Sermons For Youth - Mustard Seed Faith

Sermons For
Youth - Mustard
Seed Faith
Grasshopper or Caleb
- The choice is Yours!
Do you have faith that
God will do what he
has promised in your
life?
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Introduction
A little boy was afraid of the dark. One
night his mother told him to go out to
the back porch and bring her the
broom. The little boy turned to his
mother and said, Mama, I dont want
to go out there. Its dark. The mother
smiled reassuringly at her son. You
dont have to be afraid of the dark,
she explained. Jesus is out there. Hell
look after you and protect you. The
little boy looked at his mother real
hard and asked, Are you sure hes out
there? Yes, Im sure.
He is everywhere, and he is always
ready to help you when you need
him, she said. The little boy thought
about that for a minute and then
went to the back door and cracked it
a little. Peering out into the darkness,
he called, Jesus? If youre out there,
would you please hand me the
broom?
Someone has said its not the size of
your faith that makes the difference,
but the size of God that we put our
faith in.
Jesus said if you have faith the size of
a mustard seed you can move
mountains. And as we look at the
story of Caleb today, we will see him
asking in faith GIVE ME THE
MOUNTAIN In your life of faith you
too face giants, walled fortresses, and
discouragement. As we look at the life
of Caleb we discover what mustard
seed faith does in such
circumstances. And it is my hope that
you might respond like Caleb Give
me the Mountain.
Background
We first read of Caleb in Numbers
chapters 13-14. We read that the
people of Israel are encamped at
Kadesh Barnea, an oasis in the
Negev desert south of the Promised
Land. It has been only a year or so
since they have come out of Egypt.
The people have seen many
miracles in that time:
the Red Sea opening,
water from the rock,
daily manna and quail.
A pillar of smoke by day and fire
by night
Theyve fought the Amalakite
raiders and won.
Moses has received the Ten
Commandments on Mount Sinai
and destroyed the golden calf.
Theyve built the Tabernacle and
Ark of the Covenant.
And having their faith built through
these events and many more in
their journey, the time has now
arrived for them to enter the
Promised Land. And Caleb is one of
those chosen to enter it ahead of
the 2 million Israelites.
Comparison to our situation
Like the Isrealites, are on a
journey; we are not at the end of
our destination. God has not
brought us to where we are
without reason. As the Isrealites
were to lay claim to the promised
land, God has laid it on our heart
to go and claim the land around us
for him to reach out into the
community, and the world in
which we live. Weve seen the
faithfulness of God. His
faithfulness has proved sufficient
beyond measure. The test of our
faith is to enter the land we have
claimed for God.
Outline
Today as we look at the life of Caleb,
well look at three tests of your
faith:
1. Faith focuses on the
possibilities, the potential, not
the problems
2. Faith relies on Gods abilities,
not our own abilities
3. Faith is not content with the
minimum, the past of least
resistance, but asks for the
TEST 1: Faith focuses on
Possibilities- on Potential, not the
Problems
We read in Numbers 13:2 The Lord
gave Moses this directive: Send
some men to explore the land of
Canaan, which I am giving to the
Israelites. From each ancestral tribe
send one of its leaders Caleb is one
of those leaders the recognized
leader of the tribe of Judah, largest
of the 12 tribes. He is about 40
years old. One Bible scholar
suggests his name means all heart.
And he sets out on the mission with
the other 11 leaders, one from each
tribe.
They are on a mission to explore
Canaan, the promised land, the land
flowing with milk and honey. A
Jewish Rabbi (Meir Leibush Malbim
1809-1879) says the Hebrew
language has two words for spying.
One (latour) means to seek good
and has the same root as the
modern Hebrew word for Tourist
(tayyar). Tourists look for good
things to enjoy wherever they go.
Singaporeans love to be tourists. But
the other word for spy (leragel)
means to look for weaknesses.
Later in Joshua 2, the second Hebrew
word for spy seeking out
weaknesses is used, when Joshua
prepares to invade Canaan after
Moses death. Two spies are sent
out, who stay with Rahab the
prostitute as they seek out
weaknesses in preparation for
conquest.
But that is not the task of the 12.
They are not there to spy out the
problems. They are to first examine
the potential, the possibilities, the
abundance the land has to offer. God
commands Moses to appoint a team
to spy out the good
to examine the resources of this
land. They are to give a general report
on what cities are available to be
taken, what land is available and how
fertile, and what people inhabit it.
Since they will be dividing up the land
between the 12 tribes, it is important
that representatives from all the
tribes be in on this initial tour of the
land. God wanted these leaders to
come back and ignite the hearts of
the 12 tribes with delight as they
reported the riches and the
magnificence of the promised land.
God wanted to use these leaders to
encouraged the people to take
possession of the promised land.
And so Caleb and eleven of his peers
are sent to assess the potential of
Canaan. They go north along the
ridge of mountains that provide the
backbone of the country, through
Hebron in the south all the way to
Rehob at the north end of the land.
Perhaps they are posing as traders,
we dont know, but along the way
they observe carefully what they see:
the nature of the cities and villages,
the produce of the land and its
potential.
And the land does have great
potential. When the spies return,
they carry a huge cluster of grapes
so huge it took two men to carry it
the fruit of the land on a pole
between them. In the desert theyd
probably never seen grapes. In
their wildest imagination they
hadnt conceived of grapes like
these.
Lets read what they said. Look at
Numbers 13: verses 27-29, They gave
Moses this account: We went into the
land to which you sent us, and it does
flow with milk and honey! Here is its
fruit. (and I am sure they held up the
cluster of grapes for all to see) But the
people who live there are powerful,
and the cities are fortified and very
large. We even saw descendants of
Anak there. The Amalekites live in the
Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and
Amorites live in the hill country; and
the Canaanites live near the sea along
the Jordan.
Wait a second. They forgot their
mission. Their mission was to report
on the possibilities, the potential
not the problems. Their report is like
one of those good news bad news
jokes. The good news is the land
does flow with milk and honey. The
bad news is Mike Tyson already lives
there. The Giants- the Anak are all
over, the Amalekites own the Negev,
the hill country is occupied by three
separate peoples and the Canaanites
control the coastal region. Its an
impossible mission.
Their report started out great but
then they lost their focus. When it
comes to matters of faith, too often
we shift our focus and lose sight of
God. Remember when Peter tried
walking on the water? At first, when
he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine
(showing off and smiling). But when
he saw the wind, he was afraid and
began to sink. When Peter shifted his
focus from Jesus to the wind, then
fear melted his heart and he sank.
Thats what happened to these ten
spies. They shifted their focus. They
took their eyes off of God and fixed
their eyes on the Giants occupying
the land.
Once when Martin Luther was
feeling depressed, his wife asked if
hed heard God had died. Luther
replied angrily that she was
blaspheming. She retorted that if
God had indeed not died what right
had he to be without hope! But this
is the same thing that happened
with the Isrealites
As the ten spies continue to report
their fear increases and their faith
decreases. You can almost see their
faith shrinking as they speak in verse
31-33: We cant attack these people;
they are stronger than we are. They
said, the land we explored devours
those living in it. (Now they think the
land will devour them.) And then they
concluded in the first part of verse
33,We seemed like grasshoppers in
our own eyes, and we looked the
same to them.
Grasshoppers! Gods chosen people
see themselves as Grasshoppers.
When things looked tough it was not
faith that prevailed, but fear. They
became pessimists, pointing out the
problems, instead of having faith and
looking at the possibilities, the
potential. Those with faith challenge
and motivate and point to the
possibilities, but those who have no
faith criticize and focus on the
problems. When it comes to the
Christian life, Giants and
grasshoppers are not determined by
genes, but by faith. And this test of
Giants exposed the Grasshopper
hearts of the spies.
When it came time to enter and
conquer their neighborhood, they
stopped in fear. When it came time to
live their faith, they fled. Faith that
cannot confront the Giants is not
faith. Ten of the twelve spies became
grasshoppers and thus useless in the
midst of Gods people. In fact, they
became worse than useless.
In the Bible grasshoppers are
associated with destruction.
Grasshoppers and Locusts are the
same thing. Locusts or Grasshoppers
destroy the crops that the farmer has
worked so hard to grow. The bad
report given by these ten ravaged the
faith of the entire nation of Israel in
the same way that locusts ravage
crops. Moses worked so hard to
cultivate the faith of this nation like a
farmer works his field. Now, one bad
report from Grasshoppers would
destroy an entire generation.
TEST 1 APPLIED: Do you want to
evaluate YOUR faith?
Ask yourself this question: Are you
more likely to point out the
possibilities or the problems? Are
you more likely to get excited or
discouraged? Are you more likely to
motivate others or discourage? Are
you more likely to challenge or
criticize? Are you more likely to be
hopeful or pessimistic? Possibilities
or Problems?
Dont get me wrong. There is a time
to examine the problems, to
determine the obstacles. As a matter
of fact, as already mentioned, Joshua
later sent spies to the land to spy out
the weaknesses, but the first step is
one of faith one of faith in Gods
Provision. Our actions are not to be
determined by the problems, but by
faith that God will provide. Go back
and read Numbers 13:2 Send some
men to explore the land of Canaan,
which I am giving to the Israelites.
God promised the land to them.
God would provide the land. He
would give it to them. Your first
question is not what are the
problems, but what has God
promised. What has God provided.
You want to evaluate your faith
examine your focus! Are you a
grasshopper or does your faith in
Gods provision and promises make
the giants in your life and this
church grasshoppers?
SIDENOTE: Dealing with Problems in
Faith
I am not saying that when their are
problems that you dont discuss
them. When it does come time to
deal with the problems, its not to
determine whether we are going to
do something or not, but to
strategize on HOW we are going to
do it. I have never been in a church
that doesnt have its problems. I
have never met a person who
doesnt have his / her problems,
myself included. But we need to be
careful how we handle problems. We
need to handle them with faith.
For the Isrealites, I would say that
giants in the land are a legitimate
concern. But their focus became a
magnification of the problem
instead of searching for a solution.
These ten should have pulled
Moses off to the side and said look,
we have to talk. But instead their
unbelief and bad report was
devastating.
Look at the first couple of verses of
Numbers 14.
[1] That night all the people of the
community raised their voices and
wept aloud. [2] All the Israelites
grumbled against Moses and Aaron,
and the whole assembly said to them,
If only we had died in Egypt! Or in
this desert! [3] Why is the LORD
bringing us to this land only to let us
fall by the sword? Our wives and
children will be taken as plunder.
Wouldnt it be better for us to go back
to Egypt? *4+ And they said to each
other, We should choose a leader and
go back to Egypt.
The pessimism of the ten men,
their lack of faith was devastating.
Imagine the scene. We read in
(Numbers 1:46) that a census taken
at Sinai several weeks earlier that
recorded that the number of men
over 20 years of age able to fight
was 603,550. Add the women and
those under 20 years of age and
you are looking at close to 2 million
people. By nightfall their report has
spread throughout the people, and
with it the infectious fear of spies.
That night all the people of the
community raised their voices and
wept aloud (Numbers 14:1).
Women were sobbing that their
husbands would be killed in battle
and their children left fatherless.
Across the camp that night you
could hear the sound of weeping
and anguish. By the next morning
everyone was grumbling against
Moses and ready to go back to
slavery. They were ready to give up.
Application: If it comes to a point in
your life when your lack of faith has
you focusing on problems instead of
the provider; if you are having that
grasshopper mentality, you might
best keep it to yourself and among
leadership until you are willing to
focus on Gods provision and Gods
promises. You may do inestimable
damage to the people of God
because youve lost your faith. As a
result of your grasshopper
mentality, you may doom the rest of
Gods people to wander in a
spiritual desert for next 40 years!
TEST 2: Faith relies on Gods Abilities
Not only does faith focus on the
possibilities instead of the problems,
but Faith focuses on Gods abilities
and not our own! Ten of the spies
measured the giants against
themselves: we cant do it, they said.
They are stronger than we are. Were
like grasshoppers compared to them.
But in the midst of this fear and
unbelief, pessimism, two men stood
firm in faith and hope Caleb and
Joshua. When the 10 spies were
sharing their tale of terror, the
scripture reports, Then Caleb
silenced the people before Moses
and said, We should go up and take
possession of the land, for we can
certainly do it (13:30).
Caleb measured the giants, not
against themselves, but against God.
To a great God those giants were very
puny. The next day, Caleb and Joshua
try to sway the gathered Israelite
crowds with their faith: The land we
passed through and explored is
exceedingly good. If the LORD is
pleased with us, he will lead us into
that land, a land flowing with milk and
honey, and will give it to us. Only do
not rebel against the LORD. And do not
be afraid of the people of the land,
because we will swallow them up.
Their protection is gone, but the LORD
is with us. Do not be afraid of them
(14:7-9).
Notice the positive attitude look at
the hope, the faith. Caleb at this point
was a man in his prime, aged forty-
five. Yeah, we can do it! Lets go! The
Lord is with us thats all that
matters! Notice the explicit mention
of the LORD in their words. The 10
spies dont even mention the LORD,
only what they have seen that
terrifies them. Joshua and Caleb have
seen the same giants and the same
heavily fortified cities, but they are
not comparing themselves to the
task, but God! They see the LORD
enabling them to conquer these
people.
There are walls and giants we must
overcome but there are milk and
honey too. If we measure ourselves
to the task we will always fall short.
But if we measure God to the task
we will never be disappointed.
Faith focus on Gods Abilities, not
our own.
Test #2 Applied
Ask yourself these questions: When I
am asked to serve God in a task, do I
compare myself to the task before
accepting it or do I compare God to
the task? When you are asked to
serve in the church council, in
Sunday School, in training, in the
youth ministry, and the multitude of
other needs we have as a church in
reaching our goals, do you make your
decision by looking at your own
abilities or at Gods? Do you evaluate
what you are capable or what God is
capable of? The question should
never be CAN I DO IT? but Am I
willing to let GOD DO IT through
me?
TEST #3 Faith Asks for the Mountain
(i.e. faith doesnt take the path of least
resistance the easy way out)
Look what God says about Caleb in
Numbers 14:24, But because my
servant Caleb has a different spirit and
follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring
him into the land he went to, and his
descendants will inherit it (14:24, cf.
30). We see a similar quotation in
Deuteronomy, where Moses recounts
for the children of these rebels what
God has said: except Caleb son of
Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give
him and his descendants the land he set
his feet on, because he followed the
LORD wholeheartedly (Deuteronomy
1:36)
Caleb followed the LORD
wholeheartedly (NIV) or wholly
or fully (KJV). What a testimony!
So often we follow the Lord when it
suits us, but when things get tough
and we must lean on faith rather
than sight we balk. Fear sets in, and
we follow our fears instead of our
faith. Thats what I like about Caleb:
he looks at life as what Robert
Schuller terms a possibility thinker,
one who sees himself walking into
the future, not alone but leaning on
the strong arm of his God.
Lets jump to Joshua 14:6-15. This is
scene 2 of Calebs life. After being
forced to wonder 40 years in the
desert because of a lack of faith of
the others, Caleb could have been
VERY discouraged. Yet here there was
no hint that he was discouraged.
Instead he seems ambitious for God!
He could have thrown up his hands in
angry despair and adopted a Whats
the use, with this mob? or I told you
so attitude. He could have sulked and
let his anger and frustration at the
situation simmer. He could have said,
You got yourselves into this mess,
you can get yourselves out.
We see no frustration in Caleb though
he had every reason to be upset. Now
45 years later at the age of 85, his
faith burns as brightly as ever. When
others of his age would have retired
years before and been taking life easy
ever since, Caleb had no such
thoughts. He remained active in the
service of the Lord. The Lord had
remained faithful to Caleb and Caleb
had remained faithful to the Lord.
Calebs attitude was not one of
despair. Nor was it one of frustration
or anger. His was an attitude of
ambition for God.
Each of us gets disappointed in
other people from time to time:
they dont live up to our
expectations. Joseph was sold into
slavery by his brothers but he
didnt give up. Paul, writing with a
sad heart told how one of his
friends had forsaken him to follow
the world. However Paul didnt
cease preaching the gospel because
Demas did.
The land is to be divided among
the 12 tribes. But before the land
west of the Jordan is distributed by
lot, Caleb stakes his own claim,
based on the promise made to him
by Moses: Look at verse 9 The
land on which your feet have
walked will be your inheritance
and that of your children forever,
because you have followed the
LORD my God wholeheartedly.
(14:9)
Joshua blesses Caleb and gives
him Hebron as his inheritance
(14:13). Apparently, the grant
involved the whole hill country
surrounding Hebron.
Interestingly, when the lot was
cast for Calebs tribe Judah
(15:1), the tribal land assigned
by lot providentially included
the portion already given to
Caleb. But lets look a little
closer at his request!
Calebs faith is showing in vss. 10-12.
From one perspective he might seem
to be bragging, but look closer
1. Just as the LORD promised, he has
kept me alive for forty-five years
so here I am today, eighty-five
years old! (10a).
2. I am still as strong today as the
day Moses sent me out; Im just as
vigorous to go out to battle now as
I was then (11).
3. Now give me this hill country
(NIV; KJV mountain) that the
LORD promised me that day
(12a).
4. You yourself heard then that the
Anakites were there and their
cities were large and fortified, but
the LORD helping me, I will drive
them out just as he said (12b).
Notice that in three out of the four
statements in this section, he
mentions the name of Yahweh. The
LORD promised The LORD
promised the LORD helping me.
Here is a man who has learned to trust
in the promises of God and stake his
whole future on them. He knows what
it is like to have the LORD help him,
and he is trusting that the LORD will
continue to do so.
Give Me This Mountain (14:12)
When Israel finally came into the
Promised Land, Caleb as a reward
for his faith was allowed to pick out
any section of the land for himself
and his family forever. Do you know
what section he asked for? He asked
for Hebron. Why Hebron? Of all
Palestine that could have been his for
the asking, why did he pick Hebron? I
think he wanted Hebron because
there were the Anakite giants that
had so terrified his fellow scouts 40
years ago. It was the most hilly part in
the area, infested by giants. Israels
enemies were strongest here the
most difficult part of the whole
Promised Land to subdue.
But Caleb at age 85 said give me
that. You say theres a problem
let God use me to handle it! We
looked like grasshoppers in their
eyes, they whimpered. Bring
them on, says Caleb. Theyre no
match for the LORD! Forty-five
years before he had counseled,
Their protection is gone, but the
LORD is with us (Numbers 14:9).
The giants represent the enemies
of Conquest, and Caleb is ready for
them. He didnt ask for the easy
job.
This man of faith knew that with
God nothing is impossible if it is
done out of faith. Theres a saying
that a person of vision and faith
does the most difficult thing now
and leaves the impossible until
later. That was Caleb. Caleb refused
to be discouraged, but took up the
most difficult task to be used in
what God had promised to do.
Test #3 Applied
Ask yourself these questions: Am I
content to do the minimum in my
service to God? Am I content to sit
back and watch others work? Am I
looking for the easy way out in my
Christian service? Or am I asking God
to give me his toughest! Give me the
mountain! God USE me! Here I am..
Im ready
Conclusion
Calebs faith was mustard seed faith
to move mountains. When it came
time to be a leader he said Give
me the mountain.
In the upcoming months before the
new year your faith also will be
tested. People are going to ask you
to do things that may terrify you.
And youll either respond as a
grasshopper or a Caleb. You may be
asked to teach Sunday School, to
help out in worship services, to
help with Childrens worship, and
many other tasks.
When those times come Remember
the three tests of your faith?
Will you focus on the
problems, or the possibilities?
Will you focus on your abilities
or Gods Abilities?
Will you ask for the mountain
or flee in fear?
There will be giants! And
unfortunately, some around you will
be grasshoppers. But how desperately
we need more Calebs with faith to
lead our church to claim the lost for
God. When you are called to act to
serve will you be a grasshopper or a
Caleb? Calebs eulogy (Joshua 14:14):
he faithfully obeyed the Lord (GNB);
he wholeheartedly followed the Lord
(NRSV); or as the Jerusalem Bible
translates it he scrupulously obeyed
the Lord. I wonder if theyll say that
about me, about you? Mustard seed
faith means looking to the
possibilities, relying on his abilities,
and asking for the mountain?
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