Christmas, and Cultural Rescue

 In one of the most famous biblical stories Moses stands in front of a burning bush as God tells the next unlikely hero of the pages of holy writ how the next forty or so years of his life will turn out. 

Let’s reduce this God speech of Exodus 3 down to six phrases:

• I have indeed seen the misery (3:7). God apparently has eyes.  He has used them.
• I have heard them crying (3:7). God apparently has ears, too.  He hears the anguish.
• I am concerned (3:7). God feels.  The suffering of His people hurts.
• I have come down to rescue (3:8). The Egyptians cannot handle what is about to happen to them.  But as we soon see in the narrative, the gods of the pagans are no match for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

This is enough to get a guy excited.  God to the rescue!  Talk about encouraging, exciting, invigorating.  Moses might have been on tiptoes at this moment. 
But then Yahweh has an interesting twist to the plan that gets his man flat-footed again:

• I am sending you (3:10).  Moses struggles with this part of the plan.  Who, me?  Why me?  But it is God’s way.  He works through people who are faulty, scared and who not infrequently suffer from low self-esteem.  It’s his M.O.  
• I will be with you (3:12).  It will happen because He wants it to happen.  Any questions? “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

You know the story.  The Israelites plunder the Egyptians and start their unlikely journey to their Promised Land.  This happens continually with various twists.  Think in terms of the Christmas story…

• “I have seen” – God looks and wants to redeem His people.
• “I have heard them crying.”  God knows Israel yearns for a Messiah and has been groaning for one for hundreds of years.
• “I am concerned.”  Rome occupies.  The Lord sees the people languishing.  
• “I have come down to rescue.”  Jesus invades. The Second Person of the Triune God arrives…in the flesh and with healing in His wings. 
• “I am sending you.”  To the astonishment of His closest followers Jesus dies but rises from the dead, gathers His disciples and says:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…baptizing…teaching….”
• “I will be with you.”  Jesus continues:  “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Confidence comes to His change agents through His grace, the Holy Spirit and the Body of Christ.   

Want to restore your culture to the Judeo-Christian ethic?  Want to do His bidding?  Want to deliver a people from a pitiful situation?  There is a Judeo-Christian way.  It involves eyes, ears, emotion, travel, sending and presence.  It works. 

“Lord, there are always new-fangled methods.  But for every new idea there are old ideas that seem to keep on working.  Help me never forget the older possibilities when considering the method of the month.  Amen.”