Monday, January 30, 2012
By Faith... Moses, Part 20 of 54
TEXT: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:23-26).
Idea: God’s people may not look like God’s people to others, but Christians must see them as God called them to be.
Purpose: To help listeners see God’s people as God sees them.
Tony Campolo talked about a shocking chapel service at Eastern College where he taught. A visiting black theologian began his message with these words: “Jesus was a (the “N” word)!”
I. What do you think the speaker meant by that?
He wasn’t talking about the color of Jesus’ skin.
He was saying that being a (the “N” word) has to do with what you were in the eyes of people in the surrounding society. The word was used for the downtrodden, the spat-upon, the humiliated, and the despised.
You can’t read Isaiah 53 and not come to that conclusion: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (v.3).
If we are going to be like Christ, you and I must be willing to become (the “N” word) too. We, as God’s people, must be willing to empty ourselves of wealth, status, power, and all the credentials we cling to that have given us our identity.
II. Moses, in the choice he made, did just that (Hebrews 11:24-26).
Moses knew that to the Egyptians the people of Israel were the (the “N” word) of that society. As Moses looked at the people from the confines of the palace, what did he see?
They were slaves while Moses lived in the luxury of the palace.
They were poor while he enjoyed the riches of Egypt.
He wanted to play the part of the deliverer, but he discovered that the people were suspicious of him and rejected his leadership. Do you blame them?
Who were those people in the eyes of God and Moses?
They were the “people of God.” What do you think that phrase means?
They were the objects of God’s grace and mercy:
“And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
Why did that matter to the people who read this letter to the Hebrews?
III. Why should this perspective matter to us today?
How do the elite of our society regard the church?
How do we regard the church? We can be disgusted by the squabbling and the limited vision, the bad music, or the boring sermons. But those people are “the people of God.”
