Commitment

Introduction

Making a commitment to something is not uncommon. Being able to complete the commitment is. All along my educational journey has been desire to learn followed by a commitment to complete. And all along my educational journey have come times when I had to work on my level of commitment. Education is not about the accumulation of knowledge but the application of that knowledge. To apply knowledge requires commitment.

The athlete learns technique but then there has to be a commitment to apply the techniques in rigorous training to improve.

ii. A student may learn a subject but then the application of that subject requires a commitment to go beyond facts and to think deeply about the subject.

iii. An employee learns how to do what is required but then the commitment is in doing more than is required because no job is only a job description.

iv. A parent learns how to raise a child by doing only the minimum but the commitment is to go beyond providing necessities and instead providing self as a part of raising the child.

We like the excitement of the initial investment but then when the challenges come, we find out how deep our commitment is. Giving some effort is easy. Giving one’s heart demands much. Commitment isn’t for the faint of heart. This reminds me of the old fable. A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road. The Chicken says: “Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!” Pig replies: “Hm, maybe, what would we call it?” The Chicken responds: “How about ‘ham-n-eggs’?” The Pig thinks for a moment and says: “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you’d only be involved.”

Three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites have reached their destination. The place to worship. Sinai. What happens here sets the tone for not only the remainder of Exodus but the intent of God for his chosen people for hundreds of years. Commitment is required.

Grace

Rattle the chain all the way back to Abraham. Why did God choose Abraham? Why did God appear to Abraham and promise to bless all nations through him? What had Abraham done? Why did God make the same promises to Isaac and Jacob? I can’t answer those questions. I can answer that the promises to Isaac and Jacob were because of the promise to Abraham but I can’t answer the initial question. Why Abraham? Why anyone? Why act at all? Because God is a planner. His plans were made before the beginning of time. Abraham was not a righteous man. He was an idol worshiper (Joshua 24:2). He was “spiritually” minded perhaps but this one true God was not on his mind.

What had Israel done to deserve this favor? We know that while in Egypt Israel worshiped other gods (Leviticus 17:7; Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:6—9). These were people who were accustomed to worshiping other gods. In all likelihood they worshiped the gods of Egypt. In Exodus 32, the golden calf was fashioned after something that they knew (probably the bull god Apis).

So what allows God, the God who called an idolater like Abraham to follow him and then hundreds of years later calls the idolatrous descendants of Abraham out of Egypt? God’s plan is greater than man’s sin. God says to Israel — I brought you out of Egypt. I carried you to this point like an eagle on the wind. I am calling you to be a holy nation. How would you describe such language? God looking for a thank you. No!! It is the language of grace. It is the language that says God has operated on Israel’s behalf. Sure they were in bondage but then other nations were too. Sure they cried out but other nations did too. God didn’t act because they were righteous. They worshiped other gods. God didn’t act because they were powerful. God acted because he is gracious. In his grace, he was going to complete a plan that he put together before the beginning of time. This is our God. He is not only a planner; he is gracious in his planning. He acts on our behalf when we have nothing to offer. This is the nature of grace.

We have experienced such things in life. We remember the person who did for us when we didn’t deserve it. Parents who loved us when we pushed them away. Friends who pursued us when we didn’t want to be pursued. Mates who treated us well when we had treated them badly. And in those times of grace we have been challenged to commit. We have been challenged to respond with gratitude and with a desire to honor their grace. This is what Israel did. Verse 8, “we will do everything the Lord has said.” God says I have been gracious to you and now I am calling you to respond with commitment to follow me. And Israel agrees. Don’t think for a minute that they didn’t have a choice. In that moment their choice was to respond in gratefulness to God’s grace.

From verses 9—25, God does two things. First, he wants to establish once and for all that Moses is his guy. God knows what is ahead. God knows that the people will rebel against Moses more than once. But he is leaving no doubt that Moses is handpicked. Second, he is going to solidify his place as the one true God. Imagine the scene. Standing at the base of a mountain. On top of that mountain is a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke is billowing up. It continually erupts over and over. There is thunder and lightning. The ground shakes violently. And there is a sound of a trumpet that keeps getting louder and louder. You think you may die. You think whatever it is, it is too much. You feel the concussion of sound in your chest and your ears ring from the sounds. It is more than unsettling. It is too much to take in. And then you hear the voice of God as he calls for Moses and only Moses to walk into the billowing cloud and the lightning to visit with God.

When you look back on your life what do you see? Do you see how God has worked? Do you see how God brought you to this place and this time? Do you see that through the challenges, he provided strength? Do you think you got what you deserved or you got better than you deserved? It is easy to become comfortable with our relationship with God. It is easy to assume that God owes you something. It is easy to be angry with God when things have not gone as you wanted. It is easy to forget where you have been and where you are now.

When we are aware of Gods grace, our response is gratitude and commitment. We are in awe of God not just because of what we read in Exodus 19 but because we, too, have experienced God’s presence in real ways. Nothing mysterious. Commitment isn’t just about convenience. Commitment means that no matter what, I’m in. Commitment means discomfort. Commitment means times of testing. Commitment means feeling like you are coming unglued. Those are times to reaffirm commitment. Israel did not have it easy in their commitment. Why would we think we would? District meet on a Saturday afternoon. Mile relay team. Two things were happening. A chance to go to Regionals. A chance to break a school record. We had been close. It was within reach. Four guys. We had trained together. We had sweated together. We had pulled for each other. But that Saturday morning one went swimming and lost sight of their commitment to the team. We didn’t advance to regionals. We missed the record by less than two seconds.

Our commitment is based on our response to what God has done. We experience his grace and we commit as our response. It has nothing to do with proving our worth. It has to do with agreeing that our God is an awesome God.

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