“Get Up and Get Going”

Scripture: Matthew 2:13-23

In case you haven’t noticed, life isn’t always fair! One minute, you are on top of the world, and in the next, you discover that you have become someone’s door mat. Your job is going great, but then you get a new manager, and everything changes for the worse. You are in line for a promotion, and when the award is announced, it’s the Vice President’s son who gets the nod, not you. That old illusive “fairness” always seems to bless someone else.
Remember Elijah and his battle of faith with the priests of Baal? (1 Kings 18:20-19:18) In one moment, God, through the faith of his one prophet, can do things that 450 prophets of Baal can only dream about. God succeeds, Baal fails; Elijah knows victory, but the 450 – only death. The king of Israel, King Ahab, flees from Elijah’s presence, but then, life begins to sour. The threats that Queen Jezebel flings at him instill fear in his heart, and he is on the run. Now it is evil that has the upper hand in the prophet’s life, and he doesn’t stop running until he reaches the mountain, where the Lord will once again restore his faith.
Fear can trump “fair” nearly every time.

The author Teri Worten writes:
Life can deliver some rough blows. However, we do not have the luxury of staying “down,” we must get up, straighten up and wise up for our own sakes and for the sake of our children ...

“Get up, and do not be afraid” (Matthew 17:1-13). After a marriage or relationship ends, the first emotion to hit us is usually fear. Fear can actually paralyze us and hinder us from moving forward with our lives. If we are imprisoned by fear, we won’t take the risks that will propel us to our future blessings. God hasn’t given us this spirit, but he has equipped us with love, power and a strong, sound mind. So, don’t let fear keep you down. Get up and don’t be afraid!
—Teri Worten, “Get up, single mom,” Christian-mommies Web Site, Christian-mommies.com. Retrieved August 13, 2004.

And what got Elijah back on his feet? What happened that conquered his “fear”? 1 Kings 19:9, 11 – “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ … He said “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’”
Get up, go out, and wait for me! And the prophet did.

Read Matthew 2:13-15

Joseph and Mary had just come through the most incredible experience of their lives. The Incarnate God had come to rest in their arms and to depend on their care; shepherds had come to witness to his majesty; wealthy and wise men from the East had sought their child out, to bring him gifts that were fit for a king, for a priest, for a prophet. These new parents were reeling from the glory that had come into their lives, and nothing could dampen their spirit of overwhelming joy. Well, almost nothing!

“Get up, go out, and wait for me there.” And Joseph did.

There’s something about faith that lets us trust God so completely that no matter what he tells us, we know that it is absolutely the perfect word, and that we cannot delay in carrying it out. And that divine word has filled the world for many, many years, and faithful responses have followed in spite of the implausibility of God’s commands.
Remember Abraham’s response when the Lord told him to take his only son Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him? Genesis 22:1-19 tells us that early the next morning, Abraham began making preparations, and when he was ready, he set out on the most horrendous of all tasks.
Remember Moses as he stood in front of the bush that was engulfed with fire, but didn’t burn up? (Exodus 3:1-4:17) He hesitated, certainly, and had any number of questions about his suitability for the job that God laid out for him, but once the Lord answered every fear that his servant could raise up, he immediately began to prepare for his return to the very place he had been thrown out of.
Remember the faithful disciples who waited with Jesus before his assentation? (Acts 1:1-10) First they are told to wait until the Holy Spirit comes to them, and then they are asked why they still stand there gawking at the sight! They waited joyfully for ten days, and then all heaven broke out on Pentecost.

And the memories continue throughout scripture, reminding us that when the Lord speaks to us, the only sane thing to do is to listen and respond. Whether we are to get moving immediately, or if, in our doubt, we need to receive further reassurance from the Almighty, or if he tells us to wait for a little while because something amazing is going to happen, it is all the same. The faithful response is never to ignore the call, to never reject the call, but to let the Lord’s plan begin working in our lives immediately.

I will always remember a particular weekend in my own life. I was in prison as part of a Kairos team when, without going into a lot of detail, I knew that God was affirming his call to me for pastoral ministry. When I returned home, I contacted my District Superintendent to begin the process, and everything began falling into place. At one point, I didn’t think that I was doubting his word, but apparently there was something going on in my life, because the Lord, on two successive days, reaffirmed the call in extremely unusual ways, and I could only respond “Yes, Lord – I get it!”

Get up, go out, and stick close!

Read Matthew 2:16-18

Joseph and Mary would come to understand that the urgency of God’s warning was absolutely perfect; their faithful and hurried departure to Egypt was the only thing that could save the Christ Child, but many babies and their families in Bethlehem would suffer because of Herod’s great wrath, which was probably founded in his own fear of the prophecy surrounding this new and glorious King.
Sometimes God’s call on our lives is about ministry, sometimes it is about a message that must be delivered to another person, and sometimes it is a life or death matter. Regardless, God never wastes words on chit-chat! When he speaks to us, it is important! Sometimes he speaks in a nighttime dream; sometimes in a daytime vision; sometimes in a word that is repeated over and over in our hearts; sometimes it is through an everyday event that is unmistakably God. But there is always a word, there is always a purpose, and there is always a mission attached.

Read Matthew 2:19-23

The time had come to return home, and how did the Lord let the family know? “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel …” Even their return to Nazareth was engineered by the Lord! Nothing was going to interfere with the revealing of God’s plan for the people of earth. Prophets, nomads, fishermen, shepherds, intellectuals, engineers, laborers, priests, the common and the not so common person – God is prepared to use us all, if we will just listen and open our hearts and lives to him.

What is the Lord saying to you? Is he saying “go”? Or “don’t go”? Is he saying “now” or “very soon”?

But Godly desires and plans seldom make any sense to us. Do you think that Mary and Joseph were completely on board with the angelic message? “This is God’s Son, and I want you to raise him and love him.” They both must have thought that this was one big mistake, but they never hesitated – they trusted Jehovah and went all the way with him just the same.

“Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt where you are wanted for murder, and I want you to bring my people out of slavery and lead them through the desert to this land I have promised to them.”
“Amos, I know that you are content to be a Judean shepherd, but I want you to go to the leadership of Israel and tell them in no uncertain terms that I am very displeased with their idol worship.”
“Nicodemus, you must be born again.”
“Zacchaeus, I know that you have gotten rich by cheating my people on their taxes and that you are a gross sinner, but I want you to come down from that tree so we can have dinner together at your house.”
“Peter, I know that you think the Gentiles are worthless, but I want you to minister to their needs, just the same.”

Not one of these calls on the lives of God’s faithful made a bit of sense, and to respond to some of them would border on being suicidal. But the call was there, and the response was, too.

Are you willing to put it all on the line for Jesus? He’s calling you – right now, this very moment. He has a place for you in his grand plan, and the time for your part to begin is very near. Will you be a Samuel and say “Here I am; you called me.” Will you be an Isaiah, who, when the Lord asked “Who will go for us?”, replied “Send me.” Will you be a Jeremiah, who even though he thought that his youthful understanding would be insufficient to serve his Lord, received the word of God and went just the same?

He has a great plan, and it includes this church, and it includes its people, and our involvement only requires faith and trust and the willingness to get up, and go out, and to follow closely in the Lord’s footsteps. Will you? Today? Great things are waiting for you!