JANUARY 23, 2022 SUNDAY MESSAGE
JOIN US AT 10 AM TODAY!
Transcription Below:
If you remember, we are talking about becoming something NEW!
We, as a church, have walked through a myriad of changes during the last couple years and we compared that shift to a JOURNEY and…
just like God’s people,
who move from one destination to another,
…we, TOO, are on a journey.
I depicted this as POINT A and POINT B in the first sermon and looked at
“A” as being the land of Egypt and we needed to embrace the idea that “we can’t stay here” and
“B” - our destination - being a vision of our future just like the one casted by God to Moses saying
Ex. 3:8 says - “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey”
We want to acknowledge that the Journey is often more difficult and less predictable than we typically think but
it’s a training ground,
a place of testing, and
As the memory of Egypt gives us a PUSH factor
the vision of the Promised Land provides a PULL factor
that keeps us moving forward!
We find ourselves, as a church, wanting to BECOME something…and step into the reality of this NEW THING depicted in REVELATIONS 7:9.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
Here is our vision of the future:
Vision statement: To invite all people regardless of age, ethnicity and background to be formed into the image of Jesus in order that that we might love our neighbors in Indianapolis and around the world.
We know we are not going to arrive at this overnight but we want to be good stewards of the vision God has given us.
In the journey of God’s people today, we find them in the middle of the desert and they are near the prize but they do something that …and they squandered the opportunity through their rebellion of God.
I have squandered an opportunity
WE have ALLsquandered an opportunity
We typically measure opportunities by RISK/REWARD paradigms to make logical conclusions but opportunities according to a faith relationship with YHWH is measure in COMMAND/ OBEDIENCE according to the measure that you trust and based on the history you’ve had with God.
If you are trained at this and GOOD at this, you may be at a disadvantage in the Kingdom because human logic often distracts you from the ability place your trust in God and step out in faith
When an op is presented, there are lots of reasons WHY we may squander it!
In Numbers 13, the existing generation is given an INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY to go in and POSSESS the Land!!
NUMBERS 13
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
So God gives them an expedition to go, chooses representatives and reminds them of a PROMISE: that He is giving this gift to them.
Verses 4-16 Records the names of each representative and now lets see what happens. Picking up in verse 17…
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
The 12 Spies or Scouts have been given more details to guide their EXPLORATION:
The ITINERARY and what to pay attention to…
The PEOPLE AND
The LAND
When you read between the lines, you can see them doing the math on a simple RISK/REWARD assessment.
Let’s see what happens next. V 21…
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
SO…
Did we follow the itinerary?
CHECK!
Take a look at the people?
CHECK!
NOW, what about the quality of the LAND?
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them (that’s two grown, able-bodied MEN) carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol (means “cluster”) because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.
The fruit of the LAND? DOUBLE CHECK!!
It was SOOO great that they named the place “Giant Fruit Cluster Place.”
The REWARD sounds pretty good, right? Listen to the FULL report on the Exploration
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it DOES flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
28 BUT (here comes the twist!) BUT the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
There's a few things I want to point out based on the criteria set out before us: the itinerary, land, and people.
Itinerary - one commentator mentions that “the 10 representatives, who LIKELY have been chosen because of their credibility with the Israelites, violate their mandate by deliberately distorting the report to persuade their people NOT to go into the land.
Moses commissioned them to go “up through the Negev and on into the hill country” which was sparsely settled at the time and had few fortifications. So we expect the scouts to say that this territory should be easy to take. BUT they have expanded the geographical scope of their report to include heavily populated valley regions “near the sea and along the Jordan” so it sounds as though the entire land of Canaan is densely occupied and impenetrable.
The Land - IS very fruitful which affirms what God has said but, instead of centering their report around this, the scouts quickly move over agriculture to dwell on how numerous and powerful the
People of Canaan are with large, fortified cities..”
As the people’s euphoria vaporizes, there'sf an uproar of disappointment, shock, awe, fear..? We aren’t sure which but it gets to the point that Caleb, the scout from Judah, steps in…
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
They are so worked up that Caleb has to SILENCE the people before telling them that they can, and SHOULD, go up and take the land.
BUT, how is he so sure? And
…the group giving the bad report doubles down saying…
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
This next part is important…
32 And they SPREAD among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored DEVOURS those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
As the bad report spreads SO DOES FEAR and we see an internal attack take place! It says that:
they don’t even believe their own identity!
They don’t believe they are who God says they are!!
This is a turning point in the life of God’s people as they decide they do not want to go into the land and receive the gift that God has promised them.
Even though everything they’ve wanted is so close…they can’t see their future through their fear.
Sadly, they make a decision to rebel against God, refusing the promised land and even incite a mutiny against Moses in an attempt to appoint a new leader to take them back to EGYPT!!
So, even against their history
of witnessing the covenant faithfulness and
miraculous moves of God…
He HONORS their decision and gives them what they want by obliging their fear.
You see, instead of claiming the PROMISE by means of exploring the land and people according to God’s ITINERARY, this group has LEVERAGED the itinerary to discredit the land, cultivate fear in the people and invalidate the PROMISE of God.
The result is horrific because God charges this generation with a sentence to wander around in the desert for 40 years and die in the wilderness until a new generation arises in obedience to inherit the promised land.
Multiple biblical authors bring this story up as an example of failure:
“don’t be like this rebellious generation!”
It is a reminder that, while God is faithful to his people and promises, he will honor their choices and let them waste their whole lives if they decide to live in rebellion.
In fact, this event is one that Jewish people today point back to as an example of “Lashon Hara.”
Lashon Hara is when you speak evil of, or verbally do harm to another.
This is a unique moment co-defined by the moment just before it with Aaron and Miriam.
Except, in this instance, they have committed Lashan Hara against God because it was to speak bad against the gift God was giving them…
The point is this: you shouldn’t even speak poorly of the promises of God because, to do so, is a kind of verbal evil that commit against Him.
Are WE a generation who will take seriously the promises of God and want to see it done here on earth as it is in heaven??
When we filter this through the economic language it’s a simple risk/reward scenario, right?
The quality of the land is the potential REWARD (bring back a sample of it if possible).
The size and strength of the people there is the potential RISK.
If the Reward is high, we are likely to justify taking on more risk. If the Risk is low, we can make an easy decision but it’s that middle spot that causes us to ask… “SHOULD I…or SHOULDN’T I”
From our human view this is a logical process we often assess without thinking about it as we drive around in our cars, in our finances, entrepreneurial endeavors, our relationships, and in all kinds of ways. In fact,
I do it in a game of JENGA or “SORRY!” on a weekly basis with my children AND
I use this with my financial advisor when I decide what kind of investment I will make!
We put these two things on an X/Y Axis and develop theories. We put them on charts so we can see the RISK Matrix depicted -on clear display- ALL SO WE CAN PREDICT and MANAGE THE RISK AND REWARD dynamics of an opportunity.
It seems the people are using this principle as they “explore the land of Canaan, which (God is) giving to the Israelites.”...and it doesn’t look good!!
If risk and reward are the criteria then this risk is too HIGH BUT IS THAT HOW GOD TOLD THEM TO ASSESS THEIR DECISION…NOO!!
What is logical here? Don’t go in. The reward is good but the risk is too high and and the eight are convinced
Two possible applications:
PERSONALLY
Reasons you might squander an opportunity:
Fear of:
Opposition
Past (Failures, ID, conditioning,etc)
Lazy
Didn’t see the opportunity right in front of you
Lack of vision
Incompetence
Familiarity of old creates allegiance
Peer Pressure
Analysis Paralysis
Lack of resources
Embraced a False IDENTITY
COMMUNALLY as a church, we have been given an assignment to retake some land of promise and we believe the opportunity to become a multiethnic church is a RESPONSIBILITY that we must STEWARD well! A land that is detailed out in book of revelations that we are supposed to enact here and now on earth as it is in heaven once again, representing every tribe, tongue, and nation…but there is opposition:
YES! There are giants in the land that will cause us to fear the future
The GIANT of PREFERENCES is a LOOMING Opposition
Are we willing to strike that giant down
The GIANT of FINANCES
The GIANT of
The GIANT of white-centered ideology that
Are we willing to strike that giant down
The GIANT of demonic oppositions that want to thwart our promise
Are we willing to strike that giant down
YES! The temptation to base decisions on RISK/Reward Assessments that will cause us to question the value of the future promise
YES! We will have doubts in our own IDENTITY - that we are JUST a small church in Indianapolis with a small budget and small capabilities.
Maybe we should just stick to the desert of Paran and stop these idealistic dreams of a promised land where
AND YES! We can choose to embrace those variables in our decision making, pass up on this opportunity, and put it in the hands of a different generation.
…OR we can believe in the promise - the future Kingdom - and the possibility that it can be realized in our midst today.
Cast vision for what it would look like if we all put this into action!
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
“Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.