Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Perhaps you have been to Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, and have seen the Korean War monument.

It is a beautiful demonstration of bigger than life infantrymen walking with the packs and weapons.

There is a wall with the inscription: “Freedom is Not Free.”

In 1981, Kelly Strong was a senior in High School and a JRROTC cadet.

He wrote a poem entitled “Freedom is Not Free” to honor his father.

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud,

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,

When everything was still

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That TAPS had meant "Amen,"

When a flag had draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

No, freedom isn't free.

As we celebrate throughout this month the freedom we have and the fact that freedom is not free, I am reminded of that fact that throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a price to pay for freedom.

Even in the book of Exodus, Moses realized a price had to be paid for freedom.

Today, as we celebrate our freedom and have done these pledges and sang these songs, let us be reminded of several lessons we can learn about the price of freedom.

Readiness

In order to comprehend what it means for freedom to not be free, we have to experience a sense of readiness.

Moses was willing to take what God had given him and to put it to use.

In .

we learn that Moses was given the staff of God.

He was instructed to use it for God’s glory and to show the power of God.

His specific instructions were to “take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

Numerous times the Lord commanded Moses to use his staff and indeed mighty things had happened.

We come to our text today in this great book of Exodus where up to this point, the staff has been used for many things.

I encourage you to read through 17 to see its many uses.

In Chapter 17, just prior to our text that has been read, Moses used that staff to strike a rock that produced water to provide yet another miracle for the Israelites.

In all of the previous instances, the Lord commanded Moses to use his staff to do some miracle or sign of the Lord’s power.

We see in , that Moses is not commanded by the Lord to use his staff.

Moses recognizes that power of God he has access to and is ready to use it.

How much do you need to see before you recognize the power of God in your life?

How long do you have to wait?

When are able to see the hand of God work, it is easier to realize that His mighty hand will continue to work.

When that happens, we have a sense of readiness.

These Amalekites have done a dirty thing and attacked the Israelites from behind and in doing so, they have taken advantage of those that were weak and older.

We learn this from that the Amalekites “cut off those that were lagging behind.

We see in that this caused great bitterness towards these people.

Moses tells Joshua to chose men to go fight the battle and he will go up the mountain and hold the staff of the Lord up.

Joshua was battle ready.

Moses was ready to utilize the power of God in his staff.

The Bible speaks often about being ready.

mentions that our feet should be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Being ready means you have set Christ apart as Lord.

tells us to be ready for the return of Jesus.

There is a sign on a church just outside of Statesville that says, “Jesus is coming back soon, look busy.”

Looking busy is not the same as being ready.

Being ready means that you trust that the One who is coming back is the One that can take care of you right now.

Titus 3:1

What drives your readiness?

Often, readiness comes from your level of belief.

Mitchell Paige was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious military honor.

He was given this because of his actions in the Battle of Guadacanal in the Solomon Islands.

On October 26, 1942, after all the Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, Paige operated 4 machine guns, single-handedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment.

Had that position fallen and the Japanese regained the airfield the Marines had taken, it is possible that the outcome of World War II may have been significantly changed.

Years later he was asked why had had been willing to put his life on the line for his country.

He said the answers to him back to a 3 room school in Pennsylvania where the children learned the traditions of America so well that they literally felt themselves part of a glorious heritage.

Each day their teacher began the school day with a Bible verse and the Pledge of Allegiance and they memorized the great documents that became the bedrock of our country.

He said, “My undying love of country, and my strong loyalty to the Marines fighting by my side gave me no choice but to fight on unswervingly throughout my battles, utilizing my God-given ability to make use of what I had been taught and learned.”

Mitchell Paige’s readiness helped his fellow countrymen, as well as you and me, to have the freedom we have today.

Moses also reacted.

Reacting

In the pursuit of freedom, sometimes we have to react.

The Amalekites surprised the Israelites in attack to the rear flanks.

The peace of the Israelites had become threatened.

God’s ultimate goal for the Israelites as well as for me and you is to have peace.

Peace with Him, peace with each other, and peace with ourselves.

When that peace is threatened, God grants us the means to regain the peace.

Moses under God’s leadership reacted to the threat of peace.

Moses had a plan.

He told Joshua that he would lift up his staff toward God.

Think with me about this.

When you are holding your hands up before the Lord, typically you are doing two things: you are praying and you are praising.

You have to be ready to do that.

When you are ready, you can react as in this case in prayer.

Before prayers can be answered, they have to be prayed.

Before they can be prayed, you have to be ready which means you have to know that Lord has enabled you, equipped you and empowered you to be able to pray and trust in Him that He hears and acts on your prayer.