(Exodus 2:11-21 & 3:11-21)
INTRODUCTION
It is fun to watch young children try to help their parents. Remember the first time you tried to teach your child to crack an egg? The egg shells scattered throughout the scrambled eggs gave an interesting crunch as you and your child ate that breakfast. Remember when they tried to help you clear the table and dropped your great grandmother’s antique plate
and broke it into three dozen pieces. When my son was three and one half years old, he helped me by licking a roll of one hundred postage stamps, putting some on envelopes and the rest on the headboard of his bed.
Often the learning, helping process involves making mistakes. Remember helping teach someone to drive a stick shift car? Lurch, Lurch, Lurch. Was your first attempt at helping your food budget by planting a garden wiped out by a late frost? Over the years I have helped several young men, who were ready to enter college, learn how to do their own laundry. A couple did not heed my instructions to wash colored clothes separate from whites. One called me asking, "How do I make pink underwear white again?" The first time I used a cash register I needed help and still made plenty of mistakes. I kept trying and I learned.
We all want to help ourselves have a better life: And most want to help those around us when ever possible. At times we fail. Do we quit? No, we keep on trying. We keep on helping. Today, I want to tell you about
Moses, the Helper. Before Moses could become a Great Deliverer he had to learn how to help. HE MADE MISTAKES: BUT HE DID NOT QUIT. He did not give up. Let us see if we can learn something about helping and persevering as we look at three experiences in Moses’ history.
I. HELP THAT BROUGHT MOSES EXILE.
Most of us know the story of Moses. Because Pharaoh had commanded all new born Hebrew boys to be thrown into the Nile River. Moses’ Mother hid him for three months and then prepared a basket boat, and knowing that Pharaoh’s daughter would come to a certain spot to bathe, she put him in the boat and placed it into the reeds along the banks of the Nile. In a sly way, she obeyed Pharaoh. The princess found and fell in love with the baby. We all know that a woman can not resist picking up a baby. She took Moses as her son and chose Moses’ Mother to become the baby’s nurse. In
his early years, Moses probably spent more time with his real mother than he did with the Egyptians. Formative years are important.
Moses was raised as Pharaoh’s adopted Grandson—But his Mother taught him of his heritage and of the God of the Hebrews. Moses loved the Jews and at about age forty he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Thinking that no one was watching, he killed him and buried him in the sand. His brand of justice was observed by some Hebrews and, probably out of jealousy and a lack of gratefulness, they turned against Moses. Moses was afraid, and rightly so, because Pharaoh heard of his actions and tried to kill Moses. As a result Moses ran away to live in Midian.
On impulse, Moses tried to help. Tried to deliver justice. He did not think it through. He did not have a plan. He had not prayed about what to do to solve the problem of unjust treatment. He acted on emotion. When we want to help we must be sure that we are walking in all of God’s light. We must be sure that we are helping in Biblically mandated ways. Some try
to help by cutting corners.(Mythical Robin Hood sounds like a hero. He was a thief.) We need to ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" As we get to know Jesus better he will teach us when to encourage, to do
nothing, to speak, to be quiet, to aid, or to caution… A growing Bible knowledge will help us to much easier understand the will and ways of God. That is one of the reasons that we provide Sunday School. Studying
the lesson and paying attention to the holy teacher helps us to learn holy truths.
Some Christians try to do too much. As a result, they get strung out, frazzled, burned out, and never quite get done what really needs done. Ever see someone start all kinds of projects and finish few? We need to
know our gifts and graces. Our strengths and weaknesses. We are not Messiahs. We can not do everything: But what we do must be done to the glory of God. God calls not just pastors but everyone to His service.
Moses’ help caused him to run for his life. It sent him to a forty year exile.
II. HELP THAT GOT MOSES A NEW HOME AND A WIFE.
After Moses’ flight landed in Midian,(Egypt Air or was it El Al?) he went out and sat by a well. His thoughts must have been, "I am in a really big mess…What should I do now?" As he rested and thought, seven daughters of
a priest of Midian brought their father’s flocks to the well for water. A group of cruel shepherds came along and drove the girls away. You know what happened. Moses, the helper, "got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock."(v.17)
When the girl’s father learned of Moses’ heroic and kind help, he had the girls invite Moses to his home.(Why none of the seven girls did not invite an heroic and eligible bachelor home is beyond my understanding.)
He invited Moses to stay with him and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah for a wife. (There is no mention of a dowry recorded in the Bible. Wow! His help won him a wife for free!) Moses again had risked his life to help those who were being unjustly and unfairly treated. Moses and seven girls against a group of Arab shepherds. The odds were against them: But this time the results were positive. Christians, we may be in the minority: But through the filling of the Holy Spirit we will be given the power and love to do the will of God.
As Christians, we should desire to help our fellow humans. Especially those who are in the church. If we want to be a witness for Christ, we need to start by treating everyone kindly. We must look at everyone who
enters our church as a potential saint. We need to get to know them and help them to see that Jesus is the answer for all of their needs. We need to look for people whom we can invite to church. We need to love each other and to love them, even when they are unlovely. Love helps. Remember when we were once sinners? Someone loved us and told us of Jesus. Aren’t
we glad that they did not give up trying to love us to Jesus?
James wrote: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."(James 1:27) Are we trying to "rescue" anyone? Some times it will cause us to lose friends when we stand up for the nerd, the ugly, the unpopular, the weak, the right… Again we must ask, "What would Jesus do?" We will win some and we will lose some: But we must not give up. I am not sure if some folks are just lazy, if they are ignorant, if they are fearful—when I hear them say,
"Since we are living in the last days and evil abounds, there is not much we can do." They give up and let Satan and his followers take over. We are to be the salt of the earth. The light on the hill. Are you letting your light shine? Are you helping the world to see Jesus? This week, take some time to pray and to ask Jesus, "What do you want me to do?" Jesus tells that when we do something in his name that we will not loose our reward. Moses got a home in Midian and a wife. The faithful Christian is having an eternal home prepared for him in Heaven.
III. HELP IN FORTY YEARS OF SERVICE TO HIS FATHER-IN- LAW DISCIPLINED AND TAUGHT MOSES LESSONS THAT WOULD PREPARE HIM TO HELP HIS PEOPLE LEAVE EGYPT AND OBTAIN A LAND OF THEIR OWN.
For forty years, Moses, who had been brought up as a prince, had to tend Jethro’s flocks. Now we all, in concept, know that all work is honorable: But are we really willing to be faithful in the small things. Are we content to work quietly behind the scenes or do we crave the spotlight and adulation for our deeds? Jesus taught, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."(Matthew 6:6) God gives the increase. Are we servants? We need to learn to be content whether we are called upon to plant, to cultivate, to water, to
reap… We need to be ready to be used of God. Moses had a burning bush experience. We can have a burning bush experience everyday through our devotional times—BIBLE STUDY AND PRAYER. Get into the holy presence of God and you will be better prepared to help our sinner friends make it to Heaven.
Our own local church needs help. There are many tasks that need to be done. There are lawns to mow. Children, teens and adults to teach. People to be ushered and greeted. Tables to be set up and torn down. Floors to be cleaned. Hinges to be oiled. Shrubs to trim. Flowers to be planted and flower beds to weed. Siding to be replaced and siding to be scraped and painted. Windows and trim to paint. Shut-ins to be visited or phoned and encouraged. For many, it is a lonely life. We can help. There are lost souls who need an invitation to our Father’s house.(Friendship Evangelism is an excellent tool.) There is choir music to practice… For many decades one man in a church that I pastored would walk through the church yard every Sunday morning and pick up any trash that had littered the lawn. He wanted God’s house to look good. Often, he would take his son with him to help. When the old man began to spend part of each year in another
state--I remember the joy I felt when I saw the man’s son take his own son and together they would pick up the trash in the church yard. Now that son has a child… If we will spend time in our Heavenly Father’s
presence we will obtain an attitude of helpfulness and a willing and trained heart.
Time does not permit me to tell of how God helped Moses help the Hebrews in the Exodus. I know you have seen the movie. But to get the whole, unedited story, you will have to read the book. Moses lived the rest of
his life helping his people. Yes, he made some more mistakes: But he never quit! So, you have tried to be a Christian and failed? Well, exercise your faith and try again. God’s grace and love will help you live the Christian life.
CONCLUSION
Last week our church board looked at the Finance Committee’s proposed budget. Gave it a few tweaks and adopted it as a guide for this church fiscal year. It was their observation that it was a bare bones budget. There are lots of things that will not get done if we do not volunteer to do those things. We can not depend on this sinful world to come to our aid. Only God can help us to do what needs to be done to put his house, our church, in order. We will need to take some special, extra offerings. Yes, we need new tithers. We need Christians to learn that the Bible teaches
storehouse tithing and we need Christians who trust God enough to obey and to help build His kingdom. Trust and obey: For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus…
In these trying economic times it is a scary thing to begin to tithe ten percent of our incomes. To put God first. But let me tell you—When times were good, when there were lots of jobs and investments produced double
digit income, IT WAS STILL SCARY TO BEGIN TO TITHE. I do not have time to tell you of person after person who has told me of how their economic situation and their relationship with God improved when they began to
tithe. I have seen unsaved husbands allow their wives to tithe for a trial period and then continued to tithe, for they saw God bless their obedience to His unique way of helping them handle money. Once most
people started they told me they would never stop putting God first on the first day of the week with their tithes and offerings. God had blessed them and they were thrilled to know they were helping win people
to Jesus and to build the church of Jesus Christ.
Now, I have met pastors who were afraid to preach about tithing. I have heard people complain when a pastor spoke about tithing. I am glad to talk to you about how your life will improve and how our church will improve when you and I put God first. God said: "‘Bring the WHOLE TITHE into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. TEST ME IN THIS,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it’." (Malachi 3:10) God is saying, "Try it. You will like it."
As I prepared this sermon, I did not even think of mentioning tithing. I intended to instruct us that at times we will try to help and fail—But that we must never quit trying. That the task at times seems too
large—That we must never give up—That spending time with the Father will prepare us to help when the Father calls. When Jesus returns he wants to find his church at work doing his will. If you want to be used by God—Then listen to his instructions and obey. Are your priorities in order? Are you ready to answer God’s call? Give him all of your life and begin to enjoy eternal life.
(Bible Quotes NIV)
(Ron Keller 5/18/03)
