Sermon Title: Moses: equipped with wisdom

Sermon Text: Exodus 18

Sermon Title: February 19, 2006

The first 1040 pages of our pew Bible are called by different names. The Jewish people call it the “Tanak.” Most Christians call it the Old Testament, while others call it the First Testament or as author Marcus Borg calls it, “The Hebrew Bible,” for two reasons. The first reason is out of respect for Judaism. For Jews, the Hebrew Bible is THE Bible, not “the old Testament.” The second reason pertains to Christians. For many Christian readers, the adjective “old” implies outmoded or superceded, as if the “New” Testament were intended to replace the “Old Testament.” We assume that the “Old Testament” speaks of a God of law and judgment while the “New” Testament speaks of a God of grace and love.”

In Borg’s book, “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time,” he believes that this stereotype of God is widespread and he disagrees. “Both visions of God appear in both testaments. …and when we do not see the Hebrew Bible as sacred scripture “we not only reject much of our heritage but impoverish our understanding of Jesus, the New Testament and Christianity itself.” (“Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, p. 57-58)

So, my friends, as good American Baptists you are free to call the first part of the Bible Old Testament, First Testament, Hebrew Bible or even the Tanak.

Also as good American Baptists and Christians we are called – individually and collectively -- to interpret the scriptures through the presence of the Holy Spirit. So in our ABC community, here and world-wide, there are many opinions, theological and otherwise, one of the great gifts and challenges of being Baptist.

This means that there are those among us who read the scriptures and believe them to be factually and literally true. There are also those among us who believe just the opposite. And there are also those who believe that while the Bible is the inspired word of God, it was written by humans and therefore it may not be 100% factual.

Having said all of that, and having no power as your pastor to make you all agree on anything at all, I’d like to say that our God has incredible power and presence in our world and that regardless of whether you believe something to be 100% factual or not, there can always be truth that enables us to learn and grow as believers of Jesus Christ.

The stories that come to us in the Hebrew Bible offer great truth and there is nothing like a good story to lure you in to an adventure and teach you something that can change your life.

The Book of Exodus is such a story. Exodus is about a people in a time of trouble. God wanted salvation for them – Salvation being defined by Eugene Peterson as “God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves.”

Today’s passage is a ways into the story of the Hebrew people and their exodus from Egypt. They lived there for 430 years (The Message, p. 133) and Moses is called by God to lead them out of their slavery – kicking and screaming all the way. Actually Moses went in that way too. He did not want to be the one God would use to lead them. And while the Hebrew people did not like their living situation, it was better than the starvation. But eventually they allowed Moses to lead them into the dark abyss called the unknown.

Our scripture today occurs after they have arrived in the desert, away from the Pharaoh, their homes and job security. This passage may not be in the proper place chronologically but it is a powerful part of the Hebrew people’s story, and the beginning of the judicial system we know today.

READ HERE: Exodus 18

1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, ^[a] for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land"; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, ^[b] for he said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh."

5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."

7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.

9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." 12 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.

13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"

15 Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws."

17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."

24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.” (www.biblegateway.com)

Moses put a lot of burden on himself to try to meet the needs of the many who came with him out of Egypt. For a man who didn’t want to do this job in the first place he gave all of himself to the task at hand. But he took on too much. He tried to be all things to all people, something that never works. The people grew tired of standing in line waiting to be heard and Moses was worn out quickly by attempting to always do the right thing.

But when God calls us to achieve something, God equips us for the task, even when it means providing someone else to help. Jethro brought Moses wisdom.

You remember Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, although he isn’t mentioned often. When Moses fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian guard who was harming a fellow Hebrew, he ended up in Midian where he found Jethro’s daughters herding sheep and being harassed by some other shepherds. Moses defended them and Jethro gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. The bond between the two men was formed and when Jethro brought Zipporah and the two sons back to Moses he saw firsthand what Moses was trying to accomplish in the new community. After all, every community must have laws and a method by which to cooperate. Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin says that ”Jethro taught the gentle wisdom of seeing oneself as only a piece of a task. He saw that Moses was getting overworked in judging the cases that the people brought him. And so, he counseled his son-in-law to appoint sub-magistrates to help him with his caseload. Jethro invents the first Supreme Court system.” (Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the rabbi of The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, New York and the author of Searching for My Brothers: Jewish Men in a Gentile World (Putnam

. Jethro was a gift from God to Moses. Jethro’s wisdom enabled and encouraged Moses’ wisdom….but only because Moses allowed it. Moses appreciated Jethro’s grace and wisdom. Moses surrendered his own will so that God could use him to benefit the entire community. The African proverb says “It takes a village to raise a child.” It takes a village to be a village as well. There are times when we, like Moses, must surrender what we believe for the benefit of the community.

I suspect, but do not know for certain, that Jethro’s judicial system was brand-new for the Hebrew people. After all, Pharaoh ruled the land in Egypt. There were no courts set up to ensure that the Hebrews would find justice. In fact, perhaps justice was a new term for them. So it was no wonder that many people had many problems and they needed to turn to their leader to solve them. For this new system to work, the people then had to surrender their own notions of how justice would be found.

Surrender is not a word most of us like to us. Surrender means I have to give up something. Surrender means that you win if I surrender. In war times prisoners are asked to surrender. In some marriages a wife is asked to surrender her identity for the good of the marriage. In some marriages a husband is asked to surrender his dreams in order to provide a good living. Surrender seems so unfair….unless it can be given willingly for the good of the world.

I will never be a figure skater so surrendering that dream is not actually surrender. Had I actually taken skating lessons, then maybe the word surrender would have been realistic, but I didn’t. Growing up in southern Indiana, well, we just didn’t have a lot of ice or skating rinks. So while I love to watch figure skating and wish I had learned, well, watching will just have to do. But I know that there are those among us today who have had to surrender dreams of something for the good of the family. Moses surrendered his identity as an Egyptian prince when he stepped forward and killed the soldier who was harming the fellow Hebrew. Moses surrendered his peaceful life as a shepherd when God called him to lead the people out of Egypt. Moses surrendered his idea of how justice should be meted out when Jethro offered wisdom.

What does surrender mean to you? What does surrender mean to your life? What do you need to surrender? In order to receive wisdom, what do you need to surrender? In order to receive patience, what do you need to surrender? In order to forgive and find peace, what do you need to surrender?

And the list goes on. We all need to face it. In order to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ we say we surrender our all, just like the hymn “I surrender all.” “I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee, my blessed Savior; I surrender, I surrender all.”

What does Jesus want you to surrender today? What could you surrender, like Moses, that would benefit your family, your place of employment, our church, and the community where you live? Or more importantly, what do you need to surrender to bring you closer to Jesus?

It may not be easy but it can be done. We can surrender that thing that separates us from fully knowing Jesus as our Savior. And we can rest assured that Jesus is waiting to help us figure out how to do it. For Jesus never abandons us.

Let’s pray:

Jesus, as Moses surrendered his will to be guided by Jethro, we surrender ourselves to be guided by you. Melt our hearts and bring us closer to each other. Give us the courage to be the disciples you need us to be. Direct our paths and guide our steps as we venture forward in the world as examples of your love and grace. Amen.