01/27/2022 DAB Transcript

Exodus 4:1-5:21, Matthew 18:1-20, Psalms 22:19-31, Proverbs 5:15-21

Today is the 27th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we come in out of the cold and warm ourselves around the Global Campfire together and move into the Scriptures in a peaceful place simply allowing the stories to come alive in our hearts. And, so, let's…let’s move in that direction. We’re reading from the English Standard Version for this week. In the Old Testament in the book of Exodus we’re just…we’re getting to know Moses. We met Moses when he was born. He grew up really fast within a few pages. He has had to flee Egypt. He has become a shepherd and while he is shepherding he sees a bush that is on fire but is not being consumed and he meets God there who tells him He is who He is, “I am who I am.” And God is preparing Moses and instructing Moses to go back to Egypt where his fellow Hebrews have been enslaved and give them the news that God has heard their cry and is going to rescue them. And Moses is kind of having a back and forth with God about how that’s gonna work. And we pick up the story there. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1 through five verse 21.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the gospel of Matthew…I mean we’ve been in the gospel of Matthew since we began on January 1st so we’re…we’re well on the road. And one of the things in Jesus talks about often is the kingdom of heaven. And, so, it’s not unusual than to think that his disciples would at some point come to Him and say, “who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” because Jesus is talking about a certain kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, but they’re filtering that back through their culture and understanding what this is gonna look like. And they think a restored Israel booting out the Roman Empire and restoring this entire ancestral homeland to God, that’ll be the kingdom. So, what that hierarchy might look like would be of great curiosity to the people who have left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus answered the question poignantly by getting a child and putting him on His lap and essentially saying, “this is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Or to quote Jesus, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” And we can probably understand what He’s saying here specially if we have children, especially if we have small children or can remember back to when we did have small children. You remember when they looked at you as their parents and they trusted you and thought you were superhuman and full of magic and seemed to know everything? Well if we have raised children through that season and into the teen years and through the teen years into adulthood then we know they grow out of that feeling toward us and at some point they think they actually know everything. Jesus is saying we have turn back and become children of our Father the most high God, trusting Him as a beloved child would trust their parents. That’s the posture. That’s how this is supposed to be done. That’s how this life is supposed to be lived. Which isn’t to say that we trust that our Father will come to our rescue every ditch that we go into, every brick wall that we smash into, everything that we annihilate around us. That’s after the fact. That’s when we think we know everything. But a trusting, obedient child, beloved and protected by their parents, they don’t have those kinds of worries. And, so, on the one hand, this is such a relief. On the other hand, it’s a concept that’s easy enough to understand and much more difficult to live into and definitely connects to the concept of being born again, getting to start over and be fathered by God as His child, trusting. It becomes far less interesting who the greatest is when we realize with humble awe that we are in at all, that God looks upon us as a son or daughter.

This contrasts pretty significantly from what we’re reading the book of Exodus because what we read in the book of Exodus today is really really sad. There are a couple of moments in the Bible that every year they’re very very sad for me I guess mostly because they’re my life. In the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit and they’re hiding, God comes and it's…it’s so sad because He says, “what have you done? What did you do?” And we’re all guilty. But in the book of Exodus God, “I am that I am” has come to Moses and explained to him what He’s calling him to do what He has prepared him for. And Moses does all kinds of squirming. They’re not gonna believe me. Who am I gonna tell them? They won’t buy this. How can I prove that you’ve sent me? Who do I say sent me? And the Lord keeps encouraging him and telling him I’m going to go with you. I will be with you. And Moses says something very sad. Could you send somebody else? I can’t come past this story without feeling it in my heart. It’s like, yes, I have done that so many times, but that probably wouldn’t be the posture that I take, or even the resistance that I might have if I actually were living into this with the trust and faith of a child. And, so, there is much for us to consider today from the Scriptures.

Prayer:

Father we hear, we hear clearly and now we have to humble ourselves and actually release control in order to have this faith like a child completely trusts You in all things and will do what You ask of us. So, Holy Spirit come and show us the path that leads in that direction. That is the path that we need to be on. That would be the narrow path that leads to life, and that is the path we want. And forgive us Lord for the many times in thought, word or deed that we simply throw up our hands in the air and say I can’t do this, would You send someone else. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Song:

Send Me – Church of the City

Open these eyes
To see them like You do
Teach this heart
To love like You
Open these hands
To heal the way You do
More than words
Let my life speak truth

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

Open these ears
To hear the Father’s cry
Take up my cross
And lay down my life
Open church doors
And let the streets resound
With songs of hope
As we go out

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

You said what you’ve done for these
You have done for Me
You said what you’ve done for these
You have done for Me

You’re the orphan child
You’re the outsider
You’re the one in need
You’re the least of these

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

To the orphan
To the outsider
To the one in need
To the least of these