Love What God Promises!

14th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/29/21 Hebrews 11:24-28 Love What God Promises! I. Not the things of this world II. But the gift of eternal life During today’s service, we’ve been considering the choices we make in life. On what basis do you make your choices? What do you consider as you make your choices? I suppose there are many answers to those questions, depending on the choice in front of you. Perhaps you choose what is easier. Or you choose what will make you happy. You choose what will be to your advantage. You choose what will have the better outcome. But there’s another criterion when you make your choices that I want you consider. It’s love. We expect parents, especially mothers, to make choices based on their love for the children. It horrifies us when that doesn’t occur. Or, you probably enjoy certain activities. You would even state that you love doing them, and that means you make choices that enable you to continue doing them. Or, perhaps something in your life is important to you. For instance, perhaps your health means a great deal to you and so you make choices based on that criterion. So now, go back to the criterion for making choices that I suggested you consider. You choose what you love. In this morning’s sermon text, the writer to the Hebrews shares with us the choices that Moses made. And, according to the writer, he made those choices based on something he couldn’t see. His criterion was not something he had already experienced. It was all in the future, a future which the Lord had promised him. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Moses possessed a tremendous faith in the God who had promised him a Savior, and, through that Savior, the gift of eternal life. Moses loved what God had promised him, and it had a huge impact on the choices he made for his life. May the Holy Spirit lead us this morning to do the same. Love what God promises! Let’s see what that means for the choices we make in our lives. Part I. In order to get a better understanding of the choices Moses made, I’d like you to consider the extended family of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and currently the richest man in the world. Imagine that Mr. Bezos had an adopted grandson. Imagine what this grandson could have and do—just about anything in the world, perhaps even a free trip to the moon. There is so much wealth in his family that he could almost purchase anything he wanted, with his grandfather’s permission, of course. The opportunities for his life would appear to be endless. He could have it all. That was pretty much the life of Moses, who was the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses likely lived in one of the finest homes in the world, surrounded by unimaginable wealth. He had one of the best educations in the world. The possibilities for his life were seemingly endless. But consider the choices he made. “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Recall that Moses’ biological mother nursed him for what might have been several years. She educated Moses. Moses knew who he was. He was a descendant of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people. He was not an Egyptian and that was evident in the way he lived his daily life. And that had consequences, unpleasant consequences. “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” Royal Egyptian life was grounded in sin and sinful pleasures. It was hedonistic to the core. The royal family was able to enjoy every sinful desire of their hearts. But Moses refused. He even refused Egyptian wealth. “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.” After leaving Egypt the first time at age 40, Moses lived in the wilderness, likely in tents, tending flocks and herds. That meant he left behind the unimaginable gold and jewels that the Egyptian royal family possessed. Had he stayed, he would have inherited at least some of it, but he refused. Surely there are many people in our world today who would question the sanity of Moses as he made these choices for his life. What could possibly cause him to make these choices which seem so foolish to so many people? It was the promise that the Lord had made to him, to every Jewish person, to every person on the face of the earth. God had promised to send the Messiah, the Savior, into the world through the nation to which Moses belonged by birth. Moses knew that the Lord would surely keep that promise because the Lord is faithful to every promise he makes. And Moses loved that promise. It was the most important part of his life. And that’s why he made the choices that he did, refusing every advantage that his life in the Egyptian royal family offered him. He loved what God promised him. May we do the same! Love what God promises, not the things of this world. Jesus once declared that we can’t serve two masters, namely, our God and the things of this world. As Christians, we know that to be true, but we certainly try, don’t we? We want to be devoted to our Lord and Savior but we’re constantly tugged by the things of this world. We hold on to this pipe dream that our happiness lies just around the corner, or we’ll achieve it once we reach this next goal in our lives. We buy into the advertising that bombards our minds daily that we’ll feel better about ourselves when we own what’s being dangled before our eyes. And God wants us to be happy, doesn’t he? Happy with what? Happy in what? Moses possessed inner peace and joy because the source of that peace and joy was not in the things that the Egyptian royal family had to offer him. He found it in the Lord who had promised him a Savior. That Savior is Jesus who never allowed the things this world offered him to get in the way of the work he had come to earth to accomplish. He always made the right choices because he was completely devoted to his Father and completely devoted to you. He loved his Father, and he loves you. Love him in return, not the things of this world. Part II. When you consider the life of Moses and compare it to your own, you might have a difficult time finding many commonalities. Moses was adopted royalty. God chose him as the one to lead his people of out of slavery in Egypt. The Bible states that Moses spent time in the presence of God like no other human being. He’s considered one of the greatest prophets of all time. So, what could the two of you possibly share? The same hope. And when I use that word “hope,” I mean Christian hope which is not a wish, but a guarantee. Moses lived every day as you do, with the hope of eternal life. And that’s why Moses made the choices that he did. The writer informs us that Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” The promise of the Messiah filled the heart of Moses with Christian hope. Moses realized that choosing to live for his Messiah would bring hardships into his life, but it was an easy choice to make. He realized that heaven was at stake. That was his reward. Not that Moses earned it or deserved it because of the choices he made. It was God’s reward to him by grace. That same reward of grace is yours. The writer also informs us that Moses chose to keep the Passover and the sprinkling of blood. God had promised Moses that the angel of death would pass over the houses that had the blood of the lamb painted on their doorposts. God has promised that death—separation from God—will pass over you because the blood of Christ has been painted on the door of your heart. In fact, our text states that Moses left Egypt without fearing Pharaoh. Moses had no idea what was ahead for him and the nation of Israel, but he was unafraid because he knew that the Lord was going with him. That was God’s promise to him. You have that same promise. Your Lord and Savior is always with you. And, like Moses, you have seen “him who is invisible.” Not with the eyes in your head, but with your eyes of faith. God has enabled you to see him as your Savior, the One who has promised eternal life with him. Faith in Christ as your Savior dwells in your heart and, by faith in him, you possess what God has promised to you—eternal life with him in heaven. Love what God promises—the gift of eternal life. I’d like you to think of something you once considered important in your life, something you may have spent a great deal of time, effort, or money to attain. And, for a while, it brought you a great deal of joy and satisfaction. Is there something in your life like that? Maybe it’s your home, or a dream vacation, or what you thought was the perfect employment situation. But what does that thing mean to you today? In fact, do you barely give it another thought? So do what Moses did. He left his life behind in order to focus on that really mattered—his eternal life with his God. You have that same promise of eternal life. Love what God promises! You have eternal life with him! Love that life! Amen.