THE RISK OF FAITH, PART 2: MOSES

Exodus 3:1-14
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
10 October, 2004, All Rights Reserved

I have good news and bad news and then more good news. The good news is that God is completely reliable and trustworthy. When we put our life and eternity in his hands he will fulfill what he has promised in every respect. Now the bad news: Most Christians of our time and in our land have mistakenly thought that putting our lives in God's hand would solve all or most of our problems in this life. This is wrong, and it is a bizarre aberration of our time and place. Ask the Sudanese Christians who are hiding from helicopter gunships sent by their own government if Jesus solves every earthly problem. And now the second round of good news: Although putting our life and eternity in God's hands through Christ makes this life harder, it is the only life worth living. Everything else is a fake. When all is said and done, people who lived the most wonderful earthly lives but missed knowing God would gladly trade their fake for real life--but they are not able to do so. Moses was a man who felt acutely the tension between divine certainties and the risk of faith in this life.

1. THE FAITH CONFRONTATION -- Exodus 3:1-6

a. This is God's universe. He is in charge of it all, and the only way a person can succeed in this universe is to choose to live forever in harmony with God.

b. Moses hid his face when God confronted him in the bush. The prospect of facing God scares us so badly that most people try to avoid it at all costs. It seems too risky: "If I come face to face with God, what will happen?"

c. This is why all of Western civilization is trying to expunge God from the record of history and the fabric of society. It is far more comfortable to live without God in this life except that you miss knowing the Being who makes life worth living--and then you go to hell.

d. Without the prevenient grace of God working on us, every one of us would go down with the Titanic without even attempting to board a lifeboat. Yet we must each choose to overcome the fear and face the God in whose universe we live.

2. THE CHALLENGE OF FAITH -- Exodus 3:7-11

a. A second risk of faith is when we discover what God has asked us to do. Moses, who had been hiding from the Egyptians in Midian ,discovered that God had assigned him the job of leading the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt. This man of faith replied by saying: "Yikes, God! You must be kidding!" He knew he could trust God but he had no idea how following God in this assignment would work out in this life.

b. In the film A Beautiful Mind Professor Nash sees people who are not there, lives with them, and talks to them. The day came when he left his infant child in the bathtub in the care of an imaginary friend with the water running. He also, believing that an invisible intruder is attacking his wife, rams her down in the corner of the living room. He cannot live with his medicine because of the side effects, and he cannot live without it.

c. His wife is faced with the crux uncertainty of every marriage. Marriage is a certain thing in God's design, namely, one man and one woman in an exclusive love relationship for life. What is uncertain is how it will turn out for each one of us. Mrs. Nash discovers that the man she loves is psychotic and potentially dangerous. She has the opportunity to sign the papers, commit him to an asylum, and just give up and get out. Instead she embraces the risk of marriage as God designed it. She chooses to not stop loving her husband. In the end it is her love which makes it possible for him to live a productive life without medication. And oh, yes, he wins a Nobel prize.

d. Many young adults are shrinking back from a faith commitment to raise a family according the plan of God. They see bad marriages, abuse, sorrow with children, and divorce, so they opt to try to gain the benefits of marriage without benefit of marriage. It does not work. No one can avoid the uncertainty of seeking to live by the certain divine plan.

e. My whole life is spent trying to communicate truth about an invisible God upon whom everyone's life depends. I study, I pray, I talk to people, I write study notes, I devise object lessons, I write stories. My whole week is spent trying to peak at eleven thirty on Sunday morning. And then I never know what has happened. I know a woman who assembled a team of women to minister truth about Christ and money management who prayed and prepared better than any team I have seen. They cannot figure out what the impact was. Our church web site is filled with good materials for spiritual encouragement. About fifteen hundred people download materials from it every month, and we get an email response about twice a year.

f. The risk of faith never goes away in this life! We are forced to trust a certain God in an uncertain world. Don't let anyone tell you differently! It is the very nature of faith.

3. THE COMFORT OF FAITH -- Exodus 3:12-14

a. Our comfort comes from the promise of the presence of God. Moses, the great man of faith, was filled with excruciating uncertainty even with the promise of God's presence. Why should we be any different?

b. Note that God did not say: "I will be with you, and no hard thing will come upon you." Hah! It would have been far easier for Moses to stay in Midian, tend flocks, and enjoy life with his wife and her family than to spend forty years in the wilderness leading rebellious Israelites.

c. There is real comfort in the knowledge that the totally self-sufficient, utterly trustworthy, and omnipotent God is with us as we face the ambiguities of life.

d. I hate to say this, but the spearing death of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and three others at the hands of Auca tribesmen whom they were trying to reach with the good news of Christ was not an aberration in God's plan. We all hope it was a glitch in God's matrix. It was simply the risk of faith. Was it worth it? As a result of their efforts and Jim Elliot's own wife who went back to minister to the same tribe, the Aucas now worship the true God instead of the spirits of the jungle. Years before Jim had written in his diary: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

CONCLUSION: None of us can hide in Midian. What great thing are we missing in God's purpose for us by trying to minimize earthly risk? This is God's universe, and the only way to be successful in his universe is to come into harmony with him. The risk of faith is unavoidable--so let's embrace it! God's promises are certain. Let me tell you a secret about which there can be no doubt: Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and their buddies got home safe! And because they embraced the risk of faith, many others are home safe, too.