Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we're continuing our sermon
series called A Matter of Time, where we're looking
at what does the Bible teach us about time, how
should we use our time, and today we're going
to dive into the example of Moses. Moses was
a really important leader, but he was doing all
kinds of things, maybe some things that he shouldn't
have been doing. How does Moses teach us? how
to make better use of our time and empower other
leaders all around us. This reading is from Exodus
18. Jethro, Moses' father -in -law, together
with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the
wilderness where he was camped near the mountain
of God. So Moses went out to meet his father
-in -law and bowed down and kissed him. they
greeted each other and then went into the tent
the next day moses took his seat to serve as
judge for the people and they stood around him
from morning till evening when his father -in
-law saw all that moses was doing for the people
he said what is this you are doing for the people
why do you alone sit as judge while all these
people stand around you from morning till evening
moses answered him because the people come to
me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute,
it is brought to me, and I decide between the
parties and inform them of God's decrees and
instructions. Moses' father -in -law replied,
What you're doing is not good. You and these
people who come to you will only wear yourselves
out. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot
handle it alone. listen now to me and i will
give you some advice and may god be with you
you must be the people's representative before
god and bring their disputes to him teach them
his decrees and instructions and show them the
way they are to live and how they are to behave
but select capable men from all the people men
who fear god trustworthy men who hate dishonest
gain and appoint them as officials over thousands,
hundreds, fifties, and tens. Have them serve
as judges for the people at all times. But have
them bring every difficult case to you, the simple
cases they can decide themselves. That will make
your load lighter because they will share it
with you. If you do this, and God so commands,
you will be able to stand the strain, and all
these people will go home satisfied. Moses listened
to his father -in -law and did everything he
said. He chose capable men from all Israel and
made them leaders of the people, officials over
thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They
served as judges for the people at all times.
The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but
the simple ones they decided themselves. Then
Moses sent his father -in -law on his way, and
Jethro returned to his own country. The Word
of the Lord. You'll remember a few weeks ago,
we read in Psalm 90, this prayer, God teach us
to number our days so that we may gain a heart
of wisdom. And so what we've been talking about
is we've been talking about A, how little time
that we have, B, kind of how our priorities are
so important about how we spend our time, and
C, you know, how easy it is to spend our time
chasing after all the wrong things. Now today,
though, we're going to do something that's just
a little bit different we're going to talk about
how time relates to leadership And some of you
might say, well, that kind of doesn't apply to
me. I'm not a leader. And so maybe I can just
tune out for the next 20 minutes or so. But I
wanted to say, just hold on. There are many,
many places where we are all called to exercise
the gift of leadership, whether that's the workplace,
whether it's our home, our school, our families,
right? Definitely our church here at Trinity.
Leadership is so, so, so important. And leadership
is also really important to God. Some of you
may know that a few years ago, I did some doctoral
research on the topic of leadership development.
So I'm kind of interested in this, but I have
to tell you, most of my learning about leadership
didn't happen there. It happened the hard way
when I made some pretty classic leadership mistakes,
especially in my early days of being a minister.
You see, when I began this gig, you know, 22
years ago, I bought into a very big myth. And
that myth was the myth of the well -rounded leader.
The well -rounded leader. You probably heard
that phrase before. And the reason I bought into
that is because the very first church I was at,
I was really like the only... you know, paid
staff person there, but I was okay because I
was going to be a well -rounded leader. And so
as a result, of course, I did the preaching and
the teaching. I also led Bible studies. I did
the pastoral care. I did the home visits, the
home communions. I did the hospital visits, right?
Because I was a very well -rounded leader. I
led committees. I led board meetings. I was in
charge of fundraising. I was in charge of property
issues. If there were contractors that came to
the church, I talked to them. Why? Because I
was a well -rounded leader. And when there were
legal things going on and lawyers, I would talk
to the lawyers. Why? Because I was a well -rounded
leader, of course. I was also the IT guy, right?
So if the printer jammed, you called me, right?
If there was, you know, a property with a problem
with the computer, if it wouldn't load or something,
you give me a call. the website And I also did
all the social media. See how well -rounded I
was, right? I also, we had a new AV system installed
in that church when I got there. And for some
reason, it seemed like I was the only person
who really knew how to use it. So kind of, I
was the one who was kind of in charge of that
too. You know, every week, I also led the youth
group. And every two weeks, we would have these
youth outreach dances. I was helping to lead
those two. Heck, I was just leading them. And
every Sunday at church, I would do like a children's
time. And also I picked all the music. And you
might not believe this, but actually I played,
I helped lead worship from time to time when
I was there. And see if I can still remember
a few of these little. See? Lord, I lift your
name on high. Yeah, there it is. So, frankly,
let's be quite honest here. I don't know how
I survived those years. Thanks, Libby. Aren't
you glad God made Libby? I don't know how the
church survived those years. And actually, the
truth is I didn't just do these things. I actually
thought I was good at doing these things. But
it was all a myth. It was all a myth. And over
time, I discovered that there is no such thing
as a well -rounded leader. There are gifted leaders.
There are faithful leaders. There are very wise
leaders. But nobody is good at everything. And
in fact, great leaders are rarely great. because
they're great at everything, right? We usually
have, all of us, just a few areas of real strength,
and most of the other things, we're kind of mediocre,
or let's be honest, we're not very good at those
things. Now, here at Trinity, man, oh, man, we
are so blessed. We have so many wonderful leaders.
I'm just, you know, looking around this morning.
We've got Peter back there on the soundboard,
you know, leading that. We've got Kathy, who
leads our chancel group. I see, you know, the
Brandons and the Wilsons are helping to lead
our Alpha ministry. Many of you lead life groups.
And on staff, too. I mean, I've got to tell you,
Alex is a brainiac when it comes to media stuff
in a way I could never get my head around. Same
with Natalie. Natalie loves numbers and finance.
I can never understand it. Liz Leak pays so much
attention to detail. It drives me crazy. I could
never do that. But you know, none of us are well
-rounded leaders. But when we're all together,
we're kind of a well -rounded team. None of us
are good at everything, but actually we're pretty
darn great when we're all working together. And
that is because God never designed leadership
to be this solo act. It would be a waste of time.
For all of us to try to keep finding more and
more ways to be good leaders, to be more and
more well -rounded. We would all suffer. And
the people would suffer. The world would suffer.
And that's what brings us to Moses. Because in
the reading that we just read in Exodus 18, we
find Moses and he's trying to do everything himself.
And it is crushing him. It is crushing the people.
And everyone is suffering. And Moses is going
to learn the same lesson that I had to learn
and that we all need to learn, which is that
the greatest leaders are not people who spend
their time doing. everything themselves. I've
given you some sermon notes. You can follow along.
We're going to basically go through the story.
We're going to go through the whole story that
we just read there. But before we get to Exodus
18, let's just pause and remember, how did Moses
get himself into this situation? Moses was Israel's
leader, but I have to tell you, he didn't go
through a job application process. There was
no search committee. There was no job description.
There was no HR manual for this job. Moses got
this leadership job basically because God came
to him and said, Moses, I have heard the cry
of my people in bondage in Egypt, and I want
you to go set them free. And Moses said, literally,
God, choose anybody else but me. But anyways,
God sent Moses, and Moses went and said, Pharaoh,
let my people go. And Pharaoh wouldn't let them
go, and the plagues came. And then finally they
were released. And then, of course, there was
going through the Red Sea. And now they were
free. And now Moses finds himself leading this
group of people. And I dare say, could have been
in the millions of people wandering through the
wilderness. They have no constitution. They have
no courthouse. They have no police department.
They just have Moses. And when your whole organizational
chart comes down to one guy, guess where every
problem goes? To that guy, right? And so today's
story begins. When Jethro arrives, so that's
Moses' father -in -law. Moses' father -in -law.
So apparently what had happened is when Moses
went off to do this whole like saving Egypt thing,
he left his wife and his kids with his father
-in -law. And now that he's done that and they've
escaped, they're all being reunited again. And
so now Jethro is bringing the kids and bringing
Moses' wife, Jethro's daughter, back to Moses.
And, you know, that's pretty intimidating. I
don't know how many degrees you have or how successful.
successful you are but I'd say when your father
-in -law shows up to your workplace you always
sit up a little bit straighter because here's
my father -in -law and and Moses goes out to
meet his father -in -law and this is how you
know we're dealing with a very different culture
he he goes and he bows down and kisses his feet
And I got to tell you, I mean, I love my father
-in -law. But when he comes for a visit, I do
not go out and bow down and kiss his feet. If
I did that, that would make for a very awkward
Christmas dinner, I think. But in Moses' culture,
this was a sign of honor and it was a sign of
respect. And that is actually really important
to keep in mind in this story. Moses actually
respected his father -in -law because later on...
his father -in -law is going to give him some
advice. And Moses is actually going to listen
to that advice, which is actually hard for a
lot of leaders to do. But anyways, when he arrives,
we're told that they went into the tent and they
started talking about everything that the Lord
had done. And so Moses is like, hey, Jethro,
you'll never guess, you know, I went into Egypt
and I said, let my... people go and he said no
and then there were gnats and there were flies
and the nile turned to blood and then then there
was like the passover and then finally let us
go and then pharaoh changed his mind he chased
after us and then we were trapped by the red
sea and then actually got part of the waters
of the red sea it's just he's catching he's catching
him up on all the stuff that had just happened
and jethro you know we read was delighted to
hear all the things that the lord had done for
Israel. And, you know, it is lovely, you know,
because here you have your father -in -law Jethro
celebrating his son -in -law and everything his
son -in -law has done. That's perfect. That's
wonderful. It's what every son -in -law wants
is to earn his father -in -law's respect. But
then the next day comes. And Moses, of course,
has to go back to work. And this is where things
get interesting. So Moses took his seat. To serve
as judge for the people. And they stood around
him from morning until evening. Now Jethro comes
along at this point. And this is maybe like the
first annual bring your father -in -law to work
day. I don't know. But Jethro, what he sees is
unbelievable to him. So Moses has the job of
being the judge. Of all these people. And people
are lining up from morning to evening. They're
coming to Moses and they're saying, hey Moses,
this person stole my goat. Or Moses, this person
parked his camel too close to my tent. Or hey
Moses, this guy's kids are too loud at night.
Or Moses, she keeps lighting a fire and all the
smoke is burning and blowing into my tent. What
are you going to do about it? Moses, sort it
out. Moses, sort it out. Moses, sort it out.
And Moses is probably feeling really, really
important. Sitting there, this huge line of people.
kind of coming to see him. And he's waving over
at his father -in -law. He's saying, this is
leadership. And Jethro is watching, saying, this
is crazy is what this is. Jethro, I think, goes
over to Moses and says, Moses, hey, listen, can
I just talk to you for a minute? Can we just
have a little conversation? And they come on
over. And Jethro says, listen. What are you doing
here? What is it you're doing for these people?
Why are you sitting alone as the judge here while
all these people stand around you from morning
until evening? This is such a classic father
-in -law question. You know, it's not like, wow,
Moses, look at how important you are. Wow, look
at the size of that lineup. Well done. My daughter
married well. No, no, this is, what are you doing?
Why are you alone doing all this? And Moses gives
the answer, I think, that just about every overwhelmed
leader gives in a situation like this. He says,
because they keep coming to me. Whenever they
have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide
between the parties, and I inform of God's decrees
and instructions. To be fair, this is really
important stuff that Moses is doing, right? He
is helping people. He's resolving disputes. He's
trying to bring justice. The problem is not that
he is doing bad things. The problem is, is that
he is doing too many things. And that, I think,
is one of the first traps of leadership, which
is spending time doing things that distract you
from your true calling. Moses was giving his
time to good things, even spiritual things that
he was doing here. But just because they're good
things doesn't mean they're our things. Doesn't
mean that it's your thing to do. And one of the
hardest leadership lessons to learn and one of
the hardest ones that I had to learn was that
just because something needs to be done does
not mean it needs to be done by you. And then
Jethro just comes out and says it plainly. What
you are doing is not good. Not that you've made
bad choices. Not that your motives are wrong.
Or not that this is like evil or anything like
that. It's just not good, Moses. It's just not
sustainable. It's just not healthy. It's not
a wise use of your time as a leader. You and
these people, he goes on to say, are only going
to wear yourselves out. This work is too heavy
for you. You cannot handle it alone. So remember,
let's just go back two weeks where this all started.
Part of what it means to learn to number our
days is recognizing, hey, my time is limited.
My energy is limited. And if I try to be this
well -rounded leader and I try to do everything
really, really good, if I try to be the limitless
leader, I am going to get worn out. The people
themselves are going to get worn out. And actually
in the whole process, the whole mission is going
to suffer. And that I think is related to this
second trap of leadership. And I know I fell
for this one, was believing that if it's going
to be done right, You've got to do it yourself.
Moses probably believed, well, hey, if I don't
do it, how's it going to get done? Who else is
going to do it? Or if someone else does it, it
won't be done right. You know, if you want something
done, ask a busy person. It's just easier if
I do it myself, blah, blah, blah. We've all heard
that before. And sure, it may be faster to do
it yourself. But over time, that kind of leadership
will create exhaustion in you. And it will create
immaturity in everyone else. Because if the leader
does everything, then nobody else gets to grow.
Jethro, he's seeing something here that Moses
is not seeing. It's like Jethro is the first
ever leadership. consultant. And leaders need
people like that in their lives. They need people
who will tell them the truth, not just people
who say, oh, great job, Moses, wonderful, long
line this morning, really impressive, right?
But people who will say, what you're doing is
not good. So Jethro, he puts on his consultant
hat and he says, okay, please just hear me out.
And you know, I love this. May God be with you.
In other words, I hope you will listen to what
I'm about to say. I'm going to give you some
advice. I've been watching. And this is what
I want to say to you. You must be the people's
representative before God. That is clearly something
you must do. That is your unique role, right?
You're not supposed to be working the complaint
department here, Moses. You've got a different
calling, something that only you can do. Only
you can stand before God on behalf of these people.
Only you can pray to God on behalf of these people,
intercede to God on behalf of these people. people
and and teach them right his decrees and instructions
and show them the way that they are to behave
in other words moses this is what you need to
be doing this is where you need to be investing
your time because only you can do these things
only you can represent the people before god
only you can teach them only you can give the
spiritual direction that they need to the whole
community that's your role right that's your
lane that's what you were made to do And that
is, again, another secret of leadership that
only do what only you can do. Now, at first,
this sounds very selfish. I admit it sounds like,
oh, I'm too important to do other tasks or I'm
too important to do the menial things. But that's
not what this is saying at all. This is not about
your ego. It's about stewardship. It's about
saying, hey, you've got limited time. You've
got limited energy. And if you spend your life
doing things that other people could do or other
people should do or other people will do even
better than you, do then you may end up neglecting
the very unique thing that god has called you
to do and only you to do So Jethro is not saying,
oh, Moses, I want you to stop serving the people.
He's saying, you got to serve in the way that
God has called you to serve. And that is a very,
very important distinction. It's like saying,
Rob, get off the guitar and let Libby lead the
worship. That is not what God equipped or called
you to do. And that is really, really hard for
leaders. And I will again be the very first to
admit it's hard for volunteers. It might even
be hard for you too, because we all care so deeply
and we want to see things get done. But wisdom,
according to Psalm 90, means recognizing the
difference between something that needs to get
done and something that needs to get done by
me. And they are often not the same thing. And
so then Jethro is now his leadership consultant
hat still on. He's going to get all practical
and he's going to say, okay, I'm going to give
you a plan. What you got to do, Moses, is you
got to select capable men from all the people,
appoint them as officials over hundreds and thousands
and tens and whatever. And if I were Moses and
my father -in -law were telling me all of this
stuff, I would be like, oh my gosh, like, first
of all. what do you even know right when was
the last time you were in charge of a million
people that would probably be the first thing
i would say but then the second thing i would
say is this sounds like a lot of work you want
me to select a whole bunch of people you know
identify them for their giftedness then you want
me to train them and you want me to equip them
and then you want me to organize them and create
this whole like organizational leadership structure
and and while that's happening i got this whole
line of people that are still lining up to get
all their questions answered And Jethro, I think,
is probably fully aware of this. And he's like
saying, yes, I know it will take time for you
to develop leaders. But it will actually save
time for you in the long run. And I believe that
this is one of the great paradoxes of leadership.
And that is that it takes... time to save time.
It takes time to train someone. It takes time
to mentor someone. It takes time. It takes days.
It might take weeks for you to train someone
to do something that you could do yourself in
just 10 minutes. But if you never take that time,
then you will always be the only one who knows
how to do that thing. And that is not good. What
we're talking about here is not just delegation.
What we're talking about here is leadership development.
Leadership development. And those are very different
things. And then he goes on. He says, have them
serve as judges for the people at all times,
but have them bring every difficult case to you.
In other words, you're still going to have a
part to play in this, Moses, right? There's still
be moments when we're going to need your leadership.
But not every time there's a problem with a goat
or every time there's a dispute over a camel.
That is not a Moses level intervention that you
need to be involved in. And here's the second
part of the secret that's buried in all this,
and that is, frankly, God never actually intended
you or me or Moses to do everything. God has
plans, not just for your life or my life or Moses'
life. He has plans for everyone's life. He has
plans for, like, Melissa and Shireen, who are
leading our kitchen hospitality program right
now, coffee hour, right? He has plans for Alex.
He has plans for Peter. He has plans. for you.
God didn't just, isn't only interested in Moses
or Rob, right? He has got a plan for everyone.
God wants all of us to develop as leaders and
to share leadership. And I love that phrase,
shared leadership, right? There it is. Share
leadership with each other. Leaders who do everything
themselves, they don't just burn out. they block
out the gifts of other people. So sharing leadership
actually helps other people. become stronger
leaders themselves. Which means, you know what?
Everybody wins when we do this. Moses, in this
case, he becomes healthier. Look, he can stand
the strain, right? The people are better served.
Everyone's going home satisfied. And on top of
that, new leaders are being developed. And the
mission is going to move forward in such a more
powerful way. But it all begins by discerning
what God wants. God has uniquely called you to
do, and then helping others step into the places
where they understand what God has called them
to do. And what a great lesson. I wish 20 years
ago, Jethro had come knocking on my door to teach
me some of these lessons. And I think this is
probably the most amazing part of the whole story.
Moses listened to his father -in -law and did
everything he said. You know, that's got to be
the greatest miracle. I mean, parting the waters
of the Red Sea was impressive, but a leader receiving
unsolicited advice from his father -in -law and
actually doing it is supernatural, I think. So
let's end by just summarizing again the gift.
of leadership because yes leadership at times
can feel like a burden it can feel like pressure
it can feel like a lot of things on your to -do
list a lot of decisions and meetings people coming
to you with their problems with their goats and
donkeys and camels but but when leadership is
shared it becomes a gift and it becomes a gift
in those three directions first shared leadership
is a gift to you Jethro says to Moses, it will
make your load lighter. Okay? And this is true
in church. And this is true in your workplace.
And it's true in your family or your school,
wherever you find yourself. When leadership is
shared, the load becomes lighter. And some of
us need to hear that because some of us today
are carrying things, carrying roles or jobs or
tasks or leadership that we were never asked
to carry. And sharing that with others is going
to be an essential thing to do. And that will
be a gift to you. Okay, so shared leadership
is a gift to you. But secondly, empowered leadership
is actually a gift to others. Because when Moses
finally stops doing everything himself, other
people get to step up. And other people get to
use their gifts. And other people get to grow.
And other people get to discover that, you know
what, God can work through me too. Sometimes
we think we're really helping people when we
do everything for them. But the more loving thing
to do is to trust them and to train them and
let them lead. And yes, they may not do things
the way you would have done them and it may not
be as efficient at first, but the goal is not
to create a church full of mini Moseses or mini
Robs or mini yous. The goal is to create a church
of people all using the gifts that God has given
them. There are different kinds of gifts, but
there's the same spirit that distributes them.
There are different kinds of service, but the
same Lord. So empowered leadership is a gift
to others. But then finally, released leadership
is a gift to the world. right? When people are
released into their gifts, when the mission expands,
then the impact of the church or whatever it
is increases. That's what we see happening in
Exodus 18, right? All these people, they went
home satisfied. In other words, the people were
better served when the leadership was shared.
And a church where only a few people are involved
in leadership will always be a church with limited
impact. But a church where everyone is equipped
and everyone's empowered and released, that kind
of church becomes a gift to the world because
suddenly ministry is not something that one or
two or a group of people can do. It's now what's
happening everywhere. It's happening in classrooms
and workplaces and offices and homes and hospitals
and neighborhoods because the people of God have
been released to lead and released to serve wherever
God has placed them. So the healthier the leaders,
the stronger the people and the greater the blessing
to the world around us. So when I look back at
all those years of early years of ministry, I
can laugh. I can laugh now about, you know, being
the AV guy and doing the website and the sound
system. I can even laugh at my very forgettable
career as a worship leader. But underneath it
all, there is a real lesson for me to learn and
I think one for us all to learn. And that is
about time. How are you going to use your time
in the best possible way? God never asked me
or you to be everything. But he did ask us to
be faithful. To use the gifts and the time that
he has given us wisely. And because we always,
it's always important to end on Jesus. Jesus
knew this. Lesson, very well. Everyone wanted
a piece of Jesus' time, right? You think Moses
had a long lineup? Jesus had lineups every day.
People wanted healing. People wanted teaching.
People wanted miracles. One morning, Jesus snuck
out early to pray, and within a few minutes,
right, everyone's like, hey, Jesus, there you
are. Everyone is looking for you. That's the
kind of sentence where it can totally hijack
a leader's intentions. Everyone wants you. Everyone's
looking for you. But what does Jesus say? He
says, hey, you know what? We got to go somewhere
else. To the nearby villages. Why? So I can preach
there also. Why? Because that is why I have come.
Jesus has a very focused idea of how to spend
his time. It's not uncaring. It's not undifferent.
But he knows why he has come. He knows his mission
and he knows his time is limited. That's the
invitation. for us to not to become selfish with
our time, but to become faithful with our time.
You will never be a well -rounded leader. So
don't spend your time trying to like shore up
all your weaknesses in that way. Instead, use
the gifts God's given you, right? Make room for
the gifts that God has given other leaders. And
together, let's become that kind of church that
just makes an even greater impact in the world.
Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning in
to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This
sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on May 17, 2026.