Exodus 15:1-21 How to Mature in Faith October 16, 2005
A couple of years ago, very personalized stamps were offered for sale at an International Postage Stamp Exhibition in Japan. Postal officials took a customer’s photo with a digital camera and then printed the picture on specially prepared sheets of stamps. These stamps were legal for sending letters and cost $8.80 for ten stamps. Japanese postal workers had one thousand sheets for use that day and they sold out in less than thirty minutes. Now at least 12 nations provide the seals which are called Vanity Stamps.
We can often be rather vain and prideful people. Some people love to always talk about themselves and their achievements. Like buying postage stamps with my own picture on it, they seem to always have their eyes on themselves. Why is this? Well, for some people, they just have a big ego. They really do think much of themselves and naturally talk much about themselves. Moses was like that as a young man, full of confidence that he could save his people. However, for others, the opposite is true. They struggle with self-esteem. They think little of themselves and this leads them to always be propping themselves up. Acting big so no one will see how little they are. Moses fell into this self doubt by the time he came to the burning bush. Either way, I am looking too much at myself. It is immature thinking which always thinks about me. But fullness of maturity is in seeing myself truly for who I am—not too big, not too small—just right in the will and plan of God. In today’s scripture, Moses comes to know the truth. Moses can do great things when he gets his eyes off himself—thinking neither big or small—but praising only God.
If you look back in chapter 14, the people had escaped Egypt and had come to the sea. I’ve been to the Middle East and these bodies of water are not the Atlantic Ocean. You can see across the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea or the bodies of water on the borders of Egypt. A couple miles across, you can see the other side dimly but you are trapped nevertheless with no way to cross. And now the army was closing in, there was no where to flee, the people were terrified and cried out, “Why did you bring us out here to die? Why didn’t you just leave us alone to be slaves in Egypt?” But Moses says, “Do not be afraid. You will now see the deliverance of the LORD.”
The Bible says the wind blew all night and drove back the waters, allowing the Israelites to escape. When the soldiers followed them, their chariot wheels became stuck in the soft wet ground and then the waters washed back across them. The next day, safely away, Moses composed this song of praise which everyone sang. I wonder if they struggled with the tune and words like we do whenever Tom introduces a new song. I can just imagine Moses saying, “Come on sing a little louder. You’ll get it. Keep trying.”
How had Moses become such a great man of God, finally mature in his faith? This song of praise gives us two important clues for our own growth in maturity. Moses had stopped thinking about himself. Moses saw only God and the people whom God loved so much. Look at this song. First of all, Moses stopped looking so much at himself and placed his eyes on God. In this song, the name of the LORD appears thirteen times. In addition, there are thirty-three pronouns—He, Him, His, You—referring to God. That’s forty-six references to God. How many times does Moses’ name appear in the song? Not once.
Lesson number one for today is that if I want to grow in maturity, I need to look not at myself but look to God. During the twentieth century, humanity made rapid and amazing strides in science and technology. The 21st century holds the promise of even more. We have more knowledge than any human ever dreamed possible. We are a proud people. But listen to me. Christians know that knowledge is not wisdom. Knowledge brings only the ability to do something. Wisdom is the vision to know what the right thing to do is. Our factories can make more and more products for consumers but they can also pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. Genetic research can enable us to feed more people and cure more diseases or genetic research can create biological weapons inflicting illness on millions of people. Nuclear power can provide us the energy to light our future cities or it can destroy all life on earth. Human knowledge is never enough. The wisdom of God is what guides us to choose rightly. In your life, you can have all the intelligence, all the physical strength, all the talent to make a great living. Only in the wisdom of God do we discover how to make a life. The maturity to live rightly.
Moses gets his eyes on God. Secondly, as we look at Moses’ song of praise, Moses gets his eyes on the people of God. Vs 13-18, the second half of the song, sings of God’s love for His people and how He will lead them to the Promised Land. To grow in maturity, we need our eyes on God. But our second lesson for today is that to grow in maturity I need to look to the prosperity of God’s people. Many well meaning Christians have their eyes on God. But God’s eyes of always lovingly on His people. If we wish to grow in the things that concern our Heavenly Father, then we must look to the needs of His children.
We live in a competitive world. From Little League ball as children to climbing the success ladder as adults, we all want to win. But Moses learned that true leadership at the front of the line means looking to the needs of all the people. Jesus said it himself, “If you wish to be great in the kingdom of God, you must become a servant.” The immature child in me only thinks of me and mine. The mature spiritual believer thinks of other people and what they need. There was a poster in the late 1980s that read, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Jesus says the one who dies giving himself away will win.
Let me ask you—How much do you use the words “I” and “Me” in your conversations? How often are God and other people in your thoughts as compared with thoughts about yourself? Thinking about this message today, what would be one goal you might set for yourself this week to help you grow in maturity?
Immaturity is all about me. Maturity and greatness is found in God and in thinking of others. Amen.