Good evening, Church of the Advent.
Okay, I'm going to try that one more time.
This doesn't count against my sermon time.
I'm just saying good evening.
Good evening, Church of the Advent.
All right, amen.
It's good to be back with you again this week
to open God's Word and bring a message from the book of Exodus.
As you can see, and as Pastor Dan has said,
our message comes from our Old Testament reading.
This evening, Exodus chapter 2, verses 1 through 10.
And the title of the sermon is
Two Mothers, One God, and a Savior.
And as we will see in this message,
as we work our way through this text,
is that God is pleased to regularly work through the ordinary
to bring about His extraordinary purposes.
Would you bow your heads and pray with me as I begin?
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name belongs the glory.
We thank you for this, your Word, that is not dead, but that is living, active,
sharper than any double-edged sword.
Lord, that pierces to the division of soul and spirit and joints and marrow
and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Lord, we are all naked and exposed to you,
the one to whom we must all give account.
So be pleased, Lord, through the preaching of your Word
to meet us where we are and give us what we need,
faith and encouragement, hope and love,
correction, conviction, whatever it is, Lord God,
that we would be people who live not for our praise,
but for the glory and praise of Jesus Christ, our King.
Amen, amen, and amen.
Well, James Weldon Johnson is probably most well-known
as the man who wrote the lyrics to the song that came to be known
as the Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.
However, almost 95 years ago, in 1925,
he and his brother, John Rosamond Johnson,
published a two-volume work called
The Books of the American Negro Spirituals.
They labored to compile all the Negro spirituals
into this two-volume work
and set them to appropriate musical arrangements.
And unlike other Christian hymnals,
there aren't any authors listed for any of the songs.
That's because no one knows who first penned the words
of any of the spirituals,
but they came to be embraced by a community
that was enduring suffering.
James Weldon Johnson opens the preface to the book
with the words of a poem that he had written
20 years before the book was published.
The title of this poem is
O Black and Unknown Bards.
And here's some of what he writes in that poem.
Heart of what slave poured out such melody
as steal away Jesus?
On its strains his spirit must have nightly floated free,
though still about his hands he felt chains.
Who heard great Jordan roll?
Whose starwood eye saw chariots swing low?
And who was he that breathed that comforting,
melodic sigh?
Nobody knows the trouble I see.
What merely living cloud,
what captive thing could up toward God
through all its darkness grope
and find within its deadened heart
to sing these songs of sorrow,
love and faith and hope.
And he ends the poem with these words.
You sang far better than you knew.
The songs that for your listeners hungry heart sufficed still live.
But more than this to you belongs.
You sang a race from wood and stone to Christ.
The words of this poem were on my mind
because of this question that Johnson asks in the poem.
What captive thing could up toward God
through all its darkness grope
and find within its deadened heart
to sing these songs of love and sorrow,
faith and hope?
There is a reason why
the black American slave
found particular intimacy
with the book of Exodus
and the plight of the children of Israel in Egypt.
We have in our text
what we might call the audacity of hope.
We see two mothers in our text.
One who is groping through the darkness of captivity
with the audacity in her desperation to have hope.
The other who is in the seat of privilege
but whom God uses to answer that hope
with the most surprising form of help.
Through this help, God brings a hero.
Those are the three H's I want to talk to you about
this evening.
Hope, help, and the hero.
And I also want to invite you
to see another H in our message
even though it's not one of my points.
There is a deep, deep humanity
that permeates this passage of Scripture.
We don't just go looking for theological facts
or life application points.
I want us to come into
the rich human experience of this story.
God is not mentioned at all
in these ten verses.
He's there but he is behind the scene
putting before us the people
and how he directs lives for his good purpose.
And we're clued into this
in the very first verse of the passage.
We're told that a man from the house of Levi
went and married a daughter of Levi.
And this is not a throwaway verse.
It's significant because the Levites
are going to be the tribe
through whom the priests come.
It's the tribe of Levi
that will have the responsibility
over the holy objects in the tabernacle.
The priests from the tribe of Levi
will stand as intercessors.
That is, they will stand between God
and the people offering sacrifices
on behalf of the people
and bringing them before God
in prayer and worship.
They are specially set apart
for God's service.
And even though that hasn't happened yet
in the story in Exodus,
it would have been a clear indication
to the original readers
that they were about to see a man
set apart by God for special service.
And this message, it comes
in the middle of the most desperate of situations.
The woman conceives in verse 2,
it says,
and she gives birth to a son
when she saw him,
that he was a fine child,
the ESV translated,
some other English translations,
that he was beautiful.
She hid him for three months.
She gave birth to a son.
The description that he's a fine child
or a beautiful child
is giving us insight
into how this mother felt
about her baby boy.
This is a passion-filled statement.
Her love for him
leads her to act in hope
that things could be different
for her son.
She gave birth to a son
stands in direct contrast
to Pharaoh's decree
in chapter 1, verse 22,
when Pharaoh says,
every son shall be cast
into the Nile.
It's not as though Moses
was the only beautiful
or fine or healthy
Hebrew newborn baby boy.
What's emphasized here
in Exodus chapter 2
is mom's love,
her love for her son
that drives her to hope
for something better for him.
Her hope causes her
to stand in opposition
to the king of Egypt.
She opposes the king's law,
just like the midwives
in chapter 1,
mom is on God's side.
How many of you know
that it is hard
to find a human love
that is stronger
than the love
that a mother has
for her child?
That motherly love,
it images God's own love.
In the 131st Psalm,
David pictures himself
at rest and peaceful
as someone who's received
that kind of love
from God.
He says in the second verse
of the 131st Psalm,
but I have calmed
and quieted my soul
like a weaned child
with its mother,
like a weaned child
is my soul within me.
He's saying that
like that weaned child
is content
to just live
in his mother's presence,
he is content
as a faithful worshiper
with God's presence.
He compares the love
and peace
that he receives
from God
to that
of a mother's love.
Do you know,
mothers,
that in your love
for your children,
you are imaging God?
Not only that,
but look at how God works.
We're going to see this again
in the second point,
but the Lord loves
to use the ordinary truths
that he has put in place,
that he has wired
into the fabric
of our being
to bring about
his extraordinary purposes.
God has got a greater purpose
for Moses.
Moses was going to be a savior.
He was going to deliver
his people from bondage
and even more,
God had determined
that Moses was going
to be a prefiguring
of Jesus Christ,
that when we looked
at Moses,
what we would be looking at
is someone
who is pointing us
to Jesus Christ.
But Moses' mother
doesn't know any of that.
All she knows
is that she loves her son.
She doesn't care
that she was a slave
with no rights.
She couldn't bear
the thought
of giving her son up
to be killed
and that love,
it led her
to a desperate hope
when she was no longer able,
we are told,
in verse number three,
to keep him hidden.
She took a little ark.
She took a basket
of papyrus wreaths
and made it waterproof
by sealing it
with bitumen
and pitch
and she put the child
in the basket
and placed it
among the wreaths
by the bank
of the Nile River.
How many
Hebrew baby boys
had been thrown
into the Nile
as it became
a river of death?
Here she is
placing her baby
at the edge
of the Nile
hoping to save
his life,
hoping that the waters
of death
becomes a river
of life
for her son.
Can you feel
her heart
pounding inside
of her chest?
I've got to do
something.
He may die,
but what else
can I do?
What was she hoping
and praying
at that moment?
I would imagine
that she had to say
and pray
what every mother
who trusts
in the Lord
will have to say
and pray.
At some point,
Lord,
I place him
in your hands.
Would you guard
his life?
I do not have
control over
what will happen
to him,
but you do.
Take care
of my child.
Mothers,
have you ever
had to pray
like that?
If you have not,
yet you will.
Her hope
had to be
in the Lord
even as she
dispatched
his sister
to stand
at a distance
to find out
what would
happen to him.
And from the
most unexpected
place,
God provides
help
in response
to her hope.
And I love
the way the story
breaks in the fifth
verse.
It says,
Now,
Pharaoh's daughter
came down
to bathe at the
river,
and her young
women were
walking beside
the river.
And wouldn't
you know it,
she saw the
basket among
the reeds,
and she sent
her servant
woman to go
and get it.
Now,
upon initial
reading,
that doesn't
quite sound
like help.
But when she
opened it,
and she
seized the
child,
it says,
and behold,
the boy
was crying.
she took
pity on him
and said,
This is one
of the
Hebrews'
children.
The help
for Moses,
the hope
of his
mother's
prayer,
is going
to come
from Pharaoh's
own household.
The help
comes from
the most
unexpected
and least
likely of
places God
has determined
to use
Pharaoh's
daughter to
help a
Hebrew boy
who would
later deliver
his people
from bondage
to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh
has been
trying to
play God
and declare
himself as
the one who
has authority
over life
and death.
And the clear
message of the
text is that
no king,
no leader,
has absolute
authority and
power.
Absolute power
and authority
belong to
God and God
alone.
He's not
mentioned in
the text,
but it's clear
who is calling
the shots.
Pharaoh can't
be everywhere
and see
everything.
He doesn't
even know
what's going
on with
Moses and
his own
daughter,
but God
does.
How does
God help
Moses?
The answer
is through
the same
means that
Moses came
to be in
that basket
in the first
place through
a mother's
love.
The hinge
in the story
are the
words in
verse number
six,
she took
pity on
him.
This isn't
her simply
feeling sorry
for this
baby.
It is pity
with a deep
sense of
compassion.
One of the
hardest words
to appropriately
translate into
English is the
Hebrew word
that is
translated as
behold.
In verse
six, it's
regularly translated
as behold,
and sometimes
it's left
untranslated.
It can often
carry the
sense of
an assertion
of truth
with emphasis,
which is why
we often see
behold.
But to get
at the reaction
of Pharaoh's
daughter,
behold,
doesn't quite
cut it for
me.
When she
opens the
basket and
saw the
child, her
reaction is
like, look,
look, oh
my goodness,
a baby boy
and he's
crying.
And you
picture the
scene, her
heart, her
heart was
knit to
this baby
boy.
I do not
know if this
is the case
at the
church of
the Advent
here in
this parish,
but I know
that in every
church that I've
had the privilege
of serving,
either as a
pastoral intern
or as a
pastor to
this point in
my ministry,
we've always
had some
adoptive
mothers,
some women
who have
adopted
children or
who desire
to adopt.
And what
is it like,
what is it
like for an
adoptive
mother the
first time
that she
lays eyes
on the
child whom
God would
bring into
her home?
For those
who desire
to adopt,
what would
you imagine
it will be
like when
you lay
your eyes
on him
or her?
You know
that God
will knit
your heart
to that
child.
You know
that there
will be a
deep sense
of compassion
and love.
If you can
picture yourself
in that
scenario,
you know
what happened
to Pharaoh's
daughter.
God provided
Moses with
two mothers,
a birth
mother who
out of a
deep love
and a
desperate
hope for
a better
life for
her son
was willing
to let go
of him
and give
him up.
And he
provided for
Moses,
an adoptive
mother,
who the
moment she
laid eyes
on him
knew,
this is
my son.
But you
love God
and how
he works.
Do you
understand?
This is not
a case of
mistaken
identity.
Pharaoh's
daughter knows
that this
is a
Hebrew
boy and
he's
supposed to
die.
He's
supposed to
be killed.
But she
doesn't care.
His
ethnicity was
not nearly
as important
to her as
his humanity.
It's his
condition that
has reached
her heart.
She does
not care
what her
father's law
is.
And guess
what?
She doesn't
know what
God has in
store for
Moses either.
the Lord
decided to
provide Moses
the protection
and the
covering that
he needed by
giving him
an adoptive
mother.
Praise God
for mothers
who adopt.
Look at
the covering
and protection
that Moses
receives because
of Pharaoh's
daughter.
His sister
has been
standing at
a distance
waiting in
the wings
if you
will.
And when
she sees
what happens
she goes
to Pharaoh's
daughter and
says do you
want me to
go and get
one of the
Hebrew women
to nurse the
boy for you?
Because of
Pharaoh's
decree there
are probably
any number
of Hebrew
birth mothers
who are
available to
nurse a
baby because
their own
son has
been killed.
But his
sister knows
exactly who
she's going
to get.
The birth
mother and
the adoptive
mother meet.
One a
slave and
the other
royalty.
Nurse him
for me
she says
and I will
give to you
your wages.
Moses'
birth mother
gets paid
to nurse her
own son
and help
raise him.
She can do
it out in
the open
without fear
because he's
being adopted
into the
royal family.
No Egyptian
is going to
come and
kill him
now.
Because of
this adoption
the hero
is able to
live.
Moses is the
hero.
Make no
mistake about
it.
He's the
one who's
going to
grow up
and save
his people
but he is
a hero
who needed
help.
He is a
hero who
was vulnerable
and who
needed God's
protection
through the
love of
two mothers
and even
in this
listen
even in
this
he directs
our gaze
toward Jesus
Christ.
For when God
wanted to save
us from our
desperate condition
of enslavement
to our own
sinful hearts
when he
wanted to
save us
from the
path of
destruction
that our
sinful rebellion
against him
has us on
he sent
his son
born of
a woman
born as
a baby
as the
Bible says
for unto
us a
son is
born a
child is
born unto
us a
son is
given.
His name
is Jesus
Christ.
The story
of Exodus
chapter 2
is repeated
in our
gospel reading
from Matthew
chapter 2
King Herod
is threatened
by the birth
of the one
who has been
born king
of the Jews
and he
institutes
the same
murderous
program
killing
all the
male children
in the
region of
Bethlehem
who were
two years
old or
younger
and the
angel of
the Lord
warns
Joseph
Jesus'
adoptive
father
in a
dream
and the
family
runs away
to Egypt
to escape
the murderous
decree.
Listen,
the salvation
that God
provides,
the deliverance
that God
provides
comes through
the vulnerability
of our
savior
Jesus
Christ.
God
had Moses
go into
the Nile
into the
place
of his
people's
suffering
that he
might be
able to
identify
with their
sufferings
but the
ultimate
hero
is not
Moses
the ultimate
hero
is Jesus
Christ.
God
had Jesus
enter the
sufferings
of his
people
to bring
to us
an even
greater
salvation.
The
deliverance
that Jesus
brings
is greater
than the
deliverance
Moses brought.
As the
writer to
the Hebrews
says in
Hebrews
chapter 2
and verse
3,
Jesus has
been counted
worthy of
more glory
than Moses
as much
more glory
as the
builder of
a house
has more
honor than
the house
itself.
Moses was
faithful in
all God's
house as
a servant
to testify
to the
things that
were to be
spoken later
but Christ
is faithful
over God's
house as
a son.
The
Savior
Jesus
Christ
the hero
who came
to us
as a
vulnerable
baby boy
in need
of God's
protection
in order
to enable
him to
identify
with us
in every
way.
He is a
greater hero
with a
greater salvation
than Moses
because he's
building a
house for
God.
And this
house is
built with
you and I
with living
stones,
people that
God
indiscriminately
brings in
from every
ethnic group
and social
class.
do you
know
what every
member
of Jesus'
house has
in common?
Do you
know other
than the
fact that
we're people?
We all
come in
through
adoption.
We all
come in
through
adoption,
through
Jesus.
God
bestows
on us
that love
we see
in adoptive
mothers who
lay their
eyes upon
children in
need of a
home and
say, I'm
bringing her
in, I am
bringing him
in.
If you belong
to Jesus
Christ, do you
know that is
the kind of
love that
God looked
at you with?
faith, you
are lost and
going astray
and God
says, I
take pity
on you, move
with a deep
sense of
compassion for
you as you
are and
says, I'm
bringing you
in.
I'm bringing
you in.
Do you
know, do
you know the
adoptive love
of God who
has entered
into our
suffering?
Are you
able to
rejoice tonight
in being
adopted by
God?
through faith
in Jesus
Christ, knowing
that once
you're in, you're
never out.
Once you're in, you
will never be
cast out.
No one is
strong enough, not
even you in your
own fight against
your sin is
strong enough to
take yourself out
of God's adoptive
love.
Amen, amen, and
amen.
Would you pray
with me?