The Secret to Boldness

We read a long story today. I hope you're able to follow along from start to finish. Reading a passage like today's, our eyes may automatically just go to the moment that Moses is born. Moses' birth is actually the climax of today's story, so it is understandable if our focus naturally goes to that. Including Moses' mother, who actually had to let him go. Our special music that we sung was all about that. But for today's sermon, I would like to focus not on Moses' birth, but I want to focus on the Hebrew midwives. Among the many people that appear in today's story, the midwives are the only ones who are mentioned by name. I mean, you hear the Levite woman, and you hear Pharaoh and all these people, but the only ones that are mentioned by name are these midwives. The fact that their names are mentioned in today's passage tells us how important and significant they were. Their names are Shifra and Pua. These two names appear in the passage. These two women indeed play a significant role in the overall story that we read right before Moses' birth. When we see these two women, one thing just kind of leaps out at us. One quality leaps out at us, and that is boldness. We see their boldness in today's passage. We see their courage, their willingness to do what is right. We see their strong determination, even in difficult circumstances, to do what is good by saving and caring for vulnerable lives. They stand up for what they believe in, even when they're under an immense pressure to choose the opposite. So when we see their boldness, we can't help but be inspired by what they do. In the same way, to live the life that we are called to live, we need to be bold. No one else can live our life for us, not even our parents. No one else can live our life for us. So to live the life that we are called to live, we need to be bold. Boldness is the key to living a meaningful life. No wonder God has given us the church theme for this year. Be bold in the spirit. That was the theme that God has given us for this year. And all throughout the summer, the running theme for this summer has been the same. Be bold. All last July, during our summer camp, that was what we stressed to all our children and our youth. In Sioux Valley, I mean, you heard the mission report last week, but one lesson that we taught the children and youth over and over again was the importance of being bold. At the end of every message, Reverend Simon went, remember this, when I'm afraid, God makes me bold. And we meet everyone, repeat that every day that we are there. Because we believe in the importance of boldness. Without boldness, we cannot be who we are. We cannot stand up for what we believe in. When we are without boldness, one thing always happens. And that is we simply become who others want us to be. That's what happens. When we lack boldness, we always become who others want us to be. Always thinking about what they're thinking of us. And we just simply become who they want us to be. And whenever we encounter any sort of opposition, our spirits break easily. So rather than living the confident life that God calls us to live, we simply live in cowardice. It's not easy to be bold. I don't say this lightly. It's a struggle that all of us have, almost on a daily basis. If we are all bold, there is no point of us talking like this. For us to even hear a message like this. There would be no need to talk about it. Even for me, God placed this message upon my heart this week. And I prepared it. And all of a sudden, starting last night, this weird sense of uncertainty started coming over me. I felt very scattered and anxious this morning. And I preached in KSM too. And right up until I walked up to the pulpit, I didn't know. I felt very unsure. But what could I do? I had to preach the word that God placed upon my heart. It's a struggle that all of us have. But we can easily attribute our struggle to be bold to our difficult environment and our circumstances. Last week, when we were talking about Suvali, Reverend Simon talked about how much influence our environment and our conditions have upon us. It's almost hard to overcome them. Yes, that's true. But at the same time, we could easily attribute why we can't be bold to those things very easily. Because there are visible concrete factors that we can point to and say, that is why. Since my environment and my circumstances are this way, it is hard for me to be confident or courageous. We may not say these exact words, but this kind of attitude shows up indirectly in these subtle ways. Last Sunday, we hosted some international guests here at Worship. I'm sure you remember some of them. I think they're all university students, about four or five of them. A lot of them came from overseas. Two of them came from Taiwan. Two of them came from Korea. One of them was here in Toronto, too. We hosted them through Lily, who brought them. After service, we went to the Fellowship Hall, talked a bit, and we had lunch together. During Fellowship time, among those students, I spoke to this young woman. She was very bright, sharp, and intelligent. I like speaking with her. I realized that she had just graduated from university. So I asked her, what did you study? She majored in literary studies and with a minor in critical theory. Already, it's like we hear it and we're like, whoa, it's like not what a lot of us study. But before she told me what she had studied, she kind of began by saying with some hesitation, it might not be what people think of as practical, but I studied this. You know that little remark that she said at the very beginning revealed something to me. I realized in our world that values production and efficiency, she felt that what she had studied wasn't useful and would be frowned upon. And she already had this assumption coming in and thought I would think of it the same way. So I asked her, why did you study that then? And she said, I studied it because I was really interested in it. I like reading. I like writing poetry. I like things that engage and exercise my imagination. So I said, that's good. Be confident in what you are drawn to. Be true to that. That as long as you're faithful to that, even though you don't know what you're going to do next, God will open doors for you that you will find your own unique path in life. That's what I shared with her. The midwives, when we look at today's story, weren't in an ideal environment or circumstances. They were in any position of power or influence. They were under Pharaoh's command to kill just all the baby boys. That was the only thing they were told to do. And not following it meant they risked getting themselves killed. Yet even under this tremendous pressure that they were under, what they did was they stood firm. They didn't bend. They chose to go against Pharaoh's order. And they let all the boys live. So you wonder what made it possible for these two women to do something like this? Was it a desire for recognition? Or was it to save themselves? Was it a desire for self-preservation? But we see that it is something else. Not what we would expect, though. This one verse tells us in today's story. But the midwives feared God. They did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So we see that behind the courage of the midwives was their fear of God. They weren't afraid of Pharaoh. They were afraid of God. Their fear of God was the secret to their boldness. Isn't that interesting? Because we don't usually connect boldness with fear. That is our understanding of fear. We think fear is actually an obstacle to our boldness. What does fear do? It only robs us of our confidence and makes us very small. If anything, what fear does to us is it only breeds a stronger survival instinct within us. That's why when people are under fear they will do anything to keep themselves safe and secure. When you're afraid everything becomes about me. Others are just secondary. Everything just becomes about me. But in the midwives, that's not what we see. They did what was going to put them even in greater danger. It wasn't to see themselves that they did this. It was actually going to get them killed. So you ask, how did this fear of God make these women bold like this? My friends, fear of God is not the kind of fear that we usually think of. It's not the same thing as being scared of someone. We often think of having fear of God like that. We're scared of God. But ironically, that is how most people grow up in the faith. They grow up being scared of God who could punish us if we do something bad. We can't figure out what God will do, so that scares us. So some people still live with the superstitious fear of God. Their religious devotion is not for God. It's ultimately for their own sake. But in Scripture, when you look at Scripture, fear of God is spoken in a very different way. When Scripture talks about fear of God, it has to do with a sense of awe and reverence. Fear of God is often connected to our experience of God's power and presence in our lives. That's why psalmist declared like this, Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. Fearing God is connected to being in awe of God. Fear of God comes from seeing who God for who He is. When we meet God in a meaningful way, that is when fear of God is born within us. That kind of fear does not make us withdraw, but it moves us to silence, humility and wonder. When we encounter something much bigger and greater than ourselves, that's what happens. It's like experiencing a really good work of art. That's just the only analogy I can make. Your experience goes beyond your words and your thoughts and you can't say anything but be there. In that sense, fear of God is not negative. It's actually positive. It's holy. Fear of God does not push us down and make us small. Fear of God actually sanctifies us. That's why the writer of Proverbs confessed. The fear of the Lord is what? The beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Fear of God is the foundation of our spiritual life. It is the anchor and the beginning of our life. That's why without the fear of God we cannot worship Him. We may come to church but we cannot worship God in spirit and in truth. We cannot have a right perspective. We can't think for ourselves. That's what happens. The reason why we can't think for ourselves is not because we're dumb. It's because we've lost that fear of God. We're surrounded by all other kinds of fears. We cannot value and respect the lives of others. We cannot live boldly. That's why Oswald Chambers, the Scottish theologian and the writer of this famous devotional, my utmost for his highest, he said, the remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else. Whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else. I find that to be very true. When fear of God is absent, all other fears flood into our lives. All the negative ones. Every fear dominates our life. Fear of authority. Fear of upsetting the status quo. Fear of people. That's what floods in. We worry especially about what people think. And they begin to dictate our thoughts and our choices. That's why I wonder if the pervasive symptom of anxiety in our modern life is rooted in the fact that we have lost this fear of God. God has become too comfortable for all of us. God has become the God that we want him to be. In doing so, we kill the fear of God and we made a God out of our fears. You see that in Pharaoh. He was a king. He had all the power and every reason to be bold. But when you look at him, he was anything but bold. What do you see in today's story? He lives in constant fear of his people. Because he was afraid of losing what he had. He felt any day they could come up and take it away from me. So he does everything to break the spirit of the Israelites. But nothing works. And the more he tries to control, the more out of control he feels. That's the paradox of control. The more we try to control our life, the more out of control we feel. And you see Pharaoh's despair by the end. It's easy for us to demonize or brush off someone like Pharaoh. But when you're afraid, we can just as we become a Pharaoh. Controlling, manipulating, scheming, calculating the way that we see fit. That is when we begin to do more harm than good. My friends, when you're afraid, do not cave into your fears impulsively. The thing about our fears is the more attention you give them, the more power you give to them. We think when we have our fears, we should fight them directly. Don't fight your fears directly. You'll always lose. But when fears begin to flood in, just look to one place. Look to God. When you're afraid, keep your eyes on Him. See God for who He is and know that He is the Lord of your life. You have to know that God is the Lord of your life. That is when you will gain a clear perspective. You will know what to do and what to say. You'll find your confidence in God. That is when you'll be able to rise above your fears and stand strong. Not just for yourself, but for others as well. You know these two midwives, Shifra and Pua, they knew they were in God's hands, not Pharaohs. Pharaoh was the visible figure that was oppressing them, but they knew that their lives were in God's hands. That's why even in the midst of their troubles, they experienced God's guiding hand in their life. And they fulfilled their calling as caregivers by rescuing precious lives. And even when they had to stand before Pharaoh, when Pharaoh said, Why did you do that? They held their ground and knew exactly what to say. So the kind of boldness that we see from these midwives in today's story is not something that's very loud or boisterous. It's actually very quiet and unassuming. And yet see, we see how transformative it is. It impacts where they are. And through their boldness, what God does is God opens the door and sets the stage for the birth of Moses. And who's Moses? The one who will bring the Israelites out of Egypt. You know, I still receive regular updates from this church in Cuba. When we raised funds and wanted to help the church install solar panels because they are lacking energy and power, one of the churches, they actually send us regular updates in terms of what's going on with them. Reverend Kim receives updates, Reverend Young-mi, the three of us are in that chat and we get pictures almost every other day. And they share with us the things that are happening in their community. You know, when I see them, I feel very inspired. They're so resilient. Whenever I meet Cubans, one thing that I often feel is that they are so resilient and strong people. Their conditions actually haven't improved at all. It's gotten worse. But with the little power that they get from time to time, they're still doing what they can. Just this past week, what they did was they celebrated the Youth Week, where the young people in the church took all the lead in all the activities and projects. So we have some pictures to share with you. So the person leading, worship at the very front, she's one of the youths there. And after worship, they had fellowship and kind of like our interns, the youth prepare all the little snacks and sandwiches for people to eat. And they sit with the elders, with the members, talk with them and spend time with them. And we also heard that they led a fasting and prayer service for the entire congregation. You know, all this is happening in the midst of a persecution. But what they're doing is, rather than letting their spirits be broken, they're looking to God, worshiping Him and taking care of each other. The young people especially are thinking for themselves and living creatively. May the fear of God give birth to the same boldness within you. Fearing God ultimately is to trust in Him. To put your life in God's good hands and keep going forward. From the palm of God's hand, that's when you can soar confidently. Be who God has called you to be. Do what God has called you to do. Live the life that God has called you to live. Being bold is about being who you are, where you are. You don't need to change the world. But being bold is about being who you are, where you are. Do what is good, stand up for the truth and keep the faith in your own way. When our heart is there, God will help you. Repeat after me. When I'm afraid? Sounds like people who are afraid. When I'm afraid? God makes me bold. Why should this lesson only be for our children? It should be for all of us. When I'm afraid? God makes me bold. Be bold.