The Story - Sermon 5 Series

The Story - Chapter 4

October 3, 2010

I heard about a story about a very wealthy lawyer from Chicago who came to Indiana to do some dove hunting. He was out hunting and he shot a dove and killed it and it landed on the other side of a fence. So, the wealthy Chicago lawyer went to get his dove and as he climbed over the fence the farmer who owned the field drove over on his tractor and told him this is my land, and now this is my dove, get out of here.

Well, the wealthy Chicago lawyer was also a little arrogant and he started yelling at the old farmer and told him he’s going to sue the farmer for everything he has, and he’s not only going to lose the dove, he’s going to lose his farm, as well.

Well, the old farmer said, ‘that’s not how we do things here in Central Indiana. And the lawyer calmed down and said, ‘how do you settle things here?’ The old farmer said, “we have the Indiana 3 kick rule.’ The lawyer asked him what that is, and the old farmer said, basically, I kick you 3 times and you kick me 3 times and we keep doing it, until someone finally gives up, and that’s how we determine the winner.

The lawyer looks at the old farmer and decides, I can take this guy and he agrees to this fight. So the old farmer gets off his tractor and comes down and gets ready to throw the first kick. The wealthy Chicago lawyer braced himself and took the first kick from the old farmer. And boom, the old farmer kicked the Chicago lawyer and he fell backwards and thought, “wow, this old farmer has some kick in him.”

Before he could come to his senses, the old farmer came up to the lawyer and nailed him with another big kick and he fell to the ground rolling in excruciating pain. And before he can even regain his senses the 3rd kick comes and gets him upside the head and now the wealthy Chicago lawyer is seeing stars and the earth is spinning. He almost passes out, lays there for a few moments, then with the strength and courage of a Chicagoan, he stands up, puts his hands on his hips and looks at the farmer and says, “okay, get ready, because it’s my turn.”

And the farmer looks back at the wealthy Chicago lawyer and says, “naw, I give up, you can have the dove.”

You know we all solve problems differently. So, I want to throw a problem up to you and see if you can solve it. Here it is, ‘each one of us was conceived in our mother’s womb with a sin nature, now listen, that sin nature is the single barrier between us and God. That sin nature keeps us from a relationship with God and it’s also the cause of our death. Here’s our problem, how are we going to remove that sin nature so we might get back to a relationship with God and enjoy the vision He had to be with us? How are you going to do that? Your boots aren’t going to help you with this problem. Because only God has the solution to this problem.

And that is what the story is all about. God’ relentless pursuit to cleanse us of the sin nature which prevents us from a relationship with Him. Today, as we move into chapter 4, we’re going to see God’s plan a little more clearly.

In chapter 3 you may recall the nation of Israel was saved through the power of God and the leadership of a man named Joseph. The nation of Israel was moved to Egypt to enjoy the fertile land. As we move into chapter 4, we find that the Israelites are still in Egypt and 400 years have passed. During these 400 years, Israel has become a great nation. There are now 1000's and 1000's of Israelites living in Egypt. So, as we open the story in Exodus 1, Joseph has died and a new pharaoh arrives who didn’t know what Joseph did for the nation, plus, the Egyptians were becoming fearful at the strength and numbers of the Israelites.

So, they decided to oppress the Israelites and put them into slavery. To take this a step further, the pharaoh decided to slow down the growth of the Israelites and to emotionally cripple them, they were to throw the newborn sons into the Nile River; for one and only one reason . . . to stop the growth of the Israelites. But this turn of events, which seemed devastating to the unfolding of God’s plan is a great opportunity for God to reveal 3 things.