God’s grace, peace and mercy to you. My theme for today’s
sermon is Moses. My text, Hebrews 11:23-25. “By
faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents,
because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the
king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of
God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the
psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
Lord.’”[1]
Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we
listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply
as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
“It
was better when it was worse,” was my father’s favorite
expression. It was better when it was worse. Politicians and pundits think this
way when addressing good old days. Democrats remember the Clinton or Kennedy years,
and Republicans recall Reagan and Ike. Football purists reminisce about real
men like Jack Lambert and Ray Nitschke and music lovers long for the days when
Judy Garland and Nat King Cole topped the charts. Nostalgia gets the best of
us. When dissatisfied with life, heed the words of Dante, “There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time when
miserable.”
Hebrews recounted Moses for those Christians who longed
to return to Jerusalem and the splendor of Temple where they once worshipped. The
author knew their faith was not strong. He saw them persecuted to the point
that they were tempted to go back[2] to their Jewish beliefs
and practices.[3]
He needed to encourage them to remain steadfast in their faith. That is why he
cited Moses.
Moses faced a tough audience who longed for the good old
days. He too had to dispel the thought that it was better when it was worse.
Moses chose mistreatment with the people of God over the fleeting pleasures of
sin.
Hebrews 11 transitions from the heroes found in the Book
of Genesis to those listed in Exodus. I find an interesting parallel between
Exodus and Hebrews. While Hebrews 11 cites heroes, Exodus opens with the names
of the 12 sons of Jacob who went down to Egypt. “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with
Jacob, each with his household …” After listing the sons, the story
continues, “Then Joseph died, and all his
brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and
increased greatly…”[4]
What happens is that after being in
Egypt for 400 years, no one remembers Joseph and his brothers as particular
tribes, but simply as Israelites or Hebrews. Why is that important?
It is important for Israelites, Jewish
Christians and us, because remembering our past – without longing to return to
the past – shapes our identity. I was raised by two first generation Polish
Americans in a blue collar, Roman Catholic household in rural western
Pennsylvania. That shapes my identity, but I don’t long for yesterday.
It was important for first century Christians
and Jews enslaved in Egypt to remember their history, but it was equally important
for them to remember that the good old days were not always so good. In the
case of Jewish Christians living outside of Jerusalem and the descendants of
Jacob living outside of their homeland, it was important to remember that outsiders
were not always welcome, and insiders preferred assimilation to distinction.
Pagans of the first century would have been kinder to these foreigners if they
would have forsaken their new religion, Christianity, and assimilated into
their new culture.
Think how we treat outsiders and we have
an inkling of what the people of Israel faced in Egypt or what 1st
century Jewish Christians faced living in a strange new world. Good-hearted
Americans want immigrants and refugees to assimilate into our society so they
can survive, but total assimilation robs a people of their extraordinary distinction.
Part of Israel’s story is that when they went down to Egypt, they lost their
distinctness, their individuality. They assimilated into Egyptian culture and lost
their tribal and familial differences. Yet, they remained outsiders, and gradually,
new regulations reduced them from honored guest workers to slaves, from Joseph’s
people to persona non grata.
Into this antagonistic world Moses is
born. By the hand of God, his mother saves him from death by floating him down
river. Midwives and mothers who could not bear suffocating newborn boys may
have chosen the humane approach of floating them down river where the basket
would eventually sink. A waterproof basket, however, could save a child. This
is what Amram and Jochebed chose to do with their second son.
Raised in Pharaoh’s palace as a prince, Moses’
background is quite complex. Is he Hebrew, Israelite, Levite or Egyptian? A Hebrew
living in the house of the man oppressing Hebrews. … Then one day Moses goes
out, and notices for the first time the suffering of his brothers and
identifies with them as his brothers. Scripture records, “One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked
on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.”[5]
The phrase “had grown up” or “grew up”
chronicles a significant moment. Moses begins to realize how much these people
are suffering, and that they are his brothers. He intervenes by killing one of
the Egyptian perpetrators, and rather than sticking around to discuss the morality
of his deed, he flees.
He flees. We know the story continues.
Moses encounters God in the burning bush. He debates the worthiness of his
people’s redemption and refuses to take on the mission. God gets angry. Moses
reluctantly agrees and leads his people out of Egypt. They wander around Sinai
for forty years before Joshua finally leads the Israelites into the land of
milk and honey.
At times, God’s people, centuries before
Christ, longed nostalgically for the bread and meat they enjoyed in Egypt. At
times, less than a century after Christ, Christians longed nostalgically for
the beliefs and practices they enjoyed in Jerusalem’s Temple. That is why
Hebrews cites Moses. Earlier in Hebrews we read, “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the
things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as
a son. We are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting
in our hope.”[6]
The takeaway for us is that when we long
for glory days, pray that someone comes along and whacks us across the head
with a Bible to gently remind us that it was never better when it was worse,
and that God’s own Son and Moses chose to be mistreated with God’s suffering
people over the fleeting pleasures of sin. Next, read one of the Passion
Narratives and pray for God’s grace to live more faithfully today than you did
in the past. When you do, may the peace of Christ, which surpasses all human
understanding, keep our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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