So we’re starting this sermon series on God’s will, God’s Way, not My Way. And it’s gonna be, I think, a personal journey for all of us, if you’re willing to go on that. And also for us together as God’s people, because in the world, isn’t it true that God’s will does not seem to always be done and certainly not in God’s way. Um, stories told about a, a grandfather with his granddaughter watching the news and the news. It should almost have like a rating on it these days, right? Almost like a warning because, uh, the news is, is bad, it’s bad news. And so this grandpa and his granddaughter are watching the news together, and it was a bad week in the world division, discord violence. And at the commercial break, the little girl just kind of sat up in her chair, looked at her grandpa and said, granddad. What happened to God, and it’s a maybe an innocent question, but a difficult one and, and what a wait for that girl to bear in her own heart. But I think truth be told, for all of us at different points when things happen, we find ourselves asking What happened to God? Where is he? What’s going on? Just yesterday morning, my heart was broken. Traumatized really by the reports coming outta Minnesota of two lawmakers being shot. Their spouses two died too. Uncritical, manhunts still going on, and certainly our prayers are with the victims and their families and the people of Minnesota. But this kind of news is just far too common and way too tragic. In the news this week, we’ve seen tensions really escalate in the Middle East. Threat of war erupting here at home. We’ve seen reports of, of protests in our streets and in our cities. And you know what, on this last point, even with all of the political tension that has kind of rises up on this protest, we should give thanks that we live in this country where you do have the right to protest. Here in the US we have these first amendment rights of peaceful protest free speech, the right to assembly, the right to even petition. Our government rights denied across a vast majority of the rest of the world. So we are blessed to be in a country tense as it can be in all because of the freedoms that we have. Let’s not take them for granted. But I’ve been thinking about the news and all that goes on and how we can get stressed out about that. But what about when the headlines move into own personal heartaches and the, and your own life becomes a stressor to the point where you start asking what happened to God? God, where are you? My father in heaven? You’re a good, good father. Really. Have you ever been there? That’s exactly where we find God’s people in the Book of Exodus today as we start out with this message, um, on our new series. So if you have your Bibles or your devices, please open them up to Exodus chapter one. I’ll be reading from that in just a little bit. In this series, God’s Will, God’s Way. It, it, it’s not, and it can’t be about a nice, neat, tidy faith. ’cause life isn’t that way, is it? But neither is the Bible. The Bible here is addressing, uh, is addressing the aches, the ache of slavery, the ache of waiting, the ache of questions. But in this aching, we find something way better than easy answers. We find a God who does not abandon his people. When they’re in bondage, when they’re in chains, but he actually then works to free them to fulfill his covenant. So I’m gonna read these verses in Exodus chapter 21, and there’s kind of two main parts.

So follow me along as I read. These are the names of the Sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family. Ruben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar, Zein and Benjamin, Dan and Naftali, GAD and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered 70 in all. Joseph was already in Egypt. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. But the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful. They multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king to whom Joseph meant nothing came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people, the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they’ll become even more numerous.And if war breaks out, we’ll join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country. So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor. I. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor and brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields and all their harsh labor, the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. Now here’s kind of part two. The King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives whose names were shif. And Puah. When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the boy, the baby is a boy, kill ’em. But if it’s a girl, let her live. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the King of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live. Then the King of Egypt, summon the midwives and ask them, why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live? The midwives answered Pharaoh. Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They’re vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Yeah. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As we begin this series, God’s will, not my but God’s way, we’re gonna walk with real people, fragile people, people like Moses who are gonna be introduced to next week. People like these two midwives, Shifra, and Pua. We’re gonna see how God works not through polished heroes, but. Through trembling obedience and courageous faith. And I want us to hold on tight to this promise in the Bible that Diane read for us earlier. If God is for us, who can be against us, lemme set the context as we begin here in Exodus, the Israelites, they’ve gone from blessing. To bondage the Egyptians once welcomed them. In fact, number two in Egypt was Jewish. He was Joseph, but now a new Pharaoh rules, and he doesn’t remember Joseph for that whole generation. And so he sees the people of God now as a threat. And so he enslaves them. He oppresses them, and then actually tries to systematically eliminate them. And yet it is here in these challenges that God’s promises pulsate through unlikely heroes in kind of an original version of the show called The Midwife. Do you know that one? These two midwives, Shrah and Pua, they’re given this instruction from Pharaoh. When you serve as midwife, if it’s a son, you shall kill him. But verse 17 says, the midwives feared God. And did not do as the King of Egypt commanded them. In other words, they refused to comply and though their, their courage was quiet, it shook an empire. And even more importantly, though, God may have seemed silent in all of this, he was not absent. And that’s the first lesson for us.

God’s promises persist. In our pain. I don’t know if you noticed, but when I first began reading in chapter one, Exodus begins with a genealogy, and at first glance it’s just names right? Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah. But if you’re familiar with the first book of the Bible, genesis, you know what this list means? These are people of the promise. God had sworn to their ancestor, Abraham that his descendants would one day suffer in a foreign land, but also that he would bring them out, and now here they are in Egypt. Multiplying. Thriving until they weren’t. In verse eight shows us how everything changed. Then a new king to whom Joseph meant nothing came to power. With this new ruler came a new fear, and Pharaoh threatened by the fruitfulness of the people of Israel, enslaves them and, and oppresses them with hard labor. Yet verse 12 says, but the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. Now get this, that’s kingdom language. In Genesis 17, God promised Abraham, I will establish my covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And now here we are three centuries later, the people of Israel are multiplying even under oppression. In fact, the more they were beaten down, the Bible says the more they grew and why? Because then as now chains cannot cancel. Covenant. What Pharaoh saw as a threat was actually a sign that God’s promises don’t wither in the suffering. Though it may look that way. Rather, they grow deeper, they grow roots. The Israelites were being worked to death. I mean, literally, but God’s word and his promises still alive and kicking, still moving, still multiplying. And just as in our life today, God is still at work. Even if the evidence may seem thin. This aligns with what we read about in the New Testament, which says, I consider that our presence sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Whew. Man. I gotta preach on that verse sometime just that one verse. We studied that back in the Roman study this winter. What a promise. And for Israel. Israel was aching, but God was still acting. In fact, Martin Luther, the head of what became the Lutheran church once preached this even in suffering, God is more present than in prosperity for in suffering. We are brought to rely on his promises alone. Hmm. I think God does that. Even yet today. That’s what God was doing back in Egypt. Not abandoning his people, but anchoring them. To his word to rely on his promises. God’s promises persist in our pain. Secondly, God’s people can resist with holy courage. In our text today, we have these two unlikely quiet heroes, Shifra and Pua. The King of Egypt commands them. To participate in genocide. But verse 17 says, the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded. Now, think about the danger these two women faced. They were powerless people, yet they were resisting. The most powerful man in the known world. Their fear of God, in other words, outweighed their fear of Pharaoh. And so Shifra puah, they resist with kind of a, a subtle but subversive strength saying that the Hebrew women are, are too vigorous and childbirth to be stopped. Was this really the truth? You don’t really know? For sure. Maybe, maybe not. But it was a righteous, courageous move from these women. And their courage.

It wasn’t in speeches or public protests. It was in quiet, but risky. Faithfulness and God’s people echo this courage centuries later when the disciples of Jesus after the sending of the Holy Spirit, we just celebrated that last week with Pentecost boldly told the Jewish leaders who are trying to punish them for preaching about Jesus, they, these guys said, we must obey God rather than men. As Christians, we’ve seen this theme of holy resistance throughout history. All but two of Jesus’ original disciples were killed for their faith by the authorities as have been thousands of Christian martyrs ever since. More recently, I think about people like Corey 10 Boom. If you know her story, she and her family defied Nazi laws to hide Jewish people in in their home, and some of the family lost their lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer helped lead the underground church in Germany during World War ii. Ended up dying in a German camp. He even the head of what became the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther. It started with him protesting, kneeling 95 feces to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg and igniting the Protestant Reformation or really revolution. In fact, Augsburg confession, one of our confessional theological documents, affirms this. All citizens are bound to obey their magistrates and laws save when commanded to sin. For then they ought to obey God rather than men. I mean, do you realize we here at Victory Lutheran, we are part of the founding source of what’s called the Protest ANT Church, the Protestant church. We’ve been protesting from the beginning. Turns out we’ve been countercultural all along, and that’s what these women were doing. That’s what people here at Victory are doing. Some of you probably back in my college days, I was very active in the pro-life movement. I was a part of a group called Montanans for Life, and we were trying to run against culture and make a difference for the Kingdom of God. I was once actually ushered off the grounds of a public junior high school for teaching on human development in the womb, and then encouraging the students towards sexual abstinence. It turns out the teacher that in invited us into the classroom hadn’t scheduled the obligatory invitation from planned plan, uh, parenthood. And so after lunch hour, we were courteous, courteously, but clearly ushered off the premises, kicked out of a public junior high school. Another time we kind of blitzed all the high schools just as they’re getting outta class on Friday at the end of school, giving them all the teens flyers for a television show being shown on network tv, highlighting the value of life. I remember standing outside of it was the only. Uh, source, uh, provider of abortion in the whole state of Montana in billings, providing sidewalk counseling, standing on public property. I wasn’t loud, I wasn’t aggressive, just simply offering an alternative, and I believe a better way. And yes, I got yelled at. Some days were kind of difficult, but it was worth it because Christian protest often looks like kindness. And conviction. In the same breath, our Lutheran confessions affirm even civil disobedience. It says this in the Augsburg confession. It is necessary to obey God rather than men. When the command of civil authority contradicts God’s law, and these two midwives in our text remind us. That our Christian witness, that’s not just about what we believe, but it’s who we obey. And these two women remind us, you don’t have to be loud to be brave, you just have to be faithful. And their resistance, it was quiet as faithful, but risky. They didn’t make speeches, they saved babies. They didn’t make headlines, but they certainly made history. And I wanna highlight here just one way that we here at Victory involved, uh, in the same action right here in the East Valley Choices Pregnancy Center, located right here in Mesa. It’s a vibrant Christian ministry that offers women and men compassionate, confidential, and free help and assistance during a time of an unplanned pregnancy in a time of crisis.

They provide things like pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds, options, counseling, and so much more. All designed to affirm life and provide hope in moments of crisis and choices. It’s, it’s a mission partner with us here at Victory. Some members have served there even going back 15 years, and there are people yet today, even here, right at Victory who volunteer there week after week. Look at this picture here. Just this last month, the Victory Lutheran Foundation, a awarded a grant to the, uh, to choices to strengthen the center’s lifesaving outreach. And together we’re standing with women facing difficult decisions, celebrating every gift of life of a child, and pointing families to the abundant life that they find in Jesus Christ. It’s kinda like being a modern day Shira or Pua. God’s promises persistent. Our pain God’s people can resist with holy courage. And finally and briefly, God’s provision is already in motion. Next week we’re gonna pick up on this verse, the end of Exodus one, or even after the midwives defiance, Moses doubles down. Yeah. Every son, he says, that is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast into the Nile. The Nile River. I mean, doesn’t that sound like evil as one? But what Pharaoh doesn’t know yet is that God has already begun his rescue plan. Next week we’re gonna pick up the story and see God’s hand. At work, we’re gonna meet a Levite woman who gives birth to a boy, places her son in the basket, and by a strange twist of fate, or actually God’s working. Pharaoh’s own daughter raises this child under Pharaoh’s very own nose in his own house. In other words, God doesn’t just send help. He grew help inside enemy territory, and we see this throughout scripture. It’s what Joseph meant when he told his brothers in Genesis 50, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. It’s what Paul tells us in Galatians four, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. There had been centuries of waiting 400 years since the last word of God and centuries even more waiting for this promised Messiah. But when the fullness of time had come, that’s when he saw God’s hand at work. For the people of Israel in Egypt, when the whips cracked, when the babies cried, when Egypt tightened its grip, God had already planned a deliverer. And that deliverer would one day show, uh, foreshadow the greatest deliverer ever. Jesus Christ, who himself was born into suffering, threatened by kings and yet destined to save his people from their sins. If Exodus one shows us anything, I think it’s this, that God’s deliverance is already underway even before his people cry out. And the greater truth, the one that we know full now is this, that God has already given us the ultimate deliverer. Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Romans eight, if God is for us, who can ever be against us?

Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Pharaoh was against. Israel. Sin is against us, our real enemies today. Death. Shame, condemnation, spiritual bondage. These are our real enemies. But if God gave his own son to break those chains, then there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can stand against us. And here’s the good news that Jesus Christ has stood for us. The Bible says, who will then condemn us? No one for Christ. Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us. Jesus didn’t just suffer with us. He suffered for us for you. He bore the whip of sin. The condemnation we deserved is upon him. He went to the grave so we don’t have to remain in ours, and he rose again to lead us out of bondage. Maybe not into Canaan per se, but into everlasting life, the Promised Land, and now Jesus stands in heaven at the right hand of the Father pleading for us interceding on our behalf. So my dear friend, whatever chain you might be feeling is binding you up today. Guilt, fear, rejection, failure. They don’t define you. Jesus does. In Christ, you are forgiven. In Jesus, you are righteous in Him. You are free. Praise his name. Let’s pray. Gracious Father, thank you for not sparing your own son, but giving him up for us all so that we could be free from every chain. Jesus, our true deliverer. You died for us. Were raised to life for us, and now you plead for us.

At the right hand of the Father. Let this truth anchor our hearts today in you. Strengthen us in our faith to live in the freedom and confidence of your love, knowing that nothing can separate us from you. I ask in Jesus’ precious name and for his sake, amen.