legitimate need
It was a basic need equated to survival
That’s a basic need survival
A sense of belonging
A need to feel loved and needed
What do you do when needs go unrealized?
Do you struggle with a need for survival?
God says do not worry about what to eat drink or wear I will take care of you
Do you struggle with a desire to belong?
God says You are not your own you were bought with a price and you belong in my kingdom and care.
Do you struggle with a need to be loved?
God said you are loved and you are valuable.
A story is told of a man who loved old books. He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations. "I couldn’t read it," the friend explained. "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it." "Not Gutenberg!" the book lover exclaimed in horror. "That Bible was one of the first books ever printed. Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!" His friend was unimpressed. "Mine wouldn’t have brought a dollar. Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German."
Do you realize your value to God? You say it’s not worth much it has Jehovah printed on it Our lives our worth more than any dollar amount when we have Jesus written on it
God values us and he knows what our needs are
A husband was doing his taxes while his wife was sitting on the couch watching the TV. After a while she says "I want you to cuddle with me."
The husband says “I don’t have time to cuddle I have to get the takes done"
The wife explains that he must not be in tune with her emotional needs as a Woman.
The next day the husband takes her shopping at a big department store. He walks around and has her try on three very expensive outfits and then tells his wife, "We’ll take all three of them".
Next they go over and get matching shoes worth $200 each. Finally they go to the Jewelry Department and get diamond earrings.
The wife is so excited (she thinks her husband has flipped out) She goes for the tennis bracelet. The husband says "but you don’t even play tennis, but OK if you like it then let’s get it."
The wife is jumping up and down so excited she cannot even believe what is going on. She says "I am ready to go, lets go to the cash register."
The husband says," No, honey we’re not going to BUY all this stuff." The wife’s face goes blank. "No honey, I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while."
Her face gets red and she is about to explode and then the Husband says "You must not be in tune with my financial needs as a Man!!!
God understands your needs as humans
God understood the needs of the Israelites
However when we feel neglected we sometimes act the same way that God’s people did
2. The People fought with the Leaders
They complained against Moses
Why did you bring us here to die
Reggie Jackson is well known for having played baseball for the Oakland A’s and the World Champion New York Yankees. Earlier in Jackson’s career, he played briefly for the Baltimore Orioles. O’s Manager Earl Weaver had a strict rule he expected his team to follow: He wouldn’t allow a player to try to steal a base without first receiving the go-ahead sign from him. Of course, this was an affront to a temperamental individual like Mr. October, Reggie Jackson.
In one decisive game Reggie did not receive the steal sign from Weaver, but he took off for second base regardless. The future Hall of Famer slid in, barely beating the tag. As he brushed himself off, he smiled and glared at Earl Weaver in the dugout, proud of his accomplishment.
After the game was over, Weaver pulled Jackson aside, "Reggie, I want you to know why I didn’t give you the steal sign. Our best power hitter, next to you, is Lee May. May was at the plate when you were on first base. When you stole second, that left first base open. So our opponents intentionally walked him. The next batter hasn’t experienced much success against the opposing pitcher. That meant I had to put in a pinch hitter. This left me with insufficient bench strength should the game go into extra innings, which it did, and I think that is why we lost."
Reggie Jackson wanted to steal a base;
Earl Weaver wanted to win a ball game.
As God’s people we are sometimes going to miss the Big picture, but we need to learn to recognize the signals he is sending us through His leaders.
The Israelites failed because they did recognize God working among them
A blind man was describing his favorite sport - parachuting. When asked how this was accomplished, he said that things were all done for him: "I am placed in the door and told when to jump. My hand is placed on my release ring for me, and out I go."
"But how do you know when you are going to land?" he was asked. "I have a very keen sense of smell and I can smell the trees and grass when I am 300 feet from the ground" he answered.
"But how do you know when to lift your legs for the final arrival on the ground?" he was again asked.
He quickly answered "Oh, the dog’s leash goes slack".
Though you may not be able to see exactly what God is doing but He will provide subtle signs
3. Moses turned to God
A. Good Leaders trust God
They look for the north star in a world of changing maps. They look to the one source of truth. To give us hope and guide our journey
B. Good Leaders Remember where their authority comes from
Pilot said don’t you realize the authority I have over you.
“You would have no authority if it were not given to you.
C. Good Leaders act in the best interests of the people
They are committed to take God’s people to a better place
They are the Harriet Tubman’s of the spiritual world. Reminding you that you cannot spend your life being oppressed beaten up and enslaved to another master. Nor can you spend your wandering pointlessly in the desert of sin.
So what:
Get behind your leaders
Old Chinese Proverb “He who thinks he is leading but has no followers is just taking a walk”
Are our leaders just taking a walk or do they have your support?
Hear the call to purity
The Israelites were so busy doing their own thing that they failed to do what was right
Hear the call to worship
Because of their self centered attitude they did not remember the torture they faced in Egypt
Hear the call to serve
When you are focused on God you will be able to listen as He points you in direction of service
The Pope had just finished a tour of the Napa Valley and was taking
a limousine to San Francisco. Having never driven a limo, he asks
the chauffeur if he can drive for a while. Well, the chauffeur
doesn’t have much of a choice, so he climbs in the back of the limo
and the Pope takes the wheel.
The Pope proceeds down Silverado, and starts accelerating to see
what the limo can do. He gets to about 90 mph, and suddenly he sees
the red & blue lights of a CHiP in his mirror. He pulls over and
the trooper comes to his window. The trooper, seeing who it is,
says, "Just a moment please, I need to call in."
The trooper calls in and asks for the chief. He tells the chief
that he’s got a REALLY important person pulled over, and asks how to
handle it.
"It’s not Ted Kennedy again is it?" asks the chief.
"No sir!" replies the trooper, "This guy’s more important."
"Is it the Governor?"
"No! Even more important!"
"Is it the PRESIDENT???"
"No sir! Even *more* important!"
"Well WHO THE HECK is it?" screams the chief.
"I don’t know sir," replies the trooper, "but he’s got the Pope as
his chauffeur."
Will you listen for God and support his leaders?
Some of you are wandering in the desert of sin
A boy who loved nature lived with his parents. He often went out to the barn and got some grain wheat, oats or perhaps some corn and scattered it just outside of his window so he could watch the birds from his bedroom window when they came to feed.
They lived about 2 miles from town. The boy walked to school every school day, two miles to school and then two miles back to his home. He was getting to be a big boy and he had nearly worn out his school coat. It had patches and worn spots. He needed a new coat. So he and his mother went to town one day in their wagon pulled by the horse. They stopped in front of the dry goods store and tied their horse to the hitching post. They looked at coats in the store. There was one that he liked very much. His mother had him try it on. It was very nice. Because they didn’t have enough money to buy the coat mother put it on layaway. But the coat she laid away was somewhat larger so he could wear it for a couple of years.
He went home so happy! All summer long he worked for who every one he could to earn enough money to pay for his new coat. Finally he had enough money. His mother let him walk to town to buy the coat because father was using the horses to do the fall plowing.
The store man went into the back room and got the coat. The boy put it on and laid his money, just the right amount, on the counter. It was the money he had worked hard to get at odd jobs all summer long. The store man counted out the money, and sure enough it was exactly the right amount. But the boy did not know that when his mother had laid the coat away that she had paid ten dollars down. So the store man handed the boy ten dollars.
The boy was so happy. He put on the new coat and put the ten dollars in his pocket. His new coat was pretty, and snugly warm.
As he walked along toward home he saw a man sitting on a stump by the side of the road. He had a big cage and it was full of birds -- cardinals, blue jays, titmice, chick-a-dees, buntings, sparrows and many others. All were trying to get out. It was a large cage and there were hundreds of birds in it.
"How did you get all of them?" asked the boy.
"Oh I just took some real good bird food and sprinkled it on the ground near my hiding place. When the birds came to eat I caught them with a long handled net and put them in the cage!"
"What are you going to do with them?" asked the boy.
I’m going to beat them mess and when I get tired of them
"I’m going to kill them!" And with that statement he hit the cage with a big stick he had in his hand. The birds screamed and thrashed around the cage, all trying to get away. Then he hit the cage again and laughed. And he said, "I’m, going to kill them!"
"You are going to kill all of those birds?" And in his mind he remembered that hardly any birds were coming to his feeding place lately. He loved every one of those birds. He paused and thought. Then he said, "Can I buy the cage and all the birds?"
The man gave the boy a sideways glance. He thought, "I’ll get all I can from this boy."
"How much money have you got to pay for the cage full of birds?"
The boy put his hand into his pocket and felt the ten-dollar bill. "I can pay you ten dollars."
"What!" said the man, "only ten dollars for all those birds that I have spent so much time catching? Tell you what I will do. Give me the ten dollars and your coat and it’s a deal."
The boy handed the man the ten-dollar bill and he slowly took off his beloved, brand new coat and handed it to the man. The man grabbed it and ran into the woods.
The boy walked over to the cage, reached down and opened the door. The birds flew to freedom.
Jesus walked down the celestial way, and came to a man sitting by planet earth -- the cage. Every person on earth was in the cage.
"Is that your cage?" Asked Jesus
"Yes, it’s my cage, I own it all!"
"How do you get the people into your cage?" Jesus said
"Oh, that is easy. I just offer them things that they would rather have than to obey God. They curse, love money and goods, don’t honor the creator neglecting His Sabbath, disobey parents and superiors, kill, lie, steal and fight."
"They all do it and all get into my cage."
"What are you going to do with them?"
Well First I’m going to beat them.
Make them feel worthless and when I get tired of them
"I’m going to kill them!"
"Would it be possible for me to buy all these people along with your cage?"
"Yes," said the Devil, "you can purchase them but it might cost you your life!"
