Why, Lord?

Why, Lord?

Exodus 5: 22 – 6: 12.

Introduction

What do you do when things don’t work out exactly the way you had planned? I guess in many ways that is the story of life. After all, John Lennon once sang that “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”[1]

The truth is that most of our plans never really work out the way we dreamed they would. We want something. We know that what we want is a really good thing. But for some reason…It just doesn’t work out the way we envisioned.

I don’t think I have ever said this in a public setting. But, this isn’t what I had dreamed for our church when I first came here five years ago.

Five years ago, we had an average Sunday morning attendance of 500. I was excited to be here. You were excited that I was here. I really thought that we would experience five years of growth. I thought that in my first five years, we would have an average attendance of 700. I thought in five years, we would be seriously talking about needing two Sunday morning worship services.

It actually seemed like we were heading in that direction during my first two years. Then, we had a series of unfortunate events that affected our city and county. Temple-Inland restructured, Lufkin industries closed the trailer plant, Citation Corporation closed the Lufkin foundry, and our nation entered into a recession.

One day, I was feeling sorry for myself and decided to count how many people had joined our church and how many people had left our church. I set up a spreadsheet and write down the names of every person who had joined our church over those two years. It was remarkable! 173 people joined our church during my first two years. Then I wrote down all the names of people who had left our church and the names of the members who died during that same time period. 161 people had moved or died. That left us with a net increase of 12 new members.

I think it is safe to say things haven’t worked out exactly the way we planned. So, what are we supposed to do?

We have a tendency to look at things from a human perspective instead of God’s perspective. Humanly speaking, we usually look for someone or something to blame. We could blame it on any number of factors. Some churches blame the pastor. Some pastors blame the economy. Some people may even want to blame God.

In fact, in the story of Exodus, Moses blamed God for his troubles when things didn’t work out the way Moses expected. Moses confronted Pharaoh, and things went from bad to worse.. Moses cried out, “Why, Lord? Why have you done this to me?”

The proper response is for us to focus more on God than on our circumstances. When we focus on our circumstances, we look for someone to blame. When we focus on God, we discover something much better. We discover that God is faithful and will always keep his promises.

Read Exodus 5: 22 – 6: 12.

22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?

23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."

CHAPTER 6

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens.

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

10 Then the LORD said to Moses,

11 "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

12 But Moses said to the LORD, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

(NIV)

Do you hear the way Moses is blaming God? He doesn’t really sound like the model for living a godly life. That’s probably because this is only the second time we have seen Moses speaking with God. He wasn’t always a godly example. But, the good news is that he grew. Moses grew in his ability to lead God’s people. AND Moses grew in his ability to trust God.

That’s just not who Moses is at this point. At this point, Moses wants to know why things aren’t working out the way he had planned.

More than likely, Moses expected to have immediate success. He thought he could march into Pharaoh’s court with all the confidence and authority of God himself. He thought he could demand that Pharaoh let God’s people go. He thought Pharaoh would recognize the authority of God and immediately give in to Moses’ demands. But, that’s not what happened.

Instead, Pharaoh rejected Moses and made a smart political move to turn the Hebrew people against Moses. Pharaoh made the work more difficult on the Hebrews and told them that it was all Moses’ fault.

As a result, Moses felt like a double failure. On one hand, Pharaoh won’t listen to him. On the other hand, the Hebrew people want Moses to leave them alone. Can you even imagine that? The people Moses came to save don’t really want to be saved. They just want to be left alone.

Pharaoh won’t listen to Moses. The Hebrews won’t listen. So Moses turns to the only person who will listen to him. He cried out to God, “Why, Lord? Things have only gotten worse since I got here. Was this your plan all along? Were you trying to punish me and your people?”

Underlying Moses’ questions, there is an assumption. Moses assumes he knows better than God. Moses thinks that if God would just do things his way, life would be a whole lot better. But, it doesn’t work that way. We don’t get to tell God how to manage his business.

Questioning God is a natural response. But just because something is natural doesn’t make it right. When things don’t work out the way we expected, we have two choices. We can do the natural thing and question whether God really knows what he is doing. OR, we can realize that when things don’t work out the way we expected…God is doing something different. God is not through with us. God has something else in mind.

One of the most interesting things about this Scripture is to notice that God never answered Moses’ questions. Moses asked “Why?” God never told him why. Moses asked God, “Is this why you sent me?” God never answered.

Instead, God answered the question Moses should have asked. Moses should have asked how his experience of rejection and failure fit into the character of God. That is the question God answered.

The Bible tells us the theological history of God’s people—the people of Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament. When we read the Bible, we learn more about God than we do the history of God’s people.

When Moses complained, God did not tell him to “Cheer up” or to “get over it.” In fact, God didn’t even promise immediate success. Instead, God renewed his revelation…He gave Moses a better understanding of who God really is.

El Shaddai (Exodus 6: 2 - 3)

2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

(NIV)

God reminded Moses how God has always been faithful in the past.

In the Book of Exodus, God spends a lot of time reminding Moses of the relationship God had with the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Patriarchs knew God by the name El Shaddai. The New International Version translates this name as “God Almighty,” but El Shaddai shows up in the footnotes.

There are various ways to translate El Shaddai. Shaddai is very close to the Hebrew word for “mountain.” So, it’s possible that El Shaddai means “God of the mountains.” Or, it could mean “God is like the mountains”—God is powerful and almighty. Or, we can try to understand the nature of God from the narrative histories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When Abraham was childless, God promised to make his descendants into a great nation. Abraham could not accomplish this on his own power. He had to trust in God. In the end of Abraham’s story, we discover that God was sufficient for all his needs. God could be trusted to keep his promises.

When Jacob was nothing more than a deceiver, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. God promised to make him into a great nation. This promise seemed to be in jeopardy several times. Jacob’s son, Joseph, was taken away from him. There was a famine in Jacob’s land. Jacob’s son, Benjamin, was held prisoner by the ruler of Egypt. In the end of Jacob’s story, we discover that God was sufficient and God can be trusted to keep his promises.

Since this is the same God speaking to Moses, Moses needs to learn about God’s sufficiency. Moses needs to learn to trust God to keep his promises in God’s own way.

When God’s people are weak, God is still strong. When God’s people don’t understand how things will work out, God is still working.

Yahweh (Exodus 6: 2 - 3)

2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

(NIV)

The God who speaks with Moses is the same God who spoke to and called the Patriarchs. The Patriarchs knew God by the name, El Shaddai. But, God has revealed himself to Moses with a new name—the LORD.

Notice how the word “LORD” is written in all capital letters. This is something all English translations do to let us know this is the Hebrew word “Yahweh.” This is the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. Moses asked God, “What is your name?” God answered, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell my people I AM has sent you to them.”

The significance of God’s name is the way it emphasizes his unchanging character. God was. God is. God is to come. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If God was faithful to you in the past, God will be faithful to you in the present and the future. If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can trust in the unchanging nature of God, then Moses can trust God. If Moses can trust God, then you and I can trust God.

Your circumstances do not change the character of God. If you experience failure and disappointment, God hasn’t changed. If you don’t feel close to God right now, God hasn’t changed. God never promised Moses immediate success. But, God did promise that he would never change. God doesn’t change. And God doesn’t forget.

Savior (Exodus 6: 6 – 8)

6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

(NIV)

As God has been faithful in the past and the present, so will God be faithful in the future. In fact, God has big plans for both Moses and the Hebrews. God will reveal himself as their savior.

When God speaks to Moses about the future, notice the way God speaks about intimacy and relationship. God has a plan to rescue his people from slavery. But, it doesn’t end there. God wants to have a relationship with these people. He saves them, so that they can be his people. He calls them to be his people, so he can fulfill his promises to their ancestors. Salvation…Relationship…Inheritance.

God has the same plans for us today. God wants to rescue you. God wants a relationship with you. God promises to give you an inheritance.

These three things are only possible for us through Jesus. Jesus is our savior—he died on the cross to take away our sins. Jesus invites us into relationship with God—he broke down the dividing walls between us and God, giving us the rights and responsibilities of being priests before God. Jesus promises to give us the full rights of being the sons of God—to inherit everything that belongs to our Heavenly Father, eternal life and a room in our Father’s House.

Conclusion

Maybe your life hasn’t worked out the way you thought it would. Maybe you feel like a failure or you are discouraged by your circumstances. Feelings change. God doesn’t change. Circumstances change. God doesn’t change.

Moses felt like a failure. He was very discouraged when things didn’t work out the way he expected. But this wasn’t the end of Moses story. In fact, we haven’t even gotten to the really good parts of Moses’ story. The really good parts come when Moses begins to believe God really is who God says he is. And when Moses believes God, God does things through Moses that Moses never thought were possible.

The same thing is true for you…AND our church. When we believe God, God can do things through us that we never thought were possible. I believe God is going to do something in us that is so big no one will ever believe we did it. They will automatically believe it is God working through us.

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[1] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Lennon

Here Am I, Lord. Send Someone Else.

Here Am I, Lord. Send Someone Else.

Exodus 3: 1 – 15.

Introduction

I have been wanting to preach on the Book of Exodus for the past several months. Earlier in the Summer, I started thinking about what this Old Testament book has to say to us as a church at this time in our history.

The Book of Exodus tells the story of how the Hebrew people went from slaves in Egypt to becoming a nation in their own right. They were a people with no national identity. They become the Nation of Israel. They were slaves to Pharaoh, but became the People of God. This was not something they could achieve on their own. It took a mighty act of God to rescue them and to establish them as God’s people.

However, their identity did not change as soon as they left Egypt. No. God led them through the wilderness for forty years before they entered into the Promised Land. God was with them in the wilderness. God gave them his Law while they were in the wilderness. God gave them his presence while they were in the wilderness. God provided for all their needs in the wilderness. And, when they finally entered into the Promised Land, Israel was able to look back and realize that God used their wilderness years to form them into the people God wanted them to become.

I think there is a lesson in this for us as a church. For the past couple of years, we have been engaged in a long range planning process. We are dreaming about the kind of church we can become…the kind of church God wants us to be. But, we find ourselves in a wilderness. We have experienced numerous setbacks in the past fifteen years.

During this time, there have been numerous times when it seemed like things were about to turn around for our church. And just as things were improving, something happened. The paper mill closed down. Temple-Inland restructured their business. Citation Corporation closed their Lufkin foundry. Our nation entered into an economic recession. We find ourselves in a wilderness.

In Exodus, we read about how God uses wilderness experiences to grow his people. God does not abandon us in the wilderness. God is with us. AND…God will not leave us in the wilderness forever. He is using this wilderness experience to prepare us for something new. We see this in the story of Israel. And we see this in the story of Moses.

Exodus 3: 1 – 15.

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-- why the bush does not burn up."

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-- the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-- has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

(NIV)

At this point in Moses’ life, he was feeling like a failure. Moses’ life started out with a miracle. He was born at a time when the Egyptians were trying to kill the Hebrew people. The king commanded that all Hebrew baby boys should be thrown into the Nile River to be killed. But, Moses’ mother did not want to kill him. She made a basket-boat, placed three-month-old Moses in the basket-boat and floated it in the Nile.

Ironically, the king who wanted to kill all the Hebrew boys had a daughter. She discovered Moses in the basket-boat and had compassion for this baby he father wanted to kill. She saved Moses’ life and hired Moses’ own mother to nurse him. When Moses was weaned, Pharaoh’s daughter took him into the royal palace and reared him as the Prince of Egypt.

When Moses was about 40 years old, he first noticed the suffering of the Hebrew people. He saw an Egyptian slave master beating a Hebrew slave. He stepped in and actually killed the Egyptian. He did everything in his own power to bring justice to the Hebrew slaves. But, Moses’ efforts were not enough. His murder was discovered, and the king—his own grandfather—vowed to kill Moses for what he had done. Moses fled into the wilderness to save his own life.

In the wilderness, he met and married a woman named Zipporah. He worked as a shepherd for her father, Jethro. Moses and Zipporah had a child and began to settle down in the wilderness. We know they were settling down, because Moses named his first son Gershom, which means “an alien here.” Moses had resigned himself to a life of living as a stranger in a strange land.

Imagine how Moses must have felt like a failure. He had been the prince of the most powerful nation in the ancient world. But he had lost all the privileges of being the king’s grandson. He was no longer living in the bountiful land of Egypt. Now, he was living in the wilderness—the desert. There was no rain, no trees, no food…He was living in a barren and lifeless place. And, to top it all off…He now had to work for a living. Princes don’t have to work. The nation takes care of them as long as the king is in power. But, Moses had to work as a shepherd in the desert.

Can you imagine a more difficult job than being a shepherd in the desert? A shepherd has to provide food and water for sheep. Sheep eat grass and drink water. Grass and water are the two most difficult things to find in a desert. So, Moses had to keep moving around from one oasis to the next oasis.

One day while Moses was leading the sheep to find food and water, God showed up in the form of a burning bush. Moses approached the bush and heard the voice of God.

God told Moses that he had a plan for Moses’ life. God wanted to use Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. This was the very thing Moses wanted to see happen. So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise how Moses answered God’s call. Moses did not immediately say Yes to God’s call. Instead, Moses argued with God.

Look at the first and last words Moses said to God at the burning bush.

Exodus 3: 4, “Here I am.”

Exodus 4: 13, “O Lord, please send someone else.”

Know Your Past.

The mistake we usually make in trying to determine God’s will for our lives is that we try to look forward into the future. We forget that this is humanly impossible and that God doesn’t want us to even try. And we forget that it is only in hindsight that we have 20/20 vision.

We can learn this from Moses’ call by reflecting back on Moses’ life and the way God prepared him for a specific task, or calling.

It was by God’s Providence that the Hebrew people were in Egypt. They came through Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, and God used this to save their lives. After Joseph died, the Hebrews stayed in Egypt and multiplied in number. This was because of God’s promise to Abraham.

Egyptians began to fear the Hebrews because of their number. The Hebrews were kept as slaves so that they would not overthrow government. Then Pharaoh ordered that all Hebrew baby boys to be thrown into Nile.

Moses was born at this time, and his mother saved his life. She put him in a basket boat and floated him in Nile. His sister Miriam watched him from the bushes. Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket boat while she was bathing. Miriam offered to get a Heb nurse for the baby & brought own mother. Moses was nursed by his own mother and returned to the Princess when he grew older.

First, we see that Moses was fully Hebrew, but reared in the palace of the Pharaoh.

He knew both languages and was accepted in the palace.

Second, we see that Moses had a strong desire that the Hebrew people receive Justice.

He identified with the Hebrews more than his Egyptian upbringing. This became apparent when Moses saw the Hebrew slave being beaten by the Egyptian. Moses came to the rescue of the Hebrew and killed the Egyptian.

Third, we see that Moses knew how to be a shepherd.

This is important for at least a couple of reasons.

On one hand, Moses was the shepherd for someone else’s sheep. Moses had all the responsibility for providing for the sheep…But they weren’t Moses’ sheep. They belonged to his father-in-law. When Moses became the shepherd of God’s people, he found himself in the same situation. Moses had all the responsibility, but the people belonged to God.

On the other hand, Moses learned survival skills while he was in the wilderness. He learned how to deal with the heat; where to find food and water; and how to navigated the barren land. Interestingly, this is the same wilderness where God led the Hebrew people during the forty years after they left Egypt and before they entered into the Promised Land.

God equipped Moses for this specific task. Moses was the best choice for the job. God knew what he was doing when he called Moses, because God had been at work in Moses’ life to prepare him for leading God’s people.

Trust God’s Future.

Moses’ call experience is actually a struggle between Moses and God. God is trying to assure Moses about the future, but Moses can only think about the past. And when Moses thinks about the past, he can only remember the places where he has failed.

Exodus 3: 10 – 12.

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

(NIV)

Moses asked who am I? I’ve never amounted to much. God said, “Forget about your past, and trust me with your future.”

Exodus 3: 13 – 14.

13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

(NIV)

Moses asked, who is this God of the past and my ancestors? God said, “I am who I always will be. I will always be in the future what I am right now.”

God is faithful and unchanging in the past and future.

If we want to do God’s will in the future, we have to let go of our past failures and trust God with the future. After all, only God is present in the past and the future. We have never lived the future.

Live the Present.

But, God’s will requires one last thing. Simply knowing the past and trusting the future are never enough. God wants us to act on these two things. If we want to do God’s will, we must actively live the present.

We cannot Re-Live the Past. . .

Although there are many people who try… Hanging on to their younger years…Trying to pretend they are still an 18 – 20 year old.

Some even try to live as if the church were the same today as it was 15 – 20 years ago. I hate to admit this, but church is no longer the most important thing in people’s lives as it was 15 – 20 years ago. The culture we live in has changed. The churches which are most effective today recognize that we have to change our methods to reach a changed culture. If we want to be effective in reaching people for Christ in the 21^st Century, we will have to accept that, let go of the Past and live in the Present.

We cannot Pre-Live the Future. . .

Any time we engage in long range planning for our church there is a temptation to skip over the present in order to live in the future. But we must be honest with ourselves and admit that we do not know what the future hold.

The only thing we know with certainty about the future is what God told Moses at the burning bush. God is already there. God is in the future, and God in the future is the same as God in the past or God in the present. God in the future drawing us into the future to join him. If God had a plan for us in the past, and if God has a plan for us in the present, then God has a plan for us in the future.

We can Live the Present. . .

The past is not better than the present. The future is not better than the present. In fact, if you really think about it…the present is really all we have. The past has come and gone never to be recovered. There is no guarantee that any of us will live to see the future. God has given us the Here and Now. We must be faithful with the Present God has given us.

If we cannot be trusted with the Present, How can we expect God to give us a Future?

Conclusion

Today, God is speaking to each of us. He is speaking to us individually about his plans for your present and your future. Like the story of Moses, God has been using your past and your present to prepare you for something. How will you answer? Will you say, “Here I am, Lord. Use me?” Or will you say, “Here I am, Lord. Use someone else?”

God is also speaking to our church. God has been using our past experiences and our present wilderness to prepare us for something. How will we answer? Do we want to be the church God uses? Or do we want God to find another church?

Surprised By God.

Luke 7: 18 – 23.

Introduction.

Have you ever known someone so well that you could predict how they would respond in any given situation? You know their responses so well that you can even manipulate them into doing exactly what you want?

One of my favorite stories to tell from my childhood happened when my brother and I were fighting over a baseball our grandfather had given us. Our grandfather ate Kellogg’s Corn Flakes for breakfast every morning and saved the box tops to send in for whatever they were offering as the special offer. Once the special offer was for a Kellogg’s Baseball, so my grandfather saved enough box tops to send off for six baseballs—one for each grandson.

My brother and I had our very own baseball, but you know how brothers are…I lost mine and was trying to convince John that his baseball was lost…After all, what are older brothers for?

We obviously made too much noise, because my Mother caught us and asked, “What is going on in here?”

John said, “Andy is trying to take my baseball.”

I said, “No, I’m not. John is trying to take my baseball.”

Mother said, “Whose baseball is it?”

John said, “Mine!” I said, “Mine!”

Mother said, I can solve this. I will go get the hoe and cut the baseball in half. That way Andy can have half, and John can have half.”

Well, I was the older and the much wiser son, and I knew what she was doing. I recognized immediately that she was trying to follow the biblical story of Solomon and the two women arguing over the baby…And I knew how that story turned out.

John couldn’t help himself…He said, “Cool! I have always wanted to know what was inside a baseball.”

I said, “No! Don’t cut it in half! I don’t want to ruin the baseball. Just give it to John. Maybe he will let me play with it too.”

Mother said, “I think I know whose baseball it is now. Andy, you can have you ball back.”

My Mother has always been real proud of herself and the way she solved that brotherly spat…That is until just recently, when I confessed to her that I had tricked her…

Since I knew the biblical story of Solomon and the two women, I knew that I had to act quickly if I wanted to get that baseball. I knew how my Mother would respond if I acted a certain way. And I was able to control the situation by predicting her response.

How many of us are guilty of doing the same thing in our relationship with God? We think that if we act a certain way, then God will be obligated to bless us—this is the basic belief behind the book The Prayer of Jabez. If we act a certain way and pray a certain prayer, then God will have to bless us or respond in predictable ways.

But this raises an interesting set of questions for us to consider…If God is obligated to respond certain ways to our prayers and actions, then who is really in control?

As we read Scripture, we discover that God is the one who is ALWAYS in control. And no matter how hard we might try to capture God and contain him and limit his activity to certain responses or even manipulate him into doing our will, we are often Surprised By God and the way he works in the world.

One example of someone being Surprised By God comes from the story of Jesus and John the Baptist…

Read Luke 7: 18 – 23.

18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,

19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.

22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

(NIV)

To me, the key to this passage is the very last verse I read…Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Jesus…

John the Baptist Was Surprised By God.

Jesus and John the Baptist have been intertwined since before either one of them was born and throughout their lives and ministries…The Gospel of John teaches us that John the Baptist’s ministry actually centered on pointing others toward following Jesus as the Promised Messiah, or the Christ…

At this point in John’s ministry, however, he was beginning to have questions…Matthew tells us that John is right now in prison, facing the death penalty for preaching against Herod’s incestuous relationship with his step-daughter…

Several of John’s disciples came to John’s jail cell and reported what Jesus had done in the past few days…Jesus had healed the son of a Roman soldier…And Jesus had raised a widow’s son to life…

These two miracles don’t seem very strange to you and me…We expect Jesus to heal the sick and raise the dead. But a good Jewish person like John the Baptist found these two miracles very confusing.

When Jesus healed the Roman soldier’s son, he had moved his ministry outside the Jewish people and was ministering to Gentiles. When Jesus healed the widow’s son, he had moved his ministry beyond a male oriented society and showed concern for the needs of women…Jesus was ministering to people who would have been overlooked by typical Jewish Rabbis of that day…

John was Surprised to see Jesus working among the outcasts and forgotten people of society, so he sent his disciples with a question for Jesus to answer…Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another? This is the same thing as asking, Are you the Promised Messiah?

I think there are two ways we can interpret John’s question:

If you are the Messiah, then you need to start acting like it…

When John preached about the coming Messiah, he preached about Judgment:

“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is coming.”

“I baptize you with water, but the coming Messiah will baptize with FIRE.”

Many people expected the coming Messiah to judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous…Messiah would prove once and for all that the Jewish people were God’s chosen people to the exclusion of all other people…We are right and everyone else is wrong…

If you are the Messiah, then I will have to change my view of the Messiah…

John heard the reports from his disciples about the ways Jesus is reaching out to non-Jewish people and giving full rights to women and is beginning to wonder, “Are these the kinds of things the Messiah is supposed to do?”

Can someone who gives attention to dead people, the poorest people of society, the outcasts and sinners truly be the Promised Messiah?

This is an important question…Because if Jesus really is the Messiah, then what Jesus does is what God is doing…AND…This is what God expects his followers to do in the world…

I want you to look at how Jesus answered John’s question…

Read Luke 7: 20 – 22

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.

22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

(NIV)

Does that sound familiar? It would have sounded familiar to John and his disciples. It reminded them of the day when Jesus launched his public ministry. He attended synagogue at his home synagogue and was asked to read the Scripture reading from Isaiah 61: 1 – 2…

Read Luke 4: 14 – 21

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,

21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

(NIV)

No matter what the Jewish people might expect out of the Messiah, THIS is what the Messiah is supposed to do…Evangelize the Poor…Proclaim freedom to the captives…Sight for the Blind…Release the Oppressed…Proclaim the Year of the Lord’s Favor…

Others Who Were Surprised By God.

As I read this story of John the Baptist and how he was Surprised By God, I remember two other men in the Bible who were Surprised By God:

Jonah was Surprised By God’s Grace…

Jonah reluctantly went to Ninevah to preach a message of doom and judgment to the Gentile sinners of that wicked city…Jonah had no idea that the people of Ninevah would repent as they did…But they did, and God chose to save them from the destruction that Jonah had prophesied…

Jonah came to the city preaching, “Forty days and Ninevah will be destroyed”…Yet, in forty days the people repented and they received the Grace of God…

Jonah was upset that God had not destroyed the city…He thought he knew better than God…He was Surprised by the Grace of God…

Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been Surprised By God’s Grace, when you have witnessed the changed life of a sinner whom you thought did not deserve to be saved…Of course, none of us DESERVE to be saved…

Rich Young Ruler was Surprised By God’s Demands…

In Luke 18, we read a story about a Rich Young Man who ran up to Jesus and said, “Quick! I’m looking for the shortcut to Heaven.”

Jesus told the man to keep the commandments and to give up the one thing that stood between him and God—to give all his money to the poor.

Then, Luke finished the story by saying the young man walked away sad, because he was unwilling to give up money as his idol…

The Rich Young Ruler was Surprised By God’s Demands…God demands that he should be the most important priority in our lives…And that we have no other gods before him…And the Rich Young Ruler walked away sad…Looking for a shortcut to Heaven and thinking that he knew better than Jesus…

Conclusion: Jesus’ Challenge to His Followers.

Look with me one more time at the last verse of our passage…

Read Luke 7: 23

23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

(NIV)

Does that sound like the Rich Young Ruler? He was Surprised By God and walked away sad, because he was not willing to let God be in control of his life…He had hoped that he could hang on to control and Lordship of his own life…

“Blessed are the ones who are Surprised and do not fall away. Blessed are the ones who are Surprised and continue to give themselves over to God’s Lordship and control.”

Today, there are many of us who have tried to place our expectations and restrictions on God…Trying to tell him how he can and cannot act in any given situation…But, again, if we have God figured out and if we can obligate God to act certain ways in certain situations…Who is really in charge?

God is Sovereign and a Mystery that we cannot control…Anything less would be idolatry!

If we are truly led by God—or controlled by the Holy Spirit—we can’t know what the outcome will be. All we can really know is the next step. We will not know where the next step will lead us. We cannot know what the final outcome will be…Because we are not in control…God is in control.