4th Sunday before Lent – Sermon 79

Prayer to start

May the words of my lips and the thoughts of our hearts be graciously received for the Glory and Honour of our Lord Jesus Christ

AMEN

Introduction

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
We all have to make them
Where we live, who we live with
What we eat –
Whether to come to church or not

Some are more life changing than others

The Israelites had a life changing decision to make

Should they take God at His word – and go and possess the land He promised them –

Or – trust in the eyes of the spies – and stay – in the wilderness

On the face of it – we’d have thought it would have been no contest – surely anything was better than the desert –

But they’d hadn’t counted on the report about the 3 G’s – the Grapes, Giants and grasshoppers

  

First Point        The report from the Spies

 

In Hebrew – The title of the book of Numbers – means – “in the desert”

It records all the grumblings and rebellions – made by the Israelites during their journey through the wilderness –

At the start of the book – they are preparing for a great adventure –free at last from the chains of slavery – in Egypt –

But in a matter of weeks – months – years – the hostile environment of the desert would melt away their enthusiasm –and what should have taken a few weeks – took almost 40 years –

We meet them just weeks in to their journey – when the land they’d been promised was only days away –

God told Moses to send out twelve spies to explore Canaan –so they could see what was waiting for them –

No doubt everyone was hoping for an optimistic report – a land flowing with milk and honey – after all everything – God has promised them – so far – had been delivered –

But when the spies returned – they had some – good news – and some bad news –

The good news – was that the land – was all that God had said it would be –
Food and fruit in abundance – ready to be taken – they even cut down a branch full of grapes –and brought it – to show them –

Then came the bad news –

The opposition was bigger than they expected – the towns were fortified and very large – and they saw giants – the descendents of Anak who were great in physical size and stature –

“The country we explored” – they said –“ will swallow up anyone who goes to live in it”

“When we set eyes on them ……. We felt no bigger than Grasshoppers”

What dominated the talk afterwards – wasn’t the size of the grapes – but the size of the giants

“We cannot attack these people – they are too strong for us”

The people measured the obstacles and challenges ahead of them – against their own strength – instead of God’s –

 

Point 2    Giants or grasshoppers

 

What the Israelites saw was a reflection of the giants that were lurking inside them – the three D’s – the giants of Difficulty – Doubt and Delay –

Giant of Difficulty

The Giant of difficulty says –the task is too hard – the opposition is too great – you know you can’t win –

You can just imaging their conversations: If only they weren’t so strong – if only they weren’t so big –

They saw themselves – as grasshoppers – in the eyes of Giants – instead of seeing the giants as grasshoppers – in the eyes of God –

Giant of Doubt

Doubt is a powerful challenge to the Christian life – we all want to know things for certain – we want to be like Thomas – to see our risen Christ – to eat with Him – touch Him –

Like the Israelites – we too want to see the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night – then we know He’s here – with us –

And – when we talk about Jesus – we want to be able to point to the proof – give them a sign – say here it is – look at that – read that – see that –

But we can’t – because our walk is a walk of faith

The Christian journey is a long haul – and we get impatient with our faith – its benefits are long term – we need patience – we need perseverance – few things discourage us more than failure – or the though of it –

Doubt will always be with us – trying to blind us to God’s greatness and power – and magnify our own weaknesses – what matters – is whether – we consider it to be a giant – or a grasshopper –

Giant of Delay

Wouldn’t you know it – A few giants show up – and all of a sudden everyone – says hey wait a minute – let’s not rush into things – lets not be too hasty – maybe things aren’t so bad here after all –-

All of a sudden – the status quo – is OK – lets not overstep ourselves – things have gone well so far – lets keep it that way – lets not take any risks – – lets stick with what we’ve got –

Trouble is if there’s no risk – there’s no growth – if we are not prepared to step out of the comfort zone – then we won’t go any further –

For the Israelites – 40 days of testing, tasting and explaining – resulted in 40 years of aimless wondering – because they thought their giants were too formidable –

They had a tremendous opportunity staring them in the face – and they couldn’t see it – They went out to explore the promised land – but dwelt on the problems – and took their eyes off the solution

 

 

Point 3   Qualities of a Christian

 

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom – there were – the grapes – and of course there was Caleb –

He spoke out against the negative comments of the others – He showed the qualities that God is looking for in His people –

As Paul writes in our NT lesson –

We must be encouragers – obedient, responsible and sensible –

We must “Do everything without grumbling or argument, show ourselves to be innocent and above reproach – be faultless children of God in a crooked and depraved generation – shine like stars in a dark world – and proffer the word of life “

He deliberately puts his commendations to Timothy and Epraphoditus – in the middle of this Epistle – rather than the end – in order to emphasise the humble self-denying sacrifice that Jesus wants to encourage in His people.

Working out our salvation – must be done using God’s strength – not ours – dependence on Him comes first – its not about trying harder – but about trusting – we must first build up a rich and close relationship – with Jesus – so that we can then draw all we need from Him

There will always be giants, walled cities and enemies to hold us back – testing us – as well as bringing us to maturity –

What’s important is whether we are prepared to trust and believe and act in response to a faithful – caring -and powerful God – as Paul reminds the us in Philippians 4 v13 – “I am able to face anything through Christ – who gives me strength"

  

Conclusion

 

Israel was standing at a crossroads – they could see what was waiting for them – but they were not willing to trust – and make it their own

The question they should have asked themselves – is not how big their problem is – or how big they were – but how big God is –

There’s only one way to walk in faith – and that’s with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus –

He is a working presence and active force within us – providing unlimited resources – and strength

But – good things don’t come easy – it takes sacrifice -and determination – it took Christ’s blood to get us this far – lets not lose – the opportunity of a life time – by not going any further –

Everything is gained when we surrender ourselves – to Jesus – dying to self means we can face opposition and obstacles in an entirely different light – we see them the way Jesus sees them – not as obstacles – but opportunities –

How do we see the challenges and obstacles – in our journey of faith ? –
When God sends us out to make a report about the people of Lymm – what do we see –

Grasshoppers – giants? – or a harvest waiting to be brought in –

If we believe that God’s grapes are worth the battle – lets trust – Him – and go for it –

You can count on God to do His part – can He count on you to do yours?

 

 
Prayer to Finish

for the Glory of God the Father

AMEN