I want to begin with story a S.S. teacher shared¡K
Asked her class of five-year-olds where God lives, and got a variety of answers. One little girl said, ¡§God lives in heaven.¡¨ Another said: ¡§God lives in church.¡¨ She was surprised, however, when little Johnny said, ¡§God lives in our bathroom.¡¨ ¡§What makes you say that, Johnny?¡¨ He answered: ¡§Every morning my dad stands at the door of the bathroom and shouts, ¡¥My God, are you still in there?¡¦¡¨
-There is bad and the good we can learn from others.
Our focus in this series is the good we can learn. As God is involved in our lives we can learn from others¡¦ experiences¡Xboth the struggles and the successes.
- Biblical calling to ¡§remember.¡¨
- Our lives are part of a timeless, ongoing work of an unchanging God.
- God has laid down some of His initial unchanging involvement for us to build upon
- ¡§We are like dwarfs, seated on the shoulders of giants. We see more things than the Ancients and things more distant, but it is due neither to the sharpness of our sight nor the greatness of our stature. It is simply because they have lent us their own.¡¨ (Bernard of Chartres)
When we ask ¡¥How does God want to work in my life?¡¦¡K Moses¡¦ shoulders are among the greatest to stand upon.
- Book of Genesis provides FOUR main lives in our history (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph) whereas the next four Books (Ex, Lev, Numb, Duet.) chronicle one life (Moses)
- He is the one brought face to face with God¡¦s glory, given the 10 Commandments, leads what scholars estimate may have been 2 million people thru the desert, and at the transfiguration of Christ, he is one of two, with Elijah.
- He receives more commendation in Hebrews chapter 11 than any other
He¡¦s a character we think only Charlton Hesston could play.
„« Yet we find that he is the most human of all; that in all his greatness he faced the hardest lessons of life along the way.
- I believe the most fundamental & formative lesson came earliest in his life. (and I want to express indebtedness to Jim Dethmer¡Xwho helped bring this out to a pastor¡¦s conference)
- I want to follow the wonderful description Stephan gives in the Book of Acts of this early part of Moses¡¦ life. (¡K and you¡¦ll note the corresponding verses from Exodus are referenced as well.)
- We ended last week¡K thru Joseph¡K all his heritage¡K the Israelites come to live in the land of Egypt.
„« ¡§As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.¡¨ (Acts 7:17-19)
- New King recognized that these Israelites, who had been given choice land, were becoming a powerful people. Joseph had long since passed on and there is no sense of indebtedness¡K just a sense of threat.
- Oppressed & Enslaved
- Orders Egyptian midwives¡K they refuse
- Finally orders all the people to throw any newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile
¡K the account picks up with Moses entry into the world
1. THE WOUND
¡§At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father¡¦s house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh¡¦s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and in action.¡¨ (Acts 7:20-22)
His mother senses something special about this child, tries to hide him, but after 3 months she concludes to do the only thing she can think to save his life¡K places him in a basket¡K and places him on the reed-filled edge of the Nile (the enormous tho slow moving river)¡K His sister follows¡K and finds, he is discovered by none other than the Pharaoh¡¦s daughter.
¡K too often we capture the wonderful providence of what took place, and miss the accompanying pain that is so much a part.
Moses¡¦ mother had been forced to make the best decision she could amid bad circumstances.
¡K But for Moses, only an infant, it would leave a wound of separation.
Perhaps no words capture it more powerfully than those simple words in v. 21¡K ¡§He was PLACED OUTSIDE¡¨
Other translations translate this ¡¥He was abandoned¡¦
„_ HE WAS CUT OFF FROM THE NATURAL PLACE OF BELONGING HE WAS INTENDED TO KNOW;¡K ABANDONED FROM HIS VERY SOURCE OF LIFE & IDENTITY.
- Not many of us may have been sent down a river, but I believe every human soul knows something of the wound of separation.
¡K something took place in our past¡K a separation from our Creator¡K in which we were ¡§placed outside.¡¨
¡K God, like Moses mother, in love, extended the best of a bad situation
¡K Like Moses, who now faced life with a deep separation from his true identity & people; so we are left with a wound of separation.
- Other initial wounds from family only accent & perpetuate
- If we look around at the world around us¡K in our own souls.
- Recently, I¡¦ve had some good friends who themselves have been adopted¡K feel a desire to search for their birth parents.
HOW DO WE LIVE WITH THE UNDERLYING DOUBTS; THE FEAR OF THAT PAST EXPOSURE¡K & THE NAKED SHAME?
- We wear what we are given
¡K and for Moses, there was a lot to cover himself with.
By God¡¦s hand, Moses was now placed in a Position of Royalty.
- Part of the royal family in a setting where royalty made any British nation pale by comparison.
- Educated in all the wisdom of this leading civilization ¡§¡K powerful in speech and action.¡¨
- If Robin Leech had his Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous show, this bachelor groomed for success, given to sophistication would have been the top bill. Finest clothes, cruised in the sportiest chariots.
„_ HE HAD IT ALL¡K but couldn¡¦t compensate for the wound.
2. THE WILL
- v.23 ¡§When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites.¡¨ At 40 yrs old =age 35-50 in our modern lifespan, he feels the pain of his separation, and he looks afresh at those who can accept him beneath all he¡¦s covered himself in.
- ¡§He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ¡¥Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?¡¦ But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ¡¥Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?¡¦¡¨ (Acts 7:23-28)
- Moses seems to have said ¡¥Hey, I¡¦m home. You can love me now. I¡¦ll kill an Egyptian to prove it. Here¡¦s a way I can settle up.¡¨¡K
- shouldn¡¦t surprise us.What do we do when we don¡¦t feel accepted for who we are? We seek acceptance for what we do. ¡§Doubting they could like me, I¡¦ll see if they can NEED me.¡¨
- I want to suggest that there are various ways/styles we find to face our desire to be accepted and adequate¡K STYLES
„« REACHER¡K new goals¡K successes¡K achievements¡K heights¡K another performance¡K customer¡K close another deal¡K build a bigger church
„« RESCUER¡K draws more on personal scale¡K I¡¦ll be certain to care & meet each person¡¦s needs¡K one more favor¡K call¡K
„« RECEIVER¡K I¡¦ll connect with people by needing them¡K each crisis in my life will help the connection¡K until they can never depart¡K My need & their care will become my place.
„« RETREATER¡K I won¡¦t bother anyone. Perhaps if no one really knows me I¡¦ll be safe. Better unknown than disowned. Not much of a connection, but it¡¦s all I trust in.
The actions themselves may be fine¡K Moses showed courage in challenging a brutal Egyptian, but the problem is that they represent OUR WILL BEING ACTED OUT.
Moses had a sense that God could use him, but he hadn¡¦t come to the deep realization that he was acceptable by GRACE, so his would & corresponding will were at work.
- What a great temptation there is to call our will God¡¦s will.
- Subtly, our own desires are relabeled.
- We learned early on¡K 3rd cookie, don¡¦t ask Mom.
So we forgo spiritual counsel¡K Praying regarding plans.
„_ But we may have to learn, as Moses did, that OUR WILLS & OUR WAYS will inevitably crash.
- The people didn¡¦t give him the big high five & hug¡K rather ¡¥We don¡¦t need you. Who made you judge?¡¦ In that moment we hear the echoes of Proverbs 14:12 ¡¥There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to destruction.¡¦
- What a key lesson. I for one, can be a forcer of plans¡K more determined than dependent.
„« Spirit has to get my attention: ¡§IF GOD¡¦S NOT IN IT, YOU DON¡¦T WANT IT.¡¨
¡K Are we leveraging our wound thru our wills or God¡¦s grace?
Well, Moses begins an enormous transition in his life at this point in which he ¡§gets it¡¨¡Xhe realizes that the deep validation he seeks cannot be found in those around him.
- He is ¡§put outside¡¨ once again¡K once again his soul is exposed, only now there is no covering up¡K we come to the final section.
3. THE WILDERNESS
„_ v. 29 ¡V ¡§When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner & had two sons.¡¨
- In Exodus this section states simply, that having headed out into this wilderness region, ¡§HE SAT DOWN BY A WELL¡¨
- ¡Ksitting down he would now face the most excruciating and essential period of his life; a period I believe every one of us may face in one form or another.
This Wilderness Process includes
a. Being Grounded¡K in the present
i. He lends a hand to some women at the well, is taken in by their father who gives one of their daughters (Zipporah) in marriage¡K (Mo & Zippy) =HUSBAND
ii. 2 sons=FATHER (that will bring you down to earth)
iii. Shepherd - Being prepared to rule all of Egypt¡K now he¡¦s waking up in a small far off land, saying ¡¥Hey sheep, let¡¦s go for a walk.¡¦
¡K He¡¦s as grounded, ¡¥brought down to earth,¡¦ as it gets!
b. There¡¦s a process of GRIEVING
- We must come to terms with our past attempts & failures¡K sort thru the process
- Henri Nouwen explains this as a dual process of anger and sadness and EXPLAINS THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON IN THIS LIGHT
- 2 sons with a father wound-each feeling unacceptable
- The Prodigal, feeling the sadness of failure discovers humility and hears the Father say ¡¥Don¡¦t come as a slave, You¡¦re my son. I¡¦m glad you¡¦re home.¡¦
- The older brother, feels the anger of his hard work ¡¥Didn¡¦t I serve you well¡K How come I¡¦m not receiving the prominence I¡¦ve been working so hard for?¡¦ Father says, ¡§My child, you have always been with me.¡¨
How much our Father in heaven wants each of us to hear those words when our pursuits & pretense crash.
When our pretense and pursuits are removed, we face the futility of our own wills, come to terms with God¡¦s absolute acceptance, then
c. We¡¦re prepared to hear God¡¦s calling
- After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord¡¦s voice: ¡¥I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.¡¦ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. ¡§Then the Lord said to him, ¡¥Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.¡¦ (Acts 7:29-34)
- Moses spent 40 years trying to be somebody
40 years learning how to be nobody
40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody
Can you identify with such a journey to discover who you really are?
Have you known something of this pursuit/journey?
On a personal level, though less dramatic¡K I find my life echoing the pursuits of Moses. Inside like any other young kid¡K trying to cover my sense of inadequacy¡K then I heard of what God had done, of his love¡K a love so able to cover my wounds (though I may not have called them that) so full of the truth that my soul longed to be filled with¡K but as quickly as I laid myself in His arms, my own options for acceptance were ready to play themselves out
- enough gifting to lead
- enough strength & sensitivity to draw attention from the women
Though I¡¦ve never crashed as deeply as Moses, I¡¦ve found my soul caving in as I try to fulfill the very expectations I may have chosen. At 22 years old, I¡¦d been a ¡§hero¡¨ in my home church area reaching kids as a proud prodigal who came home, in S.D. I¡¦d been at the center of the whole community that had developed & helped several churches, now in Europe and leaving a successful youth and young adult ministry headed for ministry in India & then to seminary yet beneath the confident cover I was still alone & aching. There in England, I stopped and looked my self will in the face. I knew I had done a lot apart from God. I had killed a lot of Egyptians. I faced a wilderness within. I¡¦ve felt the humility of the prodigal son & the anger of the older brother and the answer is the same. [I¡¦m glad you¡¦re home] But I don¡¦t sit down very easily and I must face the wilderness to face my pretense and hear God¡¦s pure call. As we learn, it¡¦s never too late. The cost of authentic experience with God is honesty of need and turning our will over to him.
