A Blood Drive

The Life of Moses – Act 3, Scene 2:
Exodus 12:29-32
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 7/11/10

A very wise person once said: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.”
Do you every do dumb things? Make foolish, seemingly unthinking, often self-destructive mistakes? I suppose it’s safe to say that we all have those moments, from time to time. Consider the following:
“March 17, 2000: 22-year-old Mark Williams of Pontiac, Michigan, a young man struggling with serious financial problems, decided to rob the fast-food restaurant where he worked. He put on a ski mask and held up his fellow employees to the tune of $3,000.
“But as if the crime alone wasn’t unwise enough, his foolishness continues:
“As it was Williams intention to rob the restaurant immediately before his shift, and then, as his alibi, to arrive at work as if nothing had happened; Williams, while wearing a ski mask to protect his anonymity, had also inadvertently chosen to wear his work uniform and name badge. After questioning employees, police were just about to leave the restaurant to arrest Williams at his home when he saved them the trouble by walking in the front door.”
“Williams was subsequently sentenced to a 6-year prison term.”
Not exactly thinking things through.
Sometimes we truly are our “own worst enemy.”
This is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning: The foolish ways we often DO OURSELVES IN.

Today, as we pick up our study of the story of Moses and the Exodus, we find Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) agreeing to let the people of Israel go - to release them from captivity and slavery in the land of Egypt. However, this freedom has not come easily:
Last week, as you may recall, Moses had returned to Egypt and (speaking on behalf of God) had ordered Pharaoh to “let (the) people go.” But Pharaoh had not only refused this demand; he had, in fact, in response, chosen to increase the oppression of the people.
This caused God to launch into a series of PLAGUES against the Egyptians – to show God’s might and to force Pharaoh into submission. Ten plagues in all, culminating in the event described in our reading today: The DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN. The people of Israel protected by the sacrificial BLLOD OF THE ALMB. This being the central event of the Jewish faith, commemorated in the celebration of the PASSOVER; for Christians, redefined in the DEATH AND RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ – the “Lamb of God,” one sacrifice for all - celebrated in Holy Communion.
It’s the pivotal moment in the story. The people have been set free but it has come at a tremendous COST – a cost Pharaoh himself knows all too well:

This night, as the Israelites prepare to move on to life, Egypt mourns its dad – and Pharaoh mourns a death in his own family. The saddest, most tragic element of this loss being that it DIDN’T NEED TO HAPPEN. Pharaoh made it happen through his foolishness and pride, through his arrogance and stubbornness. This night he’s paying the price of his own choices.
It is a ruin he has brought upon himself. He had everything going for him; but he threw it all away!
All of which is meant to make us ask: How do we keep from making a similar mistake? That is, this contrast of Israel moving on to life versus Pharaoh moving into ruin presents us with a choice: Which path will we take? Which path are we (currently) taking?
What do we learn from the self-destructive example of Pharaoh?
A few thoughts - our lesson today: HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE IN FIVE EASY TO FOLLOW STEPS...
(I)
Step 1: WILLFULLY DISOBEY.
Christian author John Beukema writes:
“Nita Friedman is not the type of person you would imagine to be involved in a police pursuit. Still, that’s what happened on U.S. highway 95 after Bonners Ferry, Idaho, police chief Mike Hutter tried to stop her for reckless driving. Hutter flipped on his lights and siren, but instead of pulling over, the 66-year-old woman pulled away.
“Police chased the woman through two counties. The chase did not end until after the State Police put a spike strip on the road in front of Friedman’s car. After driving over it, the woman tried to keep going, but with three flat tires escape became impossible.
“What astounded law enforcement officers, however, was that throughout the entire 15-mile chase, Friedman never went over the speed limit. Once, she even stopped behind a vehicle that was making a left turn. While running from the law, Nita Friedman was determined not to break the law.
“As I think about this I can’t help but think that this I like my friend who maintains the highest standards of integrity in his business relationships, yet candidly admits to filing false tax forms to the IRS.
“Or, how it’s like when I pray for God’s will to be done and then insist on having things my own way.
“Or how it’s like holding hatred in our hearts while we sit in church and sing about love.
“It’s righteousness while running away from true obedience.”
Righteousness while running away from true obedience. This is where we begin: Under the pretense of righteousness we fail to do what we know we really ought to do. We give lip-service to obedience and it leads us on a wild chase with the law.
Well, this is where the story of the plagues begins: God has told Pharaoh what he is to do – “Let my people go.” But he refuses. He knows what he is supposed to do but he WILLFULLY DISOBEYS. And thus, standing outside the will of God, he is left only with the possibility of ruin.
So, likewise, this is where our ruin and self-destruction so often begins: We know what God wants us to do but we don’t do it! We come to church, we sing the hymns, we say our prayers, we behave like good, upstanding citizens all week long; but somewhere, deep within our lives, there’s some way we knowingly refuse God’s command and it keeps life from us.
What did Mark Twain once say? “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that give me trouble; it’s the parts I do!” What are the parts of the Bible that we do understand, the commands we know God calls us to; but we willfully disobey? To apologize, to forgive, to sacrifice, to be merciful, to get involved, to be compassionate, to be truly loving?
Far too often we take God’s commands as suggestions, viewing them as burdens, not seeing that they are God’s gift to us trying to keep life from being taken from us! Simply put, this is where everything begins or ends: How are you knowingly disobeying God today; and what are you going to do about it? Preacher Henry Blackaby writes:
“The first funeral I ever conducted was for a beautiful three-year-old. She was the first child born to a couple in our church, and the first grandchild in their extended family. Unfortunately, she was spoiled. While visiting the little girl's home one day, I observed that she loved to ignore her parents’ instructions. When they told her to come, she went. When they said, ‘sit down,’ she stood up. Her parents laughed, finding her behavior cute.
“One day their front gate was inadvertently left open. The parents saw their child escaping out of the yard and heading toward the road. To their horror, a car was racing down the street. As she ran out between two parked cars, they both screamed at her to stop and turn back. She paused for a second, looked back at her parents, then gleefully laughed as she turned and ran directly into the path of the oncoming car. The parents rushed their little girl to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.
“As a young pastor, this was a profound lesson for me. I realized I must teach God’s people (and learn myself) not only to recognize His voice but also immediately to obey His voice when we hear it. It is life.”
Step One in ruining your life: WILLFULLY DISOBEY.
(II)
Step 2: REFUSE CORRECTION.
As mentioned, there are TEN PLAGUES in total that God unleashes against the Egyptians – and the order is: Water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock diseased, boils all over the body, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn.
Now, scholars tell us that these plagues were not just random attacks – like God just sat back and said, “What will I do to them now? I know, frogs!”; but rather, that they were specific attacks against various Egyptian “gods”. For instance: The plague of locusts that destroys all the crops is an attack against ANUBIS the Egyptian god of the fields. Frogs are an attack against HEQT – a god who was half-frog, half-woman. (Make up your own joke! But, anyway...) Frogs being sacred in Egypt, the injury of a frog was a capital offense – punishable by death! For those of you who have ever watched the movie series “The Mummy” (which, I think, they show on TBS just about every other day!) you’d be familiar with the god attacked in the boils and sores on the body – that’s a shot at IMOTHEP – he’s the god of strength and healing.
In other words, God here is not just working to set the people of Israel free but to challenge the Egyptians beliefs. This is not only socio-political movement but a theological debate. Basically, God is showing Pharaoh all the ways he is WRONG in his thinking. The question being: Will he acknowledge this and change his way?
The same question that is asked of us every day.
Ask yourself: When was the last time you changed your mind about some major issue? When was the last time you apologized? When was the last time you thought a new thought? When was the last time you thought differently of some person or some group? When was the last time you were wrong – and admitted it?!
People who live well are those who are OPEN TO CORECTION. Conversely, people who ruin their lives are those who refuse to ever be wrong, to ever think a new thought, to change their way. Which are we? The great Albert Einstein once said: “Don’t tell me what I do right. I already know that. What I need to know is what I’m doing wrong.” Are we willing to live with this same kind of wisdom and humility?
There’s an old Yiddish proverb (which I’ll slightly clean-up here for mixed company, but...) it says: “If one person calls you a donkey, ignore it. If two people call you a donkey, forget about it. But if three people call you a donkey... buy yourself a saddle.”
How is God trying to show us ways we are wrong but we’re resisting it? Step Two in ruining your life: REFUSE CORRECTION. Which leads us into...
(III)
Step Three: DIG IN YOUR HEELS.
In all of this, of course, one primary thing Pharaoh does is, despite the obvious truth of God’s authority and his error, he digs in – he’s stubborn, rigid – he refuses the obvious, and it does him in. As his advisors even say to him half way through the plagues:

Basically: “Don’t you get it? It’s over! Let it go!”
But no, Pharaoh DIGS IN HIS HEELS – to his own demise. Now, sometimes being persistent and determined is a wonderful, important, noble thing; however, more often than not, being stubborn and rigid – particularly when you’re insisting on holding fast to something that is bad for you – is just plain foolish! But we all do it so often: Lock on to something and refuse to let go even when it’s hurting us!
Pharaoh’s example is a great warning to all of us of the destructive force of all those ways we stubbornly dig in and hold on and refuse to let go of something that is destroying us! How often do we fail to let go of some injury, some failure, some loss, some way life didn’t go the way we want – and it takes life from us?
It’s like being ANGRY: People who hold on to anger ultimately only hurt themselves. As it has been said: “Being angry is like drinking poison and then waiting for the other guy to die.” Comedian Buddy Hackett once remarked: “I’ve had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? Because while you’re miserable carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing.”
People who can’t let go can’t live – life passes them by. Consider the following:
Historians tells us that, in 1660, in England, when King Charles II came to power, he sought revenge against those who had killed his father, Charles I, and had taken his place in the monarchy. Unfortunately, the lead conspirators against his father, most notably Oliver Cromwell, had died and been buried for over two years. But that didn’t stop Charles II from holding a trial, having the deceased charged with treason and their bodies exhumed from the grave. At which point, he then had the dead bodies hanged, drawn and quartered – and Cromwell’s body finally also beheaded, the head kept on a post outside of Westminster Hall for 25 years!
Talk about holding a grudge! But the lesson is clear: Those who can’t let go and move on are doomed to live only with death! How are we making this very mistake? What do you need to LET GO of because it’s destroying you?
Step Three in ruining your life: DIG IN YOUR HEELS. Which brings us to...
(IV)
Step Four: LIVE FOR YOURSELF ALONE.
Of course, in the midst of all this, one of the fundamental issues that is running behind this whole story is that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed – the Israelite slaves; but Pharaoh doesn’t care about them, he cares only about himself, thus his life is running contrary to God, contrary to blessing. Basically, he’s so consumed with himself – his needs, his desires, his wants – that it’s doing him in. If he would get out beyond himself, live for something more – most especially, following God, devote himself to helping those in need, his life would be on the right track. And this points us to the fourth lesson here:
That so often we all get so caught up in ourselves, in our issues, our needs, our troubles... It’s the constant temptation: to LIVE FOR OURSLEVES ALONE. And it’s deadly – it keeps us from God! The solution: Get out beyond ourselves. Most especially, get out beyond our issues into helping those in need.
You know, there’s a story that is told of a wise old master who wanted to teach his troubled apprentice an important factor of living life, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” spit the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man.
At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Don’t be a glass. Become a lake.”
If you don’t want a bitter life, become a lake. Get out beyond yourself to a whole wider perspective. Most especially, follow God, go where God is: out in the lives of the poor and the oppressed.
Step Four in ruining your life: LIVE FOR YOURSELF ALONE. And finally...
(V)
Step Five: REFUSE THE GIFT.
In the end, it’s very interesting how our text today closes: Pharaoh lets the Israelites go and he says to Moses, “Bring a blessing on me too.” It seems he realizes something of the error of his ways. But the story’s not over...
The Israelites start to leave and Pharaoh starts to rethink his decision: “Hey, we can’t let these slaves go! We need them! Our economy will collapse without them!” So he sets off to recapture them. And, as we will see, God will handle this by drowning the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.
Pharaoh had this moment to stop, to change, to repent, to be saved; but he missed it. He eventually fell back into his old ways and was utterly destroyed!
The opportunity was wasted, refused.
Well, every day, in Christ, you and I have exactly this same opportunity: to stop, to change, to repent, to be saved. It is the “GIFT” of each new day. As the saying goes: “Today is a gift – that’s why they call it the present.”
Don’t let the gift, the opportunity, of today be lost. Carpe diem. Seize the day! Simply put: You want to finally ruin your life? Then listen to this sermon, think about this text, say, “Yeah, this is something I need to do”; but in the end, do nothing! Think about how your life could. And should change; but make no change. Do that enough times, and one day it will be too late, everything will be taken from you! This is the day! Don’t REFUSE THE GIFT! Make some change, somehow live better, today! One author writes:
“Don’t wait. It could result in something you regret for the rest of your days. I realized this anew when I read an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. If this doesn’t get you off the dime, nothing will. A lady named Ann Wells writes:
“My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister’s bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. ‘This,’ he said, ‘was her favorite blouse.’ He discarded the tissue and handed me the blouse. It was exquisite – silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached.
“’Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion.’
“He took the blouse from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the funeral home. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me.
“’Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion,’ he said. ‘Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.’
“I remembered those words during the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister’s family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadn’t seen or heard or done. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. I’m still thinking about his words, and they’ve changed my life.
“I’m not ‘saving’ anything anymore: we use our good china and crystal for every special event – like losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the fact that it’s Tuesday, or the first shower of spring.
“’Someday’ and ‘one of these days’ are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
“I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add luster to our lives. To change, to risk, to repent, to grow.
“And every morning when I open my eyes I tell myself that is special. Today is a gift I will not waste.”

One of the great leaders of the church in the middle ages, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, in observing his own life, came to the following conclusion – he said: “No one can ever do me true harm except myself. I find that any lasting pain I carry I have suffered by my own hand.”
The ruin we so often bring upon ourselves. Don’t make the mistakes Pharaoh, king of Egypt did. Do what you know God wants you to do. Be open to correction. Let go of what is destroying you. Get out beyond yourself. And seize the day!

Gathering Straw

The Life of Moses, Act 3, Scene 1:
Exodus 5:10-23
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 7/4/10

Approximately 25 years ago, the Hymnal Revision Committee of the United Methodist Church was preparing for the 1988 General Conference. This Conference would introduce a new hymnal for all United Methodists – the hymnal that is in our pews today.
After years of debate over what hymns to include, the committee was finally struggling over the words of one particular hymn: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Curiously, they weren’t struggling over The Battle Hymn’s gender exclusive language, as you might think. They weren’t even struggling over its militaristic imagery. They weren’t struggling over its Civil War origin. They were struggling over just one phrase, the final words of the fourth verse, which reads: “As He died to make men holy, let us DIE to make men free.”
The committee members questioned, “Is freedom for others worth dying for?” An alternative phrase had come from band leader Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. Years earlier they had recorded a popular version of the Battle Hymn with the “softer” lyrics of: “As He died to make men holy, let us LIVE to make men free.”
After much discussion, it was Mr. Waring’s version which was chosen by the committee to be presented to the General Conference. It was then Mr. Waring’s version that prevailed there as well. From now on United Methodists were supposed to sing, “As He died to make men holy, let us LIVE to make men free.”
But for reasons which, to this very day, remain unexplained and unknown, when the United Methodist hymnal came out in 1989, the original words were still there! United Methodists are still singing, “As He died to make men holy, let us DIE to make men free.”
And as pastor Frank Lyman, General Conference delegate, has reflected, “It’s the nearest mystery we United Methodists have to the aliens of Roswell, New Mexico!” But, obviously, someone, somewhere, wanted us to maintain this kind of deep commitment to liberty!
Maintaining a deep commitment to liberty.
How much are we willing to allow freedom to ask of us?
The WORK OF FREEDOM. This is something of what I’d like to reflect upon on this Independence Day morning...

In our text today we resume our study of the life of Moses with the start of the third act in the drama: Moses having accepted God’s call and returning to Egypt to lead the people of Israel out of captivity. In effect, we now get to the “meat” of the story – what it is all ultimately about, namely: FREEDOM. But as we see, the opening scene of this “freedom tale” does not go well:
Moses has gone to Pharaoh and demanded the people’s release. Pharaoh, angered by the presumptuousness of this demand, has not only refused to let the people go; but even more – as a means of showing his displeasure and teaching the people a lesson about seeking escape from slavery – has increased the burden upon them:
Their job is to make the bricks for Pharaoh’s building projects. One of the components of the brick mixture is STRAW. Up to now, this has been provided to them. But now, Pharaoh decrees: the people must find their own straw while maintaining the same quota of bricks. Or they will be punished: beaten, starved.
Moses, seemingly, has only made matters worse. The people are angry with him. He is angry with God.
But what we see here, right off the beginning, is this fundamental point: That FREEDOM DOES NOT COME EASILY. As we will see from here on out in this great drama: Liberty will be HARD WON and continually in danger of being lost again.
When Moses went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh did not reply, “Sure, y'all go free; send me a post card from the Holy Land!” No, Pharaoh's troops went after the Hebrews. So, likewise, in 1776 when the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence that did not establish our freedom. King George did not read the Declaration and then say to Thomas Jefferson, “Nice piece of writing Tom, y’all enjoy your USA, send me a postcard from Colonial Williamsburg.” No, it started a WAR!
The fundamental point of the Exodus story – the foundational story of the Jewish faith reframed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: That freedom is God’s intention for all his children. But freedom is HARD WON. It is WORK, HARD WORK – costly, constant, vigilant work. All of which brings us back to us here this morning...
Today we celebrate our independence. And we will have parades, and barbeques, and fireworks... a great good time. And that’s all wonderful. I love it as much as anybody. But, let’s face it, if that’s all our independence means to us, or asks of us, then we will have missed the point entirely.
The way we truly celebrate our freedom is by doing the WORK OF FREEDOM. And that’s what I’d like to suggest to us all this Fourth of July morning: Truly celebrating this great holiday by taking up the work of freedom.
What is the “Work of Freedom”? A few thoughts...
(I)
First, the work of freedom is CHERISHING THE GIFT.
As our scene today opens, the people of Israel are angry at Moses for the trouble he has brought upon them. It’s a classic case of misplacing one’s frustration: blaming the person who’s trying to help us not the actual cause of our troubles. But it’s understandable that they should be rejecting the gift of freedom that Moses has brought to them, letting it be kept from them – actually pushing it away: It just seems like a burden, more trouble than it’s worth. You see, they’ve been slaves their whole lives, for generations, they don’t know any better. They don’t know what freedom is. They’ve never tasted it.
All of which begs the question: What’s our excuse?
We know better. We live free. Why do we then, likewise, so often push away the gift of freedom, let it be kept from us?
Our history as a people, right from the outset, is rife with examples of this, both collectively and individually: From the many moments of perceived national threat when, in our fear, we have refused the rights of others or gladly handed off our own – forgetting the grave warning of Benjamin Franklin who said: “Those who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” From this, to all those ways that each of us, in our daily living, refuse the rights of freedom offered to us – rights others would (and have) died for: We have the right to vote – but so few do. We have the right to get involved and shape policy in our towns and schools – but so few serve. We have the right to worship God as we please – but most prefer to sleep in on Sundays.
We so often reject the gift of freedom. The Israelites had an excuse: they didn’t know better. What’s our answer?
Simple: We take it all for granted. We forget our story. We forget the oppressions people escaped in coming here. We forget the cost many have paid in establishing our freedom. We lose sight of what we have here and fail to hold it dear! As it has been said: “To fail to walk in one’s freedoms is to become enslaved again.”
Understand, liberty is NOT a SURE THING. It is always just about to be taken from us. “Freedom is always one generation away from extinction.”
The first step in the work of freedom is to CHERISH THE GIFT. That is: to remember the great freedoms we have here, and to not just talk about them, but to LIVE THEM. To vote, to serve, to speak out, to get involved, to worship!
You want to know a simple way to truly celebrate American Independence? This week, resolve to start every day with PRAYER – praying for local town, county, state, nation. Actually USE the FREEDOM OF RELIGION we have received!
You know, for many years the license plates of New Hampshire bore the slogan, made famous by Revolutionary War general John Stark: “Live free or die.” The irony is that those great words were printed onto the license plates by inmates in the state prison.
Is our freedom just words... or do we actually live it?
(II)
The work of freedom is first CHERISHING THE GIFT. It is then, also, PAYING THE PRICE. Returning to the text...
Consider the “set-up” to our scene today: As we’ve noted in previous weeks – through a series of events, Moses had escaped from Egypt and was living in the land of Midian – a FREE MAN. But God called him to go back and help others who were in trouble. Moses had the gift of freedom; but, as God makes clear: That gift wasn’t just for his own personal benefit alone. No, it was meant to be used to HELP OTHERS. And this is the second key point that we’re meant to get here:
The gift of freedom is not simply given for personal benefit. It is given to use for others. That is, with rights invariably come responsibilities. In fact, the greater the rights, the greater the responsibility! As Jesus said: “To those whom much is given, much will be required.”
Well, much has been give each of us here in this great nation. Much is thus required. Are we willing to have our freedom ask great things of us – ask anything of us? The founders of our country were so willing. Consider the following:
Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty. At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson’s home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General Washington to open fire on the Nelson home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forest and caves, finally returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. He shortly died of a broken heart.
For these people, the gift of freedom COST them something! It wasn’t just a personal blessing, it was a demand to serve and sacrifice. How about us?
This is the second step in the work of freedom: It is not just receiving the gift of freedom. It is demanding that this gift ask much of us. It’s PAYING THE PRICE. That is, it’s looking at what is wrong, where freedom is not complete, where someone is in need – and having that ask of us! Saying: “My freedom demands that I give of my blessing to that!” This is TRUE PATRIOTISM – not just saying “America is perfect” but saying “America is great, but it can be greater! And I’m going to do my part!”
Someone once made the following humorous but true observations about our country – entitled, “Only In America”:
“Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
“Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy candy at the front.
“Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke.
“Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage.
“Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call-waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.
“Only in America do we sell hot dogs in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight.
And only in America do we use the word ‘politics’ to describe our system of government: ‘Poli from the Latin meaning ‘many’ and ‘tics’ meaning ‘blood-sucking creatures.’”
The point? This is a great nation, but it’s got its problems. What are we going to do to make it better – to right some wrong? How are we going to LIVE DIFFERENTLY so that freedom might reach further, grow stronger? To give, to get involved not just complain, to serve, to change habits?
You want to truly celebrate Independence? Resolve, this week, to make one change in your life, to have something asked of you that this free nation might be more as it should be, that true freedom might be more pervasive: Give to a cause of the needy; write a political leader; organize your trips in the car to use less gas so as to help break free of our slavery to foreign oil!
(III)
The work of freedom is CHERISHING THE GIFT, it’s PAYING THE PRICE, and finally: it’s OFFERING THE INVITATION. Returning to where we began...
As noted at the outset, freedom is God’s goal for his children, and it’s what our faith in Christ is all about: Freedom from sin freely given. Jesus does not demand allegiance; but rather, showed the way and invited people to follow – to freely choose. All of which directs us to our final point here, namely:
One of the fundamental freedoms that our nation was founded upon was FREEDOM OF RELIGION. Why? Because this is the constant human desire: to force our faith, our beliefs, our ways on others – make others as we would have them be. The problem is, in trying to recreate the world in our image, we lose sight of the core of such transformation: freely remade HEARTS. It’s inner change that results in outer change – not the other way around! As one scholar puts it: “The problem with the Church in America today is that we want Christianity without conversion.” More concerned with legislating behavior than transforming hearts, we have lost our way.
Now, political action is, of course, vital; but in this, we must not forget what our faith is all about, namely: FREEDOM – Freedom from sin freely given, freely received. Basically, what we are called to do is SHOW the freedom in Christ to others so that they can make the FREE CHOICE of it themselves. And this is the final step in truly celebrating the Fourth of July:
Remember the freedom that stands at the very heart of our faith in Jesus Christ. OFFER THE INVITATION. That is, you want to really celebrate this great holiday? Then simply resolve to show someone, today, what Jesus is like, so that they can choose him for themselves. Live in such a way that it draws someone to freely accept Jesus Christ.
In an article entitled “God is Here, Too”, Christian author Dean Nelson tells the story of Lt. Col. Gary Morsch who joined the Army Reserves in 1993 as a doctor. In 2005, as a part of the war in Iraq, he was called up to serve as the field doctor for a battalion near the Iranian border caring for soldiers, civilians... and, he discovered, the enemy. In this, Morsch, a devout Christian, suddenly discovered the true power of his faith as he saw lives changed simply through the example of his Christian compassion and mercy. He shares a story of something that happened on the last day of his tour of duty:
“The Saturday before I left Iraq was one of the most amazing days of my life. I was scheduled to see patients and make rounds at the POW camp, and I asked the chaplain to join me. I wanted to say goodbye to the prisoners. Many of these Muslims had become Christians, and they had been asking for a baptismal service.
“The chaplain suddenly decided to conduct a simple service. The POWs gathered their water bottles, and we pulled a cot out of one of the tents, setting it in the middle of the compound. One by one, the POWs sat on the cot and leaned back while we poured water over their heads and baptized them in the name of Christ. We baptized about a dozen that day.
“During the baptisms, we asked each man if he wished to take a Christian name. One man asked me to write down each of the apostles’ names so he could choose one. Another prisoner, named Afshin, asked me to suggest a name. I suggested James, the brother of Jesus, and told him that my father and brother are named James. Since my family name was on my uniform, Afshin asked about Morsch as well.
“The chaplain asked me to baptize Afshin. I asked my friend what name he wished to take. He said, ‘I wish to take the name James Afshin Morsch.’ With tears in my eyes, I poured water onto his head, baptizing my Muslim friend into the fellowship of Christ. After our baptismal service, James pulled me aside and told me it was an Iraqi tradition to give a good friend a gift. He slowly slipped a ring off his hand.
“’This is my wedding ring,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen my wife in many years, and I probably will never see her again. ‘I'd like to give it to you.’
“I was stunned. ‘No, James, you must keep it,’ I eventually said. ‘Someday you will see your wife again.’
“’No, I want you to have it,’ he said, as he pressed the ring into my hand.
“We hugged and said a tearful goodbye, and then I walked out of the POW compound. It was time to return home.
“I left on a plane full of wounded soldiers. The airstrip was under attack even as we taxied for takeoff. But I was at peace. God had brought me to Iraq to serve soldiers, civilians... and the enemy. But I saw that those categories are meaningless before God. He loves them all, and calls us to serve them all.”

Someone once said: “We keep asking God to bless America. He already has. Now it’s our turn.”
This Fourth of July, let us truly celebrate the gift of independence by doing the WORK OF FREEDOM: Cherishing the gift. Paying the price. And offering the invitation.

Thinking Ahead

The Life of Moses, Act 2, Scene 2:
Exodus 4:10-17
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 6/13/10

Someone once said that: “Every morning, the only sure thing any of us can say about the day that awaits us is that God’s love arrived there before us. For the providential care of God for his children always rises long before the sun.”
The only sure thing: God’s loving care running ahead of us, awaiting us... This is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning: How God cares for us, provides for us, every day.

In our text today we pick things up were we left off two weeks ago: Moses, now 80 years old, is hiding out in the land of Midian and God has come to him and called him to return to Egypt to lead the people of Israel out of captivity into freedom. This being where the “second act” in the story concludes: With the call of Moses and the question of whether or not he will accept. The third act to begin when Moses indeed answers the call and heads back to Egypt to initiate the Exodus.
However, long before we get to that, as we noted last time: Right at this particular moment, Moses just desperately wants to get out of this calling! The last chapter and a half has been spent with him coming up with all sorts of excuses why he can’t serve, and in our text today he offers his final reason, namely: That he’s not a good speaker.

Now there’s some question as to whether or not Moses had a problem with stuttering, or some other speech impediment; but whatever, basically, he’s trying to get out of a leadership role due to one of the most common of all human phobias: the fear of PUBLIC SPEAKING. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld once observed:
“Studies show that, by far, the #1 fear in America is speaking in public. A distant second being the fear of death. Therefore, it only stands to reason that, at any given funeral, most of the people present would rather be the diseased than the one giving the eulogy.”
God has called Moses to a great task, but he is running scared. The fear of public speaking has him terrified. But God has a solution: Moses’ brother Aaron is eloquent, a great speaker. “Hey Moses, why not let him do the talking for you?!” It’s perfect! And in God’s offering of this simple solution, there’s this one tiny little detail in the text that caught my attention – it’s verse 14 – God says to Moses:

Aaron will do the “official” public speaking for Moses and, as God says, “Even now he is coming out to meet you...”
Think about that...
“Even now he is coming out to meet you...” A little detail with profound repercussions! God is essentially saying that he’s already got Aaron on the way. That before God had even come to Moses, before Moses had ever agreed to answer the call, God had already gotten Aaron on the way to help him. God has been at work providing what Moses would need before Moses even knew he needed it. The fulfillment of which we see just a few verses later: Aaron, moved by the Holy Spirit, has come out into the wilderness to find his long lost brother Moses. And they rejoice in seeing one another after 40 years apart.
All from a simple line, nine simple words, that speak volumes: “Even now he is coming out to meet you.” Here God is showing Moses how he will provide, and is providing, for all his needs. And in so doing, offering the same to us: Showing us how, when we face seemingly overwhelming obstacles, how God provides for us.
What do we learn here?
A few thoughts regarding God’s provision for us in times of need...
(I)
First: GOD KNOWS WHAT WE NEED BEFORE WE ASK.
Obviously, the first thing that drives our text here this morning is, as mentioned, that God has been active providing for Moses’ needs before Moses even knew he needed them – long before he needed them. God got Aaron moving ahead of time. And that’s the first great lesson for us all here:
When we are in need, God is moving ahead of time. God knows what we need before we ask. God is moving people, getting things into place, to help us – long before we may even know we need help! We may not be able to see this; but, I believe, the first thing this text is trying to get us to do is to TRUST in this – to live in this kind of confidence daily: To know that whenever I face some overwhelming, terrifying situation, God is there AHEAD OF ME. God knows what I need and is providing it. What I need is, somehow, already here – I need only look around! One author writes:
“After months of asking, I finally decided to repair the roof on my mother-in-law’s patio. We made a material list and my wife came with me to Home Depot to buy the supplies. In order to repair the roof I would need two-by-fours about fourteen feet in length. I purchased these, along with the other supplies we needed and pushed the cart out to my pickup truck.
“I loaded the material into the truck and proceeded to strap down the two-by-fours on the roll bar. But I had difficulty in securing the long boards. It seemed that no matter how I tied the boards down they would slip, length-wise, through the straps. After several attempts at different methods frustration began to set in. But I realized that if I put a nail through the strap and into the two-by-fours they would not slip.
“I began to go through my truck looking for a nail, any nail. I looked in my toolbox and glove box and behind the seat. I looked everywhere and did not find a single nail, which is unusual because I am always doing something that requires a nail and always seem to have some around.
“Frustration began to creep in. I didn’t want to do this project in the first place, and now this annoyance. My ‘well known” temper began to take hold.
“’What’s the problem?’ my wife asked.
“I just need one stupid nail!’ I snapped. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to go back in the store and buy a whole box of nails just for this!”
“With that, my wife said, ‘Will this do?’ And she proceeded to take out of her pocket a rusty old roofing nail.
“’Where did you get that?’ I asked.
“She replied, ‘As we came out of the store I noticed it on the ground. I didn’t want anyone to run over it and get a flat tire, so I picked it up. I didn’t see a garbage can so I just figured I’d throw it away when we got home!’
“Well, the roofing nail she picked up would work just fine. It was old and rusted and slightly bent, but that did not prevent it from doing the job. Greatly humbled, in just a few seconds the nail was driven in and the boards were secure. Without complications, without trials, without the fanfare of problem solving, with just a few short strokes of a hammer all my problems were solved.
“God had supplied my needs in the store and as we left the store. He supplied my needs that day as my wife picked up that rusty nail. Before I even knew I needed a nail, God supplied it. It was lying right there, waiting for me.
“Today, that rusty nail has a place of honor in my wife’s china hutch. It’s there to remind me that God is always reaching out to supply my needs ahead of time if I will just relax - quit flipping out and look around.”
Thought #1 regarding God’s provision for us: Quit flipping out and look around! That is: GOD KNOWS WHAT WE NEED BEFORE WE ASK.
(II)
Thought #2: GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY.
You know, there’s an old story that is told of a man and his father who were out walking one day. The man was bemoaning all the problems in his life and especially how God didn’t seem to be doing anything to help. Finally, questioning God’s wisdom and the whole arrangement of the universe (that seemed to be against him) the man said, “God doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing!” The father asked, “What do you mean?” The man pointed to a tree and replied, “Well, look at this giant tree here. It gives forth only tiny acorns. While over here (pointing to a garden) this tiny plant gives forth huge watermelons. It doesn’t make sense.”
Just then an acorn fell out of the tree and hit the man on the head. He looked upward, annoyed. As he did so, his father tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Son, thank God that wasn’t a watermelon!”
God knows what is best – even if it doesn’t always make immediate sense to us. This is the basis for the second point here...
Obviously, in the text, God provides for Moses’ need but it’s not exactly what Moses wanted, what he had requested. In fact, it’s not at all what Moses had requested. Moses wanted OUT ENTIRELY. God refused that request. What God instead did was to provide a way for Moses to fulfill the difficult challenge he had been called to – and thus be part of far greater blessings.
Second lesson here: God provides for our needs but not necessarily the way we desire or request. Sometimes God gives us exactly what we desire, sometimes God gives us nothing of what we desire. In fact, sometimes, he may give us the exact opposite of what we want – not what makes us happy but what hurts, not what takes us out of hardship but takes us through it; but we need to realize that God knows best and is always working on the greatest possible blessing for us and giving that. How are we so insistent on what we’re demanding that we’re missing the greater thing God is giving – because, on first glance it goes against what we want?
“God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.”
Have you ever heard that saying? It comes from a poem – later made into a hymn – by author William Cowper. The story behind this poem is interesting:
William Cowper was a Christian who lived in England in the 18th century, and he often suffered from bouts of severe depression.
Well, in 1772, after a series of tragedies, he had sunk to the depths of despair. One foggy night he called for a horse drawn carriage and asked to be taken to London Bridge on the Thames River. He was so overcome by depression that he intended to commit suicide. But after 2 hours of driving through the mist, Cowper’s coachman reluctantly confessed that he was lost. Disgusted by the delay, cursing the inept coachman who couldn’t even find London Bridge, Cowper left the carriage and decided to complete the trip on foot.
After walking only a short distance, though, he suddenly came to a building. He looked up and realized that it was his own house! The carriage driver had been wandering in circles!
Immediately Cowper recognized the restraining hand of God in it all. God had saved him – by sending him the very thing had had been cursing! He wanted a good carriage driver... God sent him an inept one! For the first time in many months, he laughed. And with gratitude he sat down and penned these words:
“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
“Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
“Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessing on your head.
“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
“His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will the flower.
“Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain:
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.”
Don’t look simply for what you want. Look, better, for how God may be at work on a far greater blessing – in what you don’t want. And open your heart to its challenges and gifts! Thought #2 regarding God’s provision for us in time of need: GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY. And finally...
(III)
Thought #3: GOD WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE.
In the end, notice how God solves Moses’ problem of poor speaking skills not by snapping his fingers and magically making him eloquent; not by sending him a voice coach; but rather, by sending his brother. God sends him Aaron to help him. Notice also, in turn, how Moses becomes the “answer” to Aaron’s problems: Living in slavery, Moses will be the way out.
In both cases, reciprocally, God answers need through people. And this is the final lesson here: GOD WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE. That is, yes, occasionally God miraculously “plunks down” in our lives something that we need. But more often than not, God provides for us by drawing us into contact with people, bringing people into our lives, bringing us to them – where what we need appears. It is in getting in contact with people that God’s provision best arrives. Most especially as here: With each seeking to be a blessing for another that they receive the provision they each need.
The final point – simply put: In seeking God’s provision for yourself, most especially in time of overwhelming need, get out beyond yourself, seek contact, get involved – strive to give to another and they will give to you! A noted Christian author writes:
“It was chilly in Manhattan but warm inside the Starbucks shop on 51st Street and Broadway, just a skip up from Times Square. Early November weather in New York City holds only the slightest hint of the bitter chill of late December and January, but it’s enough to send the masses crowding indoors to vie for available space and warmth.
“For a musician, it’s the most lucrative Starbucks location in the world, I’m told, and consequently, the tips can be substantial if you play your tunes right. Apparently, we were striking all the right chords that night, because our basket was almost overflowing.
“It was a fun, low-pressure gig - I was playing keyboard and singing backup for my friend who also added rhythm with an arsenal of percussion instruments. We mostly did pop songs from the ‘40s to the ‘90s with a few original tunes thrown in. During our emotional rendition of the classic, ‘If You Don’t Know Me by Now,’ I noticed a lady sitting in one of the lounge chairs across from me, swaying to the beat and singing along.
“After the tune was over, she approached me. ‘I apologize for singing along on that song. Did it bother you?’ she asked.
‘No,’ I replied. ‘We love it when the audience joins in. Especially when someone has a great voice like yours. Would you like to sing up front on the next selection?’ To my delight, she accepted my invitation. ‘Choose a song,’ I said. ‘What are you in the mood to sing?’
“’Well... do you know any hymns?’ she inquired
“Hymns? This woman didn’t know who she was dealing with. I had cut my teeth on hymns. Before I was even born, I was going to church. I gave our guest singer a knowing look. ‘Name one,’ I said.
“’Oh, I don’t know.,’ she answered. ‘There are so many good ones. You pick one.’
“’Okay,’ I replied. ‘How about “His Eye is on the Sparrow”?’
‘My new friend was silent, her eyes averted. Then she fixed her eyes on mine again and said, ‘Yeah. Let’s do that one,’ slowly nodding her head.
“She put down her purse, straightened her jacket and faced the center of the shop. With my two-bar setup, she began to sing the opening line: ‘Why should I be discouraged? Why should the shadows come?’
The audience of coffee drinkers suddenly stopped and was transfixed. Even the gurgling noises of the cappuccino machine ceased as the employees stopped what they were doing to listen. The song rose to its concluding chorus: ‘I sing because I’m happy; I sing because I’m free. For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.’
“When the last note was sung, the applause crescendoed to a deafening roar that would have rivaled a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall. Embarrassed, the woman tried to shout over the din, ‘Oh, y’all go back to your coffee! I didn’t come in here to do a concert! I just came in here to get somethin’ to drink, just like you!’
“But the ovation continued. I embraced my new friend. ‘You, my dear, have made my whole year! That was beautiful!’
“’Well, it’s funny that you picked that particular hymn,’ she said.
“’Why is that?’ I asked.
“’Well...’ she hesitated again, ‘that was my daughter’s favorite song.’
“’Really!’ I exclaimed.
“’Yes,’ she said, and then she grabbed my hands. By this time, the applause had subsided and it was business as usual – the woman continued: ‘She was 16. She died of a brain tumor last week.’
“I said the first thing that found its way through my stunned silence: ‘Are you going to be okay?’
“She smiled through tear-filled eyes and squeezed my hands. ‘I’m going to be more than okay. God sending me you and that song was him telling me that.’ With that, she picked up her bag and then she was gone.
“Was it just a coincidence that we happened to be singing in that particular coffee shop on that particular November night? Coincidence that this wonderful lady just happened to walk into that particular shop? Coincidence that of all the hymns to choose from, I just happened to pick the very hymn that was the favorite of her daughter, who had died just the week before? I refuse to believe it.
“God has been arranging encounters in human history since the beginning of time, and it’s no stretch for me to imagine that he could reach into a coffee shop in midtown Manhattan and turn an ordinary gig into a revival meeting. It was a great reminder that if we keep trusting Him and singing His songs, and reaching out to the people that come our way, everything’s going to be more than okay. Get out. Get involved in the lives of people.”

“Every morning, the only sure thing any of us can say about the day that awaits us is that God’s love arrived here before us. For the providential care of God for his children always rises long before the sun.”
When, like Moses, the life before you seems overwhelming – let God provide for your needs as he did all those years ago. Remember: God knows what you need before you ask. God moves in a mysterious way. And God works through people.

Holy Ground

The Life of Moses – Act 2, Scene 1:
Exodus 3:1-12
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 5/30/10

The story is told that, many of years ago, now former President George W. Bush had been invited to speak at a political rally, and following the rally he was standing in the convention center lobby when he happened to notice a man in a long, flowing, white robe with a long, flowing, white beard and long, flowing, white hair. The man had a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under the other arm. George W., struck by the man’s appearance, approached the man and asked, “Excuse me. But aren’t you Moses?” The man ignored George W. and stared at the ceiling. George W., unaccustomed to being ignored, tried again, “Excuse me. But aren’t you Moses?” The man continued staring at the ceiling. At this point, getting annoyed, George W. took hold of the man’s arm and turning him so that they faced one another, asked once again, “Excuse me. But aren’t you Moses?!” With this, the man finally responded in an irritated voice, “Yes I am.” George W. said, “Why were you ignoring me?” To which Moses replied, “Well, it’s like this: The last time I spoke to a Bush I had to spend forty years in the desert! Never again!”
A life forever changed by an encounter with a bush! The famous “Burning Bush” – Moses’ meeting with God and what it did to him, the dramatic transformation it worked in his life and what we learn from it – this is what I would like to look at this morning...

Today we return to our study of the life of Moses with the “second act” of the drama, a key transitional act in the story, the set-up for which is as follows:
Many years have passed since we last saw our hero. Specifically, 40 years have passed. A good way to remember the chronology of Moses’ life is like this:
Moses’ will live to be 120 years old and his life can be divided into 3, 40 year, sections: The first 40 years are spent growing up, living in the palace, in Egypt. Then, having killed a man and made a run for it, the second 40 years are spent hiding out, living the life of shepherd in the land of Midian – the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula. The final 40 years then to be spent leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.
Now, we pick things up today at roughly the close of the second period: Moses is 80 years old and God comes to call him to return to Egypt to lead the people of Israel out of captivity into freedom. And, as mentioned this marks a PIVOTAL MOMENT in Moses’ life: From a life going away from God, going wrong, hiding out... to a life of tremendous accomplishment, profound blessing, incredible nearness to God... A life close to God, filled to overflowing with God’s power, walking with God daily... Basically, God breaks into his life in a powerful way and it all begins with a BURNING BUSH.
What happens here? What does Moses discover here, what does he learn? What does he experience and how can we experience the same?
Simply put: Would you like to experience God in your life in a powerful way? Have a close, real, living relationship with the Lord? Do you ever feel like God is missing from your life and you’d like to turn that around? Well, I’d like to offer a couple of suggestions to make this happen...
From the story of Moses and the Burning Bush – FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR EXPERIENCING GOD (for enabling God to break through in a powerful way) IN OUR LIVES:

(I)
Principle #1: BE ALERT.
As the scene opens, Moses is up in the mountains, busy tending his flock, when he suddenly notices this bush that is on fire but it’s not being burned up. Needless to say, a most remarkable occurrence. It GETS HIS ATTENTION. And that’s the first point here:
God is there. God wants to have contact with Moses - to speak to him, to guide him, to call him, to be part of his life. But first he has to get his attention. And it’s the same with all of us...
The burning bush is, first of all, simply an “attention grabber”, in effect reminding us that God is ALWAYS THERE seeking to be part of our lives, to help us and to guide us. The question is: Are we noticing, are we PAYING ATTENTION to this – or are we going through life oblivious?
You know, contrary to popular belief, God doesn’t only speak to “special” people – God speaks to EVERYONE. And God doesn’t only speak to us occasionally, very rarely; no, God wishes to be in communication with us ALL THE TIME! As it is written in the Psalms:

“Day to day pours forth speech...” There is continual communication from heaven! “Their voice is not heard.” It isn’t necessarily an audible sound. “Yet their voice (the voices of the heavens) goes out through all the earth...” The words are there – God communicating constantly with those who have ears to hear!
God is continually reaching out to us, speaking to us – seeking to guide, encourage, call, help - and it comes down to whether we are seeking this out from our side! Are we open, receptive, seeking? People who have powerful experiences of God in the lives are, first of all, those who EXPECT God to reach out and speak to them every day; and who are thus ALERT to it – looking for it: “How is God trying to get my attention today? How is God reaching out to make contact with me today?” Realizing that, as with a burning bush, this contact is very likely to come in a most unusual way – or, at least, not necessarily in the way we are seeking.
It may be in a smile from a stranger, a call from a friend, the purr of a cat, the color of the sunset, a hug from a loved one, a word heard repeatedly, the laughter of a child... It may be in a familiar voice we’ve come to take for granted; it may be in a voice we least expect.
God reaching out to make contact, to talk to us. And how do you know if it’s God’s voice speaking not another’s? Well, as with Moses here: Is it affirming you though you have failed? Is it calling you into the lives of others in need? Is it asking the best from within you? A voice of affirmation and love and grace and challenge and service and hope; not a voice of condemnation and separation and judgment and status quo and cynicism. This is the litmus test.
First thing: Are we going through our lives ALERT to how God is trying to get our attention today? Or are we just going through life oblivious, unthinking, unnoticing – wondering why God never seems to reach out to us – even when we call? In his book, A Gentle Thunder, author Max Lucado writes:
“Once there was a man who dared God to speak: ‘I need you, God.’ He said. “Speak! Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God. And I will follow. Collapse the wall like you did for Joshua, God. And I will fight. Still the waves like you did in Galilee, God. And I will listen.’
“And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea and waited for God to speak.
“And God heard the man, so God answered. He sent fire, not for a bush, but for the work of the church. He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of bitterness. He stilled a storm, not of sea, but of soul. And God waited for the man to respond. And He waited... And He waited... And He waited...
“But because the man was looking at bushes and not hearts; bricks and not lives; sea and not souls; he decided that God had done nothing. Finally he looked to God and asked, ‘Have you lost your power?’
“And God looked at him and said, ‘Have you lost your hearing?’”
Burning Bush Principle #1 in experiencing God powerfully in one’s life: BE ALERT. God is continually reaching out to you!
(II)
Principle #2: GO BAREFOOT.
Having gotten Moses’ attention, God then speaks out of the burning bush and the first thing God says to him is: “Stop, take of your sandals. For the ground on which you are standing is holy.”
Moses suddenly discovers that this mountaintop (that he has undoubtedly been to many times before and thought nothing of), this familiar location for feeding his flock, his “workplace” if you will, is a SACRED place and God demands that he treat it as such: That he take off his shoes – a traditional sign (in Eastern culture) of RESPECT and REVERENCE. And, simply, an act of TENDERNESS. I mean, think about when you walk barefoot...
You feel everything, right? You can hurt yourself. You walk GENTLY. And this, I believe, is the second point we’re meant to get here:
In experiencing God powerfully in our lives, to come to see that ALL LIFE – everywhere we are, everything we do, everyone we meet – is HOLY – sacred to God, valuable, beloved - and to TREAT is ACCORDINGLY! To take off our shoes and WALK GENTLY! To see home, and work, and school... everywhere we find ourselves as “holy ground” – a place not just of existence but of ministry, a place where God is present and active and calling us. To see every person we meet: friend, stranger, loved one, enemy - is beloved by God; and, each in their own way, struggling along in this life to God. And to thus live tenderly, respectfully, reverently; quit walking rough shod over life, unthinking, uncaring, crushing everything!
It’s making this shift in perception that changes everything, that opens up amazing things in the Lord. People who experience the holiness of God in everything are, secondly, simply those who live the holiness of God in everything. Do we? Christian author Paul Williams writes:
“The infernal sound woke me at 5:30am. I thought it was a car alarm. When it happened again the next morning, it dawned on me. I had a northern mockingbird outside my window. The volume was incredible, twice as loud as any robin, blue jay, or cardinal I’ve ever heard. I tried earplugs and pulling a pillow over my head, both to no avail. The mockingbird pegged the decibel meter morning after morning.
“I tolerated the bird the first year. The second spring I went to war. I borrowed a BB gun from my secretary. Early one Saturday I tiptoed into the backyard, BB gun in hand, and waited by the patio table. I spotted him at about 6:15am, sitting on the power line that stretched from the pole to the house. But before I could raise the gun he was gone — hiding in the top of a neighbor’s sugar maple. He made a few more runs from the tree to the power line to the roof of the house, but I never had a clear shot. I went inside at about 8:00, equal parts ashamed for wanting to kill the poor bird, and discouraged for being so inept with a BB gun.
“My ambush having proven fruitless, I figured I needed more information. So I googled ‘killing mockingbirds’ but all that got me were references were to Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird – and I knew it wasn’t an instruction manual.
“So I just googled ‘mockingbirds.’ What I found was astounding. A male mockingbird has as many as 200 songs in his repertoire. Males and females build their nest together, and may call on other mockingbirds to protect the nest in the event of attack. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. ‘These are incredibly fascinating birds,’ I told my wife.
“With dripping sarcasm she replied, ‘So, you still need that BB gun?’ No, I didn’t. From that moment on, I took watching the birds instead of trying to kill them. Eventually, I began to try to care for them, to get the best food for them, to watch over them. What began as a tremendous annoyance has become one of the most tremendous blessings in my life. Each spring I now await their arrival, and each fall I mourn their departure.
“It is amazing how much empathy and understanding a little knowledge can bring – what seeing the sacredness of life around you and treating it appropriately can do for you. It works with birds. It works with people. It works with everything.”
Burning Bush Principle #2: GO BAREFOOT. Which leads us into...
(III)
Principle #3: TURN ASIDE.
In the text, one of the little details that caught my attention was this – it says:

Having observed the bush, Moses then makes a conscious decision to “turn aside”: to STOP what HE’S DOING and examine what’s up - and it is only then (that the text says) that God actually spoke to him.
To experience God, Moses had to be willing to “TURN ASIDE” – to stop what he was doing, to put his plans on hold in favor of what God is up to. The third great principle here:
To experience God in our lives we have to be willing to TURN ASIDE – to let go of our objectives, our schedule, our wants and desires; in favor of what God is up to. And let’s face it: this is probably the most difficult principle to fulfill! Simply put: Most often, we’re so hung up on our schedules, our plans, our issues and objectives that we won’t depart from this at all and thus we MISS GOD – we walk right by God!
Simply put: Holy ground is all around. God is calling constantly . People are in need. Will I put myself – my plans, my schedule, my issues – aside and serve, and experience God in an amazing way? Or will I rigidly stick to the course I have set for myself – and miss out on everything – in the name of “accomplishing my goals” and “getting my way”? How often are we missing out on God because we won’t allow our will to be disrupted by God’s will?
What’s the old saying? “I used to be bothered by interruptions in my life until I realized that, as a Christian, interruptions are my life.” For those who truly seek to experience God, “interruptions are (their) life.” It’s the willingness to put ourselves aside for what God wants. Preacher Fred Craddock writes:
"To give my life for Christ appears glorious, to pour myself out for others, to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom – I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.
“We often think giving our all to the Lord is like that, like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table – ‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’
“But the reality for most of us is that then God sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We then go through life handing out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Sit and talk with your spouse. Help a shaky old man get his groceries into his car at the supermarket. Stop our rushing around for a moment to do something we don’t have time for but that needs to be done.
“Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, putting ourselves aside for God, 25 cents at a time. Forgiving, caring, serving, when we’d rather do otherwise. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul – but that’s where God is best found.”
How is God asking you to “put yourself aside” somehow, today – that He might happen? Burning Bush Principle #3 of experiencing God powerfully in one’s life: TURN ASIDE. And finally...
(IV)
Principle #4: ANSWER THE CALL.
You know, there’s a story that’s told of a church committee that gathered one evening for a very long meeting. At this church, their current pastor was retiring, and so the search committee for a new pastor had gathered to go over resumes in hopes of finding the perfect new minister. Unfortunately, despite hours of reading resumes and discussing and debating, no luck so far. Tired of the whole process, they were about ready to call it a night when they came upon this final letter of introduction from a candidate:
“To the Pulpit Nominating Committee: It is my understanding that you are in the process of searching for a new pastor, and I would like to apply for the position. I wish I could say that I am a terrific preacher, but I can’t - actually, I stutter when I speak. I wish I could say that I have an impressive educational background, but I can’t - no seminary, just the school of ‘Hard Knocks.’ I wish I could say I bring a wealth of experience to the job, but I can’t - I have never been a pastor before (unless you count the flock of sheep I am currently shepherding). I wish I could say I have wonderful pastoral skills, but I can’t - sometimes I lose my temper and have been known to get violent when upset. Once I even killed somebody, but, gracious folks that you are, I am certain you will not hold that against me. I know churches these days want young ministers to attract young members, and I wish I could say that I am young, but I can’t - actually, I am 80 years old.
“With all that - which might go against me, why am I applying for your position? Simple. One afternoon recently, the voice of God spoke to me and said I had been chosen to lead. I admit, I was a bit reluctant at first, but... Here I am. I look forward to hearing from you and to leading you into an exciting new future.”
The Pulpit Committee members looked at one another. The chairperson asked, “Well, what do you think?” The rest of the committee was aghast. A stuttering, uneducated, inexperienced, old, obviously neurotic, ex-murderer as their new pastor? You’ve got to be kidding! The chairperson eyed them all around before she added, “The letter is signed, ‘Yours sincerely, Moses.’”
In the end, of course, this is what the Burning Bush ultimately represents: God CALLING MOSES TO MINISTRY. And needless to say, it’s a very ODD CHOICE: A stuttering, uneducated, inexperienced, old, obviously neurotic, ex-murderer? You’ve got to be kidding!
Well, no one thinks it’s a worse choice than Moses himself! In fact, the entire next chapter and a half consists of Moses coming up with all sorts of reasons, all sorts of excuses, why he cannot and should not do this.
But God refuses to be put off.
God knows that Moses is the right person for this job, God knows that he has tremendous things to offer, God wants to share this work with Moses so that Moses himself can experience this incredible blessing (that’s why God does everything in tandem with us, calls us to participation in with him: Not as a curse but as a gift!) And so, God’s constant reply to Moses is, essentially: “If you will just say yes, simply be obedient, I will be with you always and take care of everything you need.” And it is finally Moses’ acceptance of this call, however reluctantly, that opens his life to a whole new reality. And such it is for each of us...
What this scene (and, indeed, the whole story of Moses) finally seeks to say to all of us is that God longs to do the same with each of us. That we each, likewise, have some key place within the work of God, something great to offer – and we need to offer it if we are ever to truly experience God and life as God intends for us.
In events in our daily lives, in the course of our lives as a whole, God is calling.
Unfortunately, like Moses, most of us spend all our time hiding out, trying to not get involved, working up all sorts of excuses why we need to beg off – thus never experiencing life as wonderful as God intends.
Final point: You may think you have nothing to offer, that you are the worst possible candidate for the job; but God sees otherwise, and God refuses to be put off. If you will just accept the call - in simple daily moments, in grand life choices; instead of continually saying (like Moses eventually says), “Please Lord, send someone else”; - and instead say, “Here I am, Lord.” God will work amazing things in and through and for you! Realize that you have something great to offer to the work of the Lord and to the world, and quit holding it back. Stop making excuses way you can’t and start making excuses why you must! One author writes:
“A pitcher of ice water. Who would imagine it could change the world. But it can.
“I would estimate that Alvin Cavin weighs 140 pounds dripping wet, but 139 of those pounds make up his big heart. ‘He keeps busy by giving to others,’ says Connie Moore, activity director at Cedar Crest Manor nursing home in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.
“Cavin, age 89, is a volunteer with a big heart and a big Stetson hat. Alvin began coming to the nursing facility when his wife, May, an Alzheimer’s patient, was admitted 10 years ago. He rarely missed a meal with May. Though retired from operating a dairy farm, Alvin milked almost a dozen cows before arriving for breakfast with his wife. Between lunch and supper, Alvin came to replenish May’s ice pitcher.
“Before long, he volunteered to fill every other resident’s, too. Even after May went to be with the Lord 5 years ago, Alvin continued to help out at Cedar Crest Manor. At supper, he sets out napkins and coffee cups. If residents needed assistance with their wheelchairs, they get ‘Mr. Cavin’s escort service.’
“Everyone awaits his arrival – most especially those with no outside contacts. Here the effects of his simple ministry have been most profound. Says one resident who is all alone – having no children and his wife having died a few years ago:
“I was at the end of my rope. I had no one. Then one day Alvin came in to my room to fill my ice pitcher. We struck up a conversation. We found we shared a lot in common. We’re now best friends. He comes to visit, we go out to ball games and dinners together. Someone in the world at large knows that I exist, cares what becomes of me. He saved my life!’”

Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes — the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
A life changed by a Burning Bush. Earth crammed with heaven. God longing to break through to our lives and make amazing things happen. Like Moses many years ago, experience God in a profound way:
Be alert. Go barefoot. Turn aside. And answer the call.

The Fugitive

The Life of Moses – Act 1, Scene 5:
Exodus 2:11-25
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 5/16/10

Lefkos Hajji is a man in love. Two years ago he decided to pop the question of marriage to his girlfriend in a way she would never forget.
Well, let’s just say: She hasn’t.
According to an article in Reuters, Lefkos – a flooring contractor from Hackney, East London, England – thought he had everything right when he decided to spend $12,000 dollars on a beautiful engagement ring for his girlfriend, Leanne.
He had the place he planned to propose all picked out with their families surrounding them. He even came up with the unique idea of getting a dozen balloons filled with helium – one of them containing the engagement ring – and having Leanne pop the balloons, eventually popping the one with the ring inside it – at which point he would “pop the question.” Very clever.
Everything seemed perfect. Lefkos’ plan was great; his execution, on the other hand, was a disaster.
It had been a particularly cold and windy week in London, and as Lefkos left the jewelry shop with the balloons – with ring inside, the jeweler warned him that he had better hold on tightly or they might fly away. And as luck would have it, just as he stepped out of the shop a strong gust of wind took them out of his hand. The balloons, along with the diamond ring, sailed away.
Lefkos said, “I couldn’t believe it. I just watched as they went further and further into the air. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me.” The frustrated suitor jumped into his car and followed the balloons for two hours before they sailed out of sight.
Instead of a glorious moment, the start of their life together, Lefkos was left having to go and announce to his fiancé, and to all the company assembled, what he had done and what had happened.
At last report, Leanne is still refusing to talk to Lefkos until he gets a new ring. And Lefkos, for his part, is now saving up to try again – however, this time resolving that he and Leanne will go to the jeweler’s together... and she will put the ring on in the store!
Totally lousing things up. Taking something wonderful and ruining it, getting it all wrong. Failing horribly. But hopefully learning from one’s mistakes.
We all have our own moments, our own stories to tell; don’t we? Times when we’ve loused things up royally?
Well, this is something of what I would like to talk about this morning: FAILURE – when we’ve loused up, when we’ve ruined everything... most especially, when we’ve failed God, sinned, gotten the life God wants for us all wrong and the mess we’ve made seems hopeless... What does God want us to know? Today, we learn from the mistakes of one of history’s most famous individuals...

In our scripture reading today, Moses makes his first appearance as an adult, and, to put it mildly: he makes an inauspicious entry. If we take today’s Scripture reading at face value, Moses was a man who started life as a failure, lousing everything up, getting everything wrong...
Last week, as you may recall (in our continuing study of the story of Moses), we read (in the first half of Exodus Chapter 2) of Moses’ unique birth, and how after his birth he was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in the palace of the King of Egypt. Well, a long period of time exists between verse 10 (where we ended last week) and verse 11 (where we pick things up this week.) Traditionally, this gap in time being understood to cover about 40 years. We are left only to speculate about the life of Moses in this intervening time. If we look to some extra-biblical sources, we can glean a little information, but it is mostly speculation.
Of the biblical record we do have, the book of Acts records a sermon by an early Christian disciple, Stephen, who tells us that Moses grew up as the Prince of Egypt. He was schooled under the best Egyptian teachers. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Moses learned the best tactics of the military, and was actually a general who led Pharaoh’s armies into battle and victory. Other historians have said that Moses was Pharaoh’s first choice to ascend the throne of Egypt at Pharaoh’s death. His was a place of prestige and privilege in the palace, surrounded by the pomp and ceremony of royalty.
But that is not where the biblical writer chooses to start. The writer skips that entire royal splendor thing as seemingly unimportant. But then, of course, we remember that tradition tells us that Moses himself was the author of the book of Exodus. Perhaps Moses, like many other great people, believed that failure eventually proves the greater blessing. But we can only know that after we’ve gone through the failure. So there, in the midst of lousing everything up, we pick up the story of our champion Moses:
He appears on the scene as a middle-aged adult. Seeing one of his Hebrew kinsman being beaten by an Egyptian slave-master, he lashes out in anger killing the Egyptian. Then, realizing what he has done, he tries to cover up his crime – to hide the body in the sand. But word has gotten out, the murder is known, judgment is pending; so Moses makes a run for it, across the Sinai Peninsula to the land of Midian. There he gets married, settles down in the life of a nomadic shepherd, and many more years pass. And this is where the “first act” in the story of Moses concludes: with him a FUGITIVE, HIDING OUT from the law. “An alien living in a foreign land.”
It’s interesting that Moses would choose this episode to include in his account of the exodus of the Hebrew nation from Egypt. Hardly the story of a great hero. Far more the story of a coward, a murderer... a sinner, a failure. Very human: there are gifts here, but he is deeply flawed. And maybe that’s the point...
You know, I think Moses included this because he saw this event as pivotal in understanding of God’s call in his life, and he did, in fact, learn more from this failure than all the successes of the previous forty years. He learned about lousing up your life, he learned about failing God. What did he learn? Or better yet, what can we learn from Moses’ great failure? There are undoubtedly many lessons here; but I’d like to mention three things I believe we learn from Moses’ failure...
(I)
First: RUIN WILL SNEAK UP ON YOU.
As our scene today opens, Moses is motivated by compassion for his people. Compassion, of course, is a most admirable drive. Moses looked out and saw the anguish of the Hebrews, and his heart was moved to do something about it. No doubt Moses may have even felt that God was calling him to do something about it. We see Moses’ compassion not only in this episode with the Egyptian, but also in his encounter with the young women by the well in Midian.
But Moses’ compassion did not justify the action he took in regard to his people. Murder is still murder – however we may try to “spin” it. We can justify many actions in life, but that doesn’t make those actions right. And this, I believe, directs us to our first point here:
Moses’ failure began with something GOOD. And that’s how evil, how sin, so often works to trip us up – to lead us to those actions that result in failed, broken lives, to getting things wrong and ruining the “gift.” It doesn’t necessarily come straight at us as the desire to do something evil; rather it may even begin with something that appears righteous and good but which then becomes twisted and wrong. Something which we then justify and rationalize and excuse and compromise.
What’s the old saying? “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” A reminder to us not only of the good we often intend but fail to enact; but even more, of the tricky ways sin likes to trip us up.
Moses’ failure first teaches us that we need to be vigilant, seeking always (and only) the very highest ideals. Fighting the justifying and the rationalizing and the compromising that leads us away from God and into failure.
Simply put: Rarely do we ruin our lives in one fell swoop. Far more often it is the culmination of a long series of small actions: choices, temptations given in to, weaknesses unchallenged, low standards accepted, instant gratification desired... all of which ultimately results in something great, big and horrible! It’s a whole bunch of small choices we make when we know we should choose otherwise! One author puts it this way:
“Exodus 2:12 tells us, ‘Moses looked this way and that (before he acted).’ That is, Moses made sure no one was looking. You think he didn’t know what he was about to do was wrong? He knew. He just chose to do otherwise. One reason we so often take the wrong actions (and get into all sorts of trouble) is because we spend too much time looking this way and that - either to make sure no one is looking before we do something bad; or to make sure someone is looking when we do something good – so that we will get the credit. More concerned with what others think than what God thinks! Instead of looking this way and that, we need to spend our time looking up!”
It has been said: “Catastrophic spiritual failure is rarely an instantaneous event; rather it is, far more often, the cumulative product of small indulgences and minuscule compromises, the immediate consequences of which were, at the time, indiscernible.” It “SNEAKS UP” on you!
Things that begin as “nothing” and then eventually TAKE OVER. Reading from a New York Times article a few years ago entitled “A Tiger Grows in Harlem”:
“His obsession began innocently enough, with the puppies and broken-winged birds many little boys beg to bring home. Over the years, however, Antoine Yates’ taste in animals grew ever more exotic, neighbors said, and his collection came to include reptiles, a monkey or two, and a hyena. But when Yates’ most exotic pet - a tiger he named Ming - grew to more than 400 pounds and let loose a fearsome roar, the trouble began.
“Terrified by the beast, his mother, Martha, packed up and moved away. Yates, himself, increasingly hard-pressed to control the tiger, decamped too, to a nearby apartment. He continued to feed the tiger by throwing raw chicken through a door opened just enough to keep a paw the size of a plate from swiping through.
“On Saturday, police arrived, after being alerted by phone tips. They removed the tiger, and an alligator, after a sharpshooter shot them with tranquilizer darts.
“Police are now trying to determine where Yates, 31, got a tiger and how he managed to raise it in a public housing project for years. Outside the courtroom Yates commented to the reporters, ‘It didn’t start out like this. Ming started out small and cute. I didn’t know what to do’”
Such it is with a life taken over and ruined. Such it is with sin. How are we feeding something that seems small and cute now; but that will eventually grow to devour us?
The first lesson that we learn from Moses’ failure: RUIN WILL SNEAK UP ON YOU.
(II)
The second lesson: HIDING OUT DOESN’T HELP.
Having killed the Egyptian soldier, Moses hid the body under a few feet of sand hoping to hide the sin he had committed. It was an automatic response. “Uh, oh! I’ve really loused-up now! Can’t let anyone find out. Got to hide it.”
This response goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Remember in Genesis, God came to walk in the cool of the day after Adam and Eve had sinned by eating the forbidden fruit? What did Adam and Eve do? They hid in the hydrangea bush. And we’ve been hiding ever since. We hide from God, we hide from others, and we even try to hide the truth from ourselves, thinking if we believe it, we can make others believe it, too. As Mark Twain said, “We’re all like the moon. We each have a dark side that we don’t want anyone to see.”
Why? Because we are much more concerned with appearances and images than we are with truth. But hiding our wrong doesn’t erase it; it only postpones its discovery. Attempting to hide the wrong we’ve done, the ways we’ve loused up, leaves us, like Moses, with a corpse at our feet, a shovel in our hand, and sand between our toes. It leaves us fugitives, running from life, hiding out in a foreign land far from home, scared every day of being found out!
No matter how hard we may try to cover up, we can’t bury the consequences of our actions. Our “stuff” eventually catches up to us! The only answer is to FACE UP to it, ACKOWLEDGE it – confess our wrong and give it to God saying, “Lord, this is what has happened. This is what I have done. Help me with this, please!” Put God in charge! Until we do this, we can only know ultimate failure and brokenness.
It has been said that “the problem in most of our lives is that we try to manage our problems rather than confront them.” We blame, we avoid, we deny, we pretend – we do everything except face up to our failures and acknowledge them, seeking God’s help to truly change the direction of our lives; and thus we never get better... we constantly ruin everything. Preacher John Ortberg writes:
“A CEO had taken on a new job at a major company, and the outgoing CEO said to him, ‘I’d like to offer you some advice. Sometimes you’ll make wrong choices. You will. You’ll mess up. When that happens, I have prepared three envelopes for you. I left them in the top drawer of the desk. The first time it happens, open #1. The second time you mess up, open #2. The third time, open #3.’
“For the first few months, everything went fine. Then the CEO made his first mistake, so he goes to the drawer, opens up envelope #1, and the message reads, ‘Blame me.’ So he does – he says to everyone: ‘This is the old CEO’s fault. He made these mistakes. I inherited these problems.’ Everybody says, ‘Okay.’ It works out pretty well.
“Things go fine for a while, and then he makes his second mistake. So, he goes to the drawer and opens up envelope #2. This time he reads, ‘Blame the board.’ And he does – he says: ‘It’s the board’s fault. The board of directors has been a mess. I inherited them. They’re the problem.’ Everybody says, ‘Okay, that makes sense.’
“Things go fine for a while, and then he makes his third mistake. So, he goes to the drawer and opens up envelope #3. The message reads: ‘Prepare three envelopes.’”
We can try to push things off, avoid our problems, our wrong, as long as we can; but eventually we have to face up to it.
The second lesson of Moses’ failure: HIDING OUT DOESN’T HELP. And finally…


(III)
Thirdly: GOD PROVIDES A WELL.
When Moses’ knew his sin was discovered, he fled to Midian. As mentioned, Midian is east of Egypt, across the Sinai Peninsula. And there is nothing between Egypt and Midian but desert. Hot, arid, dry desert. Moses fled to the desert. In the manner of two short days Moses went from being the apparent heir to the throne to a fugitive because of his failure. Two hundred plus miles of desert gives a person plenty of time to think. I can only imagine what Moses must have thought about as he crossed that dry, barren land.
We don’t think too much about traveling 200 miles these days. Hop in the car and go. A couple of hours later we’ve reached our destination. But for Moses this was perhaps a two week trip depending upon his mode of travel. On foot, it may have even been longer than that. Two plus weeks crossing the desert. Moses fell far and he fell fast. Then we see God’s grace at work. Verse 16: “...he sat down by a well.”
I imagine Moses searching for water. Wind-burned, sun-baked, lips dry and cracked from the desert sun. The well would be so refreshing. And it was refreshing for Moses – not just physically but spiritually:
The well in the middle of the desert became the open door God provided for Moses’ future. There God reached out to him providing him sustenance, companionship, a family. And it provided him with an opportunity to use his well-meaning heart in the right way: to help those in need. In this simple moment God showed Moses that he was caring for him even though he had done wrong, and that there was still great good in him even though he had failed horribly. In all, a continued story, a fresh start, a sense of worth and value despite his failure.
Likewise, sometimes we may feel we are living in the desert of failure. The truth is that we often have to cross this desert. It is in the crossing of the desert of failure that we have time to reflect. It becomes a place that allows us to reflect on our mistakes. The time in the desert of failure becomes the beginning of God’s restoration for us. We have to go to the desert to discover the well of refreshing.
Just as it was for Moses, it is for us. God has placed a well of refreshing, and it is at that well that God opens the door to our restoration and redemption. Think of the words of Jesus...
He was passing through Samaria and stopped for a drink of water. There at a well, Jesus encountered a woman of Samaria and he joined her in conversation. They talked about water, and Jesus told her, “You will drink the water from this well and get thirsty again. But the water I give takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
A well springing up to eternal life. One author writes:
“Many of the greatest people in history had lives that began with failure:
“Einstein was 4 years old before he could even speak.
“Beethoven’s music teacher once said of him, ‘As a composer, he’s hopeless.’
“Thomas Edison’s teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.
“The great concert pianist, Paderewski, was told by his first music teacher that his hands were much too small to ever master the keyboard.
“The great operatic tenor, Enrico Caruso, was told that his voice sounded like the wind whistling through a crack in the window.
“Automotive giant Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car.
“Poet Robert Frost’s writing was considered too “vigorous” for The Atlantic Monthly, and it was rejected.
“Albert Einstein’s Ph.D. dissertation was turned down because it was “irrelevant.”
“Winston Churchill’s school principal wrote on the 16-year-old student’s report card: “A conspicuous lack of success.”
“All went on to greatness. The point is that failure is not the end. This is what God desperately wants us to know when we’ve loused up and seemingly ruined everything.” Ultimately, failure is not the problem; it is what one does after one has failed that makes all the difference.
Here is the good news. God is not nearly as put off by our failure as we imagine him to be. Oh, don’t get me wrong: God’s heart breaks when we fail, when we do wrong and ruin things; but he doesn’t love us any less. Perhaps you’re here this morning and you’ve failed at a job. You’ve failed financially or in a business venture. Perhaps you’ve failed in a relationship or in your Christian walk and witness. Perhaps there’s some sin, some moral failure that has forced you into the desert of self-condemnation. The well God has placed in our desert is Jesus Christ.
When failure forces us to flee, we find forgiveness and freedom when we discover the well of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Find his refreshment; be refreshed as God begins the transformation process in your life preparing you for the journey ahead. God saying, “Even though you’ve failed, I still believe in you, there is good in you – I love you! Today is fresh start, a new beginning. Live the good. I can make something even greater of your life now! The story isn’t done. I’m not through with you!”
When you louse up, remember: GOD PROVIDES A WELL. Go to the well. Start again. Let God take the good he sees in you and make something even better out of it. Let God use your failure for something good. In an article entitled “Feeding His Lambs” preacher John Merop writes:
“By the time of his 22nd arrest—following a dramatic chase through Miami [that involved] many police cars and much shooting—John Sala had reached the end of the line. Guilty of the attempted murder of a policeman, aggravated assault, and grand theft, he was headed to jail for a long time. But jail, of all places, turned out to be his saving grace...
“Sent to a prison in Avon Park, Florida, John eventually met Chaplain Warren B. Wall, who shared the good news of the gospel. John dove right in, accepted Christ, and immersed himself in every opportunity for Christian growth.
“Assigned to the tape ministry of the chapel, he listened to Bible teachers while organizing and labeling tapes. The chaplain found someone willing to underwrite a seminary correspondence course for John, who became a passionate, disciplined student of the Bible.
“’God was birthing something new in me,’ he says today. ‘Before, I wanted to take. Now I wanted to give, love, encourage, and nurture.’ John also found his musical voice in prison and performed with the prison choir in local churches, singing solos and giving his testimony.
After serving his time, John walked out of prison in 1983 a freer man than ever before. ‘I’m not coming back!’ he declared, not knowing that, in time, he would indeed be back... but not as an inmate.
After his release, John went on to form All Things New, a ministry to prison inmates and their families. Years later, after he’d married his wife, Eileen, the ministry developed beyond his wildest imaginings:
John and Eileen changed their ministry title to Little Lambs, Inc., with the mission of loving inmates into the family of God. ‘Little Lambs offers inmates a family connection that helps satisfy the need for belonging and being cared for as a lamb that has gone astray,’ the Salas say.
“John’s book, I’m Not Coming Back!, is now in the hands of thousands of prisoners who identify with him. It has been translated into numerous languages and is turning lives around the world over. John knows their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual pain. And, though he may not have seen himself as a shepherd to this unlikely flock, it was God’s plan nonetheless. There’s no question that John and Eileen Sala have certainly introduced many men and women — all Little Lambs in training - face-to-face with a Shepherd who loved them all along... even when they went astray. Just about every week, another letter arrives at their home from someone who has turned their life around, always with the tag-line: ‘I’m not coming back.’”

“Ultimately, failure is not the problem, it is what one does after one has failed that makes all the difference.”
This week, when you louse up, when you feel like you’ve ruined everything, when failure and guilt and shame seems to plague you; think of the failure that began Moses’ life and remember: Ruin will sneak up on you. Hiding out doesn’t help. And God provides a well.