Sermon Notes June 14, 2015 Me, Myself & I: What Are You Practicing? Numbers 14 Big Idea: Application:
Discussion Questions What are examples of things we do only when we re ready to do them? What is usually our motive behind such behavior? Why did the people want to kill Moses? How have the Israelites practiced this type of behavior before? Why did they change their mind and want to go into the Land? Why did God allow them to fail? Bible Reading Plan 2014-15 Chronological 2-Year Reading Plan: Week 76 Monday John 3:16-4:54 Psalm 90 Tuesday Mark 2 Psalm 91 Wednesday John 5 Psalm 92 Thursday Matthew 12:1-21; Mark 3 Psalm 93 Friday Luke 6 Psalm 94
Monday Your One-Day Character How long will this people despise me? Numbers 14:11 Who are you going to be? It is not a question we often pause to ponder, and yet we answer it with every waking moment. You and I are practicing to be the people we will become. This pattern has been true for thousands of years. After their delivery from slavery and lengthy trek across the wilderness, the Lord led the people of Israel to the doorstep of the Promised Land. Though they had been a people without a home for generations, God was about to complete the covenant He made with Abraham centuries earlier. The land that flowed with milk and honey was within their reach, but their arrogance and fear caused them to turn away from God's blessings and rebel against His rule. (Numbers 13:1-14:12) How can a people in such desperate need become so utterly rebellious? How did it come to this? Their collective moment of decision on the verge of the Promised Land was not decided at that instant. They had years of practice being a people who rebelled against the Lord. When the Egyptian army was in their faces, and their backs were to the Red Sea, the people begged to return to the chains of slavery. When the water and food provisions ran low, they grumbled against the Lord, assaulted His character and longed for the good old days in Egypt. And when Moses stayed on the mountain with the Lord a bit too long, they gave up all hope and crafted a golden calf to be their god. At every turn, the people chose to doubt God, but perhaps that behavior wasn't their ultimate goal. All along the way they likely thought, "One day, we'll trust God. Maybe on the day He makes good on His promise we'll be true to our faith." But even when He did, the ruts in their road were too deep to set a new course. They spent years practicing to be the people they had become, and the people they had become would never see the Promised Land. Read Numbers 14:10-45. The Israelites moment of decision revealed the merits of their hearts, and this day will provide moments for you as well. If you are still unsure of the nature of this future you, he or she will be revealed by your every action and inaction. Your one-day character will be exposed by your today practices. Who are you practicing to become?
Tuesday The Undoing And if you will indeed obey my commandments Deuteronomy 11:13 "Success breeds success." Turn your attention to any leadership book or conference, and you will hear something to that effect. One of the arenas where this is most evident and prevalent is athletics. No book on organizational or strategic leadership seems to be complete without a quote from Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi or John Wooden. Wooden seemed to have a special knack for bringing the best out in others. With his simple and calm approach, the Wizard of Westwood led the UCLA Bruins to ten NCAA Men's basketball championships in a 12-year period. This unrivaled feat included a run of seven tournament wins in a row. His success certainly bred more success. What was his secret? His strategy for victory culminated on game day in front of thousands, but it was conceived in practice when no one else was watching. Wooden knew that practice dictated performance. Who his team was on the practice floor would determine who they were on the national stage. He was convinced that doing it right in the beginning led to success at the end. This philosophy is embodied in one of his most famous quotes: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" How much of your life has been spent on undoing? If your life is anything like mine, there have been more than a few tangled situations that began as sinful and selfish choices. Years, even decades, of your life and mine have been spent unraveling the snarled consequences of doing it wrong the first time. Are you as tired of this as I am? It's time we accept the reality that it's easier to do the right thing one time than it is to undo the wrong thing time and time again. How would your life be different if you had a first-time policy? What if you committed at every opportunity to do the right thing the first time? I don't think it would take you long to experience the blessings of obedience to God's will and ways. The people of Israel did the wrong thing by doubting God on the verge of the Promised Land, and an entire generation never saw their perfect home. They were forced to undo their sinful choice with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. But God was still faithful, when their children and grandchildren once again reached the Promised Land, God warned them through Moses to do stop the undoing and do the right thing the first time. Read Deuteronomy 11:1-28. Set before you today are the blessings of doing the right thing and the curses of repeatedly undoing the wrong things. Life is too short to spend time on undoing. By God's grace, do it right the first time and start doing it today.
Wednesday Why Do We Obey? Then all the congregation said to stone them But the glory of the Lord appeared. Numbers 14:10 Is doing the right thing the only thing? If the only line we draw merely divides obedience from disobedience, then doing the right thing is our sole end in life. But, what if there is something more at play in our hearts and lives? What if the Why of our obedience is as important as the Whether? There are altogether selfish reasons for doing the right thing: avoiding consequences, preserving our image or promoting ourselves. When the focus of my life is Me, Myself and I, I can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. And I fear this self-serving "obedience" causes us more harm than we realize. When we become outcome-focused, we miss the power and purpose behind our obedience. Perhaps we should also ask why we do the wrong things. Our sins certainly have roots in our selfishness, but I fear our problem goes deeper. We don t know God, but we are convinced we do. We worship the neutered version of him we have created in our own image, and then we pretend to honor and serve a god who is nothing like God at all. Obedience is optional when our conception of God is stripped of all His glory. When the people of Israel prepared to stone Moses and Aaron, the Lord did not stop them with judgment and wrath. He froze them with His glory (Numbers 14). Seeing Him clearly stopped their disobedience instantly. Read Numbers 14:20-23. The people of Israel saw the glory of God and still chose to push Him away. Even though they eventually tried to do the right thing, they did it for the wrong reasons. If His glory is not enough, nothing ever will be. Why should we obey? Because His glory deserves and demands it. His glory is evident in everything we see if we will just take the time to look. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14) If we see Him in all His glory, we will have no reasonable option but to obey, but there is nothing reasonable about sin. We know that one day, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). Sadly, then it will be too late to obey. You're practicing now for the person you will one day be, and the best way to become the person God intended is to live in the light of His glory. Do the right things today based on nothing less than His surpassing worth.
Thursday Perfect Practice For the wages of sin is death, but Romans 6:23 If practice makes perfect, why are we so good at being bad? I don't mean to bring you down on this fine day, but consider how easy it is to practice doing the wrong things. It takes no effort or willpower to take the fork in the road toward sin. It's like that shopping cart I seem to find in every grocery store. You know the one that always wants to turn right. Give it a shove and let it drift, and the cart will steer toward its desire. And so will we. Our sinful nature pulls us toward the practice of disobedience, and our crash record is nearly perfect. We crash every time. Why does God bring us into this world and then allow us to steer toward our desires? Our Heavenly Father could treat us like marionettes, yanking us back and forth by our strings. Instead, He chooses to give us a choice. We are free to practice any pattern of life. We can obey or rebel, but we will be held accountable for our decisions and the motives behind them. With free will comes the high price of judgment, but also the amazing gift of grace. Our God doesn't just leave us to crash into the consequences of our sins. He offers through Christ a way of escape. Brother Lawrence, a 17 th -century French monk, wrote this powerful passage (in Practicing the Presence of God) regarding the hope we have in Jesus. I regard myself as the most wretched of all men, stinking and covered with sores, and as one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Overcome by remorse, I confess all my wickedness to Him, ask His pardon and abandon myself entirely to Him to do with as He will. But this King, filled with goodness and mercy, far from chastising me, lovingly embraces me, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the keys of His treasures and treats me as His favorite. He talks with me and is delighted with me in a thousand and one ways; He forgives me and relieves me of my principle bad habits without talking about them; I beg Him to make me according to His heart and always the more weak and despicable I see myself to be, the more beloved I am of God. No amount of practice can ever make us perfect. Our free will has cost us more than we know and made us more wretched than we can possibly imagine. Thankfully, God's freely given grace can make you perfect in His eyes. Read Romans 6:23. Because Jesus paid the price for your selfish choices, you can know the hope that comes from making peace with your Heavenly Father. The wages you deserve for your choices is death, but God's free gift is eternal life through Jesus. Have you surrendered your life to His perfect grace and love?
Friday The Dis of Delayed Obedience Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised Numbers 14:40 As a parent, there are few things more frustrating than delayed obedience. Whether driven by forgetfulness, procrastination or rebellion, this behavior in children just sticks in our collective craw. Their eventual compliance only proves the task was not unreasonable, but their overdue obedience proves just how little they thought of us. The dis of delayed obedience drives us crazy. The Lord must have felt this way about His children. After refusing to believe He could deliver the Promised Land into their hands, they attempted to go and take the nation on their own. Their delayed obedience cost them dearly. Read Number 14:39-45. The Israelites were the embodiment of everything our Me, Myself & I series has been about. They believed they deserved a Promised Land that was free of frightening occupants. They wanted the prize without the price. The rebellious nation thought they were better than Moses and could make their own way in the wilderness without him. They also repeatedly revealed their opinion of God's wisdom. Their every attitude and action screamed to the heavens that they knew better than Him. After years of rebellion, they became the people they had practiced to be. And their selfish practices would cost them the Land and their lives. After four weeks of studying God's Chosen People, it is easy for me to shake my head at their behavior. How could they see God's power so clearly and still reject His plan so completely? But in my more honest moments, I all too vividly see myself in them. I can be just as stupid and selfish as they were. I fear my delayed obedience has repeatedly disrespected my Heavenly Father, and I am pretty sure I'm not alone. How can we stop our cycles of selfishness? The only antidote for selfishness is surrender. We must lay down our egos, set aside our agendas, and relinquish the thrones of our lives to the only One who deserves them. This course correction sounds like a monumental task, but great journeys begin with one step. Start with this one action item: What has God already told you to do? Go back to the last command or conviction you ignored, and this time, choose to obey. With one simple act of surrender, start practicing to become the person God always wanted you to be.
Weekend The Voice And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' Isaiah 30:21 One of life's most overwhelming moments is when you hold your child for the first time. What once was just a notion or concept then becomes a startling reality "I am responsible for this precious little life." No other moment has left me feeling more essential and less adequate. There is nothing like parenting to keep you humble. As that tiny hand wraps around your finger, you know his life won't be easy. The world is not getting better, and our declining culture won't make it any easier for him to live rightly. How will your precious child know which way to go? Your worries grow right along with their stature. The older they get, the more voices there are to try and lead them astray. Who will point them in the right direction? God's plan is for you to be the voice that guides His children. You, moms and dads and mentors, are called to be their guides. Your words are to steer them away from danger and point them towards truth. But if we are called to be their guides, how are we to know which way to go? In preparation for this weekend's service, read Isaiah 30:19-26 and reflect on the voices that are guiding your steps. Do you know the voice of your Creator? Are you following His lead so your children can follow yours? Prepare for Worship As you prepare your heart for worship on Sunday morning read Psalm 57 and reflect on the God who is exalted above the heavens. Is He exalted in your life? Pray for the World: France France is the largest country in Western Europe. The nation of 62 million contains over a hundred distinct people groups, and a third of them are classified as unreached with the Gospel. Only one percent of the French population are evangelical Christians. Adapting missionary efforts to French culture and communicating the gospel in this context are difficult. Foreign cultural baggage must be left behind, and authentically French forms of witness and fellowship adopted. Fruit is hardwon, discouragements many and the missionary dropout-rate high. Pray for effective identification with French culture, perseverance, adequate provision of financial support and spiritual power.