ST TIMOTHY'S CHURCH - SERMON NOTES + GROUP NOTES
DATE
01/03/15
SUBJECT (also at StTims.org.uk)
Moses - a pattern for our lives
TEXTS
Ex 3.1-4.5, Luke 4.18,19, Eph 2.4-10, Phil 2.1-11
Recurring theme in Beethoven’s 5th – the “di-di-di-DA….di-di-di-DA…” phrase that is repeated throughout
the Symphony. Many composers repeat a theme in a piece of music, in different keys, using different
instruments, varying it in different ways. But still the same theme.
God is the great composer of our life, and he has created different themes that also repeat throughout our
lives. The more we understand these themes, the more we make sense of the great variety of different
experiences that we go through, helping us to see a pattern, helping us to work with God to fulfil the great
purpose, common to all Christians, that he has embedded in our lives.
God has revealed these common themes to us in Scripture, and we will see them expressed in the lives of his people. We
see this revealed in the story of Moses, and this is echoed in the life of Joshua, the judges, the Kings of Israel, like David and
Solomon, the prophets, and supremely in the life of Jesus. Which again is then echoed in the disciples and the early church.
As we look to the early chapters of Exodus, we see this pattern revealed:
Called by God to GO on rescue mission (3.10)
- Called to leave behind private ambition & personal security
Called to identify with suffering & difficulty of God’s people (7-10)
Given the assurance of God’s presence (12) - to more than compensate for the loss of material security.
Given the assurance of success (12)
Commissioned by God himself to do this (14,15)
Empowered by God to do this (4.5)
Knows weakness, discouragements, opposition, pain…
But our Covenant God enables him to breakthrough in the end, and establish the Kingdom of God
The classic expression of this in the life of Jesus, and this is summed up when Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah, chapter
61 when he returns early in his ministry to Nazareth, and reads from that scroll in the synagogue.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.“
Luke 4.18,19
As the disciples of Jesus follow him, they also learn that they are called to share in the rescue mission of Jesus, so that their
lives, along with Moses, are a reflection of his.
Once again this echoes the theme of Covenant and Kingdom, the theme that is echoed through every book of the Bible.
We are called to choose once again to live under the covenant of God’s protection and care, and to work with him to build
his kingdom. Choosing to reverse the decision that Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden. Choosing again and again.
Moses is the first person who, under the covenant of God, and with his authority, learns to exercise that divine authority, and
wields the awesome power of God, precisely because he is made in God’s image, and, under God’s Covenant, is under his
authority, and is God’s representative in that situation to overcome the forces of darkness and to usher in the Kingdom of
God, where his will is being done on earth, as it is in heaven. Moses was a “type” of Christ, before his earthly life, and we
follow suit, after the earthly life of Christ. We are endued with the same authority and power. See Eph 2.4-6, 7-10.
But the catch is that the kingdom authority of Jesus is one which washes the feet of the disciples, and indeed walks a path of
obedience even unto death – Phil 2.1-11. We are called to let go of earthly power which gets us nowhere (an example of
which is Moses as a young man trying to rescue the Hebrews by killing the slave driver, and then having to flee), and instead
trust completely in God’s way of grace. But his grace is sufficient, and his power made perfect in our weakness. 2 Cor 12.9
Questions to consider…
1. God has placed each of us in situations where people are captive, oppressed, blind. What is our calling in that situation?
2. In what way is Jesus more present with us that he was with Moses? And what difference might this make?
3. In what way does the call and life of Moses preview the life of Jesus – and ours, as the followers of Jesus?
4. The young Moses got nowhere using his own power, but was used amazingly later on. What we learn from that?
5. How can we learn to recognise this pattern of Moses, of Jesus, in our own lives today?
6. How can we learn to walk this path more faithfully, more joyfully, despite the immense challenge?