Promise Broken

Series: Into the Wild
August 24, 2008

We live and time a place where we are inundated with promises. If you were to believe every promise that the world tells you, what would you believe? Think about all the promises the world throw at you everyday. Men are promised that the right cologne will make women want us. Women are promised more youthful looking skin in just 5-7 days…

All of us, except perhaps our youngest folks here, have experienced the pain of a broken promise. Perhaps it was a malicious lie in the first place. Something someone promised and they had no intention of ever keeping their word. Or perhaps it was just an unfortunate mistake or change whereby someone with the best of intentions couldn’t keep their word. Either way, a promise was broken, and we got a raw deal. Then there is also the situation we have all found ourselves in- we are the one breaking a promise. As we say the words, “I promise that…” we know in our heart of hearts, that we are not going to keep our word, and if we have an integrity at all, and conscious, the words sit in the pit of our stomach like a rock. Or if we make that promise we have all intentions to keep, but we find ourselves unable to hold to our words, we are just sick, and sleepless.

It happens to all of us- in some big ways: The broken vows of a marriage. The promise to be together, in good times and in want, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, until death do us part. The broken promise of a parent, who swore they would al ways be there. The broken promise of a friend who swore they’d be closer than a brother or sister. The broken promise of an employer who sold on a plan for opportunity and advancement, and it the bottom fell out. And in the little things that build up over time.

All of it serves to break our trust and confidence in others, and ourselves. And that is really the two way dynamic. People break their promise to us, which violates their word, our trust, the entire relationship, and we lose a bit of hope. On the other side, we break a promise, we realize how flawed we are, how incredibly selfish we act sometimes, and we instantly project this onto other people. We realize, quite correctly, that if can tell a lie, break a promise, violate a trust, let some one down, then they are certainly capable as well. So we break promises, promised to us are broken, and in the end then, what really begins to happen, is that relationships suffer, and can even be severed. At the heart of every promise is a relationship.

But if you could take a step back from this reality that affects all of us, and if we were promised something incredible, and if we knew the one who made the promise was entirely trustworthy and capable of fulfilling the promise, the question would still remain-

would you believe the promise?

Today I want to tell you a story so big, that you’ll find it hard to believe. Today I want to tell you about a promise so amazing, so wonderful, so good, you’ll wonder, is it to too good to be true? Today I want to tell you about a God who gives us every reason, every proof, to believe he can and will keep his promise. Today I want you to be confronted with the greatest promise you’ve ever heard, so good you wonder is it too good to be true, and then challenge you to believe it.

In our journey into the wild we’ve come to a cross-roads. Moses and the people of Israel are freed from slavery in Egypt. They cross through the Read Sea, they travel cross the desert of Sinai, and come to the Mountain of Sinai. Moses goes up the Mount and there God tells him, you have already seen what I have done for the people. I have initiated our relationship. I have set you free from slavery. And now that you know I love, now that you are free for the first time ever in your history as a people, now if you obey my commands, you will be my people, my treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. And I will be your God. And I will give you the Promised Land.

And the people said- yes! Of course they said yes. And so God revealed to them the top ten ways to stay free. Don’t enslave yourself to any other nation or God every again. Don’t enslave yourself to any idols of your own creation. Don’t work seven days a week like a slave, but take a day off. Do take anyone else’s right to be free. Live free from murder, free from sexual sin that wrecks marriages, free from theft, free from lies, free from coveting what others have. Love God, and love people- this is the best way to live. This is true freedom.

Moses leads the people through the dessert. But it was God who freed them, fed them, lead them, and brought them to the edge of the Promised Land. And here is what happened…

Numbers 13:1-33
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders." 3 So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo [a] Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, [b] they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” I am always amazed at the incredible insight into the human psyche in the bible and in these stories. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.

How do you see yourself? How do you seem to you? How you see yourselves is how the world will see you. How you see yourself will be projected to others, and they will see you through the same lens. Really, they are only doing you the honor, the courtesy of seeing you with your own label. SO how do you se you? Do you see yourself as a grasshopper, an insect, a worm? Young people, what click, what group are you putting yourself into? Is it a niche you like, or one that breaks your hear? What the label you’re putting on yourself- freak, geek, class clown… How do you see yourself- the one born without the brains, the good looks, the talent, the char, the charisma…

The world looked at the Israelites and saw a bunch of slaves, God saw them as his sons and daughters. The world saw them as nomads. God saw them as noble. The world saw them as worthwhile only in what they could do. God saw them as worthwhile no matter what they did. The world saw them as expendable. God saw them as exceptional. Out of all the nations they would be his chosen people, his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Do you see yourself as a grasshopper, or a giant killer? Marianne Williamson from her book, A Return to Love, wrote this. It will be familiar to many of you, and potentially life changing for all of you…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~ Marianne Willamson

You are not a grasshopper, you are a child of God. You do yourself, and you do no one around you any favor by not believing the promises of God. Who are you NOT to have a promised land, a place to call home, a place to belong, a place to be free, a place to flourish. Who are you NOT to defeat the giants in this world? Who are you to say you are too small, and that our God is to small? You do yourself and our world and our God no good when you shrink away from the greatest giants and challenges of our generation, and our world. Who are you NOT to do glorious things that will glorify God? Who are you NOT to let your light shine into the darkest parts of our world. Who are you NOT to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, musical, influential, involved.

I believe that these are some of the saddest words in all of the bible. We looked like grasshoppers in our eyes, and seemed the same to them. After God entered into a covenant relationship with the people- I will be your God and you will be my people, after God saved the people from slavery, after God lead them through the desert, after God met their every need, defeated their every enemy, after all that God had done for them, after all he had done to prove his word, to prove his ability, to prove his promises are trustworthy and true, the people did not have the faith to believe. It wasn’t the hoped for land. It wasn’t the maybe you’ll get it, maybe you won’t land. It wasn’t the, “Go in, check it out, and see what happens” land. It was the Promised Land. And after all that God had done to show he is true to his promises, the people still didn’t believe, they didn’t have the faith, they didn’t have the courage like Caleb, they didn’t trust. And because they didn’t believe, an entire generation was left to wander the desert, to literally walk along the outskirts of the promised land, always looking in, but never going in, always being reminded, until they would be ready, to take what was already theirs.

Folks, how many people out there are walking around the edge of the promises of God? How many folks are walking around in the deserts of this world, looking for an oasis, looking for a cool drink, looking for a promise to believe in, and one who can keep a promise. How many folks are missing the amazing, the glorious, the life giving, the life changing, the world-rocking promises of God? How many of you are missing those promises? How many of you are thirsty this morning? How many of are ready to believe in the promises of God, the promise for freedom the promise for a land to call your own, the promise for a place to belong, the promise for a home?

I want to look at three promises that God offers to us. Three promises that God says if you will believe this, everything in your life can be different. First, Jesus gave to us an unconditional, absolutely guaranteed promise- I am coming again. In John chapter 14 we have the story of Jesus last night with his disciples before he is handed over to be crucified and killed. The disciples don’t know this yet, but Jesus is already giving them a promise they will need. I am coming again. Jesus, you haven’t even left. Yeah, but, I’m telling you, I’m coming again. After Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, he rose from the dead. It was is defining moment to proven he had the power to defeat sin and death. But this wasn’t the coming back he was talking about. This was he resurrection that was also promised, but he was talking about coming again. The first promise that can change your life is to belief that Jesus Christ rose from the grave to defeat sin and death, and to believe that he is coming again.

The second promise is condition, the more common, if/then kind of promise. It is Jesus’ promise if you put your life in him, you will be saved. Again in John 14 Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me. Jesus says if we believe, if we put our belief in him, if we put our lives in his, we will be saved. This is the difference between believing in Jesus as a historical figure, as a great teacher, as a moral example and all of that stuff that Jesus was and is. This is about believing that Jesus goes beyond all of that, that Jesus has the power to save our lives. Jesus promises that all who call upon him will be saved. Belief the promise, be saved.

Then third, for those who believe in Jesus, he says, again in John 14, if you love me, obey what I command. Here Jesus comes full circle in his promises. Obey what I command if you love me and believe in me. Then he does the most radical, wonderful thing- he gives them the ultimate command- love one another. As I have love you, so you must love one another. Then the promise- and I will send you the counselor, the holy Spirit, and that way I will live in you, and you will live in me, and whether you live or die in body, you will live with me for eternity.

Folks, you are no grasshoppers in the eyes of God. Don’t make the mistake of seeing yourselves in that light. But believe in the promises of God. Believe that he is coming again. Belief that in Jesus you are saved and free. Believe that he will send to you his Holy Spirit, and you will live in God, and he will live in you, and therefore, you are no mere grasshopper. You are a child of the living God.

There’s a difference between a command and a promise. On God’s part, a command is something we are told to you. Commands are all the “You will…” statements of God. But a promise is God saying, “I will.” But here’s the big difference: a command is something to be obeyed, but a promise is something to be believed. Commands are easy. You obey, or you disobey. But promises are a little tricky, because sometimes it’s hard to believe.

Will you take a chance and believe in the promises of God? What would it look like to live a life of radical obedience, and belief? A life of radical obedience would be a life lived truly free. A life of obedience to the commands of God would be the most freeing, empowering, amazing life any of us could ever imagine. And a life of radical belief, where would that take you? Let it take you all the way into a promised land. Don’t miss it friends. Don’t miss the opportunity. Don’t let yourself be one more generation left to wander the desert. Believe the promise, and enter into a whole new land.

The Law of the Jungle

Series: Into the Wild
August 10, 2008

People almost universally have this assumption that God is angry with humanity, and that the only way to get him not angry with us is to do certain things, behave in certain ways, believe certain things. And if we mess any of them up, it’s back to square one. It’s like we are constantly being examined by God, and constantly being found lacking.

Across the board in North America, 77% of all people surveyed believe in an authoritarian God who is angry with humanity, critical of who we are and what we’ve done. Many of these folks believe that God is going to enact a divine judgment on the world, and on humanity. A small portion sees God more coldly sitting off in the distance, quietly removed from all that happens on earth. But what amazes me about this, is that it leaves only 23% of people who believe God to be a loving and kind being.

Now what further amazes me is that people 30 years old and younger are the least like to hold this view. Less that 10% of people under 30 see God as a loving being. Less than 1 in 10 people under 30 believe that God is a caring, compassionate, loving being engaged with the lives of us humans.

Where did this idea come from? How have we forgotten the most basic point of the bible and the teaching of Jesus- God is love? If you were to ask the proverbial question, why should a holy God let you into his heaven, most folks, are going to start in with something about living a good life. If you ask them to define what a good life is all about, they will probably start to say some things that sound like the Ten Commandments. They might even say they try to obey the Ten Commandments.

Folks, you want to know the real law of the jungle, the real point of God’s law. It’s not- if you do this, then I’m going to love you and be your God. The whole point of the law was God saying I love you, I am your God, and I want you to be able to love as I have loved you. Or to put it another way, the whole point of the law, the reason he gave it to us, is not so that we can earn his love, but to confirm his love. He doesn’t give is the law to earn his love, but to confirm his love. The law isn’t a step by step process of earning God’s love- it is confirmation of his love for us. And as confirmation of his love for us, it invites into relationship with Him, to receive and give the love he offers.

You see, God knows this- earning people’s love isn’t a system that really works well. God was smart enough to understand, long before we ever figured it out, that the best way to build a relationship is not to require someone to earn your love, but simply to give your love to them. God just knew that. He knew the best way to have us love him, was to give us his love. He knew the best way to build a relationship was to start with love.

We don’t get this yet. We keep working the system backwards- if you do certain things for me, I might love you back. The whole conditional love program. Try that with your wife here this morning, tell her, I’m going to give you a list of rules, how about 10 in all. Come up with your own- if you do my laundry and cook my meals. Give up all your hobbies and take up mine. No more sweat pants, only mini skirts and heels…And if you follow these rules perfectly, I will then love you in return. I think that’s a really good system and how we should all approach our relationships. We’ll just all put out our list of ten rules, and then whenever anybody wants to loves us or be loved by us, it will be very simple- all they have to do is follow our list of rules, and we’ll love them!

It doesn’t work that way does it. Rules never proceed a relationship. Rules can only have meaning, can only have value, and can only work, when a relationship is already firmly in place. We hate rules without relationship. We rebel from rules without relationship. The United States was born because of rules without relationship- they called it taxation with representation. We don’t want to follow someone’s list of rules to get them to love us. We don’t want to live under this fear that if we mess up, they are going to withdraw their love. Why would we even want to give such a person our love? And why would we ever want to give such a God our love? You see, that's why it’s so important to get this. God knows that we don’t want to follow a list of rules to receive his love. But God knows that if he first loves us, we just might be open to some rules that will help us love him back. If he establishes his relationship with us, then his rules for us will suddenly, and profoundly, make sense!

And you know, you can tell a lot about a person, or by implication, God, by the rules they make. You can tell a lot about me by the rules we have in our house. And we have some rules. You can learn a lot about me by the rules of my home- rule number one after this week- Thou shalt never bring salmon into my home. No Atlantic salmon, no pacific salmon, no farm raised salmon, no cedar plank salmon. No salmon, not at all, if we invite you to dinner and you bring salmon to share you will eat in the garage.

You can tell a lot about God by the rules he has laid down, which will be come very important for us as you might imagine, but you can also tell a lot about a person, or God, by whom they give the rules to. You see, we don’t just give rules to anybody and everybody. So we are going to learn a lot about God by the rules he makes, and to whom he gives the rules. Now we can learn a lot about God by the rules he has laid down.

So what is the first rule that God lays down? What is the first law of the jungle? Moses and the people of Israel travel three months from the parting of the Red Sea and come to the foot of mount Sinai. Moses goes up the mountain. God came upon the mountain in fire and smoke, and the mountain shook violently. And God spoke these words: I am the Lord your God…

Hold on right there. The Lord your God? Yes, your God. Well, that’s kind of personal isn’t it God? That kind of implies a relationship doesn’t it God. It sure does. I am the Lord your God, this is the beginning of the first command, the assurance that our God is not a God, not just the God, he is your God, God who has entered into relationship with you, and without this relationship established, nothing else he is about to say or unfold will make any sense or hold any meaning. If he is not your God what unfolds is just rules without relationship which always leads to rebellion. But if he is the Lord YOUR God this world will blow you away.

So what does he then say to Moses, I am the lord YOUR God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Hold on now- that doesn’t sound much like a rule. No it doesn’t. It sound like a relationship. It sounds like a history lesson. You see, just to make the whole, "your God" thing a little stronger, he gives them their first history lesson. Never forget, my people, I brought you out of slavery. It really makes me want to ask, do you really think the folks are going to forget? They spent 400 years in captivity. They just saw you turn the Nile into blood. They saw the plagues- they saw frogs and flies and gnats and locust. They saw hail and darkness and death in the fields. They were there when God brought them out of Egypt. They were there when pharaoh came after them with his army. The saw the wind drive back the Red Sea. They passed through the sea on dry land and saw the are my vanquished. They saw God provide them water and manna and quail for food. They saw the giant pillar of cloud and fire guiding them through the desert. It wasn’t like God was visibly absent yet or that it was very confusing where they should go- Moses where we heading today? I think well just keep following that giant pillar of fire and cloud that stretches from the heavens to the earth and is taking us in the general direction of Mount Sinai- good call Moses.

It seems almost crazy that God should even have to say this, but he must for he must first establish the relationship before he can give the rules, and he must remind us of how the relationship came this far- I saved you! Before anything else, before you did anything for me, before I asked anything of you, always remember, never forget, I saved you.

It’s so easy to forget. It’s like one of the most fundamental human problems- we keep forgetting to most basic, the most simple, the most important stuff. I’d ask you how many important things you’ve forgotten in your life, but you don’t know, because you’ve forgotten! We experience something, or learn something, and we say, I could never forget this, I’ll always have this memory- but we don’t! And God knew, he know that the most fundamental rule he had to establish, if you can even call it a rule, would be to remind them- I am the Lord Your God, and you are to be my people, for I am the God who saved you.

And if we could understand this, and remember this, then every rule would make perfect sense to us. God doesn’t give us rules to earn his love, his gives us rules to confirm his love. The law doesn’t earn us God’s love, it just confirms his love. And if we could remember this, the rules that are about to follow are really secondary. If we would enter into the relationship with God, and if we embraced his as our savior, then any rule he would give would be like icing on the cake. We’d be like, God, thank you, thank you for helping me to go deeper into this relationship with you. Than you for showing me a way to please you. Thank your for giving me life and showing me how to live!

You know, didn’t really understand that the rules aren’t set up to earn God’s love, by that they simple confirm God love until I had children.

In our first home in NC we had a great big back yard that backed up to a wooded hill and was fenced in. When we moved in Eden was just over 2 years old. The day we moved in we took Eden around the whole back yard- we showed her the playhouse, the trampoline to former owners left behind, we showed her where we were going to plant a garden. And we showed her the fence. We said now sweety, this fence here is for your own good. You have almost complete freedom within this fence. Run play, go wild, but sweety pie, do not go outside the fence.

We went to the kitchen and watched her from the bay window. She walked around a bit, she went to her toys. She grabbed the handle of her wagon. And she took it to the fence, and she proceeded to start trying to climb over.

Anyone here not believe in the doctrine of original sin- have kids. I've never had to teach my kids how to fight with each other, or lie to their mother and I, or to be selfish, or hurtful, or so many things that seem to come very naturally to them. And yet I’m constantly trying to remind them to love God, and honor Robin and I, and be kind to each other…

Now let me offer you a series of hypothetical questions. What did Robin and I have first, the fence, or Eden? We had Eden first, then the fence. What did God do first? Did he establish a relationship, or did he build a fence? First he established the relationship, the relationship always proceeds the rules, always proceeds the fence.

Now why did we have the fence in the first place? Because we didn’t like our child, because we wanted her to be miserable, because we thought it would be great to treat her like a caged animal? We established the fence because Eden belonged to us and we had this relationship with her and we loved her deeply. Why do you think that God would build us a fence? Because he’s angry and mad and malicious and wants us miserable and wants us to pay and hates that he had to save us and hates that he had to build this stupid fence in the first place…

Now the real kicker. What would have happened if Eden would have gotten over the fence? It’s obvious right- she wouldn’t be our kid anymore. Robin, you know how we had that girl named Eden? Yeah, well, not anymore. What do you mean honey? Well I just saw her leave the fence. And you know what, she left the fence, she not our kid anymore. Well that makes sense to me honey. What a shame, I did like that girl.

If Eden got outside the fence, and once she did, does that mean she’s no longer my kid- not in my fence, not my kid. That’s crazy! If my neighbor called up, hey George, your kid's in my yard, come get her. Well if she’s not in my yard she must not be my kid. And if she’s in your yard, she must be you kid! You keep her.

It doesn’t work that way. The fence doesn’t make my kids my kids. The relationship is already there! In fact, I only have the fence because my kids already belong to me and because they belong to me and because I love them with all my heart mind soul and strength, I am simply going to do what is best for them. And if they go outside of the fence then don’t stop being my kids, and if they go into your yard, they are not your kids, and if your kids come into my yard, they are not suddenly my kids, although I constantly seem to have my neighbors kids in my yard and in my house.

God’s rules are not set up so we can earn God’s love, they confirm that God already loves us. That God is in a relationship with us. That we are his, and he is our God. He is the God that made us, he is the God that saved us. God’s rules are set up not to establish a relationship, the are set up to live out the relationship. God’s love doesn’t cease when we break the rules, and, and this is what might be the hardest thing for some of you to believe, God doesn’t love us more when we get the rules right. God doesn’t love us any more because he can’t love us anymore than he already has.

Jesus said I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Does that mean he came to live the law perfectly so he could show off and make us feel bad because he got it right, and we mess it up? No, when Jesus said he fulfilled the law, it means he perfectly fulfilled the whole point of the law- he loved us completely. He confirmed God’s love for us once again. Do you get that? IF the point of the law is to confirm God’s relationship with us and love for us, Jesus fulfilling the law fulfills and confirms God’s love for us.

And if Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly, what the best way for us to live out the law- to live in the one who fulfilled it. To quite trying to earn God’s love, and simply let God confirm his love for us in Jesus.

Take that first command, that law, and make it your pledge your prayer. As Jesus says, I am the lord your God, say Jesus, you are the lord my God. The God who brought you out of slavery. Jesus bring me out of my slavery to sin, my slavery to myself. My slavery to doing things my way… You shall have no other Gods before me. Jesus, I put nothing before you. You are my God.

Exodus

Series: Into the Wild
August 3, 2008




I was fascinated with the film Into the Wild as I am always intrigued by stories of people who pursue the ideal of the "Noble Savage."

I remember when I first heard the idea of the “Noble Savage.” It was when Kevin Costner’s film, Dances with Wolves came out. Costner’s character, disillusioned with the humanity and society through witnessing the tragic events of the civil war, set out into the wild, into the frontier, to pioneer a new life. He joined a long history of people embracing the ideal of the “Noble Savage."

The noble savage idea is this- that humans find their true humanity, their true nobility, their true purpose and calling by shedding the constrains and corruption of society. In fact, the idea goes, one cannot truly find themselves within society or civilization, because civilization, by definition, by design, is corrupt and further corrupts our human nature. But in going into the wild, becoming a so-called savage, one can discover themselves. The idea was grounded in the romantic notion that peoples uncorrupted by society were more in touch with themselves and life the way it was meant to be lived. This is exactly what happens to Costner’s character. He discovered the uncorrupted frontier, he discovers a connection with the land, and he discovers a connection with the native people, the “savages,” only to discover that they are more in touch with the land, with life, with true humanity, with themselves, than the rest of civilization.

By the 20the century all philosophers had basically rejected the ideal of the noble savage as nostalgic, unrealistic, and even condescending. People, in primitive or advanced cultures, are people. Some are good citizens, so aren’t. Some seem savage, others seem noble.

For those of us who affirm the biblical world view and what scripture teaches us, we know that the noble savage ideal is a lie. All people, in every time and culture, are tainted by original sin- The doctrine that that all people, not matter their sex, race, culture or time, are born into a world of sin, commit sins and are sinned against, and are in need of a redeemer and savior. And therefore, people in modern civilization, or in more primitive conditions, both suffer from the same sickness and fate- sin and death, and need the same solution- Jesus Christ and the life he gives us.


But still, the idea of the noble savage has endured and has seeped into our modern mindset. We wonder if maybe if you remove yourself from society, you get a little bit closer to life the way it’s meant to be lived. While so many have plugged away to make things bigger, better, fast and more; there has been this still small voice saying you’ve missed the point, your messing things up, you need to break free from all this, breakout of so-called society, and get back to the wild.

It’s all part of this dream we have to find ourselves. How many people do we know who have had to go out into the wild to find themselves. How many of us have gone on such an adventure. It’s the modern day right of passage, and we desperate need some rites of passage in our lives. In my own way I’ve been enamored with the idea of the noble savage. Frustrated with much of modern life and society, with a love of the outdoors, I’ve wondered if we’ve fundamentally messed everything up. I threw myself into a search for a more noble way of life. I began backpacking, rock-climbing, and pretty much trying to spend as much time as could outside. I was an environmental science major, and began to learn about the creation. I traveled the world to see and to serve different people. I studied in Belize. I went on mission trips to Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, and Scandinavia (Yeah, I was a missionary to Sweden for a summer- hey, beautiful blonde women need Jesus just as much as everyone else. I was just the one willing to say here I am Lord, send me!). I decided to see how the world next door lived too. I lived on an Amish farm as I studied and embraced their culture and way of life. I have many stories to tell from all these adventures.

We all have been frustrated with modern life. We’ve seen the misery of people rich and poor alike, we’ve seen the evil committed in the name of progress, we’ve seen a blind eye turned to injustice, we’ve seen the loss of mercy, the corruption of corporate greed, the abuse of power, the plight of the poor. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all sensed it. We’ve all wondered if somehow we’ve messed up the whole thing called culture, if we’ve messed up civilization and society; we’ve gone so far as to wonder if civilization itself is in fact the savage. If the modern world, by default, by design, is doomed to create a savage society bent on the self-destruction of those who build it? We’ve wondered, have we totally missed the boat? Have we become so far removed from the creation, that we’ve forgotten who we are as creatures? Have we lost touch with the world, our place in, and what really matters in life? Have we forgotten who we are, who’s we are, where we are, what’s wrong with the world, what we are called to do?

I want to tell you that the truth of our lives, the truth of our world, is that we’ve already been thrown into the wild. We’ve been thrown into a wild world where things go wrong, and people mess up, and people mess each other up, and people mess up the creation, and people mess up civilization. Our hearts desire is that we would live in a way where we connect with God, and with one another, and with the creation, and with ourselves; that we would live in a way that is sustainable, and peaceable, and civilized; a way that honors God, honors the creation, honors other people, and honors us.

You see folks, we already are in the wild, and some of us just haven’t realized it yet. We are in the wild and we have lost touch with our calling. And our journey is to find our way back- back to God, back to people, back to the creation, back to ourselves. Our journey is to find our rite of passage, out of the wild, and into the discovery of ourselves, our calling, our purpose.

I want to set up this series for you, and set up this journey for you, by telling you the story of God’s people, but more, what God did, to bring them out of their captivity, through the wilderness, their rite of passage, so they could find themselves. You see the bible tells a story that starts in Garden, where a man and a woman lived in perfect harmony, perfect peace, Shalom, connection with God, with each other, with the creation itself. But that part of the story was short-lived. They sinned, they turned their backs on God, and were then thrown out of the garden and into the wild. And so was born into all human this inner awareness that our world is not the way it’s supposed to be, that something is profoundly wrong, and we no longer live as we should. We no longer live where we should. And so to be born into the world is to be born into a journey to find our way out of the wild, and back to our home.

The mantle of the journey was taken up by a man named Abram, when God told him that he would be the father of a great nation and many peoples, and that all peoples on earth would be blessed through his descendants. God called Abram to leave his country, his people and his household, and to go to the country God would show him. And he obeyed, because he knew he had not arrived at the home he was destined for, but risked the adventure from a land called Haraan, to a land called Canaan, a land he had never seen before, a land he knew nothing about, but a land he could call home.

His journey into the wild was not easy. God did give him son, but not until he and his wife were 100 years old. Isaac, the son of laughter, continued the journey into the wild unknown of trusting God. Isaac had a son named Jacob, and Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph, his favorite son, began his journey into the wild of Egypt, where God had an amazing plan for his life. After many trials and tribulations, Joseph rose to be the second most powerful man Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. God used Joseph to store enough supplies to save the entire known world from a seven year drought that would destroy the land. The drought drove Joseph’s brothers and his father Jacob to Egypt, where they were reunited with Joseph, and the family was reconciled.

Then a 400-year silence, where, in the relative peace and stability of Egypt, the nation of Israel grew, and grew and grew, until it was over a million strong. In fear over the prosperity of this growing nation within their nation, Pharaoh enslaved Israel, and put them to work. The nation continued to grow, so he commanded that the Israelite midwives kill all baby boys, but they refused. Finally Pharaoh issued the decree that all Israel’s baby boys would be thrown in the Nile.

But God had a special plan for a boy named Moses. He was spared death, embraced by Pharaoh’s own daughter, and raised under pharaoh’s roof. Until he discovered that part of his story was that he was one of the Israelites. Torn by the reality of his own existence, Moses lashed out in anger. He stood up for the Israelites; he killed one of pharaoh’s slave masters, and fled into the wild in fear.

There he took a wife, made a life, and tried to forget who had been. But all of this was preparation for God’s bigger plan. There in the Egypt Israel could grow in numbers, but also grow in misery, God preparing their hearts for the journey they were about to take. There in the wilderness God was preparing Moses, humbling him, shaping him to be a shepherd of sheep, then of the nation.

God spoke to Moses from a burning bush and told him his plans to set his people free. God had heard the outcry of the people. They were ready for their journey into the wild, though they didn’t know it themselves. Moses, the reluctantly leader and spokesman for God, went to the people, and told them God had sent him. Moses went to pharaoh, and told him let my people go and worship in the Promised Land. Everything unfolded just as God had said it would. Pharaoh protested, the people were punished, Moses stood firm, and God did everything he promised. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened toward Israel, and toward God. God brought plague after plague, and Pharaoh began to wear down. With each plague Pharaoh gave a little more: at first he vowed he would never let them go, then he said to worship God within Egypt, then he said to worship God outside of Egypt, then he said to leave Egypt, until finally, he sent them away, not empty handed, not running with their tail between their legs, but he sent them away with the plunder of Egypt- with livestock, silver, gold, and everything else they would need for their journey into the wild, and into the promised land.

Then Pharaoh’s hardened heart changed his mind again. He had let all of Egypt’s slave labor work force go, and they took with them the riches of the land. He took his army and when after them. Israel was caught between an army, and the Red Sea. The people cried out in fear, was it because there was not enough graves in Egypt for all of us that you brought us out here to die, Moses? It would have been better to live as slaves in Egypt, where at least we have food our plate and a roof over our head. Better to serve pharaoh than die in the wild they said.

Moses reassured them, Do not be afraid, you will see, stand firm and God will fight for you this day. Moses stretched out his staff, God sent a wind that drove the sea into two walls of water, with dry ground between. Israel began to march through. God blocked the path with a fire and cloud. Israel passed to the other side, Moses stretched out his staff once again, and the walls of water came crashing in on the army, and they were destroyed.

They had broken free from Egypt, they had crossed the Red Sea, God saved them from their enemies, but their journey had just begun. For now on the horizon stood the vast deserts of Sinai. God had called them not go into the wild, but to pass through the wild. Not to campout and make the desert their new home, but to pass through this wilderness and into the Promised Land. It was a land they had never seen before, a land they knew nothing about. There were no topographical maps to plot out the journey. There we no travel brochures to whet their appetites. There were no guidebooks to tell them how far they’d gone, where they were going, how far they had yet to travel. They would have to depend on Moses every step of the journey to guide them, and God to provide for them. They would have to depend on God for water to drink, food to eat, direction and protection.

He would show them who he was, who they were, and how to live. Because after 430 years of slavery in Egypt, they had forgotten. They had forgotten what is was like to be free. They had forgotten what it was like to be chosen. They had forgotten what it was like to be special. They had forgotten what it was like to have a future, to have a promised, to have a land to call their own. They had forgotten that theirs was the living and true God, that God had a plan to bless them and bless the entire world through them.

There journey was not one of discovery, for their ancestors had already been to the promised land. There’s was a journey of remembering…



The nation of Israel stood on the edge of the wild, and in going through it, God would teach them to remember who they were. That they were the chosen people. That God had not forgotten them. That they had an amazing plan and purpose in the world. That God would make them his own nation. That through them all nations would be blessed. Because through them would come the savior, Jesus Christ.

Remember who you are- you are a noble child, a child of the King. You have been called into life. You have been called to known God and be known by God. You have been called to love God and be loved by God. You have been called to love your neighbors and to find love among your neighbors. Remember that you are so loved by God that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to call you back to himself. Remember that you are so loved by God that he laid down his life for you. Remember that you are called to take your place in the world as the ambassadors of God, those commissioned to carry the good news to all the world. Remember that you are a part of the body of Christ, part of something bigger than yourself, bigger than space and time itself. Remember that in Jesus is everything we’ve forgotten, everything we’ve ever hoped for, everything we’ll ever need.

Folks, we are about to set forth on our journey into the wild. We are going to remember who we are, and whose we are, where we are, and what we are called to do. We are all children of Abraham, children of the living God. We have saved from slavery to sin, and set free to life in Jesus. We have been given the promised of a new land and the guidance of how to live in that land. Over the next two weeks we are going to look at the law of the wild, the law of the jungle that teaches us how to live and behave and navigate our life journey. We are going to come to the edge of decision, the edge of a choice, and we are going to see the single greatest temptation that steers us off course. Finally, we are going to come back to the edge, back to the edge of the wilderness, and we are going to have to make a decision, a decision that literally means life, or death. A decision that should be so obvious, that we wonder why it’s even a question. But you’ll see how you, your friends and family, people all around us, are fooled into making the wrong decision every day.

But right now, as we end this mornings worship service, I want you to look into yourself, and I want you to remember. Remember who you are, remember whose you are. You have not yet become what you were created and called to be, until you remember that you are a child of the King. As we start this journey it’s not too early to make the decision to become what you were created to be, a child of God. To embrace the connection to God that can only happen through Jesus Christ. By simply saying God, I believe that you are real. I believe you sent your son Jesus to die on a cross for our sins. I believe that without Jesus I am dead in my sins. I receive the forgiveness you offer. I make you my Lord and my God. I believe.