Do you think that if Moses had known what the job was going to entail, he would have led the people of Israel? (To be fair to Moses, he didn’t want the job to begin with. God chose him to lead His people out of Egypt, and He didn’t give Moses much of a choice in the matter.)
Moses’s
leadership in Israel is the next part of the great narrative that we’ve been
looking at here in Lent: this account of how humanity rebelled against our
Creator and how God persistently loves His people and is determined to save us.
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Fallen
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Blessed
– Abraham –
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Known
– Not just that we are known, which we are! But God chose Moses to make Himself
known to Pharaoh and Egypt. Israel was chosen to make God known to the world. And
Israel is the family/nation from which Jesus would be born to make God known
through His death and resurrection.
The people
of Israel, like Moses, were rather resistant to God’s calling.
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They’re
a perfect picture of what we’ve been talking about with rebellion and
redemption.
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God
gave the 10 Commandments – Israel made a Golden Calf
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Israel
grumbled about food – God gave them manna and quail.
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Israel
asks, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Was it to kill us with thirst?”
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God
responds by miraculously giving them water from a rock.
God knew
what these people were like. They were known to him. But notice that as He
deals with them, God is making Himself known to them.
Israel was
supposed to make God known among the nations, but more often than not they
turned away from God’s Word and Promises and went after the other nations’
gods. But when they were unfaithful, God remained faithful to His plan of
redemption.
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Sometimes
God’s reactions were hard!
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Confrontations
– prophets, preaching and signs
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Constantly
calling to repentance
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Eventually,
exile!
All of it
was part of God’s larger plan to bring His Son into the world to redeem us.
In today’s
Gospel reading, we catch a glimpse of Jesus doing the same thing with the
Samaritan woman. He starts a conversation. He confronts. He reveals. And, if
you know the story … and if you don’t, this is your homework: read John 4! But,
if you know the story, the woman goes back to the village to tell them, “Come
see a man who told me all that I ever did! Could this be the Christ? The
Messiah? God’s promised savior?” She was known … and Jesus still loved her and
pursued her with mercy and forgiveness. It’s beautiful!
Friends,
this is true of you and me, too.
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Grumble
like the Israelites
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Rebellious
against our leaders
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Care
more about food and drink than the things of God and faith
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Don’t
trust God to take care of us, so we take things we shouldn’t into our own
hands.
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Imperfect
marriages & Sexual sin
Do you think
God knows … that you are known by God? Like Israel was? Like the woman was?
Yeah! You are known!
But here is
what you need to know … God loves sinners, and He is so
determined to save us that He became one of us to suffer, die, and rise to make
Himself known as the God who saves. Everyone can see God as the God who
punishes, the God who avenges, the God who condemns. That comes naturally. You
know what they say about karma. But Jesus came so you can know God as the God
who saves. Who redeems. Who reclaims what is His to make all of us who were
dead in trespasses and sins alive in Jesus.
And Jesus
wants to be known. This is why he gave us …
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Word
– read it! (John 4 … whole Gospel!)
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Sacraments
– Receive them! Cleansing - Baptism.
Fullness – Lord’s Supper.
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He’s
also given us one another
o
Remind,
Encourage
o
Love
one another – Brothers and sisters in Christ
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He
has also given us our neighbors … even the ones who don’t believe, and the ones
who are hostile.
o
In
part to make Himself known through us.
o
You
are witnesses – Going to church, talking, way of life
o
Also,
by loving them.
I was
blessed this week to teach a Bible study for the Christian Club at Solon H.S.
Several kids lined up to ask questions afterward. One …
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“They
hate Christians.”
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Does
Jesus want them to know Him? (Does He want to be known? – “Yes.”
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Can
you change them? – “No.”
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Do
you know who can? – “Jesus!”
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Matthew
5 – Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. (Be blessed!)
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Love
them. Pray for them. See if God opens opportunities.
I suspect
that we rarely deal with people who really hate us because of our faith. But
there are so many people in our lives who don’t know Jesus … and He wants to be
known.
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Love
them. Pray for them. See if God opens opportunities.
Do you
believe Jesus wants to be known? Can you believe that He might be positioning
you to be His messenger?
“Who me?
Pastor, if you knew …!”
Jesus knows.
You are known. But here is the more important part: What do you know about
Jesus?
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Loves
you.
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Died
for you
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Lives
for you
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Forgives
you.
So go in
peace, following where He leads. Amen.
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