The Unfinished Life

Deuteronomy 34                                                                 October 23, 2005

   1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, [a] 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."

    5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. 6 He buried him [b] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

    9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit [c] of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.

    10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

CCI: God’s dreams and visions will always outlive us, we are blessed when we can pass those dreams to others.

         Last week I shared a vision of the church with you. That vision was summed up in the following thought from “The Art of Pastoring”

A Church wisely centered in the Word

produces great contentment for the people.

The activities of the church keep them

just busy enough to gain satisfaction,

but do not detract from their loved ones.

They enjoy their pastor

because they do not expect him to be

other than what he is.

Their spirits are nurtured gently

by quiet and solitude and room to be.

They care for one another

without needing certain responses in return.

They share food and song

sorrow and joy,

and become more ane more free from fear.

And when they die they think,

“It was good, is good and will be good.”This vision of the church is a vision of a church on a journey. It is the vision of a church who gives time to its members to become what God wants them to be. It is the vision of a church that lives in a community which loves one another. It is the vision of a church who understands her past and is focused on her future. It is the vision of church which nurtures vision in the lives of its members. This morning I want to talk to you about the nature of vision in our lives and beyond.

         The passage we just read is a most intimate look at the relationship between God and Moses. This is the end of the story. By the time we get to Mt. Pisgah God has led Moses and the people through the wilderness for 40 years. Moses and God have had intimate times of fellowship like the day God passed by and permitted Moses to see his back. There were also times when they have had knock down drag out fights. There was the battle when God called Moses, the 80 year old wilderness shepherd with sunburned skin to lead the people out of slavery and captivity. Moses defiantly declared that God had the wrong person. And then Moses said “Yes.”

         Then there was the day while God was giving the Law to Moses that God said, “"Quick! Go down the mountain! The people you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves.” God continued, “Leave me alone so my anger can blaze against them and destroy them all. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation instead of them." And Moses argued with God, "O Lord!" he exclaimed. "Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and mighty acts? [12] The Egyptians will say, 'God tricked them into coming to the mountains so he could kill them and wipe them from the face of the earth.' Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you are planning against your people! Remember your covenant with your servants—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You swore by your own self, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Yes, I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.' " And in an amazing turn-about we read, “So the Lord withdrew his threat and didn't bring against his people the disaster he had threatened.”

         God and Moses, it was a relationship that involved emotion and reason. Moses led the people, he became the intermediary for the people. He brought God’s word, he carried the people’s concerns. For 40 years this relationship continued and deepened. Now after 40 years of wandering, the people found themselves on the plains of Moab by the mouth of the Jordan River. The people who had been a loose knit band of slaves were now a nation that had been honed into a unified force, held together by the Vision. It was a vision that Moses had cast into their lives from as long ago as they could remember. Once before their fathers and mothers had approached the land and had turned back because they were afraid, but this time it was a new generation. The adults who had left Egypt had all died, it was a new people. But before they died, they had passed the Vision on to their children, the vision of the land of Promise. Through the years of wandering, the vision remained alive. In fact, as they wandered, the Vision had grown stronger, as they watched their parents die, the Vision came to life. The stories of God’s provision were now a part of the very fiber of their being. The ministry of Moses had been a success. And now he was ready for the culmination of his life. It was time to realize the Vision.

         And then, as they stood on the banks of their new home, Moses went for a hike. Several years ago, Janet and I spent a week at a wilderness camp in Colorado. One of the activities was orienteering. As we began the trek from point A to point B, we first went to the highest point we could find and from there got an idea of the lay of the land. That is what Moses was doing when he went up Mt. Pisgah. It was time to get the lay of the land. It was time to see the fulfillment of the vision.

         But God met Moses on the mountain. And in a moment showed him all the land that the people would receive. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." And then, on the mountain with God, Moses died and we have a beautiful picture of God’s love for God buried Moses. God lovingly took his body and buried him in the land of Moab in a place no one ever found.

         Moses’ vision was unrealized in his lifetime, he never led the people into the Land of Promise. Moses’ life was unfinished. There is a note of sorrow in that.

         Last Sunday I had the privilege of sitting down with the family of Chuck Thompson who had died earlier in the week. As we talked they told me about different elements of his life, they told me about the house he was still building and then his daughter said, “His life was unfinished.” There was a note of sorrow in that statement.

         However, when God told Moses he would not enter the land of Promise himself, he also reaffirmed his promise to give the people the land. The note of sorrow, was transformed into a chord of hope because the Vision he had cast for the people was far bigger than he could realize and God promised to bring it to completion.

         The same thing happened as I spoke to Chuck Thompson’s family. While there was sorrow in the incomplete nature of his life, there was hope for the family was going to complete the house he was building and together the vision would be fulfilled.

         There was hope because the vision was bigger than one life could contain. There was hope because he never stopped pursuing the vision, just like Moses.

         Throughout the Bible we meet men and women whose lives were unfinished. David longed to build a temple for the Lord, but he died before he could do it. Stephen the Deacon died before his vision of the kingdom of God could be fulfilled. Paul said, “I don’t know what to do. I would like to die and be with Christ, but there is much for me still to do.” He did say he had finished the course and kept the faith, but he did not finish the work he still had to do.

         Last week I shared with you a vision of the church that is characterized by Work produced by faith, Labor prompted by love, and Endurance inspired by hope. This vision is larger than any of us. The mission God has given us, to equip God’s People to be Christ’s Presence in our community is a vision that is larger than any of us. If we look at the mission or the vision as something we must complete, then our lives will be unfinished and we will feel grief. However, if we understand that this is God’s vision, then we can go to the mountain with Moses, we can look into the land of Promise and there we will see what God is going to do. And if God calls us elsewhere, we can go with confidence because God will complete His vision among his people. And if God calls us to stay and work, we can work with confidence because it is God’s vision that we are working toward.

         And if God has given you a vision for your life as well, a vision of personal ministry and impact, you can be sure that your life will be incomplete. But that is because God’s vision can not be completed in one life. The vision God has for you, is a vision that will outlive you just as it outlived David and Stephen and James and Paul.

         On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Memphis to give his support to striking sanitation workers. It had been a very difficult winter for King and the others who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. As he did in every speech, King called the people to remember that they were fighting for justice. He called them to endure mace, and dogs and water hoses and arrest because their cause was righteous, it was a fight for justice. He called them to remember that they were marching for freedom. And then he closed that speech with these words:

         “I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

         And the next day Dr. King’s life ended with a bullet. But his vision lived on.

         God has given us a vision for this church. I may not get there with you, there may be many in this place who will not get there in this place, but we have seen what God is calling us to and as a people of God we will get there.

Let us Pray.