Sermon Title:  What do we do in year 171?

Sermon Text:  Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon Date:  September 25, 2005

 

 

            Well, it is over and it was wonderful.  It was exciting.  It was exhausting for those who made it happen.  Of course I am talking about Homecoming 2005, celebrating the 170th anniversary of ministry here at First Baptist Church of Lafayette, Indiana.

            In the stroll down memory lane it is absolutely apparent that times have changed.  In 1835 this building didn’t even exist.

            In 2005 we can communicate instantly via cell phones.  We can “chat” on the computer.  We can get in a plane and be across the country in a few hours, not days or weeks.  We can even meet potential mates on the internet.  We wonder what will happen in our 171st year.  Times have drastically changed.

            Times had changed for the Israelites too.  Once they had homes and jobs.  The work might have been hard, but they knew what to do.  They even had insurance of sorts.  Pharaoh would always want more buildings built so job security was pretty good.  On the other hand, the mortality rate was pretty high as well.  It was not uncommon to lose your life while building those pyramids.  This left young widows with children, another common experience.

            In addition to this Exodus passage is the lectionary reading for today, we are studying Exodus on Wednesday nights in bible study.  Those of us who attend have all read it before, numerous times in fact, but we are always finding new things in the story, things we don’t remember having heard before.  Why don’t you come and join in the discussion?

            But let me back up.  Maybe you don’t know the story, so let me tell it as briefly as possible. 

Being concerned that the Hebrew people were multiplying too fast, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, ordered all newborn baby boys to be put to death.  But the midwives refused and baby boys continued to be born and the Hebrew population grew and grew.

            Moses, born to a Hebrew family, was hidden from the authorities and eventually put in a basket in the river and found by the Pharaoh’s daughter.  Miriam, his sister, was watching from the reeds, and volunteered her mother as his nurse.  It is likely that Moses was raised at home, knowing he was Hebrew and who his family was, unlike Cecil B. DeMille’s version of the “Ten Commandments” where Moses discovers in his adulthood the secret that he is Hebrew. 

            The time eventually comes when Moses goes to live with the daughter of Pharaoh and is raised in the court.  He sees a guard abusing a fellow Hebrew, kills him and flees because Pharaoh is trying to kill him. 

            Moses finds comfort in Midian and marries Zipporah, daughter of Jethro.  They have a son named Gershon (stranger) and are living a quiet life until Moses finds God in a burning bush or until God found Moses.

            God is insistent that Moses return to Egypt and bring his people out of their slavery but Moses continually tries to say no.  People there want to kill him.  But God says, “those people are dead now.”  Moses says “I can’t stand up in front of people.  I stutter.”  So God says, “Take Aaron, your brother.  He speaks well.”  And eventually Moses agrees, gets permission from his father-in-law, packs up his wife and son and heads back to Egypt…dragging his feet the whole way.

            The story continues as Moses stands before Pharaoh and plague after plague come their way as Pharaoh, with a hardened heart, refuses to let the people go.  However, even Pharaoh has his limits and the people are let go, only to have the king change his mind and go after them.  There the Egyptians die as the Red Sea, which has been parted for the Hebrew people to cross, comes back together to prevent them from catching the Hebrew people.

            Now we come to the part of the exodus story we are looking at today.

            God has been merciful to the people we will now call the Israelites.  God has protected them and brought them to a place where they are no longer slaves.  But some interesting things are happening between God and the Hebrew people.

In chapter 16 they come to camp at a place where they grumbled because the water was bitter.  So Moses cried out to God who showed him a piece of wood.  Moses tossed the wood into the water and it was made sweet.  God answered their prayer.

Then they grumble because they had plenty of food back in Egypt whereas now they are hungry.  So God has food delivered to their doors each morning in the form of manna.  But the people were not happy.  In fact, they were complainers and they did it well.

            We can learn much from this short passage but let’s concentrate on three things we get out of the Scripture.

First, regardless of the circumstances, God always listened to the grumbling Hebrews.  God set boundaries as to how they were going to live, but God listened and helped them to meet their needs.  And God loved and cared for them in spite of their constant grumbling.  God never stopped listening.

Second and very important is that God did not solve the water problem of the Israelites.  Instead God gave them the tools to get their own water. 

            Sure, God didn’t need the staff or Moses to make water, and God had to be weary of the constant complaints of the Israelites.  Their needs were being met.  Room service delivered the ingredients to make meals everyday but that wasn’t good enough.  They wanted instant gratification.  They wanted answers too.  But God wanted them to discover some things for themselves.  God wanted them to learn and lean on him and not look to themselves.  So God gave tools instead of water.

            God has given us tools for discerning the future as well.

            We have been given the opportunity to pray.  At my last count we need only 13 more people to pray for 30 minutes to complete the 24 hour prayer vigil beginning on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m. on Thursday.  Prayer is absolutely essential to discerning and understanding the path and tools God has for us.  Every time we read that Moses cried out to the Lord, it was a prayer.

Her is a story sent to me about prayer this week:          Walter is late for a meeting and can’t find a parking place.  After circling the block several times he calls out, “God, if you find a parking place for me, I’ll go to mass every Sunday and give up tequila.

            Miraculously a parking spot appeared before his eyes.  Walter then says, “Never mind, I found one.”

            Jesus says we have not, because we ask not.  We have been given the opportunity to pray, it is a privilege.  One we should use well.

            We also have been given the opportunity to grow spiritually.  I’ll be honest and say I don’t think the church of Jesus Christ has turned out exactly as he had in mind.  We ask too often “what would Jesus do” instead of the question Leonard Sweet would have us ask – “what is Jesus doing?” The ministry of Jesus Christ is not dead.  It is alive and well and ready and waiting for the opportunity to do new things.

            Rod tells me that at least three new small groups are starting this week and it is not too late to get involved.  Ray Spencer has already started a Sunday evening small group several weeks ago.  We have several Sunday school classes for you to choose from, and bible study every Wednesday night.  AND we are open to new ideas of meeting needs.

            As glad as I am that you are here on Sunday morning, I hope this isn’t the only time you are seeking to grow spiritually, any more than you can have a good marriage by spending an hour a week together.  I hope you will accept the challenge to draw closer to God by getting involved in one of the new small groups.

            We have also been given the opportunity to problem solve.  Each of us has abilities and gifts.  When we come together we can prayerfully use the gifts to figure out the answers to problems.  I encourage you to discover what your gifts are and how First Baptist can use them to God’s glory in the 171st year of ministry.  Talk to Rod about discovering your spiritual gifts.

I asked Gene Ton for a copy of his sermon from last week to post on the website.  Here is a reminder of what he said,  “The church of Jesus Christ was not planted in Israel and the Roman world by people who came home after work each day and sat down and watched television until it was time to go to bed.  They didn’t just go to worship on Sunday, sing a few hymns, listen to some music and yawn their way through a boring sermon.  They became RADICALLY convinced that Jesus was Lord and that Jesus was calling them to share and spread the gospel.  HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL???  That’s the haunting question, but it is at the heart of RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP.  Jesus calls us to give witness to his love and forgiveness in a world that doesn’t understand that love and forgiveness.  Jesus calls us to develop a spiritual life that is fed by the springs of God’s spirit, welling up in us.  Jesus calls us to become lights in a world that really prefers the darkness. 

            The last lesson I want to share is in the verses following this rich Exodus passage.  Let’s look at verses 8-13.  READ.

            This lesson is short and to the point.  They succeeded because they worked together.  Not separate, but together.  Moses needed their help to win the battle, just as much as I, your diaconate and all of us need each other’s help and prayers to bring the message of a loving God to a hurting world.  We are in this together, never alone.

            Helen Witz sent me a story this week as to how a church took this model seriously.

            A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member.  Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary.  Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built.  In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.  Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith."  They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.

          At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer.  They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen."  "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."

          The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in," a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered.  "Excuse me, Reverend.  I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county.  We're building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt.  Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church?  We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away.  We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."

          The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain moving faith" on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!

Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting?  Some people say faith comes from miracles. 
But those of us that know the God of the Bible, know:


MIRACLES COME FROM FAITH

 

                                                                                                (internet source)

 

Remember Dr. Ton’s closing last week:  What will First Baptist of Lafayette look like in four years?   What will be the focus of your ministry that year?  Now is the time to envision---to listen to the Spirit of God and the call to be God’s people for this day.  DREAM ABOUT YOUR FUTURE?  WHAT COULD GOD BE ASKING YOU TO DO NEXT YEAR AND YEAR AFTER THAT? 

We have been given dreams and opportunities to succeed and the resources with which to do them.  Our 171st year could be a year of incredible spiritual growth for us if we hold each other’s arms up and pray for God’s will and wisdom together.

 

Prayer:

 

God, we are often confused about the mysteries of life.  We have questions and we seek answers.  Holy God, help us in our prayer vigil this week and the days that follow to hear what you have to say to us.  Help us to discern your will for our church and for us as individuals.  Help us to listen well and give us the courage to act.  We know that this church has survived numerous struggles in its 170 years, struggles in which you have been present.  So God, help us to feel your presence in the days ahead that we might follow your will and glorify you.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.