Getting the First Button Right

Getting the First Button Right

Jimmy Johnson was a former college football head coach for the University of Miami and in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson divorced his wife of 26 years when he left Miami to become the head coach for the Cowboys. He said he needed a wife while coaching on the college level for social functions and to show families that he would be looking out for their sons. In pro football, however, she was an unnecessary accouterment and a distraction to winning. He said winning football was his number one priority and his two sons second. In contrast to this, Tom Landry, another former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys said, "The thrill of knowing Jesus is the greatest thing that ever happened to me ... I think God has put me in a very special place, and He expects me to use it to His glory in everything I do ... whether coaching football or talking to the press, I'm always a Christian ... Christ is first, family second and football third." How tragic it is when we put ourselves and what we want first instead of the Lord. And how awesome it is when we put Him first before ourselves, others and all things.

“Firsts” are important to God. Remember, in the First Commandment, God said, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Clearly, He wants to be ahead of everything else in your life. He wants you to put Him before your church, your job, your money, your “things,” even your spouse and children. He wants to be your number one priority. Many people miss out on receiving the blessings God has planned for them simply because they do not put Him first. So, the question before us all this morning is, “What about you and me?” What – or who – is first in our lives? Each of us would do well to honestly ponder that question and do some soul searching to see if we are putting God first in all things or are we putting other things or persons first in our lives. Not putting God first is like buttoning your coat incorrectly: if you get the first button wrong, all the others will be wrong. The good news is when you get the first button right, all the others will line up, too. As you put God first, everything else in your life will begin to line up as well.

In our scripture this morning, we continue in Exodus 23 and the Book of the Covenant, which are the laws that God set forth before the Israelites to help them be more connected to him and to each other in the covenant community. In our scripture this morning God will set forth laws involving their work and their worship. In the middle, he will command them to obey everything he has said to them and will again warn them to not have any other gods before Him. He wants them and us to put him first all things which brings us to our big idea that God demands that His people put Him first.

Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day where we, as your church, have gathered in praise and worship to the one and only true Sovereign Lord and God. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we hear and apply your Word this morning. Lord, help us all to have a hunger and thirst for righteousness and to grow spiritually by being in your Word and obeying it daily. May we take becoming more like Jesus seriously as we pray for revival and spiritual awakening in our community, our church and our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are two points this morning, the first is Work, found in Exodus 23:10-13. This is what God’s Word says, “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. “Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.”

Last week, Bob taught us from Exodus 23:1-9, which involved laws concerning justice and mercy. We learned that God wants his people to tell the truth, to be just and to be compassionate in their dealings with each other. Bob posed some questions that he challenged us to think about; questions which would help us to understand how to live in community with each other and to help us to realize whether or not we are living holy lives and becoming more like Jesus every day. Today, we continue the theme of compassion and holiness as God sets forth laws involving work and worship. By setting forth laws involving these two extremes, God is demanding that his people put him first in everything they do.

First, God sets forth laws which flesh out the fourth commandment – Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. The first law is about what is called the Sabbath year. For six years the Israelites were to sow their fields, vineyards and olive groves and reap their harvests. Then every seventh year they were to let their land go unplowed and unused, meaning they were not to sow and reap but just let the land grow wild. Why did God want them to do this? God wanted them to do this so that the poor people in the community would have plenty to eat. But God not only cared and was concerned with the poor in the community he also cared and was concerned about the wild animals. This was God’s attribute of compassion showing forth to those human beings and animals who were most vulnerable in the covenant community when it came to having enough to eat.

The second law continues the theme of Sabbath and compassion. God reiterates the Sabbath week which he first introduced to the Israelites back in Exodus 16 when God gave his people manna to eat in the wilderness. Exodus 16:29 says, “Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” He further fleshed it out in the fifth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11 which says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Now, the Lord commands the Sabbath for the third time. When God reiterates something again and again, we need to take notice because it means it is important to God and should also be important to us. The word Sabbath means “to rest.” God modeled this Sabbath rest back at creation when he rested on the seventh day after creating the world in six days. God created our bodies, and he knew that we needed a sabbath rhythm in order to function properly in the world he created for us. But the sabbath day wasn’t just for his chosen people. His compassionate care also extended to their animals, this time their work animals, their oxen and their donkeys. The sabbath day was to be a time that the people and their work animals rested from their labors.

Also, the slaves born in their households and the foreigners living among them were to observe the Sabbath in order to be refreshed, as well. MacKay says, “The word for ‘refreshed’ implies catching one’s breath, as well as regaining strength to go on.” The Israelites would have understood this need for a Sabbath rest after being oppressed in Egypt. Work was to stop on the Sabbath day so that God’s chosen people would take that time to worship Him and become closer connected to Him. Both the Sabbath year and week were to be times of rest and refreshment and included time to worship Him showing God’s compassion to them.

In the middle of our two points, God commands two things which is really the main point of the passage and reminds us of our big idea to put God first. One, they were to be careful to do everything he had said to them, meaning they were to obey every one of the laws in the Book of the Covenant that he was laying before them. Second, they were to have no other gods before him. Again, he has reiterated the second commandment a couple of times. What is important to God should be important to his people. So, we should take heed to have no other gods before him. But God took it even farther as he said they were to not even invoke the names of other gods meaning they were not to “cause other gods to be remembered.” This included speaking their names in everyday living, in worship and taking oaths in a court of law. If they heeded this command to do everything he said, to have no other gods before Him and to not even speak their names, they would be putting him first which is where Almighty God belonged in their lives and in ours (Big Idea). That brings us to our first next step this morning which is to Have no other gods before the Lord and to not even entertain other gods in my life.

That brings us to our second point, Worship, found in Exodus 23:14-19. This is what God’s Word says, “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed. “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. “Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. “The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

This section deals with worship and the special ways His chosen people were to appear before Him throughout the year. The theme of rhythm is continued in that three times a year they were to celebrate a festival to the Lord. If you remember in Exodus 5, this was the reason why Moses went to Pharaoh to ask him to let the Israelites go. It was so they could worship the Lord their God. Exodus 5:1 says, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.” God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt so they could worship him and him alone. God now sets forth laws concerning three festivals. It is important to note that they were non-negotiable. These were laws that as His chosen people they had to obey. By celebrating these festivals, they were acknowledging the Lord as their covenant king and thanking Him for his goodness to them in blessing the land.

The first law concerned the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival was commanded by the Lord back in Exodus 12 before God sent the Angel of Death to kill every firstborn of Egypt and before the Israelites were set free from slavery. Exodus 12:14 says, “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.” Then God reiterated how they were to celebrate this festival. They were to eat bread made without yeast for seven days, as he had commanded them back in Egypt. This festival was to commemorate their deliverance from Pharoah and to remember the Passover when God brought them out of slavery. God then told them they were to observe or keep this festival at the appointed time in the month of Aviv. Again, we learn from Exodus 12 that they were to celebrate this festival from the evening of the fourteenth to the evening of the twenty-first day of Aviv. They were to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread as a remembrance every year starting on the exact day of the month that the actual Passover took place. This was a continual reminder to every generation of Jewish persons of what God had done for their ancestors and for them. This festival would have come before any substantial harvest would have been seen so it would have been celebrated in faith that God would provide from the land for His people. But even though they hadn’t seen a substantial harvest they were still not to appear before God empty-handed. They were to appear before the Lord, meaning in His presence, either at the Tabernacle or the Temple, with the appropriate sacrifices.

The second law concerned the Festival of Harvest, which is also called the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost because it was celebrated seven weeks or the fiftieth day from the Sabbath beginning the Passover. It was celebrated in the month of Sivan or our May/June. This was a one-day festival that commemorated the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai and celebrated the harvest of the wheat and spelt. They were to celebrate this festival with the first fruits of their crops that they sowed in their fields. This festival was a celebration in recognition of his gift of the land to them. Again, it was an expression of faith in that it looked forward to a bountiful harvest as God promised to prosper them from the land he was giving to them. Trusting and having faith in the Lord to provide meant that they needed to bring their best to him right off the top.

The third law concerned the Festival of Ingathering which occurred at the end of the growing season when they gathered their crops from the field. This festival would be held in autumn, in the month of Tishri or our September/October, celebrating the harvest that God had provided for them. This festival was also known as the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths. It also lasted for seven days, during which the Israelites lived in booths made from tree branches, to commemorate the way their forefathers lived in the wilderness. So, like the Festival of Unleavened Bread, this festival looked back to God’s saving work in freeing them from slavery in Egypt. At this time their sacrifices came from their harvest of fruit, grapes and olives from their orchards and vineyards.

Then God again repeats the command from the beginning of this section with a slight variation: Three times a year all the men were to appear before their Sovereign Lord. “Sovereign” points to God’s authority as their Lord. This was in overt contrast to the Canaanite god, Baal, which means “master.” The Lord demanded absolute loyalty as the one who saved His people from slavery and provided for His people from the land. Also, these festivals required a serious time commitment from the people. Like the Sabbath, it showed that our lives don’t depend on what we do but on God’s favor toward His people. The Sabbath year and week and the three yearly festivals not only gave the people times of rest and refreshment but gave them opportunities to strengthen their faith in their Sovereign Lord. A stoppage of work every week, every seven years and three other times a year would help them to live in faith and by faith in their covenant God. Today, we don’t have the same stoppages as the Israelites, but we still need to live in and by faith in our Lord every single day. We need to trust in Him for all things. That brings us to our second next step which is to Live in and by faith in my Sovereign Lord.

The final four laws correspond to the three festivals in one way or the other and show us what kind of sacrifice is pleasing to God. It speaks to offering ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. The first law was to not offer the blood of a sacrifice to the Lord along with anything containing yeast. Blood represented the Lord’s gift of life and was to be sacrificed to him and him alone. For us, this means we can only come to God based on the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. Also, the Israelites were forbidden to offer a sacrifice with yeast in it. Yeast was symbolic of impurity, corruption and sin, so when they brought their sacrifice, it was to not be corrupted with yeast or leaven. Leviticus 2:11 says, “Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire.” This law shows us that we must offer ourselves to God righteously or in the right way.

The second law was that the fat of the festival offerings was not to be kept until morning. The fat of the offering was the best of the offering and was only to be sacrificed to the Lord. To keep it overnight meant that it was not given to the Lord properly or wholeheartedly. It was to be given at the time of the offering and no leftovers were to be kept for themselves. We can do the same thing today. We can offer ourselves to the Lord half-heartedly by only giving him our leftovers. We worship Him on Sundays and Wednesdays but serve ourselves the rest of the week. We praise and worship him in church but never speak about our relationship with him to our friends. We try to please him in some areas of our lives but hold back pleasing Him in other areas. Ryken says, “But God says, “Don’t leave any fat on the altar. I want everything you have to offer, all the time.” The third law was that they were to bring the best of the first fruits of their soil to the house of the Lord their God. Again, this was the best of the best they had harvested, and God demanded their best as an offering to Him. God demands the best of our very best. He wants the best of our time and talents, the best of our work and worship, the best of our hearts and minds. This is also what it means to offer ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Lastly, we have a weird or strange law from the Lord. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. This law is repeated in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21. Again what is repeated is important to God and should be important to us. A couple meanings of this law have been put forth by commentators. The first explanation is that it would be objectionable for the means of life to be used to cause death. The milk of the mother that would help the baby goat to grow is used to kill instead. The second explanation is probably more relevant. This was a Canaanite fertility ritual in which they would then sprinkle the milk on trees, plants, crops etc. thinking it would help them to grow. Of course this reinforces God’s laws against having other gods before him, invoking their names and practicing the pagan religion of the peoples living around them in the Promised Land. God wanted His people to rely on Him alone to provide for them from the land he had promised them and to offer themselves in worship to Him alone and not to other gods. Offering ourselves as living sacrifices means offering ourselves righteously, wholeheartedly and to God alone. That brings us to our third next step which is to Offer myself to the Lord, as a living sacrifice, righteously, wholeheartedly and to Him alone.

One woman who offered herself to God in this way was Betty Stam, a missionary to China who was martyred for her faith in Jesus Christ. Betty was forced to watch as the Communists brutally beheaded her husband, and then she herself was murdered in the same way. Yet God used her life and death to bring many people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It all started when she was a young woman and offered herself to God as a living sacrifice. Here is her prayer—a prayer for pilgrims who have found God and want to give themselves wholeheartedly to him: “Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to thee, to be thine forever. Fill me and seal me with thy Holy Spirit. Use me as thou wilt. Send me where thou wilt, and work out thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.” Let us be people who are willing to give up everything; to surrender everything to the Lord as living sacrifices to be used solely for his purposes and His will. Let us be people who get the first button right.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Lord God, thank you again for your Word. Thank you that it tells us about you and what you want from us as we live as your children on this earth. Through your Holy Spirit, help us to have no other gods before you and to not even entertain other gods in our lives. Help us to live every day in and by faith in you our Sovereign Lord. And help us daily offer ourselves to you, as a living sacrifice, righteously, wholeheartedly and to you alone. And finally help us to be people who get the first button right, putting you first in every area of our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.