"RSVP: Responding To God"

(Deuteronomy 34:1-12)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

Deut. 34:1-12

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain--that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees--as far as Zoar. 4The Lord said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." 5Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord's command. 6He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. 7Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. 8The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

9Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. 11He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, 12and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

INTRODUCTION:

There's an old old story about a little boy who came home from Sunday School all excited about the lesson and told Mom all about Moses crossing the Red Sea. With great excitement the little boy said, "Moses and his people got behind the enemy lines and he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge across the Red Sea. Then all of Moses' people crossed over. When his spies told him a whole division of Egyptian tanks was about to cross the bridge, Moses got on his walkie-talkie and ordered his air force to blow up the bridge. The air force blew it up and the Israelites were saved."

Mom kind of frowned a bit and asked, "Are you sure that's the story the Sunday School teacher told you?"

"No," said the boy, "but you wouldn't believe the way the teacher told it!"

Moses is one of those larger than life characters of Scripture who we all know and remember because he lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land. But here we are on Kick Off Sunday of our Stewardship Campaign and Moses doesn't normally come to mind when we think of Stewardship, does he? Nor would we normally choose this passage as one dealing with stewardship.

I've set myself the personal discipline of preaching from the three year Lectionary. The Lectionary is a three year cycle of reading through the Bible. If we were to read all of the passages from the Lectionary each week, in three years we would have read about 80% of the Bible. I like the challenge of the Lectionary because it forces me to look at passages from which I probably wouldn't preach. This is one of those passages, at least concerning stewardship.

But you know, I got to looking at this passage and really, it's a pretty good passage to use to kick off our campaign. No, it doesn't mention money. It doesn't mention giving or ministry. It doesn't even offer three or four words and phrases that can easily be put into an outline for a sermon like many of the passages from Paul's letters do. But it's still a great passage with which to start a stewardship campaign. Why? Because it's a passage about victory. It's a passage that celebrates the victory of God, of Moses and of the Children of Israel. They made it to the promised land.

When we conclude our campaign with Commitment Sunday on November 21st, we will be able to celebrate a victory, too. As we look at this passage, Moses can teach us how to be victorious.

I. MOSES RESPONDED TO GOD:

A. The first thing we learn is that Moses responded to God. Remember, RSVP simply means "Respond if you please." And that's what Moses did. But he didn't do it readily at first. He was very reluctant. He came up with all kinds of excuses. He'd been kicked out of Egypt because he murdered a task master. He claimed he was slow of speech. And he was happy and content and Moses really didn't want any part of it.

There's a story which has been going around for awhile, it seems that George Bush died and went to heaven. He was having a great time. Everybody welcomed him and spoke to him, except for one white haired, bearded old man. Bush couldn't understand it. Every time he walked into a room, this guy would get up and leave. He couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. But he was determined to find out. And finally found the opportunity. Bush snuck up behind him one day, tapped him on the shoulder and confronted him with his strange behavior. "How come, every time I walk into a room, you leave? Why are you avoiding me?"

And Moses said, "Well, you know what kind of trouble I got into the last time I talked to a bush." (1)

Moses might have gotten more than he bargained for and he may have tried to make excuses at first because he didn't feel worthy, but he did respond positively to God's call.

B. That's all we are asked to do. We're asked to respond to God's call and God's challenge in our lives. And if you really stop and think about it, we've done that already. And we've done it over and over. You see, we first responded to God when we started attending Church or Sunday School. From the very beginning of our life, God has been calling us, calling us by name. And calling us into a special relationship with God through Jesus.

Many of us heard that call when we were young. Some of us may have heard the call when we were young, but we either ignored it or didn't know what it was. But God has been calling all of us since the moment we were conceived.

All of us here, have responded in at least one way. We've all listened to God's call and realized the truth of God's claim through Christ Jesus. And we answered that call by giving our lives to Christ. Then we answered another call. The call to join the Church. That's a bigger step, because you do that in front of others. You make a public response to God's call. It's a bigger response but it's easier because you know that everyone else has already made that commitment and is there to help you fulfill your call.

Last Sunday we saw and heard just how much your response has meant to the Youth of this church. Everyone of the Seniors who gave testimonies talked about how much you have helped them grow in the faith.

So, we know how to respond. Responding isn't a giant step for any of us. Because we've already answered. Jesus calls us. What we have to do is decide how we are going to respond this time.

II. MOSES RESPONDED WITH FAITH:

A. The second thing we learn from this passage is that when Moses responded to God, Moses responded with faith.

He didn't even stop to count the cost. Can you imagine how he and the Israelites would have responded if they had acted like good business people and put a pencil to all of their needs before leaving Egypt? They probably wouldn't have gone.

Stop and think about it. Moses and the people were in the desert, not a whole lot of fast food joints in the desert. But they had to be fed, and feeding 3 to 3 .5 million people requires a lot of food.

According to the Army's Quartermaster General, it would have taken 1,500 tons of food a day. Do you know how much food that is? That's two freight trains each a mile long. Per day. And they had to have firewood to cook the food. There weren't any portable gas grills back then. So, that would take 4,000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day.

And then they would have to have water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars 1,800 miles long, just to bring water!

And then another thing. They had to get across the Red Sea at night, in a hurry. Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get everybody through. So, there had to be a space in the Red Sea, 3 miles wide so that 5,000 people could walk side by side and everybody get over in one night.

But then there's another problem. Each time they camped at the end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 750 square miles long. Think about it! That much space just for camping. Do you think Moses and Aaron figured all that out before they left Egypt? I don't think so! I think they just trusted God. They had faith that if this is what God wanted them to do, God would provide. And God did. (2)

B. Moses responded with faith. And that's what we're asked to do, too. We're called to put our trust in the One who has brought us to this time and place in the life and ministry of the Church. We're called to have faith that if we are responding to God and doing what God has called us to do, that it will get done. We're called to set aside our objections and trust God, explicitly. We're called to respond with faith like Moses.

Faith is central to all of life. We respond with faith every day. For example, you feel sick so you go to the doctor. Maybe it's Dr. Lehman or maybe it's some Doctor whose name you can't even pronounce. Anyway, he gives you a prescription you can't read. So you take it to down to Louis Caldwell, our pharmacist. Louis reads what you couldn't read, then gives you a chemical compound you don't understand. But you go home and take the pills according to the instructions on the bottle. And you get well. That's faith. (3)

God wants us to follow the example of Moses and respond to God with faith.

III. MOSES RESPONDED WITH FAITHFULNESS:

A. Moses responded to God with faith, but Moses also responded to God with faithfulness. And you see, there's a big difference in faith and faithfulness. Faith is the believing. Faithfulness is the trusting. You can believe but if you don't trust in what you believe, you won't ever step out on faith.

The Apostle Peter is a perfect example. Remember the storm that caught everyone unawares. The disciples were afraid the boat would be swamped. In the midst of the storm, they saw Jesus walking toward them. He told them not to be afraid, that it was him. Peter acted in faith by believing that it was Jesus and saying, "If it really is you, Lord, then make me walk on the water, too." But Peter's faith became faithfulness when he took that first step. He put his trust completely in Jesus and then stepped out. Peter did what Moses did, he responded to God with faithfulness.

This Church has done the same thing. This church has a rich heritage of faithfulness. It was officially charted in 1883. There are 116 years of rich history in this Church. It's the history of the faith and faithfulness of the people called Methodists in Joshua. 107 years ago, the members of the Church stepped out in faith and faithfulness and built the first building in 1892. The building cost $25 to build. That was a pretty good pile of money when you consider that the average income back then was about $2 a month. That faithfulness has extended all the way through the life of this Church.

None of it was easy. You heard part of the outcome of that faithfulness last week through the Youth. I can't tell you how impressed and moved I was with the testimonies of our youth.

I hope I don't embarrass them too much, but I want to remind you of some of the things they said.

Mitch Stewart said: "Thanks for being such a great family for me." Tracy Wilson said: "Without you, I'd have a big hole in my heart." Kara Collins said: "I now know the meaning of trust, love and friendship." And Noah Labhart said, "Without y'all, without God, I'd probably be lost." And then he talked about his music ministry. When was the last time you heard anybody but a preacher talk about their ministry?

Do you know how proud that should make you? Do you know what kind of faith community that means we have here? I hope you do. Your faithfulness, your lives, your faith is and has already made a difference in the lives of these young people.

Somebody once said: "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots; the other is wings." (4) Through your faithfulness, you have given the youth of this Church both.

B. We're called to respond with faithfulness again. As we respond, we build upon our faith, the roots of our heritage and we give wings to the dreams and visions of the various committees. A Church Budget is simply a dream sheet; a vehicle for seeing and helping our dreams and visions come true. Through our faithfulness, we will enable ministry to happen. And as ministry happens, lives will be touched and changed.

CONCLUSION:

I think it's great that we start our Campaign on this note of victory. Moses, the leader of Israel. Moses the murderer. Moses the palace brat. Moses the adopted cousin to the Pharaoh. Moses the shepherd. Moses the chosen of God, stands at the finish line and gets to see the seeds of his labor bear fruit. He gets to look into the place he only dreamed of, and spoke of. He gets to rejoice. So will we on Commitment Sunday.

I like the story about the guy who was watching a couple of men at work in a local park. One guy would dig a hole and the other guy would fill it back up with dirt. This went on for about an hour. The guy who was watching all of this, finally, couldn't take it any more. He went over and asked the workers why one of them was digging holes while the other one was filling them back up. One of the workers spoke up, "Well, you see, it's like this. The guy who plants the trees is on vacation."

Too often that has been a parable for the church. Too many people forget about the future. They don't see what they are doing or not doing as connected to the ongoing continual ministry of the church. They don't consider those who will be following. People of vision don't just think about themselves, they think about the future. And they leave a legacy.

Our campaign is all about responding to God. Biblical characters responded in lots of different ways. So will we. Moses said he was, "Slow of speech." Jeremiah said he was "too young." Amos said, "I am no prophet." Mary, the mother of Jesus, said, "How can this be?" Peter said he was, "too sinful." The centurion said he was "not worthy." The Apostle Paul said, "I know that nothing good lives in me." Today, it is our turn. God calls. God doesn't ask if we're suitable or even if we think we can do the job. God only asks if we are available. (5) How will you respond?

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. From the Internet

2. Emailed to me by a friend

3. Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House) 1989.

4. Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), June 1982.

5. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), Feb. 1999

Other References Consulted

God Recommended. Moses Refused. Reconsidered, Repented and Reconciled. Reborn God Redeemed the Remarkably Resourceful and Reachable Recluse; Recast his Readiness, Reformed him into a Remembered and Responsible Representative. Moses Responded without Reservation, Radiated Reliance and Rare Rapport with God. He Reviewed the Requirements Rapidly, Retaining Religious Reverence. He Reconnoitered the Rocky Road and Roller Coaster Ride of Redemption in Requesting Pharaoh to Recognize God and Release the Refugees. Pharaoh Refused. Moses Renegotiated. Pharaoh Reneged. Moses Replied. Pharaoh Rescinded Regretfully and Ran Repeatedly into the Redemptor's Ramifications. The Regent Resentfully and Reluctantly Resigned with Reticence to a Resolution to Relinquish the Refugees.