Bible Passage: Hebrews 11:24-28
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: August 25, 2024

Bulletin August 25, 2024

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

How do you want to be remembered?  Have you ever thought about that?  Some people spend a lot of time thinking about their “legacy” and how they will be remembered.  Do you want to be remembered as a loving husband, a great dad, the guy on the block who had the best looking yard?  Do you want to be remembered as the model wife and mother, the woman who “had it all together”?  Do you want to be remembered for your accomplishments on the field or your faithful years of service on the job?  Do you want to be remembered as caring or giving or kind or wise?  What do you want people to remember about you?

The author of our text today is remembering Moses.  Now, there are a lot of things to remember about Moses.  He’s a pretty famous figure in the Bible.  But our text brings out something about Moses that we may not always remember.  God’s inspired writer wants us to remember Moses’ faith.  God’s inspired writer wants us to remember that even though Moses could have “had it all” in this world, Christ meant more to him!  And that is our focus today:  Christ Meant More.

            Hebrews 11 is often called the Great “Faith” Chapter of the Bible.  Or sometimes it is referred to as God’s “Hall of Faith,” playing off the idea of “Hall of Fame.”  In this chapter a number of God’s Old Testament saints are remembered for their faith.  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.  Again and again we hear, By faith…by faith…by faith.  And then he comes to Moses.

By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when grew up. (v. 24)  This calls to mind the story of how Moses’ mother had hidden little three-month-old Moses in a basket she had water-proofed and put him in the Nile River among the reeds.  Pharaoh’s daughter found that basket and took little Moses to raise as her own.  Think about that!  That’s like a dream-come-true!  Instead of living a life as a Hebrew slave he could have had an entirely new identity as a little Egyptian princeling, Pharaoh’s grandson!  Life can be pretty good for such a one!  But Moses refused this new identity.

He chose to be mistreated with God’s people rather than enjoy sin for a little while. (v. 25)  Moses could have indulged every urge and craving.  Wine, women, song!  Whatever he wanted!  Whenever he wanted!  But he walked away from all of that and chose the life of slavery and abuse with the rest of his fellow Jews.  He even killed an Egyptian who was beating a fellow Jew, as a result, he left Egypt… (v. 27)  Why did he do it?

He considered disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. (v. 26)  Because Christ meant more!  You say, “What did Moses know of Christ?  Christ Jesus wouldn’t even be born for another fifteen centuries!”  Moses knew who he [Moses] was!  He was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He was the heir and the keeper of a sacred promise from the Lord God.  He was part of a nation through whom the Lord had promised all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3)!  Moses was a member of God’s family and God’s covenant people, a covenant that centered on the promise of the Savior!  Moses was a Christian before people used that term!  And that identity meant everything.

What did Moses know of Christ?  Moses was recipient of, and participant in, one of the great shadows of Christ in the Old Testament.  Our text tells us, By faith he celebrated the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not strike them down. (v. 28)  Passover dates from the eve of the exodus from Egypt.  On that night the Passover lambs were slain in the Jewish homes and the blood of the lambs was smeared on their door frames.  Up and down the sides.  Across the top.  The tracing of a cross.  At midnight the Lord’s Angel passed through the land and put to death every first born.  EXCEPT where the people gathered behind the blood of the lamb.  The Angel “passed over” those blood-stained homes.  The people were safe, and saved, by the blood of the Passover lamb.  Every Passover was not a reenactment but a pre-enactment of the shedding of the true Passover Lamb’s blood on the cross!  It meant more to Moses to have life through the Lamb than to have Horus, the falcon god, or Anubis, the jackal god of the Egyptians!  For Moses, Christ meant more.

What does Christ mean to you?  Does he mean more to you than everything else?  Think back to your Confirmation Day.  You stood there, feeling awkward and self-conscious in your white robe.  Girls, trying to figure out how to walk gracefully in heels; boys maybe wearing a tie for the first time.  Promising before the Lord’s altar that Christ means more to you than anything.  Fast forward to today.  Does he still?  Can I ask the people you work with?  Can I ask the people you go to school with?  Can I ask the people you hang out with?  Is it obvious to everyone who knows you that Christ means more to you than anything?  Does your identity as “Christian” mean more than your other “identities” on this globe?

If that question makes you squirm, I want to tell you some very good news.  YOU meant more to Jesus!  You meant more to Jesus than the glory of heaven!  He left it all to come into this world to be your Savior.  You meant more to Jesus than all the kingdoms of this world.  When the devil took Jesus to that high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and tempted Jesus by saying, I will give you all of these things, if you will bow down and worship me. (Matthew 4:9)  Jesus replied, Go away, Satan! (Matthew 4:10)  He would not bow to Satan!  He could never be Savior if he did!  So great was his resolve to be your Passover Lamb!

There is the key!  If we struggle with wholehearted devotion to Christ, we need to remember again his wholehearted devotion to us.  When you remember what you mean to Christ, Christ will mean ever more to you.

Amen.