Don’t Let Disappointment Steal Your Gratitude (Part 5 of 5)
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
October 29, 2017
The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’
Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigour had not abated.
The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.
Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. - Deuteronomy 32: 1-12
It was a moment to behold. Moses had served God and God’s people from the first call within that odd and captivating burning bush. Moses had followed God to grow and mature in his prophetic leadership over the years and from Israel’s exile to step into God’s new life of freedom.
And God brought Moses to one last mountain top experience before he was called home. Moses glimpsed the Promised Land. It was the place where God’s people would continue to pilgrimage towards in order to abide in God’s faithfulness for generations.
Moses died in the land of Moab at the Lord’s command and God’s people were filled with grief. The Israelites had followed Moses through the wilderness for forty years. God’s presence had been revealed through Moses in powerful ways. Their grief naturally held disappointment as this chapter of faith came to a close.
And yet God was at work to make sure their disappointment did not steal Israel’s gratitude. God had already been preparing Joshua to take the baton from Moses as God continued to go before the people and do a new thing.
Throughout the history of Scripture God called the prophets as God’s people strayed off the path of faith. While the prophets conveyed God’s disappointment, the covenant love of God never gave up on God’s people.
Even as God called the prophets, God also called upon women like Rahab (Joshua 2), Ruth, Deborah (Judges 4: 4-5), Esther, and Mary (Matthew, Luke) to also lead God’s people in times of difficulty and great disappointment. God spoke through these women to reinterpret disappointment as God’s opportunity to do something new in the hope of the coming kingdom.
God revealed his only Son Jesus Christ as the new Moses to lead God’s people in another exile to experience the freedom of new life; eternal life. Like Moses, Jesus sought refuge in Egypt as a baby (Matthew 2: 13-15). He endured the temptations of the wilderness for forty days (Mathew 4: 1-11). He reinterpreted the law of God’s love to the people as he taught in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12).
Jesus Christ called disciples to follow him towards the gift of new life that the cross and empty tomb hold. And for three years as those disciples followed their prophetic Rabbi, Lord, and Savior they encountered God’s covenant love in powerful ways. After our crucified and Risen Lord ascended to heaven as told in Acts, the disciples were greatly disappointed (Acts 1: 6-11). Their grief and disappointment was much like the people of Israel after Moses died.
And yet God was at work to make sure the disciples’ disappointment did not steal their gratitude for all God had done through Jesus Christ to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. God passed the baton to the disciples and the apostles to carry on Jesus’ ministry as the body of Christ. God was doing a new thing to make sure Gods Word and God’s will would not return empty; it shall accomplish the thing for which the Lord sent it (Isaiah 55: 11).
It was when Luther was giving a series of lectures on the book of Romans that God did a new thing in Luther’s life. Holy Spirit opened the Apostle Paul’s letter of Romans to Luther in a way he had never experienced before. Luther’s unworthiness was turned inside out as he learned that the “justice of God” was not about God’s wrathful judgment on sinners. (Romans 1:27; 3: 21-24).
Justo Gonzalez shares, “Luther came to the conclusion that a Christian’s worthiness is not their own, but God’s. “The righteousness [or worthiness] is given simply because God wishes to give it.”[1] This gift of God’s forgiveness and salvation are just that, a gift that comes from Christ alone, by grace alone, by faith alone. We cannot earn it. Christ is the only mediator of God’s grace who can give it.
Luther said, “I felt that I had been born new and that the gates of heaven had been opened. The whole of Scripture gained new meaning. And from that point on the phrase “the justice of God” no longer filled with me hatred, but rather became unspeakably sweet by virtue of a great love.”[2]
As God’s goodness completely changed Luther’s life he grew more and more disappointed by the church’s interpretation of forgiveness. In the 16th century the only church was the Roman Catholic Church. At that time the priest was the only one who could mediate and bestow forgiveness of sins through the sacrament of penance. Many priests handled this sacrament with the sale of indulgences; a coin which could be purchased to cancel the debt of sin.
Luther’s revelation of God’s grace not only stood in stark contrast to the church’s tradition, but the exchange of money for forgiveness was an exploitation of God’s grace. The church was gaining a profit for this system therefore it convicted Luther to begin a wider conversation to reform the church. Luther protested by writing a list of 95 theses; a listing of questions and propositions detailing why forgiveness is granted by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone.
Today we celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther’s courageous faith. He could have been burned at the stake for being a heretic; he was challenging the authority of the church.
You and I find ourselves in the Reformed tradition, which largely began with Martin Luther and many who came after him, including John Calvin. No matter what situation life may present to us as the church universal, a community or as individuals, God alone is the one who will deliver us by grace alone, in Christ alone, and through faith alone. And this truth is found in Scripture alone. This is the cornerstone of what we believe in the Reformed tradition.
The overarching story of Scripture and the span of human history point out that our amazing God has been awakening God’s people with pulses of reformation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was, is, and will be on the move to reform the ways of old and even our human waywardness to do a new thing. God continues to work through the voices of women and men to declare God’s steadfast covenant love in order that we might be reshaped and reformed by God’s Word.
You and I are a part of a moveable feast of God’s grace, for we are connected to “The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God” in the power of the Spirit” (Book of Order 2015-2017, Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) Part II, F-2.02). Notice in hearing these words that you and I are not solely doing the reforming, but rather we are being reformed by the Word of God in the power of Holy Spirit. God is our Ultimate Reformer.
The next time you find yourself overwhelmed with disappointment from a pressing situation, the shifts of society at large, or even change that happens in the greater church know that you are in good company.
The place where you are standing may just be a place where God is about to do a new thing in you, through you, and for the sake of the gospel. God passes down that baton to you and me as the body of Christ. Gods’ Word will not return empty. It shall accomplish the thing for which the Lord sent it and God invites you and me to be a part of that.
Don’t let disappointment steal your gratitude. Disappointment is actually a holy opportunity for God to speak the Lord’s narrative of grace into our lives.
Those whom God was working through as reformers throughout Scripture and across history show us that God’s grace is always on the move to reform our hearts by the shape of God’s heart in Jesus Christ.
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
Sermon Series Theme Title "Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude: Don't Let Disappointment Steal Your Gratitude" adapted from "The Enemies of Gratitude: Disappointment" theme in "A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, C" (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), pp. 65.
Artwork, "Moses and the Promised Land," by Joni Ware 2009
[1]Justo Gonzalez, “The Story of Christianity: Volume 2 The Reformation to the Present Day (New York: Harper Collins, 1984,p. 19.
[2]Justo Gonzalez, p. 20.
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