WEBVTT 00:00:00.879 --> 00:00:03.359 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:06.419 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:08.939 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:11.359 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.160 Son, and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.239 and joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.660 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You 00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:21.960 can find us online at secondcitychurch .org and 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.480 on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.039 you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Let's pray 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.480 again. Lord, as we turn to the book of Exodus, 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:35.079 we pray your blessing upon us, God, that we would 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:38.600 journey with you, not just in these stories long 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:41.539 ago, but in our own stories, in our individual 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:44.500 lives and lives, our community, that the long 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:46.880 journey of faith would be one, not of a distant 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:51.329 story, but one of our story, God. that we would 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:53.229 delight in the ways that you've worked with your 00:00:53.229 --> 00:00:55.170 people, but more so than that, that we would 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:58.450 delight in the way of Christ who brings us through 00:00:58.450 --> 00:01:01.049 our own Exodus, through the cross and the resurrection. 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.150 Would we delight, would we glory in you from 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:07.469 having spent this time together? In Jesus' name, 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:11.250 amen. All right, you can open up your Bibles 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:14.409 there to the Exodus passage. We're gonna be starting 00:01:14.409 --> 00:01:17.349 a series. in the book of exodus for the fall 00:01:17.349 --> 00:01:19.290 if you've been around for a number of years you 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:21.170 know that in the fall we can alternate between 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:23.209 new testament old testament and this year we're 00:01:23.209 --> 00:01:26.170 going to be in exodus primarily looking at the 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.769 life of moses but of course it won't just be 00:01:28.769 --> 00:01:32.510 about the life of moses um The stories that are 00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:34.689 often centered on the life of Moses, of course, 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:37.609 also are really encompassing the story of Israel, 00:01:37.609 --> 00:01:39.269 and they're not just about the life of Moses 00:01:39.269 --> 00:01:41.930 or the story of Israel. Actually, most of the 00:01:41.930 --> 00:01:44.549 time they're about God and His great work and 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:47.930 what He does for His people, both individually 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:51.269 and collectively. You know, we're going to consider 00:01:51.269 --> 00:01:53.230 questions like, what does God do in the midst 00:01:53.230 --> 00:01:54.950 of our suffering? What does He do with our doubt? 00:01:54.969 --> 00:01:58.290 What does He do with our inability and our small 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:01.790 faith, our inadequacies? What does he do with 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:04.590 our need? What does he do with our sin? What 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:08.669 does he do with our failures? And yet, as you 00:02:08.669 --> 00:02:10.750 turn to the book of Exodus, what you do find 00:02:10.750 --> 00:02:15.750 out pretty quickly is that this book really is 00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:19.689 often focused on this large figure, Moses, this 00:02:19.689 --> 00:02:22.610 large individual. And so I think it makes a lot 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:24.449 of sense that we would maybe consider most of 00:02:24.449 --> 00:02:27.819 the narrative texts of Exodus through the life 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:30.419 of Moses as a sort of a directing way for us 00:02:30.419 --> 00:02:33.400 to take on the narrative texts of Exodus. He 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:37.639 is, so I read this a couple weeks back, one author 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:41.340 saying that outside of Jesus, Moses is the most 00:02:41.340 --> 00:02:45.379 influential figure ever in church, not church 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.800 history, in history. Global history outside of 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.139 Jesus, Moses is the figure. I wonder what you 00:02:51.139 --> 00:02:53.379 might think of that, maybe think of some others. 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.039 But think of this at least, all of the great 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:59.560 monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:02.979 Islam, they all find their beginning at least 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:08.240 with the writings of Moses. Think about this, 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.139 the New Testament mentions Moses by name some 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:15.439 80 times, refers to him actually a few more than 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.990 that. That is more than Abraham. That's more 00:03:18.990 --> 00:03:24.789 than David. It is second only to Jesus. I mean, 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:29.750 even the gospel passage from Luke, right? Luke 00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:33.009 doesn't say, in beginning with the law and going 00:03:33.009 --> 00:03:35.530 through the prophets and the historical books, 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:37.509 he interpreted to them all the things concerning 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:40.270 himself. He's beginning with Moses, right? He 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:43.610 mentions Moses specifically to refer to the texts 00:03:43.610 --> 00:03:48.509 that Moses wrote. So he's this huge, large individual 00:03:48.509 --> 00:03:50.729 that in some ways his life is mirroring some 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:52.870 of the life of Israel. Sometimes it's leading 00:03:52.870 --> 00:03:54.889 it. There'll be stories that have to do with 00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:57.229 leadership and things like that. And of course 00:03:57.229 --> 00:03:58.849 redemption and all these other questions I've 00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:03.110 mentioned. But as we think of influential individuals, 00:04:04.009 --> 00:04:06.689 it's hard not to think for me this past week 00:04:06.689 --> 00:04:09.189 of influential individuals, that's hard to say 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:12.750 together, influential individuals who've passed 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:17.050 away recently. At the end of July, the Irish 00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:19.870 singer -songwriter Glenn Hanser died. Maybe you're 00:04:19.870 --> 00:04:21.589 familiar with him. I was pretty familiar with 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:24.430 his work. He was the lead guy for the Frames. 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:27.410 He was in the movie once. Maybe some of y 'all 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:30.149 saw that. And then actually this little duo kind 00:04:30.149 --> 00:04:33.769 of spun off of that, the swell season with Marketa 00:04:33.769 --> 00:04:39.350 Igloba. His funeral packed St. Patrick's Cathedral 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:41.949 there in Dublin and actually it spilled out into 00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:44.009 all the streets. If you saw videos like the streets 00:04:44.009 --> 00:04:46.949 were just full of people singing his songs and 00:04:46.949 --> 00:04:49.790 mourning his passing because he was an Irish 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:54.529 emblem in a way. He actually called himself a 00:04:54.529 --> 00:04:56.990 dub, which was to say, I'm a man. He's a, he's 00:04:56.990 --> 00:04:59.610 a part of the people. He may have great fame 00:04:59.610 --> 00:05:02.569 like winning an Oscar and all this, but he was 00:05:02.569 --> 00:05:05.759 part of the Irish people. He sang their songs 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.300 in their pubs and they sang his songs in their 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:14.040 streets and so at his funeral Bono sang Other 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.279 great Irish figures were there leading politicians 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.420 Particularly great musicians and also Eddie Vedder 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:24.259 who is not Irish, but thankfully comes from the 00:05:24.259 --> 00:05:28.000 great state of Washington, right? Eddie Vedder 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.500 and Marquetta Igloba sang one of Hansard's songs 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:32.459 and the name of that song was a song of good 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:35.279 hope. Let me read the first stanza. If we're 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.379 gonna make it cross this river alive, you need 00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:44.100 to think like a boat and go with the tide. And 00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:47.120 I know where you've been has really left you 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.819 in doubt of ever finding a harbor. Of figuring 00:05:50.819 --> 00:05:53.800 this out and I love that that the imagery evokes 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:55.879 ireland in a way, but it also evokes like the 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.180 long struggle of life Like the long journey of 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:01.939 going where's the where's the hope here? Where 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:05.899 am I going? And yet it is titled right a song 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:10.120 of good hope Of course, uh dolly parton also 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:11.939 passed away a couple weeks ago. I'm just shy 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:15.529 of a couple weeks ago And you might have listened 00:06:15.529 --> 00:06:18.449 to her music. You might not have, but as I mentioned, 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:20.970 as I was referring to the words of forgiveness 00:06:20.970 --> 00:06:23.730 and peace from 2nd Corinthians, if you had an 00:06:23.730 --> 00:06:25.829 image of Dolly Parton, it was probably one of 00:06:25.829 --> 00:06:30.089 her smiling. I mean, she just smiled like all 00:06:30.089 --> 00:06:33.810 the time. I mentioned this podcast that a friend 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:36.589 kind of mentioned where these guys at the end 00:06:36.589 --> 00:06:39.110 of the podcast just were reflecting on Dolly 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:42.480 Parton. And they said that she really did just 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.379 cut through all the bipartisan stuff, right? 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:46.279 People would try to catch her in something. And 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:48.759 it seemed like she zigged when they zagged and 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:50.579 zagged when they zigged and just wouldn't take 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:54.579 it. And she was in, like I said, on this sort 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:58.100 of joke that there was a joy that existed beyond 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:01.220 the reality of all of our infighting. And I think 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:03.980 part of the appeal of Dolly Parton was not just 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:05.860 her smile, but the fact that most of us knew 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:07.819 that she came from the mountains of East Tennessee. 00:07:08.250 --> 00:07:10.310 And most of us had a sense of her story. She 00:07:10.310 --> 00:07:13.189 was the fourth of 12 children. She was raised 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.449 in a cabin without running water and without 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:19.610 electricity. Her father was a sharecropper and 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:23.970 actually paid the doctor who delivered her with 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:28.069 a sack of cornmeal. In some ways she embodied 00:07:28.069 --> 00:07:30.290 sort of the American dream made reality, but 00:07:30.290 --> 00:07:32.149 knew suffering and had this deep sense that there 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:35.910 was something beyond it. And of course, this 00:07:35.910 --> 00:07:41.220 past week, Wendell Berry died on Monday, who 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.560 is undoubtedly one of the great writers of our 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:46.639 time. I spent a good deal of Tuesday morning 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.879 crying, reading over his poems and one of his 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:52.779 short stories. I did an independent study and 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:54.879 seminary on Wendell Berry's writings in the Port 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.459 Williams series. I can say without a doubt that 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:00.420 I had never cried as much reading a novel until 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:03.540 I read his book, Hannah Coulter, which I hope 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:06.660 many of you have read. But if you read him, I 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:10.579 think the thing that permeates his writing is 00:08:10.579 --> 00:08:14.639 this attentiveness to the world, which means 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.420 that he's attentive to the real tragedy of the 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:20.420 world, the sorrow of the world, particularly 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.980 the natural world. But also there's this odd, 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.639 there's a grief that's there that is also tinged 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.519 with a hope. And he has this in his poems and 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:34.309 his essays, his short stories, his novels. Which 00:08:34.309 --> 00:08:36.970 is to say that these people are all telling a 00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:39.909 story, and they're telling a story that is true 00:08:39.909 --> 00:08:42.629 to the world. Each one of these characters is 00:08:42.629 --> 00:08:46.029 telling a story that's true to the world. The 00:08:46.029 --> 00:08:49.210 story of Ireland and its oppression, one of poverty 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:53.990 and joy, one of attention and grief. And it sort 00:08:53.990 --> 00:08:56.610 of begs the question, what stories are we telling 00:08:56.610 --> 00:08:59.289 each other? What stories are we listening to? 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:03.549 What stories are we reciting and singing about? 00:09:05.750 --> 00:09:10.789 And if there is one story in the Old Testament 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:14.830 that marked the Old Testament saints, the Old 00:09:14.830 --> 00:09:16.330 Testament people of God, the one story that they 00:09:16.330 --> 00:09:18.950 were supposed to tell again and again, actually, 00:09:19.450 --> 00:09:22.149 just a couple of weeks ago, Jess mentioned when 00:09:22.149 --> 00:09:23.850 we were looking at the Psalms, she said, again, 00:09:23.870 --> 00:09:27.889 there's another Psalm talking about the Exodus. 00:09:28.959 --> 00:09:33.179 Another song that recounts the story, the coming 00:09:33.179 --> 00:09:35.720 out of slavery and oppression and hardship and 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:38.759 ruthless burdens, the story of Moses, because 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:40.720 of course the story of Moses isn't just about 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:46.220 Moses, the story about God, giving a true account 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:50.200 of this world, seeing and knowing and acting, 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:56.120 working through His people, hearing their suffering 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.549 cries and coming to their rescue. And so it's 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:01.889 a story that was told again and again and again. 00:10:05.570 --> 00:10:08.029 I've seen some videos the last couple months, 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.549 some of them I watched a number of times of Glenn 00:10:10.549 --> 00:10:13.929 Hansard in pubs singing the Irish songs. And 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:16.009 then after his passing of the streets filled 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:20.049 singing his songs. And of course in my own week, 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:23.250 I spent some time with Wendell Berry. And of 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:25.009 course, I would imagine many of you spent some 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:26.750 time with Dolly Parton. Why do we do this? Because 00:10:26.750 --> 00:10:30.029 they're giving this account of the world, not 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:32.970 shirking off any of the hardship of it, any of 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:35.889 the bitterness of it or the suffering, and yet 00:10:35.889 --> 00:10:40.590 in a way giving us hope in the midst of it. So 00:10:40.590 --> 00:10:43.389 as we ourselves continue in the struggle and 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:46.009 continue in the mourning and the grief, part 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:48.029 of what I want you to see is that you continue 00:10:48.029 --> 00:10:51.230 with the journey of God and that God knows and 00:10:51.230 --> 00:10:57.559 that God sees. So, we turn to Moses. We turn 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:00.840 to Moses. Hopefully you have it open there. Exodus 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:05.840 chapter 2. And the first thing we read, verse 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.679 1, now, a man from the house of Levi went and 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:11.399 took as his wife a Levite woman. It seems like 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.759 a strange way to begin a story about Moses. It 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:17.480 seems like he really wants you to know that these 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:23.820 are Levites. Okay. Interesting enough. This is 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:26.460 to say that he was born into a family with a 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:30.899 mother and father that were not only to lead 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:32.860 God's people in worship, that was the role of 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:37.559 the Levites, but they were also called to call 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:40.440 the people collectively to remember what God 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:44.840 has done, to worship Him because what He has 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:48.639 done, to lead God's people back to Himself. It's 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.240 almost giving us a little glimpse even in that 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:55.679 detail of what Moses might And it's a hopeful 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.220 thing, right? Oh man, there's these faithful 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:02.039 people there that lead God's people to call them 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.179 back to himself. Something good is happening. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.480 And if you go back actually to the beginning 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.320 of chapter one, not the very beginning, but in 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:12.360 verse seven, what we read there in verse seven, 00:12:12.899 --> 00:12:14.980 but the people of Israel were fruitful and increased 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:17.679 greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:21.149 strong. So the land was filled with them. Well, 00:12:21.149 --> 00:12:23.889 the last time we had those words all together, 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:29.470 increased, multiplied, and filled, was all the 00:12:29.470 --> 00:12:31.370 way back in Genesis at the end of chapter one, 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:33.570 when God blesses them and says, increase, be 00:12:33.570 --> 00:12:36.090 fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. It's 00:12:36.090 --> 00:12:37.750 almost as though, again, right at the beginning 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:40.210 of this story, there's this hope. There's this 00:12:40.210 --> 00:12:42.470 sense of, man, what God had said He would do, 00:12:42.470 --> 00:12:47.490 He's accomplishing. The work is happening in 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:53.250 the world and through God's people. Then what's 00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:55.110 the next thing we learn about Moses? We turn 00:12:55.110 --> 00:13:01.549 back to chapter two. The woman conceived and 00:13:01.549 --> 00:13:04.409 bore a son and what she saw, and when she saw 00:13:04.409 --> 00:13:08.789 that he was a fine child, she hid him. She hid 00:13:08.789 --> 00:13:13.490 him three months. Actually, then it goes on to 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:18.549 say, right, that she hides him until she could 00:13:18.549 --> 00:13:21.899 hide him no longer. Which is to say that, you 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:24.799 know, he grew up like most people did. He became 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.379 bigger, sort of like the Israelites are becoming 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.620 bigger. And he's gaining a voice and he's gaining 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:33.419 a presence in the world. And for him, that might 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:36.840 mean death. So if we looked back at chapter one, 00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:40.799 of course, we could read about how Pharaoh, Pharaoh 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:44.500 came to power who did not know Joseph. And he 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:46.279 looked out and he saw, oh, they're increasing, 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.899 they're growing. It says, they're becoming too 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:55.759 many and too mighty. They're too much. Too much 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.279 for the Egyptians. And in some ways, like Moses 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.820 was too big to hide. And Moses was hidden, of 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:05.679 course, because Pharaoh decides that he must 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.980 set task masters over them to afflict them with 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:13.259 heavy burdens. Verse 11 of chapter one tells 00:14:13.259 --> 00:14:16.340 us. And actually, if we just kind of walk through 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:18.659 parts of chapter one, the words that you would 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:22.080 hear repeated again and again are words like 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.100 this. They were oppressed. They were treated 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:27.399 ruthlessly. They were slaves. Their lives were 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:31.019 bitter. They were under hard service. And again, 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:32.820 then at the end of that section, it says, they 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:36.240 ruthlessly made them work as slaves. So for all 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.820 the like hope that you have, oh, the world might 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:41.639 be coming into what God had called it to be fruitful, 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:45.840 multiplying, filling. What you have is suffering 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.840 and grief and sorrow upon sorrow. A life where 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:55.379 a mother must take a basket, her child, bitter, 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:59.179 ruthless, oppressed, slaves, hard service, ruthless 00:14:59.179 --> 00:15:04.299 slaves, again and again, suffering. And my guess 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:06.539 is that in this kind of scenario, in this kind 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:10.200 of setting, the underlying question that may 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.460 be coming up again and again is where is God? 00:15:15.710 --> 00:15:22.450 Right? I mean, finally, Abraham's promise that 00:15:22.450 --> 00:15:24.370 he would be made into a great nation has come 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.070 about. And it seems as though even in their coming 00:15:27.070 --> 00:15:29.009 about, they're reflecting what God had called 00:15:29.009 --> 00:15:33.070 them to be there in Genesis chapter one. Where's 00:15:33.070 --> 00:15:40.210 God? Does he see, does he know that a mother 00:15:41.369 --> 00:15:43.190 can delight in her little child for a little 00:15:43.190 --> 00:15:48.429 while and then have to put him in a basket. Of 00:15:48.429 --> 00:15:50.190 course, this bitter suffering gets to the point 00:15:50.190 --> 00:15:53.649 in chapter one, in the next paragraph, beginning 00:15:53.649 --> 00:15:57.570 in verse 15, that Pharaoh calls the Hebrew midwives 00:15:57.570 --> 00:16:00.389 to him and he says, hey, when you're helping 00:16:00.389 --> 00:16:04.450 the Hebrews and it's a boy, you got to kill that 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:09.620 baby boy. We cannot have any more of them. And 00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:15.919 just actually as a quick aside, those two midwives 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:20.059 are named in this text, Shifra and Pua, and we 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:24.100 have no idea who this Pharaoh is. Meaning millions, 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:27.220 literally billions and billions of people have 00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:31.460 read their names, dignified their work, and we 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:34.159 don't know who Pharaoh is. Lovely little detail. 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:37.019 I'm gonna get back to them, but they lie to Pharaoh. 00:16:38.950 --> 00:16:42.590 All of his people, his people, every son that 00:16:42.590 --> 00:16:45.570 is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast into the 00:16:45.570 --> 00:16:49.330 Nile. Throw them into the river, drown them. 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:55.269 So upon their suffering, upon the hard burdens 00:16:55.269 --> 00:16:58.210 that they're carrying, right? Upon all that has 00:16:58.210 --> 00:17:00.789 happened to them, now take their babies and throw 00:17:00.789 --> 00:17:05.549 them into the Nile. And this is why this Levi 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:08.289 woman, Moses' mother, who we later learned to 00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:12.109 be Jacobed, she takes a basket that's made out 00:17:12.109 --> 00:17:19.069 of reeds and she dabs it with bitumen and with 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:25.329 pitch. And she must have carried her child, maybe 00:17:25.329 --> 00:17:27.150 in the basket, maybe with his sisters right next 00:17:27.150 --> 00:17:31.150 to him, walks him down to the river to put him 00:17:31.150 --> 00:17:39.009 in the river to never see him again. I mean, 00:17:39.009 --> 00:17:47.450 can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine that 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:50.589 the state of your people and the fate of your 00:17:50.589 --> 00:17:53.930 child was so dire that you actually had to take 00:17:53.930 --> 00:17:57.250 a basket and make sure it was waterproof to some 00:17:57.250 --> 00:18:00.130 degree so that your child might possibly live? 00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:06.539 Might not sink. I mean, picture with me. How 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:09.019 many tears were mixed with that bitumen in that 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:13.599 pitch? Countless tears. My guess is she had to 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.000 dab that over and over again. That's not some 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:22.259 passing act. Can you imagine the desperation 00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:26.140 of a woman performing this act? And also to a 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:27.779 degree, can you imagine her faith? There's something 00:18:27.779 --> 00:18:30.259 going on here. There's some degree to which she's 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:34.480 saying, God's at work. Her tears were no doubt 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:38.059 mixed to some degree. but wonder what might happen. 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:42.859 Maybe you can think back in your life, the last 00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:48.819 time you shed tears of such a nature. What we're 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:50.900 introduced with here at the beginning of Exodus 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:55.319 is really, it really is one of the great questions 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.759 surrounding the world and certainly surrounding 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.519 the idea of God, right? I mean, the idea of suffering. 00:19:03.169 --> 00:19:05.390 And the idea of does God know about this? Does 00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:11.009 He care about this? Does He see any of it? And 00:19:11.009 --> 00:19:13.289 it's the suffering that is not foreign to your 00:19:13.289 --> 00:19:17.490 experience. I'm sure it's not. Of course, it's 00:19:17.490 --> 00:19:19.529 the suffering that the Irish have experienced. 00:19:19.690 --> 00:19:22.009 Some of you know their long stories, and it's 00:19:22.009 --> 00:19:23.970 the suffering that people in Appalachia have 00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:26.210 experienced. And actually, Romans 8 tells us 00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:29.589 that creation itself, right? Think of Wendell 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:31.769 Berry's love for creation. Creation itself is 00:19:31.769 --> 00:19:40.519 groaning. But so are you Some of you have quite 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:44.599 literally lost children miscarriage after miscarriage 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:48.400 or The house that we bought actually on Green 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:51.900 Street The mother sold it to us because her daughter 00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:57.799 and her son died before she did So your kids 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.259 are just far off relationally and geographically 00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:04.059 and that's the cause for your sorrow We probably 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:06.140 haven't actually experienced slave masters though 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:09.319 countless Christians have through the ages and 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:13.619 it begs the same question It's the same world 00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:20.539 we are in So many of you Your tears have flown 00:20:20.539 --> 00:20:22.539 out of the experience of your wandering in the 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:27.380 world like it's wondering where where am I? What 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:32.970 am I doing? Why am I single Why am I divorced? 00:20:34.049 --> 00:20:39.410 Why do I feel so alone? Why does my sin persist 00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:42.250 when I've fought it for so long? Why have friendships 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:47.210 been so hard to cultivate? Who are my people? 00:20:48.890 --> 00:20:51.269 And actually Moses seems to have this experience 00:20:51.269 --> 00:20:53.609 a little bit too in chapter two. Like if we keep 00:20:53.609 --> 00:20:55.809 reading, this is kind of Moses' experience. There's 00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:58.710 that, you know, little middle part there in chapter 00:20:58.710 --> 00:21:02.339 two, the story that you probably know. of Moses 00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:10.859 killing an Egyptian. Verse 11, right? When Moses 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:12.960 is grown up, he went out to his people and looked 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.240 upon their burdens and he saw an Egyptian beating 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.940 a Hebrew, one of his people. Now, if you see 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:20.240 that, there's actually a number there. And if 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:21.839 you look down, it says one of his brothers, but 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:24.740 it's twice said, these are his people. And he 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.500 goes out and he strikes this Egyptian down and 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:29.559 he buries him in the sand, he kills them. And 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:31.119 what happens after that, of course, is that he 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:32.940 goes back the next day and there's two guys fighting, 00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:35.680 two Hebrew guys fighting, and they say, who made 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.660 you prince and judge over us? Did you mean to 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:40.359 kill me as you killed the Egyptian? And Pharaoh 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:42.279 hears about it and he flees, which is to say 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:44.680 at the end of that chapter, he's experiencing 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:47.259 the sorrow that so many of us have because he 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:51.160 does not have a people, right? I mean, that's 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:52.819 how it begins. His people, his people, and they're 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:55.819 like, we don't want you. Pharaoh says, I don't 00:21:55.819 --> 00:22:06.740 want you. Leave. The last time, the last person 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:09.200 I was with, sorry, the last grown man I was with 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.640 who shed tears in my presence was Cyprian, who 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:14.079 was the pastor of the Kenya Rwandan Fellowship 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.259 that meets here on Sunday afternoons. I was meeting 00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:19.160 with him and some of their other leaders a little 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:23.359 over a month ago, and he moved to Ohio. He was 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:24.819 here in this place that wasn't even necessarily 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:26.380 his home, but he'd made something of a home of 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:28.160 it. He had a fellowship of Christians that he 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:31.500 could be with. And the lack of employment opportunities 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:35.930 here and all invited him sort of to leave and 00:22:35.930 --> 00:22:37.710 to go to a place that had more Kenyan Rwandan 00:22:37.710 --> 00:22:40.670 speakers in Ohio, but he was of course, sorrowful. 00:22:41.210 --> 00:22:43.609 Of course, wondering yet again in his life, where 00:22:43.609 --> 00:22:49.730 am I? Who are my people? And again, we're faced 00:22:49.730 --> 00:22:53.250 with suffering because that question is so often 00:22:53.250 --> 00:22:56.049 the question that we deal with. So what's the 00:22:56.049 --> 00:23:00.190 answer? What do we do with this? What do we do 00:23:00.190 --> 00:23:03.480 with these kinds of stories where a mother take 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:09.420 a reed basket and dab it so maybe her baby won't 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:13.680 drown or moses has to flee because he's not here 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:15.380 and he's not there and he doesn't know where 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:23.819 he is or ciprian or you or i what are the answers 00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:26.880 for such a world filled as it is with suffering 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:30.640 like this because you can't escape it you can't 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:34.019 brush it off as though it's not there So what 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:35.160 do you do with that? And what do you do with 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:38.599 the idea of God? Well, of course, one of the 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.380 answers to do with what many people do is they 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:44.539 say, well, God can't exist in this kind of world, 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:49.759 in this kind of scenario. He doesn't exist. It's 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:55.380 a big lie. The problem with that is that it's 00:23:55.380 --> 00:24:00.640 still there. It just is what it is. Why are you 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.829 so upset about it? There's no hope. It's just 00:24:03.829 --> 00:24:07.869 the way the world is. Get on with it. Another 00:24:07.869 --> 00:24:10.069 answer that some people give is that God exists, 00:24:10.130 --> 00:24:14.630 but He's not really in control, which is to say 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:18.750 we can't hold Him at fault, you know? Some things 00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:20.930 God gets and some things God doesn't get, and, 00:24:20.930 --> 00:24:23.490 you know, don't get mad at Him. He exists, but 00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:27.769 He doesn't really have much say. And then I think 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:30.390 there's the answer that the story of the Bible 00:24:30.390 --> 00:24:33.519 gives, which We hear really loudly actually at 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:37.059 the end of Genesis, the very previous chapter, 00:24:37.059 --> 00:24:40.380 chapter 50 verse 20, where it says Joseph is 00:24:40.380 --> 00:24:42.960 talking to his own brothers who sold him into 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:48.440 slavery down in Egypt. What you meant for evil, 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:52.740 God meant for good. Which is not necessarily 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:54.480 answering all the questions you might have, but 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:59.019 there is a mysterious reality, a divine dynamic 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:05.380 beyond our understanding. And I don't know, actually, 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:07.579 I don't believe that it answers most of our questions, 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:12.519 but I don't really know of a better answer. I 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:13.619 certainly don't think it's a better answer to 00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:17.259 say, well, God doesn't exist. It's just the way 00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:21.279 the world is. Get on with it. What are you crying 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.920 about? I certainly don't think it makes sense 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:26.339 to say, well, God doesn't really have much say. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.720 No. Joseph's statement there, what you meant 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:33.599 for evil, God meant for good is the story of 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:38.680 Moses, and it's the story of Jesus. And somehow 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:42.200 it's the story of your life, the people of Israel. 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:48.539 Think with me of the story of Moses, because 00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:52.279 in this story where there is so much evil, where 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:54.000 there's so much suffering, where no doubt there 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.079 were so many times where God's people in some 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.359 ways rightly said, God, where are you? Right? 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:03.960 their cries come up to him. Which is a great 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:06.200 question for you. Are your cries and your tears 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.839 God word? Are they directed towards God? But 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:11.319 think of some of the details of the story and 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:14.220 how often it is the case that we see, even in 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:17.519 the tragedy of all this, God working things out 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:24.779 for the good. He may have been born into a family 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:28.779 that loves him, but he's born into slavery, right? 00:26:32.149 --> 00:26:34.930 And yet it does seem that the evil of it all 00:26:34.930 --> 00:26:38.410 is worked out in mysteriously good ways. And 00:26:38.410 --> 00:26:41.390 almost always, at least in these stories, it's 00:26:41.390 --> 00:26:43.029 through looking at the accounts of the women 00:26:43.029 --> 00:26:44.890 in this story, of which there are many. So follow 00:26:44.890 --> 00:26:47.549 along with me, okay? The first women we have 00:26:47.549 --> 00:26:49.589 mentioned in Exodus are the midwives. I mentioned 00:26:49.589 --> 00:26:53.769 them. And by the way, they are the first of a 00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:58.390 number of godly civil disobedience examples in 00:26:58.390 --> 00:27:00.779 the Bible. This is the first one. where there's 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:04.220 civil disobedience done and God blesses it. But 00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:06.400 it's almost done in this kind of joking way, 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:08.140 almost. Did you get this? I think there's actually 00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:10.359 a little bit of humor that's intended here. The 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.720 midwives, the nobody midwives of the Hebrews 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:17.259 who are mentioned by name go to the great Pharaoh, 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:20.920 the king over Egypt, maybe the strongest person 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:23.720 living in the world at the time. And they say 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:28.000 this, The Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:31.240 woman, for they're vigorous and give birth before 00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:36.500 the midwife comes to them." And with such a statement, 00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:43.980 they pull the wool over his eyes. With that farce, 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:49.700 they get away with it. God deals well with the 00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:53.000 midwives. The people multiply and grow stronger. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:00.230 That's what it says. divine humor. Think of Pharaoh's 00:28:00.230 --> 00:28:02.789 daughter. Think about this, okay? Pharaoh instructed 00:28:02.789 --> 00:28:05.369 all his people. That's what it said at the end 00:28:05.369 --> 00:28:12.710 of chapter one, right? Then Pharaoh, verse 22, 00:28:12.809 --> 00:28:14.849 then Pharaoh commanded all his people, every 00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:17.329 son that's born to the Hebrews, you shall cast 00:28:17.329 --> 00:28:19.490 into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter 00:28:19.490 --> 00:28:25.200 live. All his people, that's what it says. His 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:31.200 own daughter. His own daughter finds the basket 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.779 with Moses and the first thing that she notices 00:28:33.779 --> 00:28:36.420 is that he's a Hebrew. Almost certainly because 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:38.220 he was circumcised. He has faithful parents that 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:44.839 are following the covenant. Divine irony. Divine 00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:50.440 irony. Think of Moses' mother and sisters. The 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:52.579 sisters are there watching from a distance. And 00:28:52.579 --> 00:28:54.319 it must have been actually a pretty good distance 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.119 because it mentions that Pharaoh's daughter and 00:28:57.119 --> 00:28:58.819 her handmaidens were there, you know, so there 00:28:58.819 --> 00:28:59.880 are a bunch of people there and they're probably 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:03.519 watching from a distance. But they're watching 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:05.819 from a distance and can you imagine this? I mean, 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:08.519 imagine, I have beautiful pictures of Lily holding 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:12.180 her younger brothers. These sisters probably 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:17.440 doted on him until he got too big and too loud. 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:25.319 And I guarantee you, they were filled with tears 00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:27.900 as their mother carried that basket down to the 00:29:27.900 --> 00:29:32.859 river. And they're probably there watching from 00:29:32.859 --> 00:29:34.980 a distance wondering, are we going to have to 00:29:34.980 --> 00:29:37.299 jump in the water? Is some animal of prey going 00:29:37.299 --> 00:29:41.259 to get that basket? They're probably watching 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:44.460 as Pharaoh's daughter, Pharaoh who had instructed 00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:48.259 all of his people to kill, to throw into the 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.859 Nile. Any Hebrew boy, they're probably watching 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:53.400 attentively. Is this going to be the time where 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:56.519 we have to risk our life? Because that basket 00:29:56.519 --> 00:30:02.460 is just going to be overturned. And what happens 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:07.660 to them? They go down and say, hey, we know a 00:30:07.660 --> 00:30:12.579 nurse. We know a nurse who would tend to this 00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:19.240 child. And she responds, go, go get her. divine 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:23.079 protection. Of course, Moses' mother, for all 00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:25.099 of her worry, understandable worry, for all of 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:27.740 her understandable tears, which no doubt there 00:30:27.740 --> 00:30:34.740 were many, his mother gets to raise him, being 00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:42.980 paid by Pharaoh's coffers. Divine provision. 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:49.460 And Raoel's daughters? Raoul's daughters live, 00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:53.359 as so many women do, in fear of predatory men. 00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.359 They're going about their daily work. They're 00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:59.539 harassed by men, shepherds. Seems to be the norm. 00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:05.759 Sad and familiar story. But it's in that place 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:12.839 that Moses comes. And Raoul is like, surprise, 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:15.220 how'd you do it so quickly? I'm so used to a 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:20.079 bad scenario, a bad story. And then one of them, 00:31:20.220 --> 00:31:22.140 Zipporah, becomes Moses' wife and gives birth 00:31:22.140 --> 00:31:29.400 to his son, Gershom. Divine shelter. What I'm 00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:30.799 saying is that when we look at these women, the 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:32.799 midwives and Pharaoh's daughter and Moses' sister 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:36.359 and Moses' mother and Raul's daughter is exactly 00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:41.059 what we hear of from Joseph's mouth. What you 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:46.299 meant for evil, God meant for good. What you 00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:49.480 meant for evil, God meant for good. And it's 00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.279 just no wonder that this story, that this story 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.680 of all stories was the story that was to be told 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:00.319 again and again and again. That when God's people 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:04.279 gathered together yearly around the feasts of 00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:07.819 Passover, or when they went up to sing the songs 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:10.720 of the Psalter, what would they sing again and 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:14.079 again and again? These stories, right? This story 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:18.160 of redemption. This is the thing that would mark 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:20.420 them that they would just tell one another again 00:32:20.420 --> 00:32:24.759 and again and again, would nourish them in their 00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:28.940 faith, wondering, does God see and does God know? 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.779 Does He know my tears? Does He know my pain? 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:39.819 Does He know my trouble? Of course, this is the 00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:43.220 very story that Jesus and His disciples are recounting 00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:45.740 on that last Passover meal that He'd share with 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:48.869 them right before He goes to the cross. This 00:32:48.869 --> 00:32:54.430 was the story of redemption that Jesus was retelling 00:32:54.430 --> 00:32:57.529 with his disciples when he says there's even 00:32:57.529 --> 00:33:00.789 a greater story of redemption. There's even a 00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:02.769 greater Exodus. There's a greater slavery and 00:33:02.769 --> 00:33:06.730 there's a greater hope that he goes to take care 00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:10.029 of on the cross in his own suffering in the empty 00:33:10.029 --> 00:33:14.769 tomb for our hope. God's own Exodus, his going 00:33:14.769 --> 00:33:19.819 out, right? and himself experiencing suffering 00:33:19.819 --> 00:33:26.539 and pain on the cross. You see, we're always 00:33:26.539 --> 00:33:30.000 telling stories. We are, we're always telling 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:32.940 stories to make sense of the world and our place 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:38.039 in it. But for Christians in the old epoch, this 00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:42.150 was the story. For Christians now, The cross 00:33:42.150 --> 00:33:44.650 and the resurrection is the story. And what does 00:33:44.650 --> 00:33:47.789 the cross and resurrection say? But God sees, 00:33:49.390 --> 00:33:56.029 right? God knows, God acts, that the effects 00:33:56.029 --> 00:33:59.049 of Satan's sin and death in the world will not 00:33:59.049 --> 00:34:02.250 have the final say. That the light shines in 00:34:02.250 --> 00:34:05.170 the darkness of this world and the darkness will 00:34:05.170 --> 00:34:12.190 not overcome it. I hope you heard this. when 00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:16.670 it was read. But this whole introduction, these 00:34:16.670 --> 00:34:18.829 first couple chapters that are this great introduction 00:34:18.829 --> 00:34:24.929 to Moses and to the plight of Israel, this whole 00:34:24.929 --> 00:34:30.329 section ends with these words, verse 25. God 00:34:30.329 --> 00:34:40.000 saw the people of Israel and God knew. And that 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.559 same good news that is mentioned in those verses 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:46.239 is absolutely the good news today. God sees. 00:34:47.539 --> 00:34:55.639 God knows. God acts. Nothing is lost on Him. 00:34:57.199 --> 00:34:59.400 He's working these things together in ways that 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:06.329 are beyond us, but He sees. He knows. I mean, 00:35:06.329 --> 00:35:08.329 I think part of the draw to kind of get back 00:35:08.329 --> 00:35:11.610 to the beginning of artists, great artists, great 00:35:11.610 --> 00:35:15.250 musicians, great writers, great painters, is 00:35:15.250 --> 00:35:19.650 they look. They seek to give a true account of 00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:24.349 the world. Don't brush off the suffering and 00:35:24.349 --> 00:35:27.289 the pain and the grief and the tears, all of 00:35:27.289 --> 00:35:29.889 that. They don't brush that off. But to give 00:35:29.889 --> 00:35:33.809 a true account of the world is also to give like 00:35:33.809 --> 00:35:38.989 Glenn Hansard's song, A song of good hope. To 00:35:38.989 --> 00:35:40.389 give a true account of the world is to say there's 00:35:40.389 --> 00:35:43.489 something beyond this that our hearts and our 00:35:43.489 --> 00:35:55.690 bodies ache for. In our family, and in my family 00:35:55.690 --> 00:35:57.349 growing up, one of the great stories that we 00:35:57.349 --> 00:36:00.750 would tell are the stories of Narnia. I think 00:36:00.750 --> 00:36:02.909 many of you probably tell those stories too. 00:36:05.230 --> 00:36:07.369 And you'll remember maybe, if you know the stories 00:36:07.369 --> 00:36:09.230 well enough, that in the beginning of the book, 00:36:09.670 --> 00:36:13.530 Prince Caspian, Prince Caspian is living with 00:36:13.530 --> 00:36:18.309 his uncle, Miraz, who's an evil. And the Talimans 00:36:18.309 --> 00:36:21.010 have sought to put away with the old stories 00:36:21.010 --> 00:36:23.289 of Narnia, to do away with them, to erase them 00:36:23.289 --> 00:36:26.789 from memory, to no longer tell those stories. 00:36:27.929 --> 00:36:31.449 And in the great fortune, maybe the divine fortune, 00:36:31.670 --> 00:36:34.550 of Prince Caspian, Dr. Cornelius is hired to 00:36:34.550 --> 00:36:38.730 be his tutor. And of course, Dr. Cornelius is 00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:44.130 of the old ways. And he says, listen, all you 00:36:44.130 --> 00:36:49.250 heard about old Narnia is true. All is true. 00:36:51.190 --> 00:36:54.210 And he had to tell those stories again and again. 00:36:54.349 --> 00:36:56.710 And that's why we do what we do every week, week 00:36:56.710 --> 00:36:58.510 in, week out. We tell the story again and again. 00:36:58.530 --> 00:37:03.280 It's true. It's true. Though our sin is great, 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:06.460 God's mercy is greater. Though our suffering 00:37:06.460 --> 00:37:09.719 and darkness may last, our sorrow may last for 00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:13.539 the night, joy will come in the morning. We tell 00:37:13.539 --> 00:37:16.699 the story of Moses. We tell the story of the 00:37:16.699 --> 00:37:19.739 Exodus again and again. We tell the story of 00:37:19.739 --> 00:37:22.219 Jesus again and again and again. And we sing 00:37:22.219 --> 00:37:25.159 the story of Jesus again and again and again. 00:37:26.019 --> 00:37:29.260 Because this is our great hope. This is the hope 00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:37.630 of the world. God sees, God knows, God acts in 00:37:37.630 --> 00:37:43.289 His mysterious ways, but certainly, definitively. 00:37:45.969 --> 00:37:50.989 We rehearse the story of our Exodus. We remember 00:37:50.989 --> 00:37:54.570 that though we grieve and we suffer and we sin, 00:37:55.670 --> 00:37:58.289 that Jesus really did come, that Jesus really 00:37:58.289 --> 00:38:02.070 did die. And he rose again, that light shines 00:38:02.070 --> 00:38:05.309 in the darkness, now the darkness is not going 00:38:05.309 --> 00:38:09.690 to overcome it. Let me pray. Lord, thank you 00:38:09.690 --> 00:38:11.690 for your word. Thank you for the story of Moses. 00:38:12.369 --> 00:38:14.610 Would we hide it in our hearts, and we see this 00:38:14.610 --> 00:38:17.070 is the story of our lives as well, and of your 00:38:17.070 --> 00:38:20.050 love for us, a God who sees and knows. Amen. 00:38:21.730 --> 00:38:23.789 Thank you for listening to Second City Sermons 00:38:23.789 --> 00:38:26.550 podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged you 00:38:26.550 --> 00:38:28.690 to worship God and to celebrate the gospel of 00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:31.769 Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this podcast 00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:34.530 and joining us in person each Sunday at 10 a 00:38:34.530 --> 00:38:37.369 .m. You can find us online at SecondCityChurch 00:38:37.369 --> 00:38:40.429 .org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 00:38:40.809 --> 00:38:42.829 Thanks again for listening. God bless.