Everything
in Scripture is there for our benefit. Scripture reports to us what happened,
what we should believe about God and our salvation, what we should do as people
who follow Jesus Christ, and what we should hope for in a world darkened by
sin. This isn’t just true for Scripture as a whole; every passage has the
potential to tell us what happened, what we should believe, what we should do,
and what we should hope. So does every person in Scripture. If we want to grow
as disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to pay attention to the lives of people
Scripture depicts.
Did you
catch that last part? I said, “If we
want to grow as disciples of Jesus
Christ.” Deuteronomy 34, this morning’s Old Testament lesson, reports that
Moses died at the age of one hundred twenty. We might see that and think, “Oh,
God wants us to grow older as
disciples of Jesus Christ.” But there is a huge difference between growing as a disciple and growing older as a disciple. Growing older happens every day we live, no
matter what we do. There are many blessings to added days and years, but there
also many perils and pitfalls. Growing
as a disciple does not happen automatically. If we want to grow as disciples,
we need to put the grace our Lord gives us to work for the sake of his church, for
the sake of the kingdom of God. We need to be open to being changed and
challenged by God every day. We need to take risks with our love. We need to
find habits and communities that will help us to lead virtuous lives. Sadly,
many of us spend many years growing older
in Christ without actually growing as
his disciples.
Looking to
the life of Moses can help us learn the difference between growing and growing
older. Sure, Moses lived a long, long life. But the eulogy in Deuteronomy 34
does not read, “Moses was great because he lived so long.” Instead, it says,
“Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face.” Sound a little familiar? That’s what Paul in 1 Corinthians
13 tells us in will happen to all who follow Jesus: “Now we see in a mirror,
dimly, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know only in part, then I will
know fully, even as I am fully known.” This is what all of us should want for our
lives: to have grown so close to God that we can say the Lord knows us face to
face. For most of us, this happens only when we meet our Lord at the
resurrection. For Moses, Scripture testifies that it happened before he died.
Of course,
Moses didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to be a shining example of
discipleship. At the beginning of his story with God, Moses is a coward. He
tries to talk God out of sending him to Egypt. But God worked patiently with
Moses, supplying him with fellowship and accountability, giving him courage and
wisdom, and allowing Moses room to voice his frustrations when things weren’t
going well. As Moses grew older, he also grew closer to God.
How did
Moses grow closer to God? First, God called Moses to a specific task: freeing
Israel. Moses had enough faith—really, just the size of a mustard seed—to say
yes to God’s call. Second, Moses immersed himself in a life of prayer. Over and
over again, God speaks to Moses, and Moses speaks to God. Their conversations
are not always cordial; there is room for anger and frustration. But Moses
never cuts himself off from a life of prayer. Third, Moses never separates
faithful believing from faithful living. Moses knows that he follows the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Living God knows and cares for the suffering of
his people. Moses also knows and cares for the suffering of his people. Moses understands,
as James says later, that “faith without works is dead.” Fourth, Moses is on a
journey with God. He is a pilgrim, and he knows that each day will be
different, that each moment will bring new opportunities for growth and service
with God.
Are you
growing as a disciple of Christ, or are you just growing older? Are you content
being the disciple you were a year, five years, or ten years ago? Do you look
for new opportunities, fresh streams of living water, or do you return to the
same narrow activities day after day, year after year? Have you forgotten how
to pray? Have you committed yourself to the people God loves? Have you forgotten
how to be a pilgrim? God has called you; he has called all of us. Do you have
the faith to accept God’s call?
If you
discover that you have been growing older without growing in Christ, you don’t
need to worry. God has already provided for your renewal. Come to the Communion
table this morning and receive from him provisions for your journey. Join one
of our small groups and search the Scriptures for God’s Word of Love. Help out
at the Food Pantry this week and meet Christ face to face in the faces of the
poor. Commit yourself, or recommit yourself, to the people of God here at
Centre: join our congregation as we journey together. Do not refuse the means
of grace God has given to all of us this morning.
The church
is called to be the means of God’s grace of growth in Christian discipleship.
The people on your left and right, in front of and behind you—these are the
ones who can help you grow. These are the ones who need you to grow. We travel together on our pilgrimage with Christ.
My prayer
is that we will always be a congregation that heeds God’s call. My prayer is
that we will be a place of renewal and growth in Christian discipleship. My
prayer is that one day people might even say of us, “The Lord knew them face to
face.” Amen.
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