Happy 4th of July Weekend! This morning we're beginning a short series called Lead Like Moses. I chose that graphic because in the beginning… maybe Moses didn't take himself so seriously, nor perhaps others. Perhaps Moses hadn't learned to take God seriously. This represents that moment in time before God commanded Moses to take off his sandals!
But of course, the whole trajectory of Moses' life changed as he encountered the Living God. “Take off your sandals, you're standing on holy ground!” One moment he's curious, the next moment trembling in fear. What would it look like for you to discover God's purpose for your life? What can you learn from Moses? Leadership always starts with discovering God's purpose for our lives.
Leadership also begins with faith. In order to serve God's purpose in his generation, Moses had to grow in faith. Make no mistake about it—by nature he was man of incredible intellect, ability, and charisma. From what's I've gathered, he stood head and shoulders above his peers in height and appearance. Yet he had debilitating bouts of self-doubt that caused him to melt in fear. How can we silence that inner critic, and our inner demons, to step into faith?
If learning to trust God isn't hard enough, leadership isn't a solo activity. If you have trouble trusting God, or trusting yourself, what about entrusting leadership to others? Moses had to learn to develop those around him, discern their character and leadership capacity, and “give the work back,” making people responsible for who they we're becoming as God's people.
One final aspect of leadership is leaving a legacy. Like many leader's, Moses' life is full of hills and valleys. There were times God became so frustrated with Moses, he wanted to take his life. How terrifying is that? God is Who He is. Yet Moses discovered God to be a God of mercy and grace. At every turn, God afforded Moses the opportunity to repent and be forgiven, the opportunity to grow and become more holy. Leadership is one long journey, not of perfection, but of continued growth. There is so much to unpack!
So here is where we're headed: My Purpose. My Faith. My Team. My Legacy.
Whenever we begin reading the story of Moses, in Exodus, we're struck not so much by Moses the man, but rather Moses' mother. As we story goes, God's people begin to flourish in Egypt. Exodus 1:7 says, “… the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.” This has always been the root of anti-Semitism. That when God's people love him and serve Him, they prosper.
But inevitably, a Pharaoh arises that doesn't remember Joseph, nor Israel's history, nor remember Israel's God. The Pharaoh freaks out, and becomes fearful of the Israelites. What if war breaks out and they outnumber us and turn against us? What if this? What if that? Pharaoh engages in a cynical campaign that begins with cruel labor but escalates in genocide. I'll make their work cruel. He orders the midwives, whenever a baby is born, if it's a boy, kill him. Only let the girls live. No matter what he does, Israel prospers. The midwives disobeyed his orders, refusing to take the lives of Israel’s sons. Infuriated, Pharaoh says forget about the midwives. He orders that if any of his people see a Hebrew son born, they were to take that baby and throw him into the Nile!
At this point, Moses's mother (Jochebed), and sister (Miriam) enter the picture. Jochebed has a “fine baby boy" and tries to hide him for 3 months. You know the story. Instead of participating in the self-genocide of her own child, in faith, she gently wraps her baby (Moses) in swaddling cloth, lays him in a basket, and sets him afloat down the Nile. His sister Miriam watched as he floated along—they certainly weren't going to let him die in the current.
Before we learn anything about Moses the man, we’re invited to consider the faith of Jochebed and Miriam. Lead like Jochebed. Lead like Miriam. What incredible faith. No way we're throwing your life away—God has purpose for my life, for this child, for our people and nation. Pharaoh saw her child as disposable; Jochebed saw her son as precious gift to be protected at all costs to self.
Central to the Christian faith are passages like Psalm 139:13-16. “13 Ah Lord, you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.” The faith of Moses’ mother! “No way I'm tossing you into the river… God formed you, he has a purpose and plan for you, he's ordained you to know him, live for him, seek him, and be found by you.”
Providentially Moses is rescued by (of all people) Pharaoh's daughter. She understands the human crisis and recognizes the baby is a Hebrew son. Providentially, she calls for a Hebrew mother, to come care for the baby. Not only is Moses saved, but Moses' own mother (and sister) become his caregiver, nurturer. So, throughout his childhood, while Moses is learning Egyptian history, he's also being home-schooled in Hebrew history. He's learning about Adam. Eve. Noah. He's coming to know of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve sons and tribes of Israel, Joseph. While the world was telling this Hebrew Son he was disposable; Moses was learning how every life matters for the glory of God and good of God’s world.
Whatever we make of Moses' leadership journey, it began from the cradle, it began with a mother with enough faith to give him a God-centered worldview. There is so much jammed into Exodus 1-2. As Moses comes of age, he’s out walking and sees an Egyptian abusing one of his own people… a fellow Hebrew. Rage begins coursing through Moses's veins, and he lashes out, killing the Egyptian.
This is a profound moment. Positively, Moses has a degree of moral clarity. He has a compulsion to fight for what is righteous and just. But not so positively, an Egyptian lay dead. Few things are more audacious than taking the life of another person. Did the Egyptian's abuse of that Hebrew slave warrant death? As a young man, Moses didn't know where take his anger, that outrage, that fire. And so, he lashes out, in a fleshly way.
Sometime later, Moses sees two Hebrews fighting and again intervenes. But the Hebrew men are indignant, and ask, “Do you plan to kill one of us just like you did that Egyptian? Who appointed you to be our watchman, commander, judge and protector.” Suddenly, Moses is stricken in his conscience. He realizes he's forfeited his credibility and is in grave danger. Out of fear, he flees for his life.
Leadership isn't just about what God shows you. Leadership also comes down to what you do about what God is showing you. In the beginning Moses tried going about things his own way instead of God's way. While on the run, Moses encounters a group of daughters drawing water for their Father's flocks. Suddenly a group of shepherds show up and run the women off. Same chapter! Once again Moses’ rage and sense of justice and righteousness is triggered. He's enraged and comes to the women's defense. He drives off the evil men, rescues the women, and waters their flock. But this second time, Moses comes short of shedding blood. The daughters race home to report the incident to their father, Jethro. And Jethro of course sends for Moses. Moses marries one of Jethro's daughters, and Jethro becomes not just father-in-law, but a providentially, a life-long mentor to Moses. God would use their relationship to equip Moses for even greater things!
If we look back over our lives, there are some moments that can be identified, where maybe God was giving us clues about our purpose. This is the value of Exodus 1-2. This is the kind of time in which Moses was born. This is the kind of mother, and sister, and faith his family had. These are the kinds of evil and injustice being perpetrated. Here's how one man was affected, and reacted, and began to discern his purpose. I hope you notice that God uses both the good and the bad in our lives to shape leaders. He even uses painful things, evil things, sorrows, mistakes, failures. I hope you will reflect, “what sort of things has God been showing you from the earliest chapters of your life? Maybe you had courage to act, maybe you did but in a wrong way.”
We know that in time, God did indeed have a purpose for Moses' life. Moses was to become a Great Leader! He was to become a Shepherd, Hero and Rescuer of all God's people, Israel, a Protector, even a Judge. But his impulses for justice and righteousness needed to be rooted in something greater and deeper than his own judgements or whims… they needed to become rooted in God Himself.
Perhaps the most formative moment in Moses' life comes in Exodus 3: Exodus 3:1-10, “Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. 3 So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” . . . “Here I am,” he answered. . .
5 “Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. . . 9 So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, 10 therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
The pivotal moment of Moses's life was not just encountering the Living God (in all his holiness, righteousness), but discovering God's purpose for his life. There is an old Michael W. Smith song, that's been around a while. More recently, it was reworked by King and Country. I’m not going to sing it, but it goes like this:
The wind is moving, but I am standing still. A life of pages, waiting to be filled. A heart that's hopeful, a head that's full of dreams. But this becoming is harder than it seems! [Can you relate to becoming?]
Feels like I'm… looking for a reason. Roaming through the night to find my place in this world... my place in this world. Not a lot to lean on, I need Your light to help me find my place in this world… my place in this world
If there are millions down on their knees, among the many can You still hear me? Hear me asking Where do I belong? Is there a vision That I can call my own? Show me, I'm Looking for a reason Roaming through the night to find my place in this world, my place in this world. Not a lot to lean on, I need Your light to help me find my place in this world…
I don't suppose God will appear to you in a burning bush anytime soon. In fact, God rarely appears to people the same way twice. But if you'll earnestly seek God, like Moses, I have every confidence God will show you your place in this world. He'll fill the pages of your life not just with meaning, but one adventure after another. He'll fill your heart with kingdom dreams, and kingdom visions. In his time, in his way, he'll show you your reason for being.