Messiah Lutheran Church:

Dear friends:

He sat there on the curb, tears rolling down his cheeks. He was just 6 years old, and his neighbor’s heart went out to him. The neighbor went over to him and asked him what was wrong. "My parents don’t care about me. They don’t love me" he cried. "Really?" said the neighbor. "I see you’ve been riding your bike. Who gave it to you on your birthday?" "My parents" was the reply. "And the coat you’re wearing, the meals that you eat? Did your parents give them to you, too?" "Yes." "And do your parents tell you that they love you, give you hugs and take you places to play?" "Well, yes," the young boy said, "but I know they don’t care about me." "Why not?" the neighbor asked. The young boy’s answer? "Because they won’t let me get a pony!"

Sometimes we forget all that God has done for us and is doing for us. Sometimes we act like that young boy on the curb and are convinced that God doesn’t care about us one bit. The truth is, "GOD CARES ABOUT YOU!" He cares deeply and sincerely. He knows what’s happening in your life and He promises to help and deliver you. Sometimes we forget this. If this is one of those days, then come with me to the Word of God and let the Lord lift your heart.

We meet up with Moses in the 80^th year of his life on earth. By all accounts, Moses had settled into a relatively comfortable life. He had found a job, settled down, married and had a family. He seemed to be living a rather contented life. Oh, he may have reminisced about his time in Egypt every now and then, thinking about his former life as a prince in Pharaoh’s court. But now he was a shepherd, approaching that time of life that one thinks about retiring. Life was settled. Life was good.

For the most part. It would be only natural for Moses to also think that perhaps the Lord had forgotten His people in Egypt. After all, God didn’t do anything for them when Moses had some pull in Egypt. He didn’t act when Moses killed that Egyptian taskmaster. He hadn’t said anything to Moses for 40 years. Maybe the Lord had forgotten Israel. Now, Moses knew the Lord. He knew the promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But Moses hadn’t any indication that the Lord was still involved in the life of the Israelites. Personally, I think that Moses thought the Lord didn’t know what was going on.

That was about to change. Whether Moses knew it or not, God had been watching over His people all this time. He knew exactly what was going on. Now, Moses was let in on God’s timetable in a very loving, intimate way. God didn’t thunder to Moses what He wanted him to do. No, He appeared to Moses in a burning bush that wasn’t burning up. God muted His glory in His meeting with Moses so that they could have a face to face, a heart to heart talk about what was going on. He said "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering." God did care about His chosen people. Now, it was time for God to act, and Moses was part of His plan. "So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey." Did God know what was going on in Egypt? Of course He did!

Ever felt like you were living 40 years in some desert? Ever wonder if God doesn’t know and doesn’t care what’s going on? Sin’s corrosive wind is blowing through your life, sucking all the joy out of it and you wonder. You wonder if God is in control of this world. You wonder if God even hears your prayers. After all, it doesn’t seem as if God is giving you the answers that you need. You may even wonder if God even cares. Your health is deteriorating. Your family seems to be falling apart. Your job is on the rocks and your friends just aren’t there for you anymore. God, are You there? God, do You care? He seems so far away at times in our lives.

If you’ve ever felt that way, maybe the problem is that you’re looking for God in the wrong place. Maybe the problem is that you’ve forgotten that God has His plan, and it may not agree with your plan in life. Maybe you’ve forgotten what God has always told you. He does care about you. He does know exactly what’s happening in your life. He’s not far away. He’s with us personally. Remember what He told you? "I am with you always, to the end of the age." Remember that he knows even the number of hairs upon your head. His plan is to bless you with spiritual life and bring you safely home to heaven.

Not only does God know everything that is happening in your life, he also understands the struggles that you are going through. Jesus, who spoke to Moses out of that burning bush, is also your brother who knows all about struggling with sin. "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Heb. 2:18)

It is God’s great love that moves Him to act on His knowledge of our situations in life. Because He cares for us, He gives us His promise to help and deliver us. And, He succeeds!

God is not like some government official who comes to us and says "I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you." He doesn’t help us because He wants to get something from us. He’s not like Pharaoh, who used the Israelites in Egypt for his own selfish purposes. He’s not like some so-called friends, who promise you something and have no intention of following through. He can and will deliver on all His promises to us.

Moses wanted to be sure that God would follow through on His promises. We can understand that, can’t we? It’s like a young lady whose uncle had promised to help her pay for college. Her father had died when she was still in high school, and after the funeral her uncle had made her that promise. At her graduation party, she turned to her uncle and asked "Are you still going to help me? Can I count on you?" "Yes," her uncle replied. "But uncle, how can I be sure?" He reminded her that he owned his own business. He told her that before her dad died, he had promised to help her. He would keep his promise. As a start, he gave her a check for her first year in college that day. As she looked at that check, she was sure he would follow through on his promise.

What was the check that God wrote for Moses? God’s check is His name. "God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’" Jehovah is the name that God told Moses to call Him. Now, there’s a lot in this name. This name is God’s way of telling Moses and the Israelites that He was the same covenant God who in grace and mercy had called them to be His people. He is the same God who would surely keep all these promises made to them. His name denotes changelessness. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His promises and His will never change. His justice and love never change. His plans, His desires and His power never change as well. With this name God was promising Moses that He will follow through on His plans to deliver the Israelites.

He did it, didn’t He? We recall the Israelites trip out of Egypt. We remember the ten plagues that the all powerful God used to pry them out of the grip of Pharaoh. We remember the crossing of the Red Sea, the meeting with them on Mount Sinai, the eventual conquest of the Promised Land. The Lord did what He promised to do. He delivered them. And that’s what God was reassuring Moses about as He told Moses His name. Jehovah.

We need that assurance in our lives too, don’t we? God has promised to help us as we battle sin in this life. He has promised to help us battle loneliness, uncertainty and disappointment on this sin-scarred world. He has promised to shepherd us safely into His holy presence. He has promised to be with us always.

Does He follow through? Can we cash the check that God wrote for us? Yes, we most certainly can. He helps and delivers us through His Name, His expanded name that we call the Bible. God’s name is everything He has revealed about Himself and everything He has done. If we are looking for God’s help and deliverance, all we have to do is crack open His Word and there we will find it. If it doesn’t come right away, all we have to do is crack open His Word and we will be reassured that He has the power and the desire to help and deliver us. It will come. Maybe not according to our timetable, but definitely according to God’s. At the end of our lives, we will find that our Lord has delivered on all His promises. At the end of our lives, we will find ourselves in the Promised Land of heaven, enjoying His presence and love. Those facts strengthen us as we battle. T hose facts comfort us as we suffer for Jesus’ sake.

We can live confident lives, because we know God cares about us. We can pursue God’s goals in our lives, because we know that God will guide and strengthen us to do them. We can face sin and its terrible effects in our lives, knowing that sooner or later the Lord will take sin completely out of our lives. We can rejoice in all things, knowing that our Lord is always with us. He will make all things work out for our spiritual good. We can trust Him, for He cares for us.

There may be times in our lives when we forget this comforting fact. When those times come, may God remind us to go back to His Word and see just how deeply and sincerely "GOD CARES ABOUT YOU!" May He remind us that He knows what’s happening in our lives and He promises to help and deliver us. Be comforted, my friends. God does care about you!

AMEN