Final Preparations (Exodus 17:8-18:27)

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Well, good morning. You can go ahead and grab your Bibles. Turn to Exodus, chapter 17, using one of the black pew Bibles there in front of you, maybe underneath it’s on page 58. If I was to ask you the question, How is church going? I wonder what you would think. I wonder what you would say. And then if I ask, all right, go back five years, go back 10 years, go back to your last church, and ask that question, how is church going? I wonder what you would say. One of the first questions I ask in any sort of evangelicalism is to ask people for their church experience, because people are more than willing to talk about their attitude towards the church most of the time, not every time, but most of the time the first words out of their mouth are something negative, or it’s quick while they explain why something is negative, and this has been my experience, maybe it’s been yours, and maybe, as I talk about past churches you’ve been at because you’re here now, the first things out of your mouth would be like, well, I left that church, so it’s something negative. And why is that? Because if I was asked you, How is school going? How is work going? How is marriage going, how is parenting going? What are the first things that pop into your head. Are they positive things, or are they negative things? A lot of times it’s negative, because the negative just seems to flow right out of us. Complaints are aplenty, and this is just kind of the experience. This is what the water cooler talk is about things that work. We just are very good at complaining, and we’ve seen this throughout our series so far, and how the Israelites come before God and Moses in complaints. And when we think about the different communities, when we think about the church, we want this to be the safest place to be like. We want this to be the healthiest community that we are a part of. So how do we make that happen? How does that work? What does that look like? Because as soon as you’re in community, who’s surrounding you, this is the participation point, who’s surrounding you in community, people and who are the biggest point of conflict that we ever have? Who are they people? And so we’re going to be in community, and we’re going to have conflict, and we’re going to have strife and we’re going to have difficulties. So how is this supposed to be the healthiest place when there’s people there? The thing is, those. We have to get our eyes off of ourselves. We have to get our eyes off of the next person. We have to get our eyes off the negative. We have to get our eyes up on Jesus. We have to, it’s the only way we can survive as a church community, is to get our minds on him, our hearts, our eyes on Him. Today, we’re in a passage, chapter 17. We’re kind of in the last half there, and then going into chapter 18. This is really a hinge passage. And so I want to kind of just talk quote this from Christopher Wright, who says this, this passage we’re looking at functions as a hinge between the great two halves of the book, looking back at the gospel of salvation that God accomplished chapters one through 17, which will be in a little bit today, and looking forward to the covenantal response of obedience that God seeks, which is chapter 19 onward. And God cares about the health of his people. He cares about the health of our community, and he wants to set up people well when they receive the law. But there’s still a lot of a lot of work to be done in our hearts, in our lives, in our relationships, and so these are kind of the final preparations before he gives us the law. There’s gonna be one final test in chapter 17, and then in chapter 18, we’re gonna see Jethro, and Jethro is gonna be a central figure. But throughout all this, we’re gonna see what does a healthy community. Look like we’re gonna learn about that as we go. So first, we’re gonna start by looking at chapter 17, eight through 16. So as you can see in your notes, we’re gonna kind of fill in things as we get to the end of each passage. So a healthy community, what is it that’s what we’re looking at this morning. A healthy community. What makes up a healthy community? Let’s start with Chapter 17, verse eight, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim, Moses said to Joshua, choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow, I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands. So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill, as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll. Is something to be remembered to make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under the sun, under heaven. Moses built an altar and called it the Lord. Is my banner, he said, Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation so the tests that we saw Israel go through last week, three of them were nothing compared to this week, because this week there is an outside enemy. They haven’t had one since Egypt. And so the Amalekites come, and the Amalekites were distant relatives of the Israelites. They’re from the line of Esau. Now we don’t know why they attack, but we do find out later in Deuteronomy that they attack mainly the weak, the stragglers, those who couldn’t fight for themselves. So probably those towards the back of the group and they couldn’t fight for themselves. They’re easy targets, and so they attack. And so far in our series, we’ve seen that God does all the fighting for the Israelites, they need to just be still while the Lord fights for them, but now they need to respond differently. So Moses selects Joshua and says, get some men prepare to fight. This is the first mention of Joshua that we see. We know Joshua eventually is going to be Moses’ right hand man and the guy who eventually takes over from Moses to lead the Israelite people, but now, as a young man, he is tasked with forming this army, getting them prepared to fight the Amalekites. But Moses says, You will fight, but God will be with us. I’m going to go up on the hill with the staff of God. And if you’ve been with us through this series, you know the staff of God is very important, because when the staff is there, God shows up in mighty ways. Pharaoh’s magicians are no match for the staff of God. Creation obeys the staff of God in the plagues that are brought on Egypt, the water is the Red Sea part for the Israelites, and then fall on the Egyptians when Moses raises his staff. And finally, the staff is used to strike a rock and water flows out for the people. It’s not a magic wand, though. It’s actually not the staff at all. The staff is a symbol of God’s presence with His people and His power on display. And so Moses says, you will go fight, and I’ll be on the hill with the staff of God. So why is it so important that Moses is there, raising his staff? I think there’s a few things that are possible in this moment. Probably all of these are happening in one way or another. First, it’s a posture of humility, surrender and trust. That’s what Moses is doing. He is going before the Lord because He knows the Israelite people have no business winning this battle. They’ve been slaves for 400 years. God fought for them to get out of Egypt, and now they’re fighting a battle who is actually trained for this. So Moses knows we cannot do this. So no matter what’s happening down there, ultimately, it is the Lord’s battle. Second, he’s most likely praying throughout the battle. Because in Exodus, when Moses raises his hands, he is praying, usually it’s because Pharaoh says, I want this plague gone. And so Moses goes out, raises his arms and prays, and the plague ends. And finally, it’s an encouragement to Joshua and the men fighting. They must have been able to see Moses on top of the hill. I’m sure Josh went back to them and said, Hey, we’re going to fight, but the Lord is with us. Moses is going to the top of the hill with the staff of God. And so there’s encouragement there. Now, while they’re in the midst of fighting, I doubt they’re constantly looking at Moses All right, like they’re fighting, they’re in a battle, but they know he is there. They know he’s observing. They know God is with them. And then Moses gets tired, as I’m sure many of you experience when your arms are raised for long period of time, you’re start to feel kind of that heaviness, especially if you’re holding weight. And so his arms get tired, and they start to fall. And as he they fall, he starts to see, oh, they’re losing now. Now the Israelites are getting pushed back. So he gets the strength to raise it again, and now they start to push against the Amalekites, but the arms feel heavy. There’s probably a bit of that shaking that happens when you’re lifting the weights, you know, I just can’t do it anymore, and all you want in that moment is the relief of putting your arms down. But who could blame him? Who could blame him? Now, do you remember when Jesus goes in the Garden of Gethsemane before he’s betrayed and arrested, he takes Peter, James and John with him, and he goes to pray a little bit further away from them. He says, You need to stay here, watch and pray. And every time he comes back, what are they doing? They’re asleep. Doesn’t sound like a whole lot of watching and praying going on when you’re sleeping. But look at Matthew 2641 says, Watch and pray so that you will not fall. All into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And I think about Moses in this moment like I want to keep the staff up, but I can’t. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Moses is just a man. He can’t do it anymore, but he’s got some friends with him, Aaron and her see what’s happening. I don’t know if the army knew what was happening when Moses’ arms went up and down, but I’m sure Aaron and her saw what was happening in those moments. And so they decide to step in. They see the connection of what’s happening, and they want to make it easier for Moses. So you sit here, I’ll hold up this arm, and I’ll hold up this arm, and we’ll make sure that the staff of God is raised. It’s like that good personal trainer, right? Personal trainers are known for, like, yelling at you, but usually they’re doing a whole lot more than that. They are trying to encourage you, but Aaron and her just like, all right, Moses, keep it up. You’re doing good. Just one more rep. Like, they’re not doing that. What does a good trainer do? He spots you, he comes alongside you and says, If you can’t do it, I am here. I will take a little bit of that weight for you. And that’s what Aaron and her are doing, because they trust the Lord. They know that they need to do this for Moses. So his arms stay raised. It’s easier for Moses to finish if he has that support from them. And with the help of Aaron and her and the army and Joshua, they win the battle. Or does God win the battle? Yes, this is a beautiful picture of what we’ve seen throughout this book, the sovereignty of God and human responsibility, because it says Joshua won the battle, but Moses kept his arms up. So who really won the battle? The people and God. Verse 14 is crucial. It says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered. This is the first time we see God tell someone to write something down. He says, You need to write this down, and you need to make sure that Joshua hears it. Why? What’s been our theme throughout this remember, remember, you need to remember what just happened, and what is Joshua going to end up doing 40 years from here? There’s a whole lot of stuff that’s going to happen to the Israelite people. They’re not going to get in the Promised Land when they think they are and eventually, John are, and eventually, Josh was going to lead them into the Promised Land. And what are their foes that they’re going to face? Are these fortresses and these big people who know how to fight, and what are they going to need to do in those moments? Remember? They need to remember that the battle is the Lord’s so make sure Joshua hears it, because he’s going to need this encouragement. Because, by the way, these are not the weirdest instructions that Joshua gets in a battle. He’s going to be told to walk around the city, to yell, to scream, to blow trumpets and God will bring the walls down. You only believe that if you remember what God has done before. So remember, write it down, make sure Joshua hears and then Moses builds an altar, an altar of thanksgiving. Say, Lord, this victory is yours. You’re the one who’s done it for us. And like Abraham in Genesis 12, who builds an altar to the Lord and sacrifices the ram, the ram that God placed there to take the place of his son, Isaac, Abraham says, at that point, I call this place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And Moses, in this moment, builds an altar and calls it Jehovah Nissi The Lord is my banner. It’s the only time in scripture that we see this name of God, the Lord is my banner. So what does a healthy community look like? First, a healthy community rallies around Jesus in a battle. A banner was used as a way to rally the troops. It was raised on a pole and put up so people would see it and know we’re still in this fight. We can still keep moving forward. It was their identity. And the pride of this is who we are. This is our nation. And so they would be encouraged to see this banner. And if the banner was raised and was pushing forward, they were going to keep moving forward. And so it carried so much meaning. And Moses says, God is our banner. And on this side of the cross, Jesus Christ placed on the cross, the Son of Man, lifted up on a cross, then conquering death in the empty tomb, ascending to the Father with the promise that He will return, is our banner. That is what we rally around. That’s the only thing to rally around. He said it in John three, the Son of Man will be lifted up, just like in numbers when they made that bronze serpent. Because the people were getting bit by snakes, put it on a pole, Moses, and anybody who looks at it will be saved. Just like that, the Son of Man will be lifted up, and everyone who looks on him will be saved. So where do you turn when you need help? Our banner, the Lord Jesus Christ, we. Where do you go when there’s conflict? You go to our banner, Jesus Christ. You rally around him. When you’re tempted to give in to sin, when you feel all hope is lost, when your marriage is falling apart, when your kids wander from the faith, when you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, where you’re going. You look at our banner, Jesus Christ. Every time. Where do you go when you don’t know who you are? You look at our banner, Jesus Christ, who says you are mine. I am with you, and I will never let you go. When we look at that and we follow Him, when we rally around Jesus Christ as a community, we remember the cross that was meant to kill is our victory. Look at chapter 18. It’s going to turn here. Chapter 18, one through 12. Here now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father in law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for His people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt after Moses had sent away his wife, Zipporah, his father in law, Jethro, received her and her two sons. One son was named Gershom for Moses said, I have become a foreigner in a foreign land. And the other was Eliezer for he said, my father’s God was my helper. He saved me from the sword of Pharaoh Jethro. Moses’s father in law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped near the mountain of God, Jethro had sent word to him. I your father in law, Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons. So Moses went out to meet his father in law, and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other, and then went into the tent. Moses told his father in law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them. Jethro was delighted to hear all about the good things the Lord had done for Israel and rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, Praise be to the Lord who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly. Then Jethro Moses’s father in law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses, his father in law, in the presence of God. So Jethro central figure here in chapter 18, we last saw him in chapter four, when Moses asked for his blessing to go back to Egypt after he is called by God, and he gets the blessing of Jethro, and he leaves Midian with jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, and Moses’ two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. And somewhere in the timeline, Moses actually sends the poorah and his sons back to her father. We don’t know exactly when this happens, all the details of it, but presumably Moses leaving the people having a big responsibility, a lot of time and safety, probably sends them away for their own safety, back to her father, and now there’s a family reunion, and so he Jethro brings them back, but the focus is not on Moses and his wife or Moses and his sons. It’s on his relationship with his father in law. So verse one said that Jethro had already heard of everything God had done for Israel in rescuing them from Egypt, but he hadn’t heard it from Moses yet. He probably heard it from Zipporah. Like you won’t believe what God did, but now he’s with Moses, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been around a kid or a teenager, somebody who went to camp or on a trip and you weren’t there with them when you get in the car on your way home and for the rest of the night, what do they do? Tell you every detail, and they won’t stop. And so I’m thinking, like, maybe this is what it was like with Moses and Jethro. Like Moses, like, All right, so this happened, and then, oh, wait, wait, let me go back. And then this happened, and then God did this. And he’s just on and on and on. He’s got six months of God stories to share with Jethro. And as soon as he thinks he’s done, he’s like, Oh, wait, one more thing. And I think that’s what it was like, because he can’t help but just tell Jethro everything God has done. And just like Moses, Jethro knows exactly who to attribute all of this to, and that is Yahweh, the God of Israel. It’s clear to Jethro that he knows there is no other name than Yahweh. There is no other God. If there were, wouldn’t it be the gods of Egypt, but they’re gone. God defeated them. He had victory over them. So He’s declaring the same truth. Brandon read for us already from Acts 412 salvation is found in no other name, in no one else for there’s no other name in our heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Jethro knows it. It is Yahweh. We know it. It’s Jesus. And what’s really interesting in these verses five times between Moses and Jethro, the words rescued and saved are used, which all of those are acts of God alone. Completely what God. Has done nothing that people have done. This was not Moses saying, hey, look how great my leadership was. It is. Look how great God is. And there’s a big difference. God has done this for his people. So this is the gospel, according to Moses and Jethro, that’s what it is. They are telling the good news to each other. So let me tell you what God has done for us. Now it’s interesting. Is this the point that Jethro is converted like he does. He become a believer in Yahweh. At this point he’s called a priest of Midian. He is descended from Abraham’s family, but not Jacob. So there’s some understanding of this God through his ancestors. Who is this Creator God? So there’s some understanding there. The truth is, we don’t know if this was his conversion or not. When he says, Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a statement of switching allegiance from being following pagan gods, many gods, or following the God of Israel. Yahweh doesn’t necessarily mean that. And I think you just got to think to the Gospels. How many times do the disciple does it say the disciples believed, they believed Jesus, and then they doubt, and then they believe Jesus, and then they question, and then they believe Jesus, like this is, isn’t this our experience? The longer I’m walking with Jesus, the more and more I’m convinced. And so I say I believe, and I say it again. It’s not just maybe the first time I remember Tim Keller saying, when he was in the hospital at one point, he read through the book resurrection of the Son of God, and he got to the end of it after decades in ministry of being a pastor, and he closed the book, and he said it actually happened. Like, he’s always believed it happened, but as he got to the end of that, it was just that wow, moment of like, No, this actually happened. And as we walk with Jesus, we start to say, like, No, this is, this is true. I thought I believed it, man, I believe it’s so much more now. So it’s maybe I believe now for the first time, maybe it’s just this better understanding of who God is. One of the ways that I’ve talked about this here at church is our view of God is far too small, and it always will be. So that leads us further and further into knowing who he is, because there’s so much more to know. So maybe that’s what this is for. Jethro, I thought I had an understanding of God, but now I really see who he is and what he’s capable of doing, and he’s filling in those gaps of his understanding. But it could also be conversion. This could be the moment where Jethro says, I believe maybe he’s been on that cusp for a while, and Moses’ testimony what God has done is what convinces him. And so maybe you’re here this morning, and as you’re hearing this, you’re like, I want to know more about this God. Maybe you already know who he is, but you just you’re struggling with some doubts. Look to our banner Jesus Christ. Bring it to him, see what he will do. Or maybe it’s the first time you’re saying, I finally get it. That’s the spirit working inside of you, showing you who God is, what he has done for you through His Son, Jesus Christ. The only thing to do with a God like this is to praise Him. So that’s what we see next about a healthy community. A healthy community praises God together. A healthy community praises God together. Jethro here brings sacrifices to God to atone for his sin. He brings sacrifices to Moses. He sits with his people, Aaron and the elders come to enjoy a meal with Moses and Jethro in the presence of God. This is true fellowship, when believers gather together in the presence of God to enjoy a meal and to share what Jesus has been doing in our lives. We talked about this at revision our vision night, which was a couple weeks ago. We discussed how important it is to eat together, and if we look at those 21 meals we have in a week, and just say, I want to share at least a couple with other believers or those who don’t believe, but I just want to sit down, gather around the table and tell people, let me share with you what God has done in my life. But the temptation is, when we get together for dinner and we ask how things are going. Is life is tough, the complaints, the negative things are easy to just roll off our tongue. Let’s change that. Let’s sit in the presence of God, look at him and say thank you for all that you have done, and let’s do that together, because that’s what a healthy community does, praising him together. Now let’s finish up chapter 18, starting in verse 13 to the end of the chapter. The next day, Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father in law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, What is this? You are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as Judge while all these people stand around you from morning till evening? Moses answered him, because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me and I decide. Between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions. Moses’ father in law replied, what you are doing is not good you, and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me, and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him, teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from the people, men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over 1000s, hundreds, 50s and 10s. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times. But have them bring every difficult case to you the simple cases they can decide themselves that will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this, and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied. Moses listened to his father in law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over 1000s, hundreds, 50s and 10s. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones, they decided themselves. Then Moses sent his father in law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country. So like I said, jethro’s central figure. Chapter 18, book ends. Jethro arrives. We get to the end, Jethro leaves. And there’s a whole lot of stuff that happens in between there. And so maybe you’ve heard of take your kid to Work Day. Apparently this is take your father in law to work day for Moses, because he takes his place, and Jethro is right there watching him take his place among the people, watching person after person, group after group, bring their disputes, their requests, their questions to Moses, and there is no shortage of conflict among the people, because it’s from morning till evening. They just come to Moses with everything now it makes sense they’ve been living under Egyptian rule for a long time. They don’t know how to live together. They don’t know what God really wants from them. Next week, we’re going to get to the law. So right now, there’s a lot of confusion. So it’s hard to blame them. They don’t have a nice leather bound bible they can walk around with, or an app on their phone that says, Oh, this is what God says. What do they have? Moses, he talks with God. He’s God’s servant. I guess I’ll go to him, and it makes sense. So they just keep going to him, saying, Here’s everything I want to talk about, here’s the conflict I have, here’s the decision I have to make. I need your help. What does God want me to do, and Moses fills in that gap. He steps in. This is what the people need. He’s God’s servant, so he does what he believes he needs to do. Now many of you have probably heard the saying that 20% of the people in the church do 80% of the work. This is one guy doing 100% of the work this is a lot for Moses to carry. And Jethro sees his son in law, cares for his son in law, and he understands what he’s doing is necessary, but it’s not being done in the most effective or efficient way. He knows. He sees it. It’s going to SAP all his energy. He’s going to be worse for it. The people are going to be worse for it, because they’re going to be waiting around all day. And what happens when you wait around all day? You wait around all day with conflict in your mind? Does it get better or worse worse? So by the time they approach Moses, could you imagine what some of the conflicts are like after waiting all day to see him? He knows this is not good for him, and so he says, This is not good. You need to do something about it. And in his wisdom and humility, he approaches Moses with an idea. What I love about his idea here is it doesn’t change Moses’ status as a leader. It just changes how Moses sees his role as a leader. He is still the people’s representative before God. He will still need to pray. He will still need to bring things to the Lord. He will still need to make certain decisions. But he doesn’t have to do everything. He needs to be proactive in his approach. He needs to teach the people. What has God told me? Let me tell you what God has said. So in a lot of ways, he’s moving from a judge to a prophet. He’s teaching. He’s instructing. He’s saying, This is what God told me. So you should be able to take this now and make some decisions. He’s supposed to show them what life is supposed to be like, teaching and modeling for them. And so what is Jethro’s advice? He says, Select capable men, men who fear God are trustworthy and hate dishonest gain you can also maybe your translation says people, men of integrity. Okay, this is who you should get. They need to be in a position. Point them as officials over 1000s, hundreds, 50s and 10s. So he’s saying select, teach. Model and send out. We have a word for that in the church. It’s called discipleship. Isn’t that? What it is? Select spend time with them, teach them model, show them what this like, and then you send them out to go do it themselves. This is the model of discipleship here in the Old Testament that Jethro was bringing to Moses sounds a lot like what Paul says to Timothy, his disciple in Second Timothy 2:2, where he says, and the things you heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. So the things you heard me say, Paul to Timothy, take to qualified, capable, reliable people, and they will take it to others. You see, because God cares about generations from now, he doesn’t just care about us in this moment, he wants to see this go on. So God to Moses, to reliable people, who will take it to 1000s, hundreds, 50s and 10s. God’s got the long view. So Moses has responsibility to all these people, but he needs to delegate. He needs to give up some responsibility get others involved. His job is to equip them and to send them out on mission to serve others. Mac Lake, in his book, The multiplication effect, shows us what this looked like in Jesus’s own ministry. So Jesus goes out at first without the disciples to teach and to preach in the villages of Galilee. And they say there was about 240 different villages around this time. So Jesus is hopping around the villages preaching the good news. And then he does it again, and he brings the disciples with him. So this is like, this is math, not my strong suit. So I’m gonna go with Mac lakes, math, so trust me on this, or trust him on this. He said, That’s one to 240 that I can do. One to 240 then what does Jesus do? He sends out the 12, two by two, splitting them up together to say, go into the villages and preach the gospel. And what does Jesus do? He stays back. He stays back, and he sends them out to do the work. When he splits them up, that’s a one to 40 ratio. And then months later, he sends out the 72 that’s a one to six ratio. Do you ever wonder why Jesus was tired? He’s doing a lot of ministry, so he sees the importance of getting other people involved in sharing that responsibility. And so as he does that, people get to hear and they get to hear from people who are not tired, who are just starting out, who are excited about it, and they’re able to go and be effective in the ministry together. So there’s a really important principle that we see here, and this is the last thing for how do we have a healthy community? What does a healthy community what does a healthy community look like? A healthy community is one that shares responsibility, that shares responsibility. Moses hears from the Lord. He equips capable men, and they go and serve the people. Sharing that responsibility makes him a more effective leader, keeps the community healthy, allows them to do more of what God wants them to do than to just stand around all day waiting to be heard. The Israelites are in their final preparations before the giving of the Law on Sinai, they have to figure out how in the world they’re supposed to love God and love others. And this is the same thing in the early church, Jesus comes and preaches this radical message of reconciliation, and the Christians are left there like, how do we live this out, like Jews and Gentiles? How in the world are we supposed to be in a church together when we’ve lived our whole lives as enemies? How are we supposed to do this? And it wasn’t just that. It was just different Jews, the Hellenistic Jews, the Hebraic Jews. In Acts chapter six, there’s this unfair distribution of food. And so they come to the 12 Apostles, and they say, this is not right. This is not fair. And so the disciples know their primary commission by God is to preach the good news. It’s to go out and baptize, to pray. And so they know this is what their primary commission was that they’re supposed to do. Their primary commission is not to feed everyone, but that’s a necessary thing that has to happen, but it’s not their specific role. So the way that they say we’re going to make sure this is taken care of is what we see in Acts chapter six, starting in verse two. So the 12 gathered all the disciples together and said, it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. Instead of saying, Yes, this needs to be done. We can’t do it, but you should know some people who can so find these capable people who have the right passions and gifts and abilities, and everybody will eat, and then everybody will hear the Gospel, because we’ll continue to pray, we’ll continue to preach, the church is healthier when everyone is involved using. Passions and abilities and gifts and not relying on just a few. So that leads to our big idea. You can flip over the notes, sorry, it’s on two sides this week. On the back side is the big idea. What should we do? How should we live in light of everything we’ve seen this morning, it is this, serve the Lord and His people. Serve the Lord and His people. You can also say, as Brandon already mentioned, own the mission. That’s what we talked about at revision, right? We need to serve the Lord and His people. Well, what does this look like? What does this look like for us? And so for the next few moments, I just want to walk quickly back through the story, because I think there’s a lot of examples here of service to the Lord that God uses to heal his people, to prepare his people and get them ready for what’s next. So first lead, how can you be a part of this healthy community? The first thing is, lead, like Joshua is a perfect example of this, because Joshua steps into this need to fight, to get these men ready to fight. And he steps up in the midst of uncertainty, how will the people respond in battle? But he’s also told by Moses, again, I’m going to be there with the staff of God. So he’s got this kind of encouragement at the same time. So Joshua, as a leader, trusts God and he trusts Moses and he obeys God. And this is going to be important, because there are times when leaders are thrust into very difficult situations, some of which you will have never experienced before. Have no idea what to do other than trust God and obey His words. And so when you think about our church community and the health of our church community, we need more leaders. We prayed about this. We’ve talked about this with you in our leadership development. Some of you will be tapped on the shoulder, like Joshua right where Moses says you’re going to do this. Others, you might be looking to take on more responsibility in the ministry where you serve, but we need to develop more and more leaders to be a healthy community, so that we can send out more journey group leaders. We can send out more community group leaders. We can have healthier ministries that are not run by people who are burned out, but as they share responsibility and you take it on, and then you lead, we’re healthier and ultimately for the multiplication of a church in church planting, we need leaders, so maybe what that’s what the Lord is calling you to today. The second thing is support. This is what we see with Aaron and her during the battle as Moses’ strength is dwindling, it’s failing him. They take their responsibility to hold his arms up for him. They saw the situation, they saw the need, and they decided to step in. They didn’t stand the sidelines, just saying, hey, just do your best. Keep going. They got in there, and they made sure they were there to support him. And it gives you such great confidence to lead when you have this kind of support behind you, and so for the health of this congregation, we need more people to support using the way God has uniquely designed you to support people and ministries. This is a great picture of what the community is like, because the battle was not dependent just on Moses keeping his arms up. There was three men that trusted God in this moment. This moment, and they all got involved, and the victory was won. The third way that you can serve a healthy community is to encourage we see this with Jethro. Jethro wants the very best for Moses and his people, so he gives them advice, encouraging him to look at things from a different perspective. Maybe you should do things this way. It’s very different than what typically happens in community, as we’ve seen from the Israelites. The real temptation is to come and complain. Let me tell you how many things are wrong with what you’re doing. We don’t like the way that leadership is doing things. We don’t like the way that this Deacon is leading this ministry. We don’t like this or that without offering any real solutions.
But Jethro encourages. He comes from a place of humility and concern for Moses’s well being, and so he says, I have some advice. Do you have a complaint to offer without a solution? Because that will lead to discouragement. But if you have a concern with a solution or possible solutions, there’s great encouragement in that. So maybe you can encourage and maybe these first three, you’re like, I don’t really see myself fitting into any of these. Well, guess what? Everybody’s a part of the fourth one, that is to share, share the responsibility. And we see this with the capable men. Everyone here can be capable, because what does it mean to be capable? So according to this passage, Fear God, be trustworthy and be a person of integrity that’s living a Christian life, that’s pursuing Jesus and seeing him change our life. So how do we share the responsibility then? Well, as Christ is formed in us through His Spirit, and we pursue him, that means we also call others to follow us, because these men were sent out to the 1000s, hundreds, 50s and 10s. Who is it for you that God is equipping you to go serve, to say, hey, come alongside me while I stumble in this Christian life, while I take two steps forward and one step back, I need you following me as I continue to pursue Christ, as I continue to look at the banner of Jesus Christ. I need other people to follow me. Share the responsibility in discipleship. You can lead others in larger groups, smaller groups, one on one. So if we want to be a church that pursues healthy community, we need to rally around Jesus. It’s the first thing we have to do every single time. We praise him together, and then we share the responsibility and we see what the Lord has for us next. So let’s keep owning that mission. Let’s serve the Lord, serve His people. Let’s pray.