God Sees Your Obedience
This week we explored two extraordinary characters in the Christmas story - both important to God’s plan, but different in their callings. Mary was called to become brave and take on the mantle of virgin mother of the Christ, while Joseph was called to become faithful to his God over his religion. Both required significant steps of obedience, but are manifested in different ways.
God may not be asking us to carry the burden of birthing his Son, but he asks things of us just the same. And just like Joseph and Mary were approached by angels in the story of Jesus’s birth, we always have options when God asks something of us.
We can say no to God. We have that option, just like Joseph and Mary did. The angel did not appear to Mary telling her she was pregnant. He told her she would become pregnant. The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, but he didn’t say Joseph had to. In both circumstances the angel is telling them the plan and quelling their fear, building excitement. They could have said no, and we have that same option.
We can be directly disobedient. When we feel the Holy Spirit prompting us to pray for someone in Kroger, we can go down a different aisle. But a life surrendered to God means trusting that he knows better, and trusting the prompting of the Holy Spirit within us.
Maybe that’s not you - you don’t say no to God. But you find ways to cut corners. Maybe we go up to that person in Kroger, but rather than praying for them we ask them how they’re doing and let them feel heard for a minute. We tell them we’ll be praying for them and go on our merry way. What a blessing in that person’s life, right? They felt loved, and we got to escape feeling like a crazy person for laying hands on someone in the frozen food aisle.
But that’s not what God asked of us. I like to call this half-obedience, and while there are multiple instances of this in scripture, none of them turn out well. Let me introduce you to my friends Aaron and Moses:
Numbers 20:1-12 (The Message)
“In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and she was buried.
There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. They attacked Moses: “We wish we’d died when the rest of our brothers died before God. Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates—and now not even any water!”
Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God. God spoke to Moses: “Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink.”
Moses took the staff away from God’s presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: “Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?” With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.
God said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me, didn’t treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren’t going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them.”
In this story, God clearly tells Moses and Aaron to speak to a rock and it will provide water for the Israelites, who are currently starving in the desert. But rather than speak to a rock, Moses takes a cop out. You see, earlier in the Israelites’ journey in the desert, God told Moses to hit a rock with his staff and it poured out water, so I’m guessing Moses was pretty sure this would work again. Why look silly talking to a rock when you know hitting it will do the trick?
But here’s the heart of this story - God didn’t keep the blessing from the Israelites. He still provided water for them even though the guys in charge took a shortcut. But because of Moses and Aaron’s lack of bold obedience, they never got to enter the Promised Land. Your half obedience might not keep God’s blessing from someone else, but it will certainly rob you of God’s promise.
Half-obedience is disobedience in sheep’s clothing.
The final option is to go all in, as our pastor would say. We can learn from Mary and Joseph and the ways they submitted to God’s mystery, knowing it would change their entire future. Joseph faithfully obeyed God, trusting there was a plan and knowing his actions would be misunderstood by the people he respected most in his community. Mary boldly obeyed God, knowing it would be impossible to hide this pregnancy and that even her closest friends might never believe her. But neither of them let the fear of what people may say or think prevent them from going all in.
I don’t know what God is asking of you right now, but I know he is asking for your obedience somewhere. It may be something bold and public, like praying for someone in Kroger, or faithful and quiet, like letting go of a grudge you’ve been clutching for far too long.
Carry this reminder with you through the weeks to come: God honors your obedience, whether you are bold like Mary or faithful like Joseph.
Whether it was an easy decision or one you hesitated to make.
He sees your obedience, and he honors it.
Becoming generous
weekly family activity - obedience
Each week of this Advent season your family has an opportunity to grow in its generosity.
This week we want to be a blessing to those who are brave enough to be obedient, even when times are tough. Our local fire fighters and police officers show their obedience every week when they step-in to keep our communities safe. Show them a small amount of gratitude by baking them some fresh treats. Leave them at their station with a short thank-you note.
To follow along with this study, mark your calendars for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in these weeks leading up to Christmas. Each post will be hosted here. If what you’re learning is meaningful to you, click one of the share buttons at the top of these posts to invite more people on this journey of becoming.
We also invite you to spend Sunday mornings with us to hear what the pastors have to share with us during this season. Services start at 9:30 and 11:15am each week. See you there!
Weekly Reading - Dec 9-13
Monday Luke 1:26-56
Tuesday Micah 5:2-3
Wednesday Matthew 1:18-25
Thursday Isaiah 11:1-10
Friday Luke 1:57-80