Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2007 : September 23, 2007

Theme: When You Least Expect It -- Expect It

Church year occasion: Pentecost 17

15 seconds of silence

Do I have your attention now? Good. Then I've just shown you one way to get someone's attention -- give them something they don't expect. How did that make you feel? Uncomfortable? Edgy? Maybe even on the edge of your seats, listening intently for what would come next?

In our text, we witness a situation that we never would have expected -- after God sent 10 plagues on Egypt and saved his people from slavery and parted the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through it on dry ground, and after God destroyed the Pharaoh's army that pursued them, and after God gave them manna and quail in the desert and water from a rock, and even as God made a covenant with his people so they would be his own people of all the nations of the earth -- even after all those mighty and amazing things that God did for his people, while Moses was receiving the 10 Commandments written by the finger of God himself, the Israelites had a big party and worshipped an idol at the foot of Mt. Sinai. It's a shock to us to see that sin strikes God's people when we least expect it. But we are taken completely by surprise when we see God's reaction, and so we sit up and take notice as we see that God's grace is given when we least expect it as well. So, in other words, God the Holy Spirit is telling us: When You Least Expect It -- Expect It.

Israel's worship of the golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai has been called "the incredible sin." After all God had done for the Israelites, how could they react in such a horrible and sinful way? When you least expect sin -- expect sin to strike. On Mt. Sinai, God was finishing giving Moses his Ten Commandments and also how he wanted his covenant people to worship him. Then he tells Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' " Notice: God is ready to disown his people. He says that they are Moses' people, the people Moses had brought up out of Egypt. He wanted nothing more to do with them.

How could they commit this incredible sin? I think we can narrow it down to two causes: bad eyesight and bad memories. What do I mean by that? Well, think about it. The Israelites had been among the Egyptians, living in their land, being influenced by their culture and their false worship of false gods for over 400 years. Their vision of the true God had become blurred, and instead they had begun to grow fond of the worship practices of the Egyptians among whom they were living. That, above all else, was what God warned them about throughout the Old Testament. They had bad eyesight -- they lost sight of the true God in their lives, and instead they looked to Egypt's gods.

Not only did they have bad eyesight of the true God, they also had bad memories of him and what he had done for them. Basically, they forgot who God is. As strange as it sounds, the Israelites had forgotten all the astounding and breath-taking miracles that God had performed for them in taking them out of Egypt and making them his people. They were acting like spiritual children. A young child is always learning. One lesson is called object permanence. If you roll a ball behind the couch, you know it's behind the couch. But a young child doesn't. They can't see the ball so they assume that the ball has ceased to exist. I remember a little girl who cried each time her mother jumped into the water off of a boat in Pewaukee Lake. Of course she cried -- from her perspective, she thought her mother had ceased to exist. That's the problem with the Israelites. God was "gone" for 40 days with Moses on Mt. Sinai, so for all practical purposes the Israelites "forgot" that God existed. Then they could do whatever they wanted, like worship a false god in disgusting acts of worship.

The Israelites may have lost sight of God, but he saw perfectly what they were doing. " 'I have seen these people,' the LORD said to Moses, 'and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.' " And that is exactly what the Israelites deserved.

But then the same is true for you and me. Do we have bad eyesight when it comes to seeing God in our lives? We might not bow down to a golden calf, but Satan is much more subtle than that. And the sad thing is that sometimes it happens when we'd least expect it -- when we're at the top of our game, spiritually speaking. But, when you least expect it, expect it, because Satan is always looking for ways you can slip up. You can be a habitual speeder, but the moment you actually drive the speed limit, when you're at the top of your spiritual game, what happens? You are appalled at all those horrible speeders that zoom past you! You might give a generous offering in church for the Lord's work. You're at the top of your spiritual game. But you can instantly look down your nose at those who don't give as much as you. You can knock on doors for a few weeks for evangelism. Again, you're at the top of your game, but you wonder where everyone else is when you're working so hard. And if I haven't hit your particular sin of pride, it's there somewhere. Even when we're at the top of our game spiritually, we are teetering on the brink of a big fall. The Apostle Paul warned us that if we think we're standing firm, be careful that we don't fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). Even at our best, sin is always crouching at our door, waiting to pounce on us and make us its captive.

But we're not always at our best; we're not always at the top of our game. Sometimes we wander far from God and his Word as we follow our own sinful desires. And for such blatant sinning, we deserve exactly what the Israelites deserved -- to have the hand of God's judgment strike us down. We deserve the punishment for our sins which is eternal damnation.

The only thing we can do is what David did as he prayed: "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me." (Psalm 51:11) All we see is God's righteous right hand raised in anger and judgment against us sinners, who deserve every bit of it. But as we are about to witness that fist of God strike us down eternally, we remember what God is telling us in this portion of Scripture: When you least expect it -- expect it. Not only expect us to show our utter sinfulness even as Christians, but also expect God to give us his grace.

We see that amazing grace in our text, and Moses was a key player. Do you remember what God had said? "Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." Does that make sense? Did God have to tell Moses to step back, to leave him so he could carry out his judgment? Of course not. He was testing Moses here. And Moses stood the test. Instead of taking the blessing God freely offered him, he pleaded with the Holy God for his sinful people.

Moses had three arguments:

" 'O LORD,' he said, 'why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?' " Moses was reminding God who these people were, not Moses' people, but God's chosen people.
"Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people." Moses said to God, 'Remember who you are -- not some weak god like the Egyptians' false gods who can do nothing.' He is God Almighty, who would show his greatness not by destroying his people, but by being merciful to them when no one could have expected it.
"Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' " Basically, remember your covenant with your people.

"Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened."

When no mercy was possible, God showed mercy. When we least expect it -- expect it. Why did he show mercy here? Because of Moses? To an extent, because he was the mediator between God and his people. But the real reason was the Mediator who was to come -- God's own Son.

Jesus reminded God of who you and I are: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9
Jesus reminded God of who he is: "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." Exodus 34:6-7
Jesus reminded God of his covenant of grace with us which Jesus himself put into effect: "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25, and "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:34

Even after his own people had forgotten him, God never forgot his mercy to them. When he sees your lack of serving him in your life and putting him first, he sees Jesus who put him first always for us. When God sees us forging the false idol of ourselves, he sees Jesus who never looked to serve himself, but only others, even so much as to give up his perfect life on the cross to take our sins away. When God sees our rebellion and sin and should punish us for it, Jesus reminds him: 'I suffered their punishment already. It is done. It is completely paid for.' So our God turns to us as our friend and welcomes us into heaven -- all based on what Jesus did for us.

When you least expect it, expect it. Even after we've committed plenty of incredible sins, God's forgiveness is still ours. When you come as a broken sinner before God himself knowing what you deserve but trusting Jesus has taken your punishment and set you free, God does the unexpected -- he forgives and he blesses. Actually, because of Christ, that grace is no longer unexpected -- we look to it every day of our lives as we strive to live for him. Expect that unexpected mercy of God and live in its power every day. Then you will be able to be at the top of your spiritual game and serve your God and enjoy his blessings. Amen.