Hebrews 11:32-12:3. NCF Big Heroes Small Stories Part 1 of 8 7 th January 2018 Talk 34 Jethro (OT) 1

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1 Hebrews 11:32-12:3 The first three are explicitly mentioned in Hebrews 11, Isaiah is described implicitly. There are perhaps at least another dozen superstars that could be mentioned and they have many chapters or sometimes almost entire books written about them. Our focus isn t going to be on them for the next few weeks. These aren t Christian superstars or celebrities, but they are definite heroes. They did normal things with enthusiasm and diligence. They kept going and believing what God had said to them despite what immediate circumstances might say. They weren t interested in getting the honour and glory for what they did. That sort of thing didn t seem to matter to them. Jethro (OT) 1

2 The emphasis for the next few weeks isn t to be a superhero where we all do extraordinary things for God and NCF blossoms beautifully. The intention is for us to see examples of people being faithful and obedient to God and then for all of us to go out and do the same. God is calling us all to be faithful and obedient to Him more than ever before. In the mundane and ordinary parts of our lives (which is most of it) God is saying, Listen to Me, follow what I do, keep going. As we do that wholeheartedly as a group of Christians together, we will certainly blossom beautifully then! Hobab was probably his personal name and Jethro his official name. He is connected very heavily with Moses. For context: Moses lived around 1500/1400BC. He lived to be 120 years old and his life is split nicely into 3 sections. For the first 40 years he was growing up in Egypt in Pharaoh s house. In Exodus 2 he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite and so he killed the Egyptian. Other people heard about this, so he ran away to an area called Midian. Some scholars think this was where a group of tribes lived on the east of the Red Sea. He stayed in Midian for 40 years and then he led Israel for 40 years this was mainly around a wilderness. Exodus 2:16 Now a or It just so happened not a coincidence! God had it in hand. Moses needed some time away from the Israelites so that when he went back to them he would be a better leader than he might have been otherwise! Who was the person that Moses spent a lot of time with in the 40 years he was in Midian? Jethro! God knew he had the right qualities and attributes for Moses to be moulded. Very soon Moses had married Zipporah and this was one of Jethro s 7 daughters. Jethro was Moses father-in-law. Perhaps Jethro sat Moses down every Saturday for a man to man talk and instructed him on how to be a good husband, father and leader. More than likely though, just like Gill s Jethro (OT) 2

3 dad with me, he showed Moses how to be a good husband, father and leader by setting a good example most of the time. Moses needed that good example. Jethro was not afraid to make Moses work hard! He wasn t afraid to let Moses marry his daughter! He was not afraid to give Moses advice! Jethro saw the positives in Moses, but also saw his biggest limitation. He was one man who needed to eat, drink, spend time with his family as well as be a leader to the nation of Israel. Even if only had 5 hours of sleep each night and only had limited with his family each day, he still wouldn t be able to lead Israel very well on his own. Jethro saw this and gave him good advice. Jethro didn t tell Moses to have less people in the court. He didn t suggest that he could appoint advisors to give summaries so that Moses could give quicker verdicts. The advice in chapter 18 was to train up new leaders and delegate authority to them. Moses was still the overall leader and he did the hardest decisions, but other people were now helping him. It was a win-win situation. Justice was administered, Moses wasn t bogged down in doing everything and other people were growing in the gifts they had, instead of being frustrated by Moses trying to do everything. Jethro had authority but he didn t use it towards Moses he knew his place. He didn t want to take over from Moses, but gave really good advice. He could have said to Moses, Look son, I m older and wiser than you, I ll do all the judging as clearly you need help. He didn t try to take over, he purely gave advice and Moses followed him to the letter. Exodus 18:24 [NLT]: Moses listened to his father-in-law s advice and followed his suggestions. In Exodus 2 Moses killed an Egyptian. Probably he didn t set out to do that, but he was hot-headed and immature. He needed to learn how to be patient. Spending 40 years with Jethro in Midian changed him a lot! Numbers 12:1-3. Perhaps originally Moses wanted to lead Israel before he fled to Midian. He wouldn t have had the right qualities to do that at that time. He needed to wait for God s timing. God was going to use Jethro a lot in this moulding and changing, as well as the sheep that he would have looked after. How did Moses feel having to look after sheep? He d grown up in Pharaoh s house! How can we learn from Jethro s life? What is the application to us both collectively and individually? Looking to Jethro (OT) 3

4 It s not going to be a totally 100% easy year for anyone. There will often be decisions we all need to make sometimes these could be quite tricky. The primary focus for us should be following God with every ounce or gram of energy that we have both internally and outside of what we do in this building. Mark 12:28-31 NIV. Ephesians 1:18, 19 NIV. Jethro (OT) 4

5 Here s a rhetorical question: if we take Christ out of the Church and replace Him with our own thoughts, themes, tactics and theology, what happens? Take the c away and replace it with a t and then people get hurt. There are lots of hurting people in churches because of what Christians have said or done to other Christians. It is essential that we keep Christ at the centre of what we re doing here. Everyone in a family is needed. Everyone is valued. Each person is important to the whole group. Paintings generally aren t in 2 dimensions. Jethro (OT) 5

6 We need each other here. We all have gifts to use for God and between us we have many different gifts and abilities. Together we give the picture of life depth and colour. Between us we have light and shade. Some of us a wonderful red, others a deep blue or light pink. As we work, live and love together so we become beautiful. We shine. We become attractive to others. Ephesians 2:10 We are God s handiwork.. (NIV). From Greek word poiema many versions say workmanship, but NLT: For we are God s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. If you like looking at painting or creating your own, think of a brilliant masterpiece and the church can be like that. NCF can be like a Monet or da Vinci or a Whistler or a Picasso or a Michelangelo! Living in unity is not about us all doing the same thing at the same time. Jethro (OT) 6

7 Koinonia means that which is in common and is often translated as fellowship or community. Words of encouragement are great, but practical acts of service and care are vital. In the early Church people proved their love to each other by sharing meals and possessions and giving practical support to the poor. It s still important to do this. In our families and at work is where the rubber hits the road. It s easy to put a show on at church on a Sunday. We might try to wear a mask of everything is fine here, but Monday to Saturday is when we are what we really are. Jesus is our ultimate hero! Before He went to cross, He washed His disciples feet. Being a Servant and a Hero go well together. As we seek to be Heroes for Jesus, the way we will walk is that of servanthood and humility. We can all be heroes. It is what God is calling us to. We certainly need God s help as it doesn t come naturally to any of us most of the time. My verse for the year. Jethro (OT) 7