Trust

Timothy Willard and Jason Locy set the stage for a compelling question about our willingness to trust Jesus on a daily basis.

"Think of Jesus, the Son—God among us. In the Gospels, we see him traveling with his disciples, healing lepers, helping prostitutes, touching blind eyes, telling riddles, celebrating at a wedding feast, weeping for a friend, violently protecting the sacred, praying alone on a mountainside, speaking to the wind and calming the storm, cooking fish for Peter and the disciples on the beach, face to face with Satan, baptized by his second cousin, eating and drinking with the corrupt and wicked, challenging his friends to follow him to death, abandoned by those closest to him, beaten, spit on, condemned, and silent. Is he not someone in whom we can relate? Is he not someone in whom we can trust? Was killing him not enough for us to see his humanity? Was his resurrection not enough to strike our hearts with awe and thanksgiving?"

I can't be still

Exodus 14:14
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

It’s a short verse that paints a big picture. Like so much of the Bible, there is part that we love and a part that we love to ignore. We love to hear that “the Lord will fight for us”. We are not so excited about the command to “be still”. “Be still” is hard for us to receive. When we are in a threatening situation everything within us wants to run rather than to be still. In our distorted way of thinking, movement means relief. Busyness promises relief. This is clear in the context of Exodus 14. The Israelites were trapped between a rock and a hard place. Specifically, they were trapped between an Egyptian army and the sea. Their response was twofold. First, they were terrified. Note to self…I rarely make my best decisions when I’m terrified. Second, they decided that they preferred slavery in Egypt. Again, not the best thought process. Maybe that’s why the Lord wanted them to “be still”. Take time to read Exodus 13. Why were they staring at the sea and the army instead of the pillar of cloud and fire? The Israelites needed to remember that God was with them. We do too. They needed to catch their breath before they ran in the wrong direction. We do too. It’s interesting that the next instruction from the Lord was for the people to “move on”. So, taken in sequence the Lord told them to “be still” and then “move on” in the proper direction. Not a bad pattern to follow in life. Don’t move until you have taken the time to recognize God’s presence. Don’t allow a threatening situation (or any other situation) to set your course this week. First, be still and look to God. Then, follow His lead.

Real Leadership is dangerous

They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Exodus 14:11-12

I have enjoyed the opportunity to address some doctoral students in seminary regarding leadership this week. It's been great to engage in some rich dialogue about leadership in the 21st century. What is the profile of a great leader? Would you include Moses on your top ten list of great leaders? The Bible provides a substantial historical biography of Moses. What does it take to be a great leader? The list of virtues is long. But, do not forget to include "courage". Leadership requires courage. No matter how noble the quest, how clear the need for change or how large or small the team, the life of Moses shows us why leadership is dangerous. Leadership involves asking people to change. Movement toward a promising future requires a departure from the familiar present. In the words of Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky,

“You appear dangerous to people when you question their values, beliefs, or habits of a lifetime. You place yourself on the line when you tell people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. Although you may see with clarity and passion a promising future of progress and gain, people will see with equal passion the losses you are asking them to sustain.” (Heifetz and Linsky, 2002, Leadership on the Line)

Omnipresence

“I don’t want to talk about you like you’re not in the room.”
Jesus Culture from the song You won’t relent

I am struck by the words of Exodus 2:23-25. Read the passage carefully.

“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

Exodus is a fascinating journal of God’s deliverance. Chapter two announces the birth of a baby boy who is given the name "Moses". We know him as the great deliverer of God's people. But, at the end of chapter two, it seemed that Moses had missed the mark and deliverance was far from imminent. In the midst of the chapter, Moses fled from Pharaoh to Midian. His sentiment is expressed in the name of his son Gershom which means "I have become an alien in a foreign land". Yet, it is at the end of the chapter we read that God “heard”; God “remembered”; God “looked” and God was “concerned” about His people. How often do we ruminate on the presumed distance of God rather than trusting that He is near? In the next chapter of Exodus, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush. Exodus 3:7 is a restatement of the powerful words at the end of Chapter Two. God told Moses "I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying...and I am concerned about their suffering" I love the words of the Jesus Culture song “You won’t relent”. Indeed "I don’t want to talk about God as if He is not in the room". I don't want to forget that God sees His people. God hears our cries. The omnipresence of God is beyond our comprehension. It doesn't change the fact that no matter where we are today. God is in the room.

Rookie

We are beginning a journey through the Bible on Sunday mornings. When we dig into the rich message of each book, we should expect to be changed. We should expect to “grow up” a bit in our spiritual lives. It’s football season. Every year coaches talk about the “veteran” players and the young players that need to be developed. When Jesus called disciples to follow Him it’s pretty clear that they were rookies. They were freshmen in the discipleship process. Undaunted by their lack of experience, Jesus proceeded to engage a select group of people on a transformational journey. He has called each of us to join the same journey. The humanity of Jesus’ disciples is well-documented. The characterization of the twelve is colorful and verges on embarrassment. Yet, Jesus invested in their lives. It was an intentional strategic process that resulted in radical and explosive change. When we take the time to read about the process we learn that Jesus faced some challenges that are common to all leaders. Consequently, we can learn from His response to those challenges and His love for His disciples. Probably would make a good leadership book. Mixed with a bit of sarcasm we can come up with some prospective chapter titles. Which chapter is for you?

1. Misguided Passion: Reigning in a quick response instead of raining down fire on others. (James and John: aka The Sons of Thunder)
2. Revelation and Impulse: Jesus, You are the One and Only and You can count on me unless you ask me at the wrong time. (Peter)
3. I doubt it but you can prove-it-to-me. (Thomas)
4. Pre-maturity (How to mix very little prayer and very little fasting and produce very little faith)
5. How to move from Fearless to Fearful and back to Fearless in a day or less.

Prayer

“Lord, where your church is weak through comfort, strengthen us through the necessary trials. Where your church is invisible through fear, make your word known through the boldness of prophets and through the courage of ordinary people like us.”
Common prayer for ordinary radicals.

When I was reading this prayer I was struck with the connection of three words: “necessary” “trials” and “prayer”. Certainly, we love to connect prayer with trials. In fact, our trials usually provide short term improvement in our prayer life. During trials we readily connect “necessary” with “prayer”. Few of us argue against the need for prayer when we are in the midst of a trial. But, how seldom do we request trials in order to strengthen us. How often do we recognize the weakening affects of our own comfort. It doesn’t have to be comfort associated with a life of ease. We grow comfortable with our character, or the lack thereof. We grow comfortable with our lack of boldness when it comes to our testimony. We grow comfortable with our weakness in the face of temptation. As ironic as it sounds, we grow comfortable with our fears. These are the comforts that render the church invisible. Lord, strengthen us through necessary trials. This is our prayer.