Faith that Choses Reproach

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Hebrews 11:24-26). Yesterday, Pastor Anthony ended his devotion on Moses' parents with these lines, "Faith is not lived in the future, but in the present. By time heaven comes round—it'll be too late to try." That sentence there, "Faith is not lived in the future, but in the present." This is the kind of faith that the author of Hebrews ascribes to Moses, which he learned from his parents – their words, sure, but certainly also from their actions. Our author wants us to understand something about Moses -- because of that faith, he made a choice. He grew up in Pharaoh's household as the adopted son of the royal princess. He had access to the best luxuries and wisdom and powers of the Egyptian regal court. It was all there at his fingertips: all the papyri of the magicians who could turn staffs into snakes (Exodus 7:12), all the best food and drink, all the pleasures a young man desired, all the training of an Egyptian soldier. But he made a choice. He turned away from it all. Moses chose to identify with God's people rather than with the godless. He chose at great personal cost: loss of wealth, relinquishment of status, and intense mistreatment. He "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt." This phrase squishes time together: present, future and further still. Certainly, Moses experienced reproach by identifying himself with the people of God but in doing so he also experienced the reproach of the coming Messiah (that is the present and the future). Our author does this to encourage his readers, in the 1st century and in the 21st century, to make the same choice that Moses made: to accept the reproach that comes from identifying with Christ and with his church (that's the further still, us). He is encouraging us to join Paul in declaring, "I want to join [Christ] in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death" (Philippians 3:10 NIRV). Are you willing to make that kind of choice? Are you willing to be identified with a group that declares Jesus is Lord above all the rulers of the world, even when people say, 'where's the proof'? Are you willing to put some of your hard-earned income towards the mission of God as worked out through his church, even if it costs you that vacation or new vehicle that you are dreaming of? Are you wiling to name among your friends, people whom the world deems undesirable, people who can offer you nothing but friendship? Are you willing to be identified with a group of deeply flawed people who regularly mess up their God given mission? Does your faith enable you to trust Jesus when he said, "Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). Does your faith live in the present, in the here and now? As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.