Starting with verses from Exodus 1: 6 thru 2: 8, then also reading from Romans 12: 1 -8, this was given at the church in Lynnville (IL) on August 21, 2005.

During the last few months many lectionaries have included Old Testament verses that tell us some of the highlights of the early history of the people of Israel. We hear how Abraham received God’s promise to make of him a ‘Huge nation’, yet kept his wife Sarah barren until well past her child-bearing years, when she bore Isaac… how Isaac fathered two sons, Esau and Jacob, and how Jacob had a total of twelve sons, which became the twelve tribes of Israel. And the last couple of weeks have told us a bit of the story of Joseph, one of those twelve sons. Last week, we talked about how it seemed that Joseph had been treated unfairly by his brothers, and yet when all was said and done, it was all part of God’s plan to save His chosen people from starvation and extinction! Today’s sermon might be considered ‘part B’ of that same idea!

One might well wonder where God had been during the four-hundred odd years between Joseph bringing the Israelites to Egypt and Moses leading them out again. After all, they had moved from being the family of Pharaoh’s favored governor, and enjoying all of the favors and honors that that entailed, to being slaves and laborers under a people who hated and resented them! Why?

Consider with me, a moment, the style of life Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived… they were nomads, living in tents, wandering from place to place, never settling in any one for too long a time. But God had promised them a land of their own! And if they were to settle it, they would need to learn new skills and a new way of living. So He arranged it for them to live in the most advanced civilization in the world at that time! For over four-hundred years, the descendants of Jacob learned to build and maintain houses and cities… they learned about government and culture… they learned what it meant to be and to live as civilized people! Now it was time for them to move on… and our Old Testament verses tell of the birth of Moses and the beginning of God’s rescue of them.

By now, some of you are wondering what all of this has to do with our verses from Romans today… I mean, what possible connection can there be between the stories of Joseph and Moses and Paul’s talking of gifts and living sacrifices? Simply this…

Last week, we talked about how we may not always understand how or why God sometimes lets things go the way they do, but that He always has a plan in mind… this week, I want to point out that God’s timing is also different from ours! In the case of Joseph and Moses, as I’ve said, four-hundred years transpired before He felt things were ready to progress. And while our normal life-spans of a hundred-years-or-so make it difficult for any of us to comprehend that four-hundred year period, God is never-the-less working in our lives everyday!

Have you ever had an opportunity to just sit and watch the moon? And have you ever taken notice, during those times, of how fast it is moving? Indeed, has it ever appeared to move at all while you’re watching it? I recall spending the night at my grandparents, many, many moons-ago, and chanced to be lying where I could see the full moon right outside the window. And as I gazed at it, I noted that its path was crossing the four clotheslines on that side of the house. With them as a gauge, the movement of the moon became very obvious… slowly but steadily it creeped up the sky across those clotheslines… it was just very, very slow! And that’s how it sometimes is when watching for how God is working in our own lives!

Paul talks of each of us having a gift from God… some that he lists here are prophesying, serving, and teaching. There are many, many others… some may preach, some may sing… some may visit those in need, others may call and encourage a friend or neighbor when they’re down or hurting… some may serve on various committees and donate their time to help where needed, while others bring in cans and goods to give to those less fortunate than themselves. Everyone has a gift and/or talent given them from God to use in His service! My point is that, owing to God’s work sometimes being on God’s time, we might not always see the results of using those gifts until much later… indeed, as Ray Boltz’s song ‘Thank You’ says, some results we might not see until we, ourselves, are walking the streets of gold that await us in Heaven! But that’s alright… as long as we know that we are using our gifts to the glory of God, we don’t always have to see ‘right now’!

But what if God has given us a gift and we’ve never used it? What if we have gone through all these years of our life and never really tried to find out just what it was God wanted us to do? Friends… it is never too late! And as I said, all things are on God’s time… maybe He has been saving you up to use now! But you will never know until you try! You will never know until you cry out to Him, “God! Here I am! Guide me! Teach me! Use me! Here I am, Lord!”

Paul says that we are to offer our bodies to God as ‘living sacrifices’… that we are ‘not to conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.’ Let God transform you! Let Him guide you and teach you! Open yourselves up to use the gifts He has given you to do the work He wants you do to! If you’ve been doing it all along, fine… continue… grow! If you haven’t, begin! And grow!

And remember… all things happen… or not, as the case may be… in God’s time!