Trust God

Skit

Moses: Hey there, my name is Moses. How is everyone doing? Who are you guys? I’m not sure I’ve met all of you. But then at the same time, there’s been a lot of people on this journey.

I’m almost 120 years old now. My long journey of life is coming to an end soon. A journey of ups and downs of trust of great miracles and utter failure.

The craziness of my life started even before I was born. You can read about it in Exodus 1&2. I was born quite far away from here. In Egypt. Their king there told all my people to throw all baby boys into the river to kill them. And I was supposed to be one of them.

I was lucky to have a cheeky mom though, who followed the orders, but still did everything in her power to protect me. She threw me into the river, but only after building me something to protect me from the deadly waters.

In your Bibles in Exodus 2:3 you can probably read that my mom made me a basket. But when she told me the story in my original language, she didn’t use the word basket but instead used the word for ark. My birth story and the story of Noah’s ark are actually the only stories with this word in the entire Bible.

Just like God provided an ark for my ancestor Noah through whom he would deliver all of humanity. God provided, through my mom an ark for me to deliver all of Israel.

So, because of what my mom did I actually got to grow up in the kings palace and had everything I could ever ask for. I grew up with all the luxury and comfort in the world. But something was still off, while I enjoyed the luxury, I didn’t like how the king, my grandfather, treated all of my people, my family. Their childhood was very different.

Oh, Hi Malachi, thanks for being here. You’ve aged quite a bit, haven’t you? I’ve been talking about my childhood. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your childhood?

Malachi: Hi Moses, there you are. You have a tendency to leave us alone. So be careful people, you might look away for one second and he’s gone. *whispers to the audience* Also just between us. He’s not a very good leader. We’ve been stuck in this desert for almost 40 years.

Moses: Thanks for the flattery Malachi. I hope you know I’m not actually leading, but God is through me.

Malachi: I’m sorry Moses, I didn’t think you could hear me. What was your question again?

Moses: How was your childhood?

Malachi: Oh yeah, now I remember. Well, when I was a kid, my family and all my friends and people were in Egypt. And there, we had water, different kinds of food and structure in our day.

*Moses: stern look and cough*

Malachi: Ok, ok. We were in Egypt and my parents had to build all of these massive buildings for the king there. And all they got was harsh treatment.

And then he *points to Moses* came along and told us and the Egyptians about our God and then guided us out of Egypt.

Moses: thanks Malachi. One more thing though. Never forget. The entire time it was God leading, not me.

God is guiding us out of Egypt into the promised land.

We can trust God, because he guides & provides

This coming week is Vacation Bible School here at Calvary. Every night during the week from 6pm to 8pm

And you can still sign up So if you have a child, grandkid, sibling, nephew, niece or cousin, who you think would enjoy a good time, fellowship and learning about Moses. Go ahead and sign them up The Moses story is perfect for VBS, it's perfect for Sunday school, because kids can visualize it well and really emerge into the story. But we shouldn't just stay there. If we look at the story like it's a story just written for kids, it'll become very familiar and it'll become a story where we think we know everything about it. So we have to remember to always dig underneath the layer of talking vegetables

What talking vegetables am I talking about The talking vegetables are from Veggietales a Christian kids TV show that quite a few people probably grew up with. It's a wonderful way for kids to visualize Bible stories, but that's not all there is to it. There's more to the stories So let's take a look at this coming week of VBS and see what the kids are learning there about Moses and dig underneath the vegetable layer Our overall topic will be, trust God

What does that trust look like?

I don't know what it will look like for you exactly

I don't have a play by play for you I don't even have a play by play for myself What I do know is that I want to rely on God and not on me

God sees the bigger picture I just see my small picture God sees and cares what is good for the entire world

I see and care what is good for me and my tribe To trust in the way of humans is to only worry about me and what is good for me

And how does that work out for us? Everybody that is 24 or older, which is probably the majority here, was born in the 20th century

And we can look at that century as a reminder to see what it means to trust in our human way Never before have so many people been killed by other humans

Because humans just cares about what is good in their eyes Humans worry about themselves and worry about their family and their tribe And human wisdom of looking out for yourself and your tribe only doesn’t always lead to literal blood, sometimes it leads to metaphorical bad blood. Broken relationships, to protect myself, I have to take advantage of you and the relationship between the two of us is broken. To trust in God is to take a step back and realize that it's not just about me, it's not just about what is good for me

But to look out do everybody else as well. Because everybody is an image of God And it might seem like trust in God is upside down

If we compare it to trust in humans Because it seems natural for us to care about those who are closest to us

And leave everybody else in the dust Because I want to make sure that I am safe, provided for and know where I'm going

We will take a look on how to trust God in a time and space that we could call

Liminal Space

What in the world is that? Has anyone ever heard of that?

I found a definition on Wikipedia In anthropology (study of humanity), liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the rite is complete Everything clear? Liminal = A state of uncertainty during a transitional period from one stage to the next

Sometimes in between seasons of life

Engagement

You have pledged to live your life with someone, but you're not fully married yet What are you to each other?

We even have to lend a word from another language, fiancée Pregnancy

You're a mother, but not in the way of other mothers You're not changing diapers yet Rituals

For example in cultures where teenage boys are sent away as boys, have to survive for a few days and return as men We don't want to stay in liminal spaces

Liminal spaces a lot of times are very uncomfortable God uses those uncomfortable liminal spaces

There are many different ways of being in a liminal space

It'll look different for everybody

But they always are spaces, where things change and the routine and things we usually rely on is stripped away One thing stays the same in those spaces though. And that is that God is there for us

We can trust in him Israel enters a liminal space, when they enter the wilderness

They were slaves in Egypt and were rescued by God

But they don't have a covenant yet with God They left Egypt and are on their way to make a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai and are now right in between those two events

They're not sure yet, who they really are So let's see how the Israelites are doing in the liminal space

In the ambiguity during the transitional period of salvation from Egypt and the covenant with YHWH They end up in the wilderness

Where God protects, guides and provides

God is with us, so … trust God

Our Adventure into the wilderness, where God protects, guides and provides, starts with the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus 14 Israel left Egypt. God led them to the beach

But it wasn’t a nice family holiday Let's see what it was. Israel had grown to a big nation and they were slaves to the Egyptian. They were rescued from the Egyptians by God and were now in a situation, where they were stuck

Exodus 14:5 "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" They were stuck between the Red Sea and a charging army, because the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh had realized what it means, when a massive amount of his slaves leaves So he does what seemed wise to him and he tried to get back his labor forces by force So God split the Red Sea in half and all the Israelites were able to walk through, while the Egyptian army drowned in the sea

So how many people was it exactly? Where was the Red Sea? And what in the world is this supposed to mean?

People debate the first two questions and it doesn't seem like there's a very obvious answer to those questions

Bodies of water have moved over the last thousands of years, so it's impossible to say exactly, where it was at

But what is clear, is that it was a significant body of water, where 600 chariots, the tanks of the ancient times, were able to drown We're also not sure how many people left exactly, because the Bible only tells us how many men left. But what is clear is, that it was a lot of people that were rescued by God. What does it mean though?

The Israelites didn't just end up in between the Sea and the Pharaoh on accident

Exodus 14:1-2: "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea." God led the Israelites to the Sea Did he mess up? Did he not see something?

Exodus 14:3-4: "For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so." God foresaw what was about to happen

He planned it Exodus 14:21-23, 26-28: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

God might lead us into a situation that’s difficult. There might be a situation, where we don't know how to get out of it. But just as much as he led the Israelites into this situation, he led them out of it.

Just like we might be in hard situations, and we wonder if God is here with us. God is with us, we can trust him, and he will make a way and lead us out of the hard situation I need to clarify something now. Here in this story, we can read that God led the Israelites into this difficult situation and he was with them during the difficult situation

From other passages in Scripture we know, that not every hard situation we're in, is because God led that person, or that group into that hard situation

For example David having to flee from Saul in 1. Samuel 19 Scripture doesn’t say that God led David into a hard situation and later we will see that Israel gets into a difficult situation, because humans are acting like humans again. With violence and oppression But every single time. No matter why that person or that group is in the hard situation, one thing is for certain. God is with them. At all times Israel & Egypt. 2 different kind of stories

Egypt trusted their own wisdom. Egypt did what humans always do. Egypt tried to rule over people with force and violence. What happened?

As a result of their actions, they experienced the violence they wanted to put on others The pharaoh had every Hebrew boy thrown into the water, as a result his own army died in the water

Ex 1:2a Then Pharaoh commanded all his people "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile" Ex 15:4a Pharaoh's chariots and his host he (that is the LORD) cast into the sea. The Pharaoh wanted to use violence to end others, and at the end violence is what ended him

Human wisdom backfires Israel trusted God. Israel relied on God's wisdom and what he always does. Israel didn't try to react with force and violence. What happened?

As a result of their actions, they experienced life from God We can trust God and his wisdom. No matter of what happened. No matter of what I did. No matter of what someone else did to me. Even, when it seems like there is nowhere to go. One thing is always the same. It doesn't matter how difficult the situation. GOD IS WITH US, SO … TRUST GOD

God gives us what we need, so … trust God

On Tuesday in VBS, we'll be taking a look at Exodus 16 Manna & Quail 43 days into the journey, the Israelites ran into a pretty predictable problem

They're out of food

All the lunchboxes are empty How do you feel, when you're hungry and you have to walk in the heat?

My guess is that most of us, at least I would be getting pretty hangry There's something about not eating enough food and having to do a mundane task like walking that just makes us humans angry The Israelites got hangry and talked to Moses about it Remember Malachi from earlier?

He was complaining to Moses He was complaining that back in Egypt they had food and water

Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Time can really make us glorify things in the past How many things were better in the past?

How often do you wish that you weren't living in 2023, but instead 10/20/30/100 years ago, when things were better Were they really?

Maybe somethings was

And there is times that are better and times that are worse But I believe that it can happen to us that we remember the good things from the past, but forget what it cost us, forget the bad sides And the Israelites are living in this exact mindset, just wishing for things to be like life in the good ol' days

But they forget that the good ol' days were terrible days of having to work under harsh conditions Having to complete the work, the daily task each day and being beaten, when they're not able to achieve the quota. (Ex 5:13-14) Exodus 5:13-14 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” So was that time really better?

There were parts that seem to be better. Food, water, structure. All of those things seem to be gone now But other parts were worse. Into this moment, God gives the Israelites food and at the beginning of Exodus 17 water

He supports them & helps them out The Israelites get meat from quail that fly in the sky in the evening and in the morning they get heavenly bread

God sees the problem that the Israelites are facing God provides God gives them what they need And it's in a way that none of them would've probably expected

And if we're honest. The Israelites would've probably preferred more variety They probably would've preferred to have multiple different things to eat And the Israelites now can go out each day to collect the food. Instead of working each day to achieve their quota. Now they collect food each day. And they even get one day off

It's the same word here in the original language. Each day Each day serving for Pharaoh under harsh labor building storage places for food for someone else Each day serving God, being provided for by God each day with a day of rest

Now God provides bread from heaven for them, and the people were able to gather a day's portion each day. (Exodus 16:4) - NIV (each day) So the people rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 16:30) GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED, SO … TRUST GOD

He gives us the food we need, but he also gives us the rest we need God doesn't work in the way we expect

He sends things, where we don't know what it is And it might not be what we want But he gives us what we need

Jesus says, that God knows what we need, in Matthew 6:8, when he teaches the people how to pray Matthew 6:8 "For your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him." Give us each day our daily bread

In the Lord’s Prayer So trust God and ask him for what you need and he will provide

It might not be what and how we expect it, but if we are open to receive it, he will give it to us

God gives us strength, so … trust God

We'll be taking a look at Exodus 17:8-16 and the battle against the Amalekites on Wednesday While in the desert, finally having been supplied with food and water, the Israelites are being attacked by an army

It seems like they can't catch a break As soon as they're not backstabbed, they're hungry and then attacked from the front

Their life is terrible They're trusting God and nothing seems to be working out for them Even though they're trusting God and following him, that doesn’t mean that they're not running into any difficulties

This time, because humans choose violence again What it means though is that God is with us in those difficult situations Here in the battle between Israel and the Amalekites God comes in and helps Israel to defend against the attack of the Amalekites

The Amalekites do, what humans always do

Attack each other and spread violence Ex 17:8-11 "Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.' So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed." God supports the Israelites

The way God supports the Israelites is in ways that we might not expect God gave the Israelites the strength to defend themselves, whenever Moses' arms were lifted

But his arms were tired

God could've just given Moses enough to lift up his arms the entire time Instead Aaron and Hur helped Moses. They gave him something to sit on and lifted his hands up God gave Moses the strength to lift up his arms through Aaron and Hur

God works through people And a rather small gesture or thing we do can have a massive impact on other people

We might not think a lot of it, but a small gesture on our part can change other people in big ways

It's a butterfly effect One small decision, has a big impact in the long run Lifting up Moses' hands isn't that big of a deal, but the result of it was that a people was being protected God gives us strength, sometimes directly, and sometimes through others and sometimes both, so trust God that he gives us strength and also give strength to someone that is in need

What do we do, when someone is fighting a battle and is getting weak Pray for God to come and help directly, and also recognize Are we there and give our friends & family a rock to sit on and our strength to lift up their arms

God saves us, so … trust God

Passover On Thursday we'll be taking a look back to Exodus 12 and the events that happened on Passover

It will be a look back at an event that happened, while the Israelites still had to serve the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt God saved the Israelites from slavery

The Israelites were in a position of no power and were set free by God An absolute miracle

Archaeological evidence from Egypt from around the time of the Exodus shows us that the Egyptians made a big deal, when two slaves escaped

So they made sure it never happened Now imagine the uproar, when a whole people leaves at once

And again, how many exactly, people debate, but what is definitely true, is that it was a significant amount of people This never happens in Egypt naturally

Only a work of the mightiest God can do this Such a miracle is worth remembering

That is why every year since then, to this day. Israelites celebrate their freedom from Egypt with the Passover

It defined their understanding of who they are as a people They also changed their calendar so the Passover would be in the first month of the year

their whole identity changes The Israelites are loosing their old identity as slaves of Egypt, and gain a new identity of a people that is rescued by YHWH, the almighty God The Israelites don't have to serve the Pharaoh anymore but are now able to serve YHWH

And instead of having to complete their work, their daily tasks each day (Exodus 5:13, 19) - NIV (each day) Now God provides bread from heaven for them, and the people were able to gather a day's portion each day. (Exodus 16:4) - NIV (each day)

God guides us, so … trust God

10 commandments We'll take a look at the 10 commandments on Friday. The 10 commandments are the first 10 laws of the Israelite, the biblical law code and set the scene and expectation for the 603 laws that are to follow

What have you heard about the 10 commandments before?

That's how the Israelites were saved It's a moral handbook It's guidance on how to live The 10 commandments are a beautiful guidance to live by every day of the week

We can just take them out and most people would probably agree with most of these commandments, no matter the circumstances

Don't murder, don't steal, don't cheat on your spouse

But there's something that we like to forget with this list, when we look at it from the first layer, the vegetable layer only

What we forget is the context and the story around it that these commandments are presented So let's take a look at the context The context of the 10 commandments

When are the 10 commandments given

The 10 commandments are given, once Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai So what happened before the Israelites arrived there? We just talked about it

God saved the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 12) God was with the Israelites, when they were fleeing from the Egyptians, when walking through the Red Sea (Exodus 14-15) God gave the Israelites what they needed with Mana and Quail (Exodus 16) God gave the Israelites strength, when they battled the Amalekites (Exodus 17) All of these things happened before the first 10 commandments were given to the Israelites. All of these things happened before a single commandment, a single Law is given to the people of Israel.

First God saved them and then the commandments came Israel's way to salvation, Israel's way of being saved is not through the commandments

The Israelites are not saved through the Law The Israelites are saved through trust in God

Trust that he will deliver them And then after God gives them the 10 commandments so that they know how to live in the covenant with God

God set them free and this is the way they were supposed to live as a result These ways of living sets the Israelites apart from their neighbors These ways of living let's all the other nations look at Israel and see what it means to live for YHWH the God of Israel It is a mission

And if you compare the laws of the Old Testament with the laws of their Canaanite neighbors, you would gladly take the laws of Israel The Law is to be celebrated

It's not forced Just like God saved the Israelites first, and living by the Laws came as a result of that salvation, God saves us first through Jesus, and because of that our lifestyle changes

When other peoples looked at Israel, they were supposed to see what living for YHWH is like I don't know where you're at with this whole Jesus thing. Maybe you’re all for him. Maybe you grew up in a church and are doubting if all of this is true. Maybe you’ve grown up outside of the church and are figuring out who Jesus is and what he’s all about and maybe you are just here and have no idea what all of this is. I also don’t know what you've done in the past and how you grew up But what I do know is that no matter what happened in the past, what you've done, what you've experienced. Jesus is here to walk alongside you. Jesus is here to be with you. Jesus preemptively covered up everything and every time that you have treated someone lower as yourself, every time you did not treat another person as an image of God

Just like God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God saved us through Jesus from slavery to sin/treating others poorly You don't have to follow the Law to be saved

Nothing we do can save us. We’re humans, we make mistakes, we judge according to our wisdom. We treat others poorly. We’re unable to truly love God and love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. Jesus comes and saves you and wants to save you and be there for you no matter where you're at

And I’m not just talking about life after death, even though that is also part of it But I am talking about life right here on this earth Jesus saves us from our wrongdoings, gives us forgiveness for all our evil that we have introduced into the world, no matter how small and, that is when we're able to change our lives

That's when we're able to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves It's not a need to be saved. It's a result of being saved When non-Christians look at us, they are supposed to see what living for Jesus is like

And that is loving God and loving your neighbor To not put ourselves or our tribe first, but to take care of each other The Law is a mission, not a restriction of freedom

We get to change our lifestyle to live like Jesus and represent him to the world It is our mission

And again

We are at different stages right here I don’t know what you needed to hear today Some of you just need to hear that they are forgiven and saved no matter of who you are or what you did

While some might need to hear that thanks to Jesus' forgiveness I am able to change my lifestyle and live by God's wisdom and I am able to treat other people and even my enemies with love and loving them like myself GOD GUIDES US, SO … TRUST GOD

If we believe Jesus is our Savior, we get to live by his guidance to show what it's like to live for God We trust God, that by living in his ways, we are living out a mission to others and we believe that even though it's not natural for us humans to live that way. The upside down way of loving others, and caring for others, just as much as we care about ourselves, is actually the best way to live

God uses liminal spaces

We can only be taught some things in liminal space

When everything that we thought is normal, is stripped away, when there is no routine, when there is uncertainty That is when we can and have to learn to trust and rely on God fully Israel didn't have to trust Moses, they had to trust God

And that trust might've seemed weird at times

Not doing what humans usually do, by using violence and oppression against other tribes and groups As a reminder again. The bloodiest century of all times was the century that most of us were born in. We still do this. Try to get our will, by just looking at ourselves Instead by trusting in God in their liminal space Israel came to Mt. Sinai and entered a covenant with God Liminal spaces are never fun

Some are even less fun than others Probably all of us have lived through some kind of liminal space, where we didn't know what was about to come

Where everything that we thought was normal was taken away

And we were uncomfortable in that situation Maybe we are in such a position right now

My wife and I are certainly in such a position right now Where are we going to end up?

My internship here at Calvary is coming to an end at the end of the month, we're going back to Germany, so I can finish my studies

What is going to happen after that? I don't know All I know is that we are about to enter another liminal space, a time in between being here and being a pastor at a church We are knowingly entering a time that won't be fun, where we won't have our routine, where there is a lot of uncertainty

But there's no way around it And all we can do is trust YHWH, and trust that he is providing for us and guiding us to our Mt. Sinai, our next chapter Trusting in God and in his way of not thinking of ourselves and our loved ones and our families first. And through that way God protects, provides and guides us in ways that we probably don't expect How does that trust look like exactly, I'm not 100% sure. But I pray that YHWH will give us personally and all of you in the liminal spaces of life the wisdom and that all of us are able to see his wisdom. That we can see how YHWH defines what is good and what is bad and that we can act upon it.

And in that time I pray that we can always remember, who YHWH is and that he has a plan for every single one of us. A plan that isn't easy, a plan that might not seem normal. But a plan made for each one of us.

So what?

Do you trust YHWH's wisdom or do you trust your own?

May I please ask you to stand to hear gods good word for you

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

If you can stay and help to clear up the two center rows for VBS that would be perfect

You can just stack up the chairs