God has a wonderful sense of humour and great ways of humbling his servants.
So here I am preaching about humility.
Let me tell you how the morning began.
Needed to print out my sermon, needed to redo the service sheet
and the photocopier machine that we have, which is a magic machine,
had a major meltdown.
And I come back in to pick up my work off the machine
and two people are standing there, two of you are standing there.
I've apologised to one already, I'll get to the other one,
saying it's all jammed up and it's just not working.
And I said, somebody's physically turned the switch off on the site
because the switch was off on the site.
And they're standing there going, wasn't me, wasn't me.
And I'm thinking, well, somebody's turned it off.
So we go through the cycle again, we turn it on,
we push the instruction on the top,
and as soon as we push the instruction on the top,
the switch on the side of the machine goes, click.
I was wrong.
It's hard to say, isn't it?
Let's pray.
Lord, as we come to your word this morning,
we pray that you would speak to us by your spirit.
We pray that you would be at work in all of us,
transforming us into the likeness of Christ
and wrestling with who we really are
and submitting to you as who you really are.
And we pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.
Amen.
To recap, we are on a journey.
We had an intermission last week.
We had back to church Sunday
and we've got one or two back with us this morning
and that's fantastic.
But we're on a journey.
Before that, we've been on this journey in the Old Testament,
through the Old Testament book of Numbers.
And we began the series in Numbers chapter 9
and God leading his people on a journey to the land of promise.
All was well.
God was in their midst.
The whole nation's life was centred on him.
There was joy and purpose for living
which came from having God as the absolute centre of this nation.
And so it was a journey that began a bit like a Ferrari ride
if you've been on the upgraded M2,
the beautiful, smooth surface that it's got at the moment.
It's fast.
It's smooth.
It's powerful.
There's not a bump in the road.
And then you get to Numbers chapter 11
where we were last time
and it is as if the Ferrari has turned off the highway
onto a rocky bush track
and the grumbles begin.
The people complain about their difficult life.
They quickly forget how hard it was before.
They complain about the menu.
They like economy class passengers on a flight to the United States.
They're grizzling about the legroom, the service and the food.
And Moses comes out one morning
and people are just sobbing all over the place.
It says in Numbers 11,
they're standing, the whole families are standing
at the entrances of their tents,
just sobbing.
And Moses is so overwhelmed by the people's demands,
he melts down
and he makes this pitiful complaint to God,
finishing with,
if this is how you are going to treat me,
do me a favour and put me to death right now.
Don't try it.
They are not in a good place.
Short story is God judges the people.
But the amazing thing is that God answers Moses
with a word which is to awaken faith.
Is the Lord's arm too short?
You will now see whether or not
what I say will come true for you.
And we read on and you see that God does the impossible.
He feeds the people.
He judges them.
But he tenderly provides for Moses.
And he raises up 70 spirit-filled leaders
to assist him in the task of leading the nation.
So God hears his complaint
and provides for him in a very generous and personal way.
And that leads us into Numbers chapter 12
where we are today.
So for Moses,
leadership clearly isn't easy.
The complaints continue
but now they come from a different direction.
This time they come from his right-hand man
and his right-hand woman,
both on the same side.
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses
because of his Cushite wife
for he had married a Cushite.
Has the Lord only spoken through Moses?
Hasn't he also spoken through us?
And the Lord heard this.
So Miriam and Aaron are Moses' older brother and sister.
They've both had very significant and prophetic roles
in leading the people of Israel.
Aaron was the high priest for the nation.
He was also Moses' public address system.
So when Moses spoke to the people,
it was Aaron who did the talking.
Miriam was probably the protective big sister
who watched over her baby brother
when their mum floated him in the Nile River.
She was the woman in Exodus 15
who led the women of Israel
singing and praising God
when he saved them from the Egyptian army.
Now she joyously grabbed the tambourine.
She bounced all over the place.
They danced and sang.
She said,
Sing to the Lord for he's highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.
And so Moses and Aaron and Miriam
were the leading people of the nation
until the Lord appointed 70 spirit-filled leaders
to assist Moses.
The leadership team's just been expanded
in a really big way
and not everyone's happy.
Sort of like a family owned and run business
merging with a corporation
with a whole lot of people
who are at a similar level of leadership.
And there are many relationships to be juggled
as people find their place
in this new organisation.
Job security,
potential loss of significance
are big drivers
for many of us.
And so what happens?
Well, two of the original three
gang up on little brother.
So verse 1,
Miriam and Aaron
began to talk against Moses
because of his Cushite wife.
For he'd married a Cushite.
Has the Lord only spoken through him?
And Moses gets what you call triangled.
It's the sort of thing
that people do all the time.
Your kids are having a fight.
Two of your kids are having a fight.
Well, your grandkids,
they're having a fight
and you step in
and think you'll try and fix things.
And all of a sudden,
what do they do?
They unite,
they form an alliance against you
and you get sucked into the conflict
and they're firmly placed on the other side.
See, Miriam and Aaron
speak against Moses
and the basis for their accusation
is his foreign wife.
Exodus tells us her name is Zephora.
She's a Moabites
who might have come from a place called Cushan.
She may have had a different skin colour.
She's descended from Abraham.
But not from Israel.
She hadn't been through the plagues in Egypt
or the journey through the bottom of the sea.
She had remained with her dad
while Moses went
and confronted the king of Egypt.
So we're not really sure
what their problem with her was.
You know,
were they critical of her race?
Or that she hadn't been through the salvation
and the hard times
that they had been through?
Or that she had Moses' ear
in a way that they don't?
But whatever it is,
it becomes the issue
that Miriam and Aaron
work themselves up into a lather over
to the point
that they assert themselves against Moses.
has the Lord only spoken through him?
And it's almost like,
well, what makes him so special?
Very Aussie.
They cut down the tall poppy
and they effectively say,
he's no better than us.
We've prophesied.
And they are right
because the Lord has spoken
through both of them.
But they are wrong
because God has made Moses special
and God has called Moses to his role.
It's not a very easy thing
to be a leader
when other people think
they can do a better job than you.
I've been there.
And it's easy to think
that you are the better preacher
or that you have
the intellectual high ground
or that you have
a much better idea
of what is strategic
and what our leaders
should be doing.
Most of us have spent
the last few weeks
being the wise ones
and articulating
what our prime minister
and government
should be concerned about.
We know how to do that job,
don't we?
And it's very easy
when we challenge leadership
to be in the same time
what we're actually doing
is we're exalting ourselves.
And so Miriam and Aaron
lift themselves to Moses' level.
They don't try to go over his level,
they just try to come up to his level.
And they say,
has the Lord only spoken through Moses?
Hasn't he also spoken through us?
But they're not innocent questions
because the challenge is on.
And there is a very foreboding
and the Lord heard this.
Verse 2.
And God steps in
and he stands by his man.
So verse 4,
at once the Lord said to Moses
and to Aaron and to Miriam,
come out to the tent of meeting,
all three of you,
get out here.
So the three of them came out
and then the Lord came down
in a pillar of cloud
and he stood at the entrance to the tent
and he summoned Aaron and Miriam.
And when both of them stepped forward,
he said,
listen to my words.
When a prophet of the Lord is among you,
I reveal myself to him in visions.
I speak to him in dreams.
But this is not true of my servant Moses.
He is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles.
He sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?
And verse 9,
the anger of the Lord burned against them
and he left them.
They get a divine dressing down.
My tent now, all of you.
He presents himself in power.
The pillar of cloud descends.
He calls Aaron and Miriam
and says,
step forward.
They are prophets
and so are the 70 helpers.
They declare the work and the words,
the work and the,
the word and the works of God.
If my spirit,
if my sermon is spirit empowered this morning,
it is a prophetic word
in as much as it is a forth telling
of the word of God
in a way that engages our hearts
and is driven by the spirit of God.
And I always pray that God would speak
through his proclaimed word,
whether it's a word we speak in public
or a word that we speak in private.
And so any power is not mine,
it's God's power.
So the Lord doesn't mince words
telling Miriam and Moses
that when he is among them in prophecy,
it is him communicating his words
in dreams and visions.
It's not them and their abilities,
it's his power which is driving them.
And then he says,
but Moses is different.
He is my personal house servant.
He is faithful to me.
I speak with Moses man to man
and face to face
and he sees my form.
I've got relationship with him
that I haven't got with you
in the same way.
Moses doesn't have to make a name for himself.
God gives him a wonderful rap.
It's the Old Testament equivalent
of a New Testament well done
good and faithful servant.
And so the question is,
and it's God's question,
why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?
And this is not a question,
this is an accusation from God.
And we're told in verse 9,
the anger of the Lord
burned against them
and he left them.
And he didn't just make an accusation,
he left Miriam
with leprosy like snow
and probably with something
like a white flaky skin disease
all over her body,
which would have been enough
to immediately make her unclean
and unable to come
amongst the people of God.
But it was probably
a threat to her life
because Aaron just immediately
pleads with Moses,
please my Lord,
do not hold this,
hold against us the sin
that we have so foolishly committed.
Do not let her be
like a stillborn infant
coming from its mother's womb
and with its flesh
half eaten away.
It's quite a wonderful prayer.
There's no ifs and buts.
There's no excuses.
There's no blame shifting.
There's corporate ownership.
We, not she.
This is a sin
which we have foolishly committed.
Please don't let her rot away.
Amen.
It's liberating
to confess our sins
in God's presence.
To not have to hide
from what we are really like.
To be set free
from games of pretense.
Have you ever done it?
I have.
And it is absolutely freeing.
And I don't just mean
private confession to God
we're on our knees at home
telling him what we've done.
But I mean going to the person
that you have offended against.
And owning your own offence
against them.
I am sorry
I did gossip about you
when I said that.
We read it all the time
from 1 John chapter 1
don't we?
If we confess our sins.
God is faithful
and just
to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
Aaron owns his sins
straight away.
It's not cheap forgiveness.
They do come clean.
They beg for mercy
from Moses.
And Moses
with great grace
and probably great love
for his sister
cries to the Lord
Oh God
please help her.
That could have been
a moment of power
for him couldn't it?
What can I milk
out of this moment?
Oh God
please help her.
Failure in confession
is a very humbling thing.
It's good for our souls.
It's good for our relationships
with each other.
It's good for our relationship
with God.
And God responds
to Moses' intercession.
It seems like Miriam
probably was healed
straight away.
It's not specific.
And then she was left
outside the camp
for seven days
while the whole nation
waited on her.
A million people
waited for her
to go past
her period of cleansing.
She had done
a disgraceful thing
but she was
completely forgiven.
And you get
this picture
that God
the way that God
treats her
is a picture
that says
sin matters
but it's also
a picture
that says
that the grace
of God
is very large
indeed.
there's something
else in this event
that is worth
noting.
If you read
through that passage
you will see
that Moses
does not speak
a word
except to say
oh God
please help her.
He says
nothing to defend
himself.
He speaks
no word of
rebuke
to Miriam
and Aaron.
Verse 3
tells us
something
which is
enormously
significant
Moses was
a very
humble man
more humble
than anybody
who had
ever lived.
You think
well what does
that mean?
What does
that look like?
Because
Moses was a
man who had
been used
by God
in many
extraordinary
moments.
He had
stared down
the king
of Egypt
while God
inflicted
his plagues.
he had
raised
his staff
over the
waters
of the
Red Sea
and the
sea had
parted
when God
parted
the waters
and more
than a
million
people
passed
through
on dry
ground.
He had
had the
experience
of relating
to God
man to
man
face to
face.
He had
had unique
experiences
of God
and his
power.
He had
had the
adrenaline
rush of
seeing God
do
extraordinary
things
and yet
it says
he was a
humble man
more humble
than anybody
who had
ever lived.
The Hebrew
word which
is translated
humility
is used
in other
parts of
the Old
Testament
to mean
things like
poor.
And
needy
and socially
weak and
afflicted and
humiliated.
And you
can look at
Moses from
another direction
and say
well Moses
is afflicted
and he's
humiliated by
his own
people.
He is
burdened and
he is
bowed down.
And in
his great
moments of
power and
in his
personal
moments of
affliction
he is a
man whose
personal
ego is
submitted to
God's
will.
Whether
it's a
high high
or a
low low.
So he
can walk
in glory,
he can walk
in humiliation
and he
is humble.
He lives
in close
personal
relationship
with God
but with
his ego
in submission
to the
Lord.
humility.
I think
humility is
what lies
behind the
apostle Paul
saying in
Philippians 4
12,
I know
what it is
to be in
need and
I know
what it is
to have
plenty.
I have
learned the
secret of
being content
in any
and every
situation.
I think
this is a
lesson for
me, I'm
still growing
in my
understanding
of this
but when
we think
humility
we as
Aussies I
think often
think of
somebody who
doesn't have
tickets on
themselves or
who is
self-effacing,
a person who
deflects attention
away from
themselves so
you've done
something that
people acknowledge
and say it's
really great,
oh no, no, no,
it was nothing,
it wasn't me.
But it's not
humility if we
crawl away into
a hole really
wanting the
glory on
ourselves.
A humble
person gives
glory where
glory is due.
So for a
humble person
God's glory
comes before
our own
ego.
If Christ
has gifted
you, maybe
in work which
you do or
ministry, work
that you do in
your workplace or
work that you do
in ministry,
ministry, and
if he has
called you to
humble service
in those things,
then give him
the glory by
using those
gifts in his
service and to
his glory.
Do them well
in his name.
And maybe
Christ has put
you in a
lowly place, a
hard place, a
place of
suffering, a
place maybe
where your
work is not
seen or
acknowledged by
anybody at
all.
home.
I still
think of a
young woman
working in the
kitchen at a
youth camp.
Everybody wants
to do the big
high profile
tasks, you
know, counsellor
to the kids or
speaker at the
youth events and
all those sorts of
things.
And this woman
worked in the
kitchen in a
way that
wasn't just a
job to do, it
was the ministry
that she was
doing in serving
everybody at
the camp.
No personal
acknowledgement by
most, but one
or two did see.
And it says
heaps.
She was
humble.
She served
Christ.
She gave him the
glory in what she
was doing.
See, Miriam and
Aaron let their
pride run away
from them.
Now, they were
anything other
than humble.
they made a
grasp for
recognition and
exalted themselves
when God was
clearly raising up
other leaders
around them.
And they
exalted themselves
over God's
appointed leader,
Moses.
Philippians chapter
two says in
verses three and
four, do
nothing, it
says to us,
do nothing out
of selfish
ambition or
vain conceit,
but in
humility consider
others better
than yourselves.
Each of you
should look not
only to your
own interests,
but also to
the interests
of others.
And I think
one of the
things that
Philippians is
showing us is
that humility's
opposite is
our own selfish
ambition and
vain conceit,
glory taken for
ourselves.
So life becomes
about me and
my issues and I
am always the
first one in
line for the
things I need
help with.
Aaron and
Miriam made a
grasp for their
own position and
place, two
ganged up on
three.
Moses was
different.
He put the
interests of the
nation ahead of
his own numbers
of times.
God even
offered at one
point to wipe
everybody else
out and make
him the head of
a dynasty,
start again with
a brand new
family and he
would be king
pin, top
dog.
God and
Moses said
no because
he was
concerned for
God's name
and God's
glory if
God did
such a
thing.
So humility
is not
selfish.
Humble men
and women
have their
egos submitted
to Christ
and to his
purposes.
When
Numbers was
written,
Moses was
indeed the
most humble
man who
had ever
lived.
But
Philippians
goes on
to use
Christ,
not Moses,
as the
ultimate
humble man.
Your
attitude
should be
the same
as that
of Christ
Jesus,
who being
in very
nature
God,
did not
consider
equality
with God
something
to be
grasped,
but made
himself
nothing,
taking the
very nature
of a
servant,
being made
in human
likeness
and being
found in
appearance
as a
man,
he humbled
himself and
became
obedient to
death,
even death
on a
cross.
Christ
is the
ultimate
example of
humility.
Christ
Jesus,
God
himself,
did not
assert himself
or his
rights.
He did
not make a
shortcut grasp
for power.
God
said,
he could
have
called a
legion
of angels
to save
himself
from the
cross.
He
submitted
himself,
he yielded
his ego
in faith
and trust
to the
will and
purposes
of his
heavenly
father.
My
father,
take this
cup from
me,
but not
my will,
but yours
be done.
Father,
into your
hands I
commit my
spirit.
Christ
knew who
he was.
He knew
who his
father was.
He knew
what the
mission was.
He did
not
accidentally
die.
He became
obedient to
death,
even the
humiliation
of death
on a
cross at
the hands
of the
people that
he had
made.
Christ
submitted
his own
ego to
glorious
purpose that
his father
would achieve.
And that
is why
in Philippians
2 it
says that
God exalted
him to
the highest
place and
gave him the
name that
is above
every name,
that at
the name of
Jesus every
knee should
bow in
heaven and
on earth
and under
the earth,
and every
tongue confess
that Jesus
Christ is
Lord to
the glory
of God
the Father.
God
stood by
his man
and he
vindicated
him.
God
stood by
his man
Moses
and he
vindicated
him.
We can
be absolutely
confident that
if we will
humble ourselves
and submit
our egos to
the glorious
Lord Jesus
Christ,
then he will
vindicate us.
A life
lived for
him will
never be
wasted.
1 Peter
chapter 5
says all
of you
clothe
yourselves
with humility
toward one
another because
God opposes
the proud but
gives grace to
the humble.
Humble
yourselves
therefore under
God's mighty
hand that he
may lift you
up in due
time.
Cast all
your anxiety
on him
because he
cares for
you.
God
intervenes to
protect his
people.
Humble
authenticity
is rightly
one of the
seven core
values of
St.
Paul's.
Let me
finish by
reminding you
what it
says.
As a
church we
seek to
declare war
on the
daily
tendency
towards
self-sufficiency
and the
desire to
live
independently
of God.
The
promise of
God in
James 4
6 is
that he
gives
grace to
the
humble.
We are
convinced
that no
effective
growth,
ministry or
mission
happens
without the
cultivation
of humility
in the
heart and
the weakening
of pride in
this life.
And we
therefore seek
our words and
actions to be
what we believe
and teach from
God's word.
brothers and
sisters you do
not need to be
a great one to
be humble.
It is a
wonderful thing
to submit our
egos to
Christ and to
walk in
submission to
him.
Amen.