Morning Message Text: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,
2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,
3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.
4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.
6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
11 who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.
12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Morning Message:
Tomorrow we will once again observe and commemorate Memorial Day. It is a day set aside to honor and remember those brave men and women who died while serving in the United Sates Armed forces. It was originally known as Decoration Day and the first national observance occurred on May 30, 1868. Some say that it was Abraham Lincoln who was the founder of this holiday when a ceremony of commemoration was held at the graves of dead soldiers during a dedication at a cemetery in Gettysburg Pennsylvania in 1863. Regardless of when or how it started it is an opportunity every year to remember the sacrifices that brave men and women have made for our freedom. Now I don’t like to over emphasize patriotism in our worship services. We don’t worship patriots; we worship God. You don’t have to be patriotic to be a Christian, but I think that the heart of a Christian lends itself to patriotism.
I like to study history, and I enjoy reading quotes from leaders of the past. Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorites, and I am frequently amazed when I discover something that he said that is new to me. He once said, “I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” Just one more, he said, “Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on God, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.” This is what our forefathers and many who gave their lives for this great nation shared: an unselfish vision of what this nation could be, and the willingness to sacrifice everything, even their lives for that vision.
God can use everything in life to adjust our focus, if we will allow him to. Our reading from the Psalms today is a perfect example of how God’s Word can remove the selfishness from our hearts, but we must let it sink into our souls. This is a prayer, and it starts off sounding like any other prayer when someone is asking God for something. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us,” (don’t stop there) “so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” Let me ask you a very important question. How often do you praise God? Just on Sunday in church? Every once in a while, when you are having a good day or after God has blessed you in some wonderful way? How is your prayer life? Has it become routine, stale, very mechanical? Do you find it hard to stay focused? Do you ever find yourself falling asleep during prayer? Don’t be ashamed. It happens to all of us. Would you like to try something different? I am going to give you the secret. Learn how to mix praise into your prayers. God responds to praise, and guess what, so does our souls. Your prayer time can still be serious and focused and at the same time joyful and full of praise. “May the peoples praise you, God may all the peoples praise you.” “May the Nations be glad and sing for joy.” Praise is unselfish and gives us vision, God’s vision.
Meanwhile, we left Moses back on Mount Nebo. Chapter 34 of Deuteronomy is an obituary notice — the story of the death of Moses, the servant of God. A question naturally arises: If Moses is the author of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy, is he therefore the necessary writer of the story of his own death? This question should not keep us up at night or cause us to doubt. The Lord can do anything and if he so chooses then Moses could have indeed written about his own death. The more likely answer is that Joshua, who is mentioned in this chapter, wrote this chapter under the sovereign hand of the Lord.
I want us to consider this for a moment. God instructed Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nebo to fulfill a promise that He made to Moses. There is an earlier account where God told Moses that because of his failure to give glory to God when he struck the rock and water came out, he would not enter the promised land. Personally, I think that it was never God’s will for anyone from Moses’ generation to enter the promised land, but his reward for his faithful service was that before he died, he would get to see it. Moses, the servant of God, the only one who spoke to and heard directly from God, had an unselfish vision of a land flowing with milk and honey and he sacrificed everything for others, for his people, for God’s people. This is the true definition of a leader. Moses went to the mountain top. He saw what he had been striving for, but he never entered in. I am reminded every time I read this from the famous speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. Everyone remembers it as the “I Had a Dream” speech, but that’s not what sticks with me. The Rev. Dr. King was dreaming of a better society, and he said that he had envisioned it; he had seen the promised land where all of his dreams would be realized. Then he said, “I might not get there with you, but you will get there.” I am sure, as a pastor, that he had this Deuteronomy 34 scripture in mind when he wrote that sermon. He had an unselfish vision, and he sacrificed for it.
As followers of Jesus, the Lord and Savior of the world, the one who sacrificed everything for us, we should recognize the value of those who have lived and died unselfishly clinging only to the vision of a better world, a more perfect union. It is unfortunate that we only seem to recognize these heroes occasionally, and most times, only after they are gone. As Christians we should look for these attributes in those who seek to be our leaders. We need to stop judging people according to what everyone says about them and look deeper at the unselfish vision they have for this nation. People who are willing to sacrifice, not those who only seem to take for themselves. Our Savior taught us that if you want to be a true leader you must first be a servant to all.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
Views: 2
