PENTECOST 4
July 10/11, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Exodus 19:2-8a

“GOD CARRIES YOU ON EAGLES’ WINGS!
1. Remember this as you consider His commands.
2. Remember this when you are falling.

Exodus 19:2-8a (NIV 1984) “After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.”
In March my family and I visited the LaCrosse area. We hit it just right for eagle watching. The eagle population along the Mississippi River has really made a resurgence so we drove along the river and did we see the eagles. They were soaring through the skies. They were sitting in their nests. They were swooping and grabbing fish. They were sitting on the remaining ice floes eating their catch. We saw a lot. What we didn’t see though were any mother eagles teaching their young to fly. Have you? Apparently what they do is when mom determines that her eaglets are strong enough to fly she pushes them out of the nest so they have to flap and flutter as they learn. All the while though those eaglets stay safe because mom is right there to swoop under them and carry them on her wings safely back to the nest to try it all again. That’s the picture of eagles’ wings. A powerful being. A loving being, taking care of its young.
And that’s the picture God uses to help his people. Imagine you are with the children of Israel. Many of you have the scars from the slave masters whips. It’s been a couple of months since God rescued you from slavery in Egypt. God’s power in the plagues is fresh on your mind as is His destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. Now it’s time for God to set you up into the special nation, the chosen nation, that will write down and safeguard the Old Testament of God’s Word and carry along and protect the Savior’s birthlines until it was time for Him to be born. God brought you to Mt. Sinai and something very special was about to happen. God would give you His commandments.
Now there’s something we need to remember about God’s commandments. They are His laws. It does not matter what laws nations pass that allow or protect immorality. It does not matter when church bodies pass resolutions changing, modifying or laying aside God’s commandments. They are His. They are absolute rights and wrongs and God expects them to be obeyed. By everyone. When it comes to obedience there are really two reasons people obey any authority: because they have to or because they want. People obey because they have to when they are afraid of punishment. When people obey because they want to it’s sometimes just thinly disguised selfishness. They are looking for a reward or praise or more money. Sometimes people obey because they want to simply to please their authority. Can you guess which of those God wants when it comes to His commandments? Actually you don’t have to guess at all. You know. Jesus said, “If you love me obey my commandments.” And so Christians, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, they know that willing obedience is the most meaningful way to show love to God. Let me repeat. Willing obedience is the most meaningful way to show love to God.
That helps you understand why God said what He did before He gave His commandments. Instead of threatening and laying out His divine right to perfect obedience God told Moses this: “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” God reminded them of His loving protection. He had carried them on eagles’ wings. God pointed to honor and privilege. Of all the people on earth they would get to be the kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God carried them on eagles’ wings.
God has carried you on eagles’ wings. Even though we are Christians we all still have our sinful natures. Even though we know the most meaningful way to show love to God is through willing obedience we still have that part of us that only wants to obey out of fear or hope for gain or reward. Brothers and sisters, rebuke that part of you with me today. Reject it. For it doesn’t work and it isn’t God-pleasing. We can’t just be told, “Be more loving! Be more generous! Love God first!” and it happens. The law can’t produce those characteristics in us. But the Gospel can. Look what God has done for you! God has carried you on eagles’ wings. He rescued you from the slavery of sin by sending Jesus for you. He has provided for you to this very day. He is just and righteous and powerful but He loves you and wants the best for you. The first people who heard these words forgot that. They lost the privilege of being a kingdom of priests for God. But we haven’t. Listen to what God tells us in 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Remember that when you consider God’s commandments so they won’t be a chore, a burden, a have to but a privilege. Of all the people in the world we get to serve God the way He wants. Why wouldn’t we? He’s carried us on eagles’ wings.
And He will continue to. When a mother eagle wants to teach her young to fly she has to kick them out of the nest. Why do you suppose that is? Well let’s see. Eaglets get to sit there while mom brings them their food and keeps them safe. That’s a pretty good life it would seem. It must be easy for eaglets to get lazy. But mom knows best and knows that real life for them is soaring through the skies using the abilities the Creator has given them to fly and hunt and feed themselves. So she kicks them out. That must be scary the first time until they realize that mom will catch them on hear eagles’ wings.
You know it’s pretty easy for us to get lazy to. We can easily grow comfortable in going through the motions of our relationship with our Savior God. While it’s good to have a habit of worshipping God publicly every week it’s bad when it’s just routine. We may think we are God trusting, Jesus loving people but we’re not when our life is on auto-pilot with no zealous efforts to grow spiritually. Sometimes we can get lazy with sin, comfortable with it or around it. Yet God knows that real life for us is when we know Him as our God of love, trust only in Jesus for salvation and zealously strive to keep His commandments as our most meaningful way of showing Him love. What do you think a loving God should do? Kick us out of the nest. Let us fall. Anyone who’s ever jumped off the high dive for the first time knows that falling is scary. The job ends or falls through. Scary! Major health problem comes along. Scary. Maybe an authority, a boss, a parent, the police start snooping around that sin you’ve been coddling. You might get caught. Scary. You are falling.
God carries you on eagles’ wings. God chastens those He loves and He saves them from falling. There will be times in life that are scary. There will be times in life when you will fall because the ultimate powerful loving and wise being, the Triune God, knows that it is best. When you are in those times and it seems like the challenge will overwhelm you, think of God carrying you on eagles’ wings, swooping underneath to catch you before you really get hurt. That’s the God you are privileged to serve.
The people who would become the nation of Israel realized this, at least at first. When Moses told them what God had said, when they recognized the truth of eagles’ wings they responded by saying, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” We know however, that their commitment didn’t last. Brothers and sisters, let’s be different. Let’s daily recognize how God carries us on eagles’ wings, remember how He has rescued us when falling, rejoice that He will continue to and go from here saying, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” And mean it! Amen.