Tag: Layperson Sermon

Deciphering Discipleship Part 2

Shannon MartinLeave a comment

Part Two of the sermon entitled Deciphering Discipleship which was originally given on April 23, 2017 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, OH.

Sermon Scripture Text: Mathew 28:18-20
2 Timothy 3:14-17

 

Churches try to fit discipleship neatly into a one size fits all seminar or small group topic every now and again, when in fact it needs to be ongoing and looks different for each person.  Ogden believes discipleship done well in churches actually works better when congregations are split into smaller groups starting with two or three people that meet together on a regular basis for studies and discussions, who then go out and each start groups of two or three so that everyone can have an accountability group and a safe place to learn and grow and be mentored.

Being a disciple means making a choice to be a continuous life-long seeker and learner of the teachings of Jesus Christ.  It is a continual process that isn’t ever completed in this life.  Billy Graham says, “Salvation is free but discipleship costs everything we have.

Jesus isn’t present on this earth anymore in a physical body, so how then do we become disciples and followers of Jesus Christ?  Where do we look for guidance? We can’t leave our homes and follow after him as he travels from place to place.  Paul gives us the answer to this question in 2 Timothy 3:14-17, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,5 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” 

Paul is writing to his student Timothy to encourage him in his ministry at Ephesus.  He is reassuring him that he has all the tools he needs in place to be successful in his ministry.  God has authored the scripture through human hands, which have been taught to Timothy from a young age by his mother and grandmother.  With this faith formation, if Timothy will continue to choose to immerse himself in the written Word of God, he will be fully equipped for every good work and demand of his ministry.

We need to develop the intentional habits of daily Bible study and prayer into our lives every day, not just on Sundays.  Reading books by outstanding leaders of the faith help us to understand things we may be struggling with, but they are not a substitute for reading God’s Word.

By soaking ourselves in the Word of God, his ways begin to become more engrained in us.  This is how we learn Christ’s ways.  This is not just a New Testament concept.  We read in the very first verses of Psalms 1, Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 

As Anabaptists, we should actually be a little of ahead of other denominations in the area of discipleship because at the core of our Confession of Faith and formation as a denomination is the belief that we should live our lives by being a people of the Book, using the Bible as our guidebook on how to live and treat others.

We come to our believer’s baptism after accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, but we don’t stop there.  We go forward as people of the Book, committed to learning the Jesus Way of Life and serving others as Jesus instructed in the Sermon on the Mount.  Baptism doesn’t signal the end of our part of the covenant.  It is only the beginning.

It is a lot like placing an online order or calling an order in.  I work at a company that is a redistributor.  Every day customer service receives calls from customers who want to place orders.  Once an order is confirmed in customer service (or baptism takes place), the product (Us, people) becomes committed and belongs to the buyer (Jesus, God) but further steps have to be taken for that product to ultimately reach its buyer.  The process doesn’t stop there.  The transaction isn’t complete yet.  The order has to be sent to the warehouse where it is picked, then taken to the shipping department where it is prepared for shipment, and then picked up by the shipping company to be delivered at last to the buyer.

After baptism, our journey isn’t over, it is only just begun as we begin a new life in Jesus Christ.  We need to equip ourselves to go out and do God’s work here in His Kingdom on earth as we advance throughout our lives until the time when God calls us home.  This equipping allows us to be prepared to shine the light of God’s love into the lives of others, and thereby do the work of disciples and invite those others to become a part of our circle, or churches, to be followers of Jesus with us.

At the beginning of our time this morning, I told you the story of the little dove that was trying to put out a forest fire with a few drops of water at a time from its wings.  While the intent of this little bird was good and true, it wasn’t really equipped for the business of putting out fires.

When we don’t devote ourselves to consistent Bible study and prayer, we become like the little bird.  We are unequipped to go forth and make disciples as we are commanded to do in Matthew 28:18-20.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.  It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”  This could be the creed for a disciple’s life!

We are like trees.  We nourish our roots with the Word of God.  When we do this daily, we grow strong roots, roots that are watered by the Word of God.  It becomes a part of our very being.  It molds us into followers of Christ.  With our strong, well-watered roots, we are equipped to reach out to those around us and help them find the same Living water that has helped us grow.

True discipleship can’t be measured.  It isn’t about how many people you help lead to Christ, but more so about how closely you draw yourself to Christ and walk in the Jesus Way during your time here on this earth.  It is about being humble and obedient to doing his will as you go out and serve a world that is longing and looking for the light of the Gospel.

Before we can go forth and add to the circle of the followers of Jesus, we must first become disciples of him ourselves.  We must become dedicated life-long learners and seekers of his Truth.

“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.  For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?  Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?  Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)

Are you a follower of Jesus today?

If not, are you willing to take the first step and plant yourself as a young sapling on the way to growing into a tall, strong tree of faith?

Are you ready to become what the Lord is calling you to be today?

Are you a disciple of Jesus?

If you missed Part One it can be found here.

 

Deciphering Discipleship Part 1

Shannon Martin1 Comment

Part One of the sermon entitled Deciphering Discipleship which was originally given on April 23, 2017 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, OH.

Sermon Scripture Text: Matthew 28:18-20
2 Timothy 3:14-17

Picture By Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing used with no changes made. It can be found at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John#/media/File:Gospel_of_John_Chapter_2-12_(Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media).jpg

A Buddhist monk sat at the edge of the Yellow River and watched a dove with amazement. At regular intervals, the bird dipped its plumage into the water and then flew up into the air, feathers sparkling with water. And then he returned to do it again.  “Why are you doing that?” the monk asked the dove.  “Don’t you see the smoke on the horizon?” the bird answered. “There’s a forest fire over there. I’m trying to put it out.”  The monk laughed out loud. “And you, little bird, think that you can do something about it?”  “I don’t know,” said the dove. “But I know that I have to try.”

Our text today is a familiar passage that is found at the end of the Book of Matthew and has been motivating Christians around the world to get out and try to lead people down the road to repentance and salvation for a millennium.  In the NSRV version, Matthew 28:18-20 reads, “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

It is in part because of this passage that I felt the need to go through the C.S. Lewis Fellows program.  This passage filled me with uneasiness, because I wanted to go as Jesus commanded me to, but I didn’t know how to go.  So, I eagerly completed the application thinking that very soon I would be given the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, and able to Go and Make Disciples, just as Jesus was instructing me to do.  Instead, I learned that I totally missed the meaning of this piece of scripture.

If you were to look up this passage in the Believers Church Bible Commentary on the book of Matthew, you would read that the main verb in the Greek text of the great commission is matheteuo, which means make disciples.  Jesus is telling his remaining eleven disciples to expand the circle, to invite others to join them in following Jesus.  The other three verbs in the text are participles that connect with the main verb…We might paraphrase verses 19-20 like this:  As you go forth, call people everywhere to become disciples, which will involve both baptizing them into God’s community and summoning them to embody my teaching in their lives.

The focus on this scripture isn’t the going part.  Instead it is the making part. I think as a culture in general we do tend to miss that emphasis.  This is a rather convenient misunderstanding because if we focus on the Go instead of the Make, then we can find excuses that give us a pass on this command.  We can tell ourselves things like, that is the job and gifting of the missionaries.  I don’t need to worry myself with that command because I can’t go anywhere.  But in actuality this command isn’t just for those who travel far from their homes to spread the Gospel.  It is for each and every one of us.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted that “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

We each are all called to discipleship and can extend this invitation to follow Jesus to every person we come into contact with just by going through the business of our daily lives.  There is as much of a need for the Good News of Jesus Christ in our workplaces and schools as there is for the people of the South American jungles that have never heard the name of Jesus.

So how have the churches in America gotten this passage wrong for so long?  It most likely goes back to cultural understanding.  We have forgotten, or never known, what true discipleship is.  Our version of discipleship is different than the understanding of discipleship in Jesus’ time.

The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary offers us this as the definition of disciple:  one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: such as Christianity:  one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ’s followers according to the Gospel accounts.  That’s it.  It is brief, and seems to focus on accepting and sharing ideas.

A better definition for discipleship has been offered by Greg Ogden in his book, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time, where he defines a disciple as “one who, in the context of community, places himself or herself under the shaping influence of Jesus so that there is no doubt as to who is deploying the formative power.”

However, in Jesus’ day, the cultural understanding of what discipleship is, was very different.  Rabbis in ancient Israel were scholars and teachers of Jewish laws and scriptures and they would travel around from town to town to teach in the local synagogues.  They didn’t go to their local college to get their Master’s in Biblical Studies.  Instead they had to learn by first being a disciple to another Rabbi.

To be someone’s disciple, you would give up your whole way of life and leave your family so that you could devote yourself to literally following your teacher as they travelled from place to place.  As you travelled with your teacher you also took care of his daily needs like food and shelter.  We often see in the Gospels that Jesus sends some of the twelve ahead to take care of details like these.  For years, you would devote yourself to this Rabbi so that you could learn all of his knowledge and ideas.  There were many teachers with Disciples, not just Jesus.

What Jesus changes with this model is that he is always the teacher and his followers through the ages are always the students.  The disciples remain disciples of Jesus even after he sends them out fully equipped to make disciples on their own.

What does Discipleship look like now in American Churches today?  It isn’t seen as a way of life anymore for the masses.  A lot of it is left to those who choose a monastic life, or a pastor’s path.

Dallas Willard, an author specializing in Christian Spiritual Formation, has pointed out in his writings how far we have strayed from understanding the Christian life as sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Instead we focus on the benefits that we receive by faith in Jesus rather than on being conformed to the life of Jesus.  We want abundance without obedience…The bottom line essential with in the evangelical world is having the debt of one’s sins canceled by transferring them to Jesus’ account…The most telling thing about the contemporary Christian is that he or she simply has no compelling sense that understanding of and conformity with the clear teachings of Christ is of any vital importance to his or her life, and certainly not that it is in any way essential.”  (Ogden, pages 46-47)

Studies show that only one out of every six adults who attend church regularly are involved in any type of activity or relational process that would help with personal spiritual growth.  That is around 17 % of the average church congregation.  Of this group about 69% are involved in a small group for bible or topical studies, 20% attend an adult Sunday school class, 14% are involved with one-to-one mentoring, 11% take part in special faith-based classes, and only 3% are involved in programs geared towards discipleship.  ( Ogden, pgs 26-27)

Discipleship, for the church body, has become a buzz word.   It is something to add to the to do lists rather than something to be actively engaged in so that we become closer followers of Jesus Christ.  The focus is on creating programs to reach out to disciple the lost people outside our churches. What is forgotten is the need to disciple those within the church first.

If you enjoyed Part One, please visit next week for Part Two.

The Moses Five – Defiant Love (Part 4)

Shannon MartinLeave a comment

Part Four, the conclusion of the sermon entitled The Moses Five – Defiant Love which was originally given on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2017 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, OH.

Sermon Scripture Text: Exodus 1:15-2:10 (NRSV)

Four hundred and forty words make up our passage today.  While there may not be a lot of words, there is a lot we can take away from these verses of scripture and the story of the Moses 5.  We can see that God can use us when we least expect it.

He also uses those people that you would least expect to be used.  In this case, he uses all women behind the scenes.  It is the females that Pharaoh considered “safe” and not an enemy to his kingdom that protect the leader God is preparing.

We see that it is possible to be used in God’s work behind the scenes and never see the actual outcome of what God is working.  It is most likely none of the Moses Five except Miriam were still alive to see Moses return at the age of 80 to Egypt to lead God’s people out of bondage and into the Promised Land.

The Moses 5 are all women of true compassion and defiant love.  From them we learn about faith, courage, hope, perseverance, trust, and resourcefulness.  Moses’ mother Jochebed is an incredibly strong woman, but we see that she doesn’t complete her task of raising her child alone.  It takes several brave, strong women to do this.

It took a community then, and it still takes a community of strong women today.  People who choose do the right thing every time, not just when people are watching.  People who know God and who are willing to be part of his Kingdom work here on this earth.

Today we are celebrating Mother’s Day.  A day set aside for us to remember our mothers that are no longer with us and celebrate the ones that are still here.  Our passage of scripture today shows us a mother, a sister, an adoptive mother, and complete strangers who choose to serve God by doing the right thing despite the rulings of men or standards of their society.  Let us remember and celebrate these women today, and the example they set for us.  They all use compassion and defiant love to overcome the obstacles they encounter in their lives and carry out God’s love to those around them.

All around us are women of compassion and love.  We fill the roles of mothers, grandmothers, adoptive mothers, foster mothers, aunts, sisters or even as friends who are mentors and teachers.  To date in my life I have been blessed with many great and Godly women who have helped to shape me into the person I am today.  Some I am related too, some are women God has sent my way at the right times along my journey.  Women serving God who have helped me learn lessons of grace and humility.

We can all be people of compassion and love.  God’s people.  We see this same kind of message repeated in the New Testament as well.  In 1 Peter 5:5 we read, “In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders.  And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”’

Likewise, we read in 2 Timothy 2:24-25, “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness.  God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth.”

In his book, Cure for the Common Life (pg. 132) Max Lucado phrases it like this, “Jesus entered the world to serve.  We can enter our jobs, our homes, our church.  Servanthood requires no unique skill or seminary degree.  Regardless or your strengths, training, or church tenure, you can…”

The world today is looking for people of compassion and love.  God’s people – men and women who choose to do the right thing despite the consequence to them and who always have their trust in God.  Even during the hard times.

Our world is hungry for righteous voices.  Those willing to reach out and help others.  Perhaps it is giving support and encouragement to a young mother who is struggling.  Or it could be reaching out to a girl to help guide her through the turbulence of the adolescent years.  It could even be as simple as taking a child to the movies here and there and chatting with them on the car ride.

Our obedience to God’s call spans across racial divides and borders of countries.  Today we read about an Egyptian princess who showed compassion and love to her enemy, a Hebrew.  We see Jesus teaching this same love of enemy in the New Testament in the parable of the good Samaritan.  Egyptian or Hebrew, Samaritan or Jew, we are all God’s children and subject to his ways.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:31-40,

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

God uses us in unexpected ways.  We just have to be willing to answer his call, obeying his teachings and meeting the needs of those around us.  No matter what the personal cost is to us.   We, like the Moses 5, are all called to be strong and courageous people of God who spread compassion and love in a world that is hurting.

Be a person of defiant love.

If you missed Part Three it can be found here.

The Moses Five – Defiant Love (Part 3)

Shannon Martin1 Comment

Part Three of the sermon entitled The Moses Five – Defiant Love which was originally given on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2017 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, OH.

Sermon Scripture Text: Exodus 1:15-2:10

Eventually Jochebed realizes that she can no longer keep her son hidden and safe.  She is a woman of tremendous faith, and comes up with a plan.  In verse 3 of chapter 2 we read, “When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.”  She is going to use the very water meant to kill her son to somehow bring about his salvation!  Jochebed is letting her baby boy go and trusting in God that he will provide safety for the boy.

Verses 4-6 introduce us to the final two women of the Moses 5, “His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.  The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said.”

Although we meet both Miriam, the sister of Moses, and the Pharaoh’s daughter towards the end of our passage today, their part in God’s plan is no less important than the parts carried out by Shiphrah, Puah, and Jochebed.

Miriam has been tasked by her mother to follow the basket the baby is in to see what becomes of it.  We don’t know how far she had to follow the basket, but I would be willing to guess it wasn’t very far.  Jochebed would know that the Nile was considered a sacred and religious source for the royalty of Egypt to bathe in. She knew the spot where the daughter of Pharaoh would be bathing.

Having protected her son for three months, I have no doubt the spot she launched his little basket ark from was very specifically chosen.  Perhaps the spot was even given to her or Miriam in a dream.  We know that in later life Miriam would be a prophetess for her people.

The basket does reach the area where the Pharaoh’s daughter has come to bathe.  It is she who opens the basket that is floating in the water.  She immediately comes to the right conclusion that this is a Hebrew baby and immediately is moved to compassion, but she has a choice to make.

Does she obey her father’s command and throw the baby in the basket into the Nile?  She may have been debating what to do with this baby when a strange girl of 10 or 12 appears out of the reeds.

Our final verses from today’s scripture reading, verses 7-10 give us the rest of the story of the Moses 5, “Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

This brave daughter of Jochebed shows no hesitation and has the intelligence to not betray her relationship to the baby in the basket.  Perhaps it was God’s nudging presence that propelled Miriam boldly forward up to the Pharaoh’s daughter where she brazenly offers her assistance to find a wet nurse.

The time for the Pharaoh’s daughter’s choice is at hand.  And she also chooses defiant love.  She immediately agrees, taking on the responsibility of the child.  She doesn’t stop to consider what could happen to her for disobeying her father.

Could it be that at some point in time she also, like the midwives, had been introduced to the God of Israel?  We have no way to know.  But her acceptance of the child set in motion the protection he needed to survive, as well as put into place his getting the education that would help him lead the Israelites out of Egypt and then across the desert for 40 years.

Jochebed is rewarded for her faith in God.  Not only does she get to take Moses back home with her, but she is paid to continue to care for her own son for a few more years.  She doesn’t just nurse him that day by the shores of the Nile.

During the time she is given with him, I would guess that Jochebed made sure to teach her son as much as she could about the God of Israel and his promise to Abraham.  She would be preparing him to not fall under the false teachings about Egyptian Gods.  Then she lets him go once more, giving him up to his adoptive mother and trusting his care to God.

If you enjoyed Part Three, please visit next week for the final post in this series, Part Four.  If you missed Part Two it can be found here.

The Moses Five – Defiant Love (Part 2)

Shannon Martin1 Comment

Part Two of the sermon entitled The Moses Five – Defiant Love which was originally given on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2017 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, OH.

Sermon Scripture Text: Exodus 1:15-2:10 (NRSV)

Pharaoh is desperate to get this population under control before they take over everything, so he deploys plan A.  He enslaves the Hebrews and tries to basically get the population under control by working them to death.  Even with the harsh and grueling working conditions, the Hebrew people continue to grow.  Is this God’s providential hand we are seeing at work here?  When the powers of earth try to subdue his people, God continues to work behind the scenes to allow the people of God to grow.   He is building a nation out of the nomadic tribe of Israel.

Realizing Plan A has failed, Pharaoh moves on to Plan B.  This plan is a lot more devious.  If Pharaoh can’t subdue the population by working them to death, he will cut off the population before they have a chance to grow!  In verse 16 we read, “when you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”   The midwives are to help birth the baby, then somehow end the baby’s life should he happen to be male while they are cleaning him up after birth.  To cover this up they are to present him back to his parents as if he had not survived the birth or died as a complication of the birth.

Here is where we meet the first two of the Moses Five.  We are given their names in verse 15.  Shiphrah and Puah.  These women were not the only two midwives to the Hebrews, but they were most likely the heads of groups of midwives.

They are also most likely not Hebrews, but Egyptian women.  The text doesn’t tell us a whole lot about them. However, I think it would be safe to conclude these women are indeed Egyptian – why would the Pharaoh instruct Hebrew women to kill their own race?  He gives this order to Egyptian women because he feels he commands their loyalty.

Verse 17 tells us, “But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.”  Regardless of their nationality, these women make their living bringing life into the world, not taking life out of the world.  Whether Egyptian or Hebrew, these women know the God of Israel and they know that the order of Pharaoh to kill the innocent baby boys is wrong.  They knowingly choose to ignore his command.  Shiphrah and Puah know that eventually Pharaoh will most likely catch on to the fact that they are disobeying his command, but defiantly continue on with birthing Hebrew children rather than killing them.  Despite the consequences to themselves, they choose what is right and thereby choose to willingly serve God.

We are given the outcome of their choices in verses 18-21: “So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”

With Plan A to kill the Hebrews by working them to death a failure, and Plan B to have the midwives secretly kill off all male babies a disaster, Pharaoh now moves on to Plan C.  This is his boldest plan yet, and throws caution to the wind.  It is no longer a secret that Pharaoh wants to control the population size of the Hebrews but public knowledge.  Pharaoh calls on all of his subjects in the final verse of chapter one of the book of Exodus, “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

It is in this political climate that Jochebed, the third of the Moses 5, finds herself pregnant for a third time.  She already has a daughter as well as a son who is around the age of three.  Jochebed must go through this pregnancy hearing the sounds of death patrol squads that are seeking out baby boys and tossing them to their deaths in the Nile River.  Does she hope for a girl?  Does she fear for a boy and cry out to God to protect her unborn child by making this child a girl?  The text doesn’t tell us.  Chapter two of the book of Exodus begins: “Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months…”  What it does tell us is that the third child was indeed a boy.  And there was something special about him.

All new parents think their baby is the most precious baby ever born, but the word in the original language of the text tells us that what Jochebed sees is something more.  Somehow, she sees her child is marked for special work for God.

The word used for fine here is “tov”.  We hear that word still today in Jewish toasts of mazel tov!  Tov, which is translated as good or fine, is the same word that is used in the description of the creation in Genesis.

Filled with the defiant, protective love of a mother, and filled with trust in her God, Jochebed manages to hide her new born child for three months!  Perhaps she received some inspiration and support from the civilly disobedient midwives.  Can you imagine how hard this would be to do in such close quarters as the Hebrew slaves most likely lived in?  How do you hide or muffle the loud cries of a baby that is hungry or tired?  The scriptures don’t tell us how, just that she did.  Again, we see the hand of God in the midst of all of this bringing about HIS will.  She is willing to risk everything, her life and the lives of her family, to do what is right.

If you enjoyed Part Two, please visit next week for Part 3.  If you missed Part One it can be found here.