Message given at Grace Church, Moloka'i August 24, 2008

Today we take a peek into the early life of Moses… Life was no joke for the Hebrew people when he came on the scene. It was very hard! They were beaten and abused by their Egyptian taskmasters, forced to do back breaking work building Pharaoh's cities and monuments. They were stripped of their honor, humiliated and scorned, exploited and taken advantage of, put down and spat upon. As the Egyptians were concerned, they were nothing but beasts of burden: animals to be used in the production of their labors. And if one of them died under the agony of his burdens, or because of the cruelties of his taskmasters, there were plenty more where that one came from.

Because there was one area in which the Hebrews had abundance and that was in having children. In spite of all their hardships, they continued to flourish and multiply. Pharaoh started feeling threatened because there were so many of them. And so, Pharaoh began the first recorded holocaust in Jewish history. He tried to kill them by hard work. He increased their labor. But still God's people thrived. So he ordered every baby boy born to be killed by the midwives. But these women came up with a plan to resist. Finally, Pharaoh ordered that every boy child was to be thrown into the Nile River and drowned.

How awful it must have been! It was terrible beyond comprehension! God had led them to Egypt during a great famine to keep them from starving. Had God had abandoned them? Had He forgotten His promise? How it must have seemed that God had let them down and left them alone to suffer.

Even though few of us have experienced the evils of slavery or persecution like this up close and personal, every one of us have had times in our lives when it seems that God has forgotten us, when life seems harder than it ought to be. Certainly our life hasn't as bad as the Hebrews had it, but we can relate to feeling afraid and defeated.

One of the biggest mistakes in reading this passage of scripture is to just view it as an ancient history lesson of God's people back in the day. This is OUR story as well. We have been chosen to be God's people now. Through His Son we have been adopted into the family and we need to know how the Lord treats His people yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's a passage that speaks to us because we all experience struggles in this life. It's not only a story of life's struggles, it's a story of God's gift of hope in the middle of the presence of darkness and evil. For just when it seemed the Hebrews could bear up no longer under their burdens, a child is born who is destined to be their deliverer.

In the story of Moses we can see the hand of God working out His loving purposes, watching out for this tiny baby, providing for his personal safety, preparing him for the time of serving God by leading the Israelites out of slavery.

When we face our times of difficulty, and think that God has all but forgotten us, we need only turn to this story of Moses in the bulrushes to be reminded that God is still in control, and that His love will keeps us safe. For one thing, we're reminded that God provides for us in ways we may not at first recognize. What the world sees as coincidences, God gives us as lenses to see His Hands at work.

This week in our daily devos we read Jeremiah 29 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Was it just a coincidence that Pharaoh's own daughter just happened to come upon that basket, and that her heart would go out to the child in it even though she knew it must be a Jewish child? Was it just coincidence that Moses' own mother would be chosen to nurse the child? Was it just coincidence that by giving the child back to his own mother, that she was able to provide a mother's love, and more importantly, a foundation of faith in the God of Israel? And later on, was it just coincidence that Moses should be raised in Pharaoh's house, educated in the ways of Egypt, so that he could understand the workings of the politics of Egypt? Was it a coincidence that after being coddled in the high class of royal Egypt that Moses fled to the wasteland and was forced to learn the rigors of surviving in the desert? Was it a coincidence that Moses returned to Egypt with life experience in politics and desert living: exactly the skills he needed to free the Hebrews and then lead them for 40 years in the wilderness?

No. There are no coincidences. It was all a part of the purpose of our loving God. The world saw quirks of fate. Through the insight of the Holy Spirit, we can see God at work.

Even so, it must have seemed that evil had won the day. The Hebrews had been enslaved, and their children were being slaughtered. It couldn't get any worse than that. Evil surely must have had the upper hand! And yet in the end it was God, not Pharaoh, who triumphed. God is the God of power and might, and God will always triumph over evil. Our God is a God who saves. That's what this story in Exodus tells us.

Do you remember the story of Joseph? The Pharaoh in the time of Moses didn't. Joseph was the reason the Hebrew people were in Egypt in the first place. His jealous brothers had sold him to some slave traders, who took him down to Egypt. And there in Egypt God transformed Joseph's situation. Joseph rose to a position of power and prominence, controlling the storehouses of all the food in Egypt. A few years later, a famine came across that entire region but God had shown Joseph in a dream that he should store up grain for just that reason. When his brothers came looking for food to feed their starving families, they found their long lost brother in power. As you can imagine, they were afraid because of what they had done to him. But instead of taking revenge on his brothers Joseph welcomed them, and told them, "You meant it for my harm, but God intended it for good."

Since most of us here have families, most of us understand angry, and arguing people. But being sold into slavery by your family puts a capital D on the word dysfunctional! Yet no matter how dysfunctional our families are, God can take what is meant for evil and bring good from it.

You may be asking, "How can God transform sorrow, or cancer, or some other great crisis into good?"

The first thing is that you have to have the faith that God can reach in and bring a blessing, even in the darkest times. The darkest day in our planet's history left a well-known rabbi's broken body on a wood beam on a hillside in Jerusalem. 3 days later, hope was reborn as God's awesome power was displayed by raising Jesus from the dead.

Another thing: you cannot fully know or appreciate the meaning of joy until you have felt the pain of sorrow. An old saying is that we can best appreciate the warmth of the sunrise only when we have sat waiting in the darkness of the night.

Today is the anniversary of my mom's death. She'd fought pervasive uterine cancer after my dad died and she had 18 surgeries. When she recovered she volunteered at the King's Daughters' Home in Kaimuki and worked for Dr. Edmund Ing encouraging his patients, cheering them up, listening to them if they wanted to talk. But even though she was a survivor, she still had a bit of an edge. It wasn't until later in her life, after she had lost another husband, a favorite granddaughter, and then she faced cancer again herself that she truly discovered hope in God. After these tragedies the Lord brought something wonderful in her life - joy. Even in the midst of a terrible illness my mom discovered that God triumphs over evil.

The book of Hebrews tells us: "By faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict."

It was faith and hope in YAHWEH that gave them the courage to do what needed to be done. You see, they believed in a God who was greater than Pharaoh. They believed in a God whose purposes were more powerful than their problems. They believed in a God who provided for their needs in ways they did not always recognize, and who could prevail over evil in ways they could not imagine. Moses' parents did what they needed to do. They turned it all over and trusted God.

We can never underestimate the importance our faith plays in the work of God. Our faith unlocks the promises of God. When we can turn it all over to God? 1 John 5:4 says it this way, "every child of God is able to defeat the world. And we win the victory over the world by means of our faith." Isn't that when faith really soars?

Brothers and sisters, God has given us the tools to defeat darkness and evil. Through Jesus Christ we have the resources to even defeat death. 1 Corinthians tells us that we have been given 3 pieces of equipment to win the wars out there in this world - we've been given faith, hope and love.

My friend Dick Langer was a doctor for many years here on Molokai. He developed liver cancer from his days in Viet Nam. One Christmas Eve he was gravely ill and dying at Moloka'i General. Scotty and I went and visited with him. He'd pretty much been told that he was a dead man. There was no hope. He'd better get his things in order. Just that bluntly. No hope. No comfort. So we went to visit, anointed him and prayed for his healing. He looked at us and asked "Are you serious?" And we said yes. It's in God's hands. Dick had already turned his life over to Christ. But, even knowing he was a child of God; he had grabbed his body back and given up hope. And there in that hospital room, Dr Langer turned it ALL over to God. He immediately called a friend and had her book their passage to San Francisco and Stanford. They went the next day. And you know what? He turned it all over to God, and God healed him with the help of a liver transplant. He got better! He was healed! When he returned to Molokai he was on fire for God.

Someone has said, "When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is enough."

That's what those Hebrews discovered. And that is what you can discover too. God is enough. He prevails over evil in ways we cannot imagine. He provides for us in ways we may not recognize.

Now this is where I ended my sermon…short and sweet and focused on the hope and promises of God. But my editor is a ruthless taskmaster. And it just so happens that one of Scotty's life verses comes from Romans 12 and it's our second reading for the day. He wants me to remind you that it's a mistake to think that we have to wait until we are dying of liver cancer, or be sold into slavery to discover the hope and power we have in Christ. He says that God has a promise for us that will help us prepare for and even sometimes prevent tragedies.

So let's open our Bibles to Romans 12:1,2 and read: " I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Notice that there isn't an anguish quotient in the mix. Whether you're in the middle of a storm, or in the middle of a time of peace, this verse is for you. Present your bodies, present all of you to the Lord as a walking, talking, and serving gift to the Lord and then watch the miracles that He can do. Don't let your schedule, your friends, your education, or your family troubles define what you give or who you are or how much you give to Him. Give it all! Let it rip! Go for the gold when you serve the Lord.

# 1 - it's the least we can do when we remember that He gave up everything for us. We get inspired when we see our own Brian Clay laying on the track gasping for breath as he won the Decathlon. I have one better. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Jesus emptied himself to set us free. Jesus held nothing back on the cross to break the power of sin. But let's be quite honest here. Few of us give our all to Christ in return. It's like we have secret accounts that we hope God won't discover if we let Him have a few hours on Sunday or even during the week. Whether it's fear of looking like a geek to our friends, or wanting to hide a secret pocket of sin, or those corners of pure selfishness where I want to do things my way, each of us has places of resistance to the Lord. Sadly those are often the things that cause us to stumble. They are also what block the light and joy that is ours in Christ. After the Apostle Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus, he gave his body as a sacrifice to Jesus. Not just that day, but every day. He made a list of bad things that try to separate us from God's love. In Romans 8:37 he wrote, "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

I mentioned that my mom was a cancer survivor. But it wasn't until she gave everything to Jesus that she became more than a conqueror.

#2 in our list of going for the gold in presenting ourselves as living sacrifices - It's the best way to discover His will. Want to discover how good and perfect His will is? Don't hold back when you give yourself to God. Or better yet, don't hold back when you let God in.

And #3 is this is the prevention part. Some of our pain is self-induced. An old popular song phrases it this way, "You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Jim!" Many of us have messed with Jim. Our eyes are larger than our tummies, our desires are bigger than our wallets, and our sense of self worth can be very inflated. So we find ourselves in bad health, in debt, in the middle of quarrels and fights. All this even though we have tried and tried to change. Well here is the preventive remedy. Live all out for Jesus. Let Him change you on the inside and the outside. And as Paul says in verse 3, get rid of your big ego and put on some humility.

#4 - Finally- When you present your body as a living sacrifice to God, you open the door to His kingdom and power. The old gospel song Trust and Obey says it this way, "But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay." We can never discover the awesomeness of God. But we can feel and reflect His glory and power. And if we want to experience God, we cannot be a spectator in the bleachers. To be touched by God, we have to walk with Him. Step by step. Inch by inch. And we will discover that the light of Christ will pierce any darkness that Pharaoh throws our way.

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