Serve Like Hur

Serve Like Hur!

Exodus 17:8-13

I recently read that bees visit over 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey. They have to fly about 55,000 miles in order to make that one pound of honey. That same article stated that it takes about 560 bees to make 1 pound of honey. Imagine if one bee decided to go off on his own and make honey all by himself? Do you think that would be a good idea? Of course not! Alone, he would only be able to produce a few drops of honey in his lifetime.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (says) Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one. We are more effective when we work together as a team. We are the Body of Christ and Jesus expects us to work together to accomplish the Great Commission. If we are to be successful in spreading the Gospel it is imperative that we work together.

Each of us have different gifts, talents, and callings. Certain gifts are more visible than others. Some are called to serve out front while others are called to serve behind the scenes. But this does not mean that one is more important that the next.

Not everyone can preach like Charles Spurgeon, or sing like David Phelps, or reach the masses like Billy Graham; every local church will not be like Bellevue. However, each of us has a place in the Kingdom of God which is far more than we could ever deserve. Therefore, we should content to serve God wherever and however He has called and equipped us to serve Him.

In our selected text Israel is journeying to the promised land. As they traveled, they were attacked by the Amalekites. Moses set out to respond to this unprovoked assault. In these verses we hear some names that are very familiar to us. There is the leader Moses, the warrior Joshua and the high priest Aaron. However, there is one name that may cause you to scratch you head and say, “who?”. As Moses and Aaron ascended the hill along with them went a man named Hur. We know very little about this man. Though his biography is not chronicled on the pages of the Word of God, we can learn a great deal from what is recorded about him in this passage.

- I would like to examine Exodus 17:8-13 and encourage you to “Serve Like Hur!”

During this battle Moses lifted his hands and his staff up from the top of that hill. While his hands were raised, Israel prevailed. But, when his hands fell down, the Amalekites gained the upper hand. After some time, Moses' hands became weary. So much so that he could no longer hold them up. Aaron & Hur came beside Moses and held his hands up until the victory was won.

This passage shows us that alone we can only do so much. One person can only do so much, likewise one local church can only do so much. But when we work together with others, there is no way to measure what God can do in and through His people.

We have some great Christians in this church. Furthermore, there are some great churches in our area. With that being said, we could be even better. The more people who are willing to join together for the cause of Christ, the greater impact we can have on our communities, our state, our nation and the world as a whole.

As we consider our purpose as servants of the Lord we must keep in mind that we are all in this together. We are all serving together for the advancement of God’s Kingdom (or at least we should be).

Therefore, we need some people who are willing to stand and support others. We need faithful Christian servants who will continue to serve when there is no glory, no attention and seemingly no appreciation for their efforts.

- As I mentioned, there is much that we can learn from this obscure character named “Hur”. For this reason, I would like to examine some of the characteristics that make people like this man so important to the Kingdom work. Consider the truth that we must:

I. SERVE VIGILANTLY

Vigilance is defined as “watching for possible danger or difficulty”. Hur was vigilant, he noticed something important about the battle. As he stood on that hill with Moses & Aaron he was watching the battle below. He saw the great victory when Moses' hand was raised. He also noticed the defeat that came when Moses' hand fell.