Unique You...with a Thing to Do.

August 21, 2011 Kingdomtide 10

Exodus 1: 8 - 2:10, Psalm 124, Romans 12: 1-8, Matthew 16: 13-20

Unique You (with a thing to do)

During this year that Eurey family has been blessed with babies. So far, 3 new children have graced our lives. These new babies live away from Lincolnton, but one lives in Charlotte. A few weeks after Ed's nephews' baby son, Adrian, was born, Nicholas and his wife Sinath brought baby Adrian to Lincolnton and w got to meet him.

Nick and Sinath have been married for almost 6 years and are thrilled to have Adrian in their lives. They consider him a miracle. Before Adrian was born all of us speculated what he might look like. Nick is tall, white and Caucasian and Sinath is not as tall, of Cambodian descent and has Asian features. We were all looking forward to meeting this little guy.

On the Sunday that Nick and Sinath brought Adrian to Lincolnton for us to meet, I waited for my turn to hold him. Adrian is simply beautiful and is truly unique, as are all newborns. As I looked into his small sweet face, I couldn't help but wondering, what has God has in store for you, Adrian?

This week we have moved on from the Old Testament book of Genesis into the 1st chapter of Exodus. When we left the text last week, we had just read the story of how Joseph and his brothers had been reconciled. We read and I preached about the flip side of hate, forgiveness. We also discovered that people are used by God to keep God's promises, and that when God makes a promise, it is a promise kept.

Back to the story that we have today, as time went on, Joseph made a way for his family to come to Egypt so that they would not die because of the famine. So, his father, Jacob brought his whole family, 75 of them, and settled in the northern Delta region of Egypt. In Egypt, the Israelite family grew and prospered.

Eventually Joseph and his brothers passed away and so did the Pharaoh who knew them. The Bible tells us that a new King came to power Egypt. This new Pharaoh, scholars believe was Seti, the father of Ramsess II. As Seti surveyed the way the Israelites were multiplying, he began to be fearful their vast numbers. He feared they would become a threat if war broke out. Seti worried that the Israelites might join with Egypt's enemies to overtake and defeat them.

So, in order to control them the Pharaoh began to oppress the Israelites. At first the Pharaoh placed them under forced labor. The Egyptians worked them ruthlessly forcing them to build supply cities and cultivate the land. The Pharaoh and the Egyptians made the Israelites' lives bitter. But never-the-less, they were strong people, and they continued to prosper and multiply.

It was then that Pharaoh escalated his efforts to control the Israelite population growth. In a devious move, he called upon the Israelite midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. He told them to begin to destroy all the male children who were born to the Israelite women.

But, the story tells us that these women feared God, and at great risk to themselves, the midwives refused to do as the Pharaoh commanded. Rather than taking the lives of the infant baby boys, they made up a story to tell Pharaoh. "These women are so hardy that they deliver the children before we even get to them, so we don't have a chance to do anything to cause them to die."

The Pharaoh was frustrated but also determined to kill the Israelite baby boys. So, he resorted to murder. He issued a command to his people. "Take every baby boy that is born to an Israelite family and throw him into the Nile River.

It is impossible to imagine such a horror, isn't it? It appeared that every little Israelite boy was doomed. But, God had other plans, at least for one unique boy. God was about to act again in keeping the God promise that God had given many generations before to the Israelite's ancestor Abraham.

When this one particular Israelite baby was born, his mother Jochebed was terrified that an Egyptian would find him and drown him, so she hid him until he was 3 months old. As he began to get bigger (an noisier), it became impossible to keep him in the house. Jochebed devised a plan to hide him in the grass by the Nile River. She took a basket, made of waterproof, and placed her small baby inside. As we heard in the Scripture this morning, it wasn't long before he began to cry and he was noticed...by an Egyptian. He was noticed by the Pharaoh's daughter.

In horror, the baby's sister, Mirian looked on wondering if she was going to witness her baby brother thrown into the Nile. But, God was at work, and rather than kill the baby, Pharaoh's daughter had compassion and rescued him. To keep him alive, she obtained a Hebrew woman, who happened to be the baby's natural mother, to feed him until he was weaned. Then she took him into her household and raised him as her own, giving him the name of Moses. Moses grew up and became an Egyptian prince. Eventually Moses became the instrument of God's salvation for the Israelites. He became another unique individual whom God would use to keep God's promise to Abraham.

This story, as was the story of Joseph and his brothers, are examples of how God uses people in the world to rescue and save others. Some people may call this story just a series of coincidences, but I don't believe that's true. I believe that God has an intention, you might call it a calling, you might call it a life purpose, but I believe that God has something for each one of us to do in this world. I believe that God has made us unique and for a divine purpose...You are created to be unique you with a thing to do.

Not only has God made you unique, with a unique set of fingerprints, a one-of-a-kind DNA, a singular type of personality, and distinctive looks, you have also been given unique gifts from God. In my opinion, God's distinction in creation is what makes people beautiful. So, how are you unique?

Just as God did for Moses, God made you, God loves you, God takes care of you, and God has something for you to do. And it is important to know this and to ponder this. I for one what to know why I was born and what my purpose is in life. It has always been a big question for me.

· Kids - Why do you think God made you? It is not too early in your life to be thinking about that. I know many of you have already had adults asking you the question: what do you want to be when you grow up? As a Christian person, a better way to think about that is to ask yourself this question: what does God want me to be when I grow up?

· Young adults - Obviously, you have already begun your life, your careers and your family. But, have you discovered God's purpose for you in your life? Some questions you can ask yourself are these:

ü If God has made me unique, how am I using my unique gifts to serve God?

ü What things do I do that bring me the greatest joy, and how am I using those things to serve God?

ü What kind of ministry am I uniquely qifted for?

· Middle-aged folks - at this stage of life most of us have discovered the things that bring us the most joy, and hopefully how we can use those unique gifts to serve God. Yet I can testify to the fact that God will call us to amazing things even when we enter middle age (just ask Ed who became a preacher wife in his 50's)

Prayer of Jabez...I prayed it: Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!

Is God calling you to enlarge your territory? We don't get to sit down when we get grandchildren.

· Seniors - God continues to call folks who are retired and who would be called senior adults. Your days of being used by God are not over. You may be those whom God can use to encourage, all for wise counsel, pray for, support, and fund ministries in a way that you have never been able to do in the past.

God calls us in all stages of our lives into ministry for God and for others. We don't get off the hook when were little, we were busy with raising our children, when we have those 1st grandchildren, nor when we become senior adults. God calls us all, and God has given us uniqueness, and unique ways to serve God and one another.

When Jochebed held her baby boy and looked into his face, she had no way of knowing how God planned to use him. He was unique, and he was an exceptional man of God. God made him, God loved him and God took care of him... And until he was 120 years old, Moses continued to seek the purpose, and use the gifts God had given him to rescue and save others.

So what can we say for ourselves. We can say this: Look at a neighbor and say...

God made you...God loves you...God takes care of you...You are...Unique you (with a thing to do.)

Amen.