What makes him so special?

God has a wonderful sense of humour and great ways of humbling his servants.

So here I am preaching about humility.

Let me tell you how the morning began.

Needed to print out my sermon, needed to redo the service sheet

and the photocopier machine that we have, which is a magic machine,

had a major meltdown.

And I come back in to pick up my work off the machine

and two people are standing there, two of you are standing there.

I've apologised to one already, I'll get to the other one,

saying it's all jammed up and it's just not working.

And I said, somebody's physically turned the switch off on the site

because the switch was off on the site.

And they're standing there going, wasn't me, wasn't me.

And I'm thinking, well, somebody's turned it off.

So we go through the cycle again, we turn it on,

we push the instruction on the top,

and as soon as we push the instruction on the top,

the switch on the side of the machine goes, click.

I was wrong.

It's hard to say, isn't it?

Let's pray.

Lord, as we come to your word this morning,

we pray that you would speak to us by your spirit.

We pray that you would be at work in all of us,

transforming us into the likeness of Christ

and wrestling with who we really are

and submitting to you as who you really are.

And we pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen.

To recap, we are on a journey.

We had an intermission last week.

We had back to church Sunday

and we've got one or two back with us this morning

and that's fantastic.

But we're on a journey.

Before that, we've been on this journey in the Old Testament,

through the Old Testament book of Numbers.

And we began the series in Numbers chapter 9

Numbers 9 · chapter mention

and God leading his people on a journey to the land of promise.

All was well.

God was in their midst.

The whole nation's life was centred on him.

There was joy and purpose for living

which came from having God as the absolute centre of this nation.

And so it was a journey that began a bit like a Ferrari ride

if you've been on the upgraded M2,

the beautiful, smooth surface that it's got at the moment.

It's fast.

It's smooth.

It's powerful.

There's not a bump in the road.

And then you get to Numbers chapter 11

Numbers 11 · chapter mention

where we were last time

and it is as if the Ferrari has turned off the highway

onto a rocky bush track

and the grumbles begin.

The people complain about their difficult life.

They quickly forget how hard it was before.

They complain about the menu.

They like economy class passengers on a flight to the United States.

They're grizzling about the legroom, the service and the food.

And Moses comes out one morning

and people are just sobbing all over the place.

It says in Numbers 11,

they're standing, the whole families are standing

at the entrances of their tents,

just sobbing.

And Moses is so overwhelmed by the people's demands,

he melts down

and he makes this pitiful complaint to God,

finishing with,

if this is how you are going to treat me,

do me a favour and put me to death right now.

Don't try it.

They are not in a good place.

Short story is God judges the people.

But the amazing thing is that God answers Moses

with a word which is to awaken faith.

Is the Lord's arm too short?

You will now see whether or not

what I say will come true for you.

And we read on and you see that God does the impossible.

He feeds the people.

He judges them.

But he tenderly provides for Moses.

And he raises up 70 spirit-filled leaders

to assist him in the task of leading the nation.

So God hears his complaint

and provides for him in a very generous and personal way.

And that leads us into Numbers chapter 12

Numbers 12 · chapter mention

where we are today.

So for Moses,

leadership clearly isn't easy.

The complaints continue

but now they come from a different direction.

This time they come from his right-hand man

and his right-hand woman,

both on the same side.

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses

because of his Cushite wife

for he had married a Cushite.

Has the Lord only spoken through Moses?

Hasn't he also spoken through us?

And the Lord heard this.

So Miriam and Aaron are Moses' older brother and sister.

They've both had very significant and prophetic roles

in leading the people of Israel.

Aaron was the high priest for the nation.

He was also Moses' public address system.

So when Moses spoke to the people,

it was Aaron who did the talking.

Miriam was probably the protective big sister

who watched over her baby brother

when their mum floated him in the Nile River.

She was the woman in Exodus 15

who led the women of Israel

singing and praising God

when he saved them from the Egyptian army.

Now she joyously grabbed the tambourine.

She bounced all over the place.

They danced and sang.

She said,

Sing to the Lord for he's highly exalted.

The horse and its rider

he has hurled into the sea.

And so Moses and Aaron and Miriam

were the leading people of the nation

until the Lord appointed 70 spirit-filled leaders

to assist Moses.

The leadership team's just been expanded

in a really big way

and not everyone's happy.

Sort of like a family owned and run business

merging with a corporation

with a whole lot of people

who are at a similar level of leadership.

And there are many relationships to be juggled

as people find their place

in this new organisation.

Job security,

potential loss of significance

are big drivers

for many of us.

And so what happens?

Well, two of the original three

gang up on little brother.

So verse 1,

Miriam and Aaron

began to talk against Moses

because of his Cushite wife.

For he'd married a Cushite.

Has the Lord only spoken through him?

And Moses gets what you call triangled.

It's the sort of thing

that people do all the time.

Your kids are having a fight.

Two of your kids are having a fight.

Well, your grandkids,

they're having a fight

and you step in

and think you'll try and fix things.

And all of a sudden,

what do they do?

They unite,

they form an alliance against you

and you get sucked into the conflict

and they're firmly placed on the other side.

See, Miriam and Aaron

speak against Moses

and the basis for their accusation

is his foreign wife.

Exodus tells us her name is Zephora.

She's a Moabites

who might have come from a place called Cushan.

She may have had a different skin colour.

She's descended from Abraham.

But not from Israel.

She hadn't been through the plagues in Egypt

or the journey through the bottom of the sea.

She had remained with her dad

while Moses went

and confronted the king of Egypt.

So we're not really sure

what their problem with her was.

You know,

were they critical of her race?

Or that she hadn't been through the salvation

and the hard times

that they had been through?

Or that she had Moses' ear

in a way that they don't?

But whatever it is,

it becomes the issue

that Miriam and Aaron

work themselves up into a lather over

to the point

that they assert themselves against Moses.

has the Lord only spoken through him?

And it's almost like,

well, what makes him so special?

Very Aussie.

They cut down the tall poppy

and they effectively say,

he's no better than us.

We've prophesied.

And they are right

because the Lord has spoken

through both of them.

But they are wrong

because God has made Moses special

and God has called Moses to his role.

It's not a very easy thing

to be a leader

when other people think

they can do a better job than you.

I've been there.

And it's easy to think

that you are the better preacher

or that you have

the intellectual high ground

or that you have

a much better idea

of what is strategic

and what our leaders

should be doing.

Most of us have spent

the last few weeks

being the wise ones

and articulating

what our prime minister

and government

should be concerned about.

We know how to do that job,

don't we?

And it's very easy

when we challenge leadership

to be in the same time

what we're actually doing

is we're exalting ourselves.

And so Miriam and Aaron

lift themselves to Moses' level.

They don't try to go over his level,

they just try to come up to his level.

And they say,

has the Lord only spoken through Moses?

Hasn't he also spoken through us?

But they're not innocent questions

because the challenge is on.

And there is a very foreboding

and the Lord heard this.

Verse 2.

And God steps in

and he stands by his man.

So verse 4,

at once the Lord said to Moses

and to Aaron and to Miriam,

come out to the tent of meeting,

all three of you,

get out here.

So the three of them came out

and then the Lord came down

in a pillar of cloud

and he stood at the entrance to the tent

and he summoned Aaron and Miriam.

And when both of them stepped forward,

he said,

listen to my words.

When a prophet of the Lord is among you,

I reveal myself to him in visions.

I speak to him in dreams.

But this is not true of my servant Moses.

He is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles.

He sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?

And verse 9,

the anger of the Lord burned against them

and he left them.

They get a divine dressing down.

My tent now, all of you.

He presents himself in power.

The pillar of cloud descends.

He calls Aaron and Miriam

and says,

step forward.

They are prophets

and so are the 70 helpers.

They declare the work and the words,

the work and the,

the word and the works of God.

If my spirit,

if my sermon is spirit empowered this morning,

it is a prophetic word

in as much as it is a forth telling

of the word of God

in a way that engages our hearts

and is driven by the spirit of God.

And I always pray that God would speak

through his proclaimed word,

whether it's a word we speak in public

or a word that we speak in private.

And so any power is not mine,

it's God's power.

So the Lord doesn't mince words

telling Miriam and Moses

that when he is among them in prophecy,

it is him communicating his words

in dreams and visions.

It's not them and their abilities,

it's his power which is driving them.

And then he says,

but Moses is different.

He is my personal house servant.

He is faithful to me.

I speak with Moses man to man

and face to face

and he sees my form.

I've got relationship with him

that I haven't got with you

in the same way.

Moses doesn't have to make a name for himself.

God gives him a wonderful rap.

It's the Old Testament equivalent

of a New Testament well done

good and faithful servant.

And so the question is,

and it's God's question,

why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?

And this is not a question,

this is an accusation from God.

And we're told in verse 9,

the anger of the Lord

burned against them

and he left them.

And he didn't just make an accusation,

he left Miriam

with leprosy like snow

and probably with something

like a white flaky skin disease

all over her body,

which would have been enough

to immediately make her unclean

and unable to come

amongst the people of God.

But it was probably

a threat to her life

because Aaron just immediately

pleads with Moses,

please my Lord,

do not hold this,

hold against us the sin

that we have so foolishly committed.

Do not let her be

like a stillborn infant

coming from its mother's womb

and with its flesh

half eaten away.

It's quite a wonderful prayer.

There's no ifs and buts.

There's no excuses.

There's no blame shifting.

There's corporate ownership.

We, not she.

This is a sin

which we have foolishly committed.

Please don't let her rot away.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

It's liberating

to confess our sins

in God's presence.

To not have to hide

from what we are really like.

To be set free

from games of pretense.

Have you ever done it?

I have.

And it is absolutely freeing.

And I don't just mean

private confession to God

we're on our knees at home

telling him what we've done.

But I mean going to the person

that you have offended against.

And owning your own offence

against them.

I am sorry

I did gossip about you

when I said that.

We read it all the time

from 1 John chapter 1

1 John 1 · chapter mention

don't we?

If we confess our sins.

God is faithful

and just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

Aaron owns his sins

straight away.

It's not cheap forgiveness.

They do come clean.

They beg for mercy

from Moses.

And Moses

with great grace

and probably great love

for his sister

cries to the Lord

Oh God

Oh God

please help her.

That could have been

a moment of power

for him couldn't it?

What can I milk

out of this moment?

Oh God

please help her.

Failure in confession

is a very humbling thing.

It's good for our souls.

It's good for our relationships

with each other.

It's good for our relationship

with God.

And God responds

to Moses' intercession.

It seems like Miriam

probably was healed

straight away.

It's not specific.

And then she was left

outside the camp

for seven days

while the whole nation

waited on her.

A million people

waited for her

to go past

her period of cleansing.

She had done

a disgraceful thing

but she was

completely forgiven.

And you get

this picture

that God

the way that God

treats her

is a picture

that says

sin matters

but it's also

a picture

that says

that the grace

of God

is very large

indeed.

there's something

else in this event

that is worth

noting.

If you read

through that passage

you will see

that Moses

does not speak

a word

except to say

oh God

please help her.

He says

nothing to defend

himself.

He speaks

no word of

rebuke

to Miriam

and Aaron.

Verse 3

tells us

something

which is

enormously

significant

Moses was

a very

humble man

more humble

than anybody

who had

ever lived.

You think

well what does

that mean?

What does

that look like?

Because

Moses was a

man who had

been used

by God

in many

extraordinary

moments.

He had

stared down

the king

of Egypt

while God

inflicted

his plagues.

he had

raised

his staff

over the

waters

of the

Red Sea

and the

sea had

parted

when God

parted

the waters

and more

than a

million

people

passed

through

on dry

ground.

He had

had the

experience

of relating

to God

man to

man

face to

face.

He had

had unique

experiences

of God

and his

power.

He had

had the

adrenaline

rush of

seeing God

do

extraordinary

things

and yet

it says

he was a

humble man

more humble

than anybody

who had

ever lived.

The Hebrew

word which

is translated

humility

is used

in other

parts of

the Old

Testament

to mean

things like

poor.

And

needy

and socially

weak and

afflicted and

humiliated.

And you

can look at

Moses from

another direction

and say

well Moses

is afflicted

and he's

humiliated by

his own

people.

He is

burdened and

he is

bowed down.

And in

his great

moments of

power and

in his

personal

moments of

affliction

he is a

man whose

personal

ego is

submitted to

God's

will.

Whether

it's a

high high

or a

low low.

So he

can walk

in glory,

he can walk

in humiliation

and he

is humble.

He lives

in close

personal

relationship

with God

but with

his ego

in submission

to the

Lord.

humility.

I think

humility is

what lies

behind the

apostle Paul

saying in

Philippians 4

12,

I know

what it is

to be in

need and

I know

what it is

to have

plenty.

I have

learned the

secret of

being content

in any

and every

situation.

I think

this is a

lesson for

me, I'm

still growing

in my

understanding

of this

but when

we think

humility

we as

Aussies I

think often

think of

somebody who

doesn't have

tickets on

themselves or

who is

self-effacing,

a person who

deflects attention

away from

themselves so

you've done

something that

people acknowledge

and say it's

really great,

oh no, no, no,

it was nothing,

it wasn't me.

But it's not

humility if we

crawl away into

a hole really

wanting the

glory on

ourselves.

A humble

person gives

glory where

glory is due.

So for a

humble person

God's glory

comes before

our own

ego.

If Christ

has gifted

you, maybe

in work which

you do or

ministry, work

that you do in

your workplace or

work that you do

in ministry,

ministry, and

if he has

called you to

humble service

in those things,

then give him

the glory by

using those

gifts in his

service and to

his glory.

Do them well

in his name.

And maybe

Christ has put

you in a

lowly place, a

hard place, a

place of

suffering, a

place maybe

where your

work is not

seen or

acknowledged by

anybody at

all.

home.

I still

think of a

young woman

working in the

kitchen at a

youth camp.

Everybody wants

to do the big

high profile

tasks, you

know, counsellor

to the kids or

speaker at the

youth events and

all those sorts of

things.

And this woman

worked in the

kitchen in a

way that

wasn't just a

job to do, it

was the ministry

that she was

doing in serving

everybody at

the camp.

No personal

acknowledgement by

most, but one

or two did see.

And it says

heaps.

She was

humble.

She served

Christ.

She gave him the

glory in what she

was doing.

See, Miriam and

Aaron let their

pride run away

from them.

Now, they were

anything other

than humble.

they made a

grasp for

recognition and

exalted themselves

when God was

clearly raising up

other leaders

around them.

And they

exalted themselves

over God's

appointed leader,

Moses.

Philippians chapter

two says in

verses three and

four, do

nothing, it

says to us,

do nothing out

of selfish

ambition or

vain conceit,

but in

humility consider

others better

than yourselves.

Each of you

should look not

only to your

own interests,

but also to

the interests

of others.

And I think

one of the

things that

Philippians is

showing us is

that humility's

opposite is

our own selfish

ambition and

vain conceit,

glory taken for

ourselves.

So life becomes

about me and

my issues and I

am always the

first one in

line for the

things I need

help with.

Aaron and

Miriam made a

grasp for their

own position and

place, two

ganged up on

three.

Moses was

different.

He put the

interests of the

nation ahead of

his own numbers

of times.

God even

offered at one

point to wipe

everybody else

out and make

him the head of

a dynasty,

start again with

a brand new

family and he

would be king

pin, top

dog.

God and

Moses said

no because

he was

concerned for

God's name

and God's

glory if

God did

such a

thing.

So humility

is not

selfish.

Humble men

and women

have their

egos submitted

to Christ

and to his

purposes.

When

Numbers was

written,

Moses was

indeed the

most humble

man who

had ever

lived.

But

Philippians

goes on

to use

Christ,

not Moses,

as the

ultimate

humble man.

Your

attitude

should be

the same

as that

of Christ

Jesus,

who being

in very

nature

God,

did not

consider

equality

with God

something

to be

grasped,

but made

himself

nothing,

taking the

very nature

of a

servant,

being made

in human

likeness

and being

found in

appearance

as a

man,

he humbled

himself and

became

obedient to

death,

even death

on a

cross.

Christ

is the

ultimate

example of

humility.

Christ

Jesus,

God

himself,

did not

assert himself

or his

rights.

He did

not make a

shortcut grasp

for power.

God

said,

he could

have

called a

legion

of angels

to save

himself

from the

cross.

He

submitted

himself,

he yielded

his ego

in faith

and trust

to the

will and

purposes

of his

heavenly

father.

My

father,

take this

cup from

me,

but not

my will,

but yours

be done.

Father,

into your

hands I

commit my

spirit.

Christ

knew who

he was.

He knew

who his

father was.

He knew

what the

mission was.

He did

not

accidentally

die.

He became

obedient to

death,

even the

humiliation

of death

on a

cross at

the hands

of the

people that

he had

made.

Christ

submitted

his own

ego to

glorious

purpose that

his father

would achieve.

And that

is why

in Philippians

2 it

says that

God exalted

him to

the highest

place and

gave him the

name that

is above

every name,

that at

the name of

Jesus every

knee should

bow in

heaven and

on earth

and under

the earth,

and every

tongue confess

that Jesus

Christ is

Lord to

the glory

of God

the Father.

God

stood by

his man

and he

vindicated

him.

God

stood by

his man

Moses

and he

vindicated

him.

We can

be absolutely

confident that

if we will

humble ourselves

and submit

our egos to

the glorious

Lord Jesus

Christ,

then he will

vindicate us.

A life

lived for

him will

never be

wasted.

1 Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

says all

of you

clothe

yourselves

with humility

toward one

another because

God opposes

the proud but

gives grace to

the humble.

Humble

yourselves

therefore under

God's mighty

hand that he

may lift you

up in due

time.

Cast all

your anxiety

on him

because he

cares for

you.

God

intervenes to

protect his

people.

Humble

authenticity

is rightly

one of the

seven core

values of

St.

Paul's.

Let me

finish by

reminding you

what it

says.

As a

church we

seek to

declare war

on the

daily

tendency

towards

self-sufficiency

and the

desire to

live

independently

of God.

The

promise of

God in

James 4

6 is

that he

gives

grace to

the

humble.

We are

convinced

that no

effective

growth,

ministry or

mission

happens

without the

cultivation

of humility

in the

heart and

the weakening

of pride in

this life.

And we

therefore seek

our words and

actions to be

what we believe

and teach from

God's word.

brothers and

sisters you do

not need to be

a great one to

be humble.

It is a

wonderful thing

to submit our

egos to

Christ and to

walk in

submission to

him.

Amen.