Disappointment

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Good morning Chapel family. Happy 4th of July! Great to be back with you all today. I spent the past two weeks up at Gordon-Conwell Theological seminary up in Massachusetts, working on my Doctor of Ministry degree, which has been such a good process for me. (This is the amazing group of people I got to study with). When you get to my age, you can get kind of stagnant if you’re not careful. And the pursuing this degree kept me fresh and growing. And it’s actually deepened my love for being a pastor—I truly love what I do more than ever. So I really appreciate the Chapel supporting me in my studies. By the way—just a side note—a few years ago, in a sermon, I can’t remember the subject, but I said, “Many Bible scholars, including myself, believe xyz.” And after the sermon, my loving wife, Norma Jean, said to me, “What do you mean, ‘many scholars, including myself’? You’re not a scholar!” And I said, “Yes I am.” She said, “No you’re not.” And I said, “So in your mind, what qualifies someone to be a scholar?” And she said, “You have to at least have a doctorate.” So I’m really looking forward to next May, when I’ll hopefully graduate, so my wife will finally consider me a scholar. I’ll probably make her call me “Dr. Dave,” too.

So…we’re taking this summer to walk through the book of Exodus, which is the story of how the Hebrew people were rescued from slavery in Egypt and brought right up to the threshold of the Promised Land. So God was taking them from where they were to where he wanted them to be. From here to there. And our big idea for the whole series is that God does the same thing for us, if we’re willing. He takes us from where we are to the better future he has for us. So in many ways, the story of the Israelites is our story.

And that’s definitely true with today’s passage, because it deals with disappointment. What a terrible feeling it is, to be disappointed. Isn’t it? When you’re hoping for something, and expecting something, and it doesn’t happen. It stings. That’s what today’s message is all about. But before we jump in, let’s just do a fast review…

The book of Exodus starts out in Egypt, where the Israelites have been living for several hundred years, and they’ve grown into a massive number of people. But as they’ve grown, the Egyptian government has felt more and more threatened by them, so they’ve stripped away their rights and reduced them to slavery. And then a baby is born. His name is Moses, and he’s born into a Hebrew family, but then raised in the palace of Pharaoh. When he grows up he foolishly commits a murder, and he winds up as a fugitive in the desert of Midian. So the action shifts to Midian, where Moses gets married, has kids, and becomes a shepherd. After forty years, Moses encounters God in the burning bush, and God tells Moses his calling in life is to go back to Egypt and set his people free. And last week Pastor Paul talked about the deep doubts Moses had, and how he tried to squirm out of his calling, but God wasn’t changing his mind.

So that’s where we left off last week. And we’re covering a lot of ground this morning, so we won’t be able to read every verse in this section. But I want to get the flow of the story, and I’m going to divide it up into four scenes.

The first scene, I’ll call Hopeful. It starts in Exodus 4:29, and the action has shifted back to Egypt. Here we go: 29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they

believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

So Moses has met up with his brother Aaron out near Midian, and the two of them have made the long journey back to Egypt. They gathered the elders together. I imagine the elders were kind of suspicious at first, but the more Moses and Aaron talked, and especially after they saw the signs—remember God had given Moses the power to perform miracles—the elders started to buy in. And when they heard what God had said—that He cared about their suffering, and He was going to set them free—they felt this very unfamiliar thing rising in them: they felt hope.

And I love their response: they bowed down and worshiped. Nothing had changed yet! They were still slaves! But they had received a promise from God, and they chose to base their attitude on God’s word, rather than what their eyes could see. A.W. Tozer said, “Trust God in the dark until the light returns.” So the elders of Israel were believing in their hearts what they couldn’t yet see with their eyes.

Now—for each of these four scenes, I’m going to pose a question that applies to all of us, and then a question that applies specifically to leaders.

So here’s the question for all of us: Are you finding hope in God’s Word, despite the circumstances? Do you know what the longest book of the Bible is? The Psalms. Did you know that, out of 150 Psalms, 67 of them are Psalms of lament? I know, that sounds depressing. But it’s not—because here’s the flow of almost every Psalm of lament—this is Dave’s paraphrase: My life is a disaster. My soul is in anguish. People are trying to kill me. BUT I know God is going to come through for me. So they’re brutally honest about the suffering of life, but they always have that turn where they say, despite all that, I know it’s going to end well, because God is good. And it’s not just the Psalms! The core of the Bible is about a cross followed by a resurrection. For God’s people, the story ends well!

So the more you saturate your mind with Scripture, the less you’ll be at the mercy of your circumstances. It’ll give you perspective. You’ll be able to see beyond whatever crisis is happening right now. Learn to find hope in God’s Word. Saturate yourself in the Word of God. Read it. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Let it make you a person of hope.

And then here’s the question for you if you’re a leader: Are you giving your people a hopeful vision of the future? Napoleon was right when he said “Leaders are dealers in hope.” So whether you’re a teacher with a room full of students, or a coach with a gym full of athletes, or a parent with a house full of kids, or a pastor with a church full of members…the number one job of a leader is to say: “I know we’re here right now; here’s where we’re going and here’s why it’s going to be amazing when we get there.” People need to hear that. And the great thing is, when the hope you’re giving is rooted in the Word of God, you’re giving people something real to look forward to.

So for the first time in a long time, the people of Israel were hopeful. They heard the word, and they worshiped. So far, so good.

Scene number 2: Devastated. Exodus 5, verse 1: 1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” Skip down to verse 6: 6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are

lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

Go down to verse 15: 15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” 17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

Verse 20: 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Any time you get your hopes up you’re setting yourself up, right? Because either your hopes will be fulfilled or your hopes will be disappointed. And the hopes of the Israelites were shattered. Pharaoh had absolutely no regard for God: I don’t know this Lord. And he doesn’t just say, “No”; he cranks up the misery: same brick quota, but now it’s BYOS: “bring your own straw.” AND THEN, the Israelite foremen turn on Moses! “What are you doing to us?! Why don’t you just hand Pharaoh a sword and let him kill us?” Ahh, the joys of leadership.

So the people are devastated; Moses and Aaron are devastated; it’s just a bad day. They had gotten their hopes way up, and now life was worse than ever.

So here’s the question for all of us: Are you expecting resistance for following God? In Acts 14, Paul and his companions have just planted several new churches; in the process they’ve been attacked and stoned and run out of town. And here’s what it says in Acts 14:21…Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Paul was telling them the truth that following Christ is sometimes hard—especially in a culture that’s becoming increasingly secular. That’s not always the message you hear, right? You know, God wants to make you happy, and He wants to give you victory and health and prosperity. What did Paul say? “Lots of hardships. Following Jesus is the greatest possible life, but it’s hard! And I want you to be ready for that!”

You know, my dad always told me that so much of life is determined by your expectations. So if you expect life to be easy, and you think God is there to make your life go smoothly, you’re going to be miserable. But if you know it’s going to be hard, and you’re going to run into resistance for being a Christian, you’ll be ready. And you’ll remember that Jesus had to go through the cross to get to the crown…and we get to follow in his steps.

And then here’s the question for leaders: Are you willing to pay the price of leadership? Again, this is all about expectations. So if you step up to lead in any way—to lead a ministry at the Chapel; to volunteer for the school board in your town; to accept a promotion at work—that leadership will come with a price. Do you remember the old “Far Side” cartoons? Some of you older folks like me remember them. One of my favorites was these two deer standing in the woods, and one of them has a target right on his chest. Like a bull’s eye and circles around it. And his friend says, “That’s a bummer of a birthmark.” When you lead, like Moses led, in many ways you have a target on your chest. You become a target for criticism. Blame. Complaining. You become the focus of people’s unmet expectations, and of course it’s all your fault.

Now, is that fair to Moses? He was just doing what God told him to do, right? And now the very people he’s trying to help turn on him. May the Lord look on you and judge you, Moses! Ouch. All the people know is that their life just got much harder, and they need to blame someone…and the leader is the guy you blame. It’s the price of leadership.

So if you step up and lead, there will be times you’ll be admired and thanked and praised…but there will be other times when you’ll be misunderstood and slandered and attacked. It comes with the territory. And I don’t say that to scare you away from leadership—because God may be calling you to lead. I just want you to be ready when it happens.

Scene number 3: Jaded. Exodus 5, verse 22: 22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Chapter 6, verse 1: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

Go down to verse 6: 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

Now listen to this—verse 9: 9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”

So God re-affirms his promises to Moses: “Moses—it’s okay. I got this. Let’s keep working the plan.” And at first, Moses seems ready to believe—he’s ready to give it another shot. But then he goes back to the people. And verse 9 says they did not listen to him because of their discouragement. The Hebrew literally says, “They did not listen to him because of shortness of breath.” Isn’t that a strange way to say it? But think about it: what just happened to them was like getting punched in the gut, and it knocked the wind out of them. You ever feel like that? You got your hopes up about something, and then it went so badly, you feel like you got kicked in the gut. You finally got up the nerve to ask the girl out…and she laughed at you. Uogh. Kick in the gut. Or your husband is a big drinker. And it’s getting worse, and it’s doing damage to your marriage and your home. And he finally agreed to go to AA meetings, and you’re so hopeful. And six months later you come home from work and find him drunk on the couch. Ughh. Right in the gut. Can’t breathe.

And sometimes that deep discouragement jades us. We say, “I’m not going to get burned again. I’m not going to get my hopes up again. It’s not worth the pain.”

When Moses hears how the people react, it knocks the wind out of his sails, right? And he goes back to self-doubt mode. He goes back to Paul’s sermon last week. Remember? All about doubt. He says to God, “If my own people won’t even listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen? I always hated public speaking anyway.” Jaded.

So here’s the question for all of us: Have you allowed past disappointments to rob your future? Does that make sense? Have you had some major letdowns, and so now you’re playing it safe? “Oh, I tried inviting my friends to the Chapel for Easter last year. They said they’d come and then they didn’t show. I’m never doing that again.” “I tried leading that Bible study at work, and no one showed up. I’m just going to keep my faith to myself.” So you’ve become deaf to what God is calling you to do now, because you’re afraid to get hurt again. And God is saying, “Let the past be the past. I’m the God of the future. Follow me today.” Not because you believe in yourself! Because of God. Did you notice how many times in this passage, God says, “I am the Lord”? Over and over again, “I am the Lord.” In other words, “I’m the one who’s going to do this! Trust me.”

And then here’s the question for leaders: Have you allowed people’s discouragement to stop you from leading them? See, Moses was all set to go for it again, until he saw how discouraged the people were…and then he lost his nerve.

There’s this tough balance as a leader, because on the one hand, you have to be sensitive to your people; you have to listen to their concerns. But at the same time, you can’t let their mood or their fickleness control you—because you’re called to lead them. Not just respond to them; to lead them forward. Remember, a few years after this—the people of Israel are on the border of the Promised Land. And they send in 12 spies to check out the land. And they come back to report what they found. Ten of the guys say, “No way. The place is filled with giants. We’ll get crushed.” But two guys—Joshua and Caleb—stand up and say, “Let’s do this. Our God is big enough.” That’s leadership.

So if you’re a leader, in any capacity, ask yourself: Am I just reacting and responding to the mood of the people I lead, or am I initiating vision and movement based on where I believe God is calling us to go?

Okay—last scene: Unbroken. Exodus 7, starting in verse 8: 8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

Now: you might be thinking, “This is a sad ending to a sermon.” Because Moses and Aaron go back to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s heart is still hard and unyielding. Another failure! But that’s not the point. I would say the most important verse in this last section is verse 10: So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. That’s huge. Despite the fact that they had a really bad experience the first time. Despite the fact that their own people were frustrated and jaded. Despite all that, they did what God told them to do. They didn’t let the disappointment break them. And they took a step of trust in God.

You know how we grow, spiritually? Usually, it’s by taking scary steps of obedience. Hmm? We grow by taking scary steps of obedience based on faith. Like Peter stepping out of the boat, right? He didn’t really know if the water would hold him! But Jesus said, “Come on.” So he went. Scary! Risky! But wise. And when the water held him up, he grew. His faith was enlarged.

After everything that had happened…Moses and Aaron went back to Pharaoh. Were they crazy? No—they were obedient.

Can you imagine if Jesus had given up the first time he encountered resistance? He would have quit like the first week! Right? “I’m out.” Jesus met with demonic resistance; he met with resistance from the religious establishment; he met with resistance from his own disciples! But he never let that stop him from walking forward in obedience.

Look at this—Hebrews 12:3…Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Some of you have grown weary and lost heart. I mean, you’re here in church, but you’re not all here. You’ve been burned; you’ve been discouraged; you’ve been kicked in the gut. Pharaoh has kicked you out of the palace, and you’ve lost heart.

And you need to consider the one who endured such opposition. Consider Jesus. Think about him. Jesus is our model of enduring opposition—so follow his example. But even more than that—he is our power. When we fix our eyes on him, instead of ourselves; on him instead of the waves; we can respond to opposition the way he did. His life will flow through us! And we’ll keep going. You can’t do this without his power. It’s too hard.

Let me show you one more passage—this is so rich. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10: 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; (this was Moses, right?) perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

See, every time we get hurt, or burned, or disappointed, it’s like a little death…and we identify with the death of Jesus. We share in his cross. But then we realize: Jesus didn’t stay dead! He rose again! And he’s alive, and he’s living in me. So the resurrection of Jesus fills us! And we get up again. And we walk forward in obedience to God.

So here’s the final question, and this one’s for all of us—leaders, non-leaders—everyone: Where is God calling you to forget past disappointments, and step forward in faith?

Maybe it’s a ministry thing. Like you stepped up and tried to be a leader in student ministry or kids ministry. And it went terrible. So now, not only are you not doing student ministry anymore, you’re not doing any ministry. You’re like, “I’m not going through that again.” And God is saying, “Get up. Come on. You have the life of Christ in you. And maybe you were a terrible youth leader…but here’s where I’m sending you now.”

Or, maybe it’s a relationship thing. You got badly hurt in marriage or dating. And it so rocked your world. And you’re thinking, “I will not get my hopes up again. It’s not worth the pain.” And God is saying, “Don’t let the past rob you of the future that I have for you. You have the life of Christ surging in you. Get up and let’s go forward.” Despite everything, Moses went back to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. How about you?

Where is God calling you to forget past disappointments, and step forward in faith?

You know, I was thinking: when Moses left the palace that day, the situation hadn’t gotten any better. Pharaoh had said “No,” a second time. Pharaoh’s magicians somehow duplicated the signs that Moses did. That must’ve been confusing for Moses. The people of Israel were still wandering around looking for straw. Moses still had a big target on his chest. Nothing had changed yet! But Moses had one thing going for him. God was with him. And he chose to walk in faith and obedience to God. And at the end of the day, that’s all God asks of us.