Pitching Your Tent

This has been a busy week in the office working on Rivercamp and also Soul Survivor. It wasn't helped by a person wanting their pitch moved for their whole church to be near the Big Top at Rivercamp. In the end we couldn't do it, but a throw away comment inspired today's message: where do you pitch your tent?

Exodus 33:7-11: 7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

In the middle of Exodus 33 we have a glimpse of how God met with Moses and the people. In Exodus 33 God has said He is not going with the people into the promised land because they are stiff-necked, but rather would send and Angel before them (1-6).  For some in the Church today that would be enough; they focus on the angelic.

The analogy this morning is simple for us post-cross Christians. Our Iives are the tents. The people at the time were nomadic and would pitch their home, their lives, in their tent. The presence of God became known to them in God's tent - the Tabernacle (Ex 25-31). This was the place of worship and offering, the place of forgiveness and sacrifice for sins. Only the priest could enter, not not the people.

The Tent of Meeting that Moses set up separately represents our lives but foreshadowed the Tabernacle: after the Tabernacle was finished being constructed the temporary Tent of Meeting was no longer used. The Tabernacle was a foreshadow of the Temple. The Temple is a foreshadow of us, believers!

It represents the life of the believer today, for the Spirit dwells within our physical tent (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and Hebrews 9:11-12).

Here are a few principles about the Tent of Meeting:

Pitch Where The Cloud Is!
The people in Exodus were nomadic as I have mentioned. This meant from time to time they would move along. How'd they know it was time to move? The cloud moved!
Numbers 9:22: 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.

The Christian Life is one of transformation. After repentance of sins we move into a process of being made more Christlike daily.

We are born again, not converted! Converting to religion is an intellectual exercise. It does not have to engage anything else but the brain.

Being born again through repentance, receiving Christ, is a new creation experience - everything is made new: heart, motives, emotions, intellect, goals, desires, direction and so on (2 Corinthians 5:17).

These newly created things in our lives then develop over time. That is sanctification - being made more Christlike every day - a daily transformation:
2 Cor. 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (NKJV).
(See also 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; 1 Thess. 4:3).

This means that sometimes we will be shifting our position on something because the Spirit is moving in an area in our life.

We will find our opinions change but not the tenants of our faith. We will find our love will grow for those in need. We will find the fruit of the Spirit will develop in our lives (Gal. 5:22).

We will find we reflect more faithfully who Jesus is!

Pitch Close to the Lord!
Illustration: when going camping wth our family when the boys were younger we would look at campsites with good facilities. How close would we be to the toilets? Was there a launderette? Were there kids activities?

Proximity is so important when you're camping.

In Exodus 33 we have a picture of Moses pitching near the cloud and the people pitching a distance away.  Some would have been nearer the front, others in the middle, others in the back wondering what is going on up front!

They would have been grouped by tribe and possibly the tribal leaders were in front. Today there is no such hierarchy when it comes to the presence of God (Hebrews 4:16).

Proximity to the presence of the Lord is often our choice! Yes there may be dark times when God seems far away, but Psalm 23 reminds us He is always near (Psalm 23:4).

When choosing where to pitch the tent of our lives we should be pitching it as close to Jesus as possible!

Moral pitching: decide your stance on the principles in Scripture not on the whim of your generation.

Decide before you meet a situation what you would do! Decide you're not going to cheat on your taxes before the tax return. Decide you're not going to lie before being asked a question. Decide you're not going to sleep around before you leave the house. Decide you're going to love the outcast before you leave the house.

Pitch morally close to Jesus.

Spiritual pitching: devote yourself to Him who has loved you with an everlasting love (Ex 31:3).

• Be like Mary: who sat at the feet of Jesus in the midst of life's busyness and the criticism of family (Luke 10:38-42).

• Be like the early Church: who devoted themselves to the Christian disciplines of prayer, fellowship, the Eucharist, and teaching of the Apostles (Acts 2:42).

• Be like Paul: who imitated Christ as an example for the Church (1 Corinthians 11:1).

• Be like your Leaders (yikes):

Hebrews 13:7: Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

This is not an instruction to try and clone a personality. It is an instruction to consider the outcomes of their lives. It they are good, copy them! It's humbling to be a pastor, elder, a Lifegroup leader, a mentor etc and have the responsibility of modelling this way.

Wrapping this up:
Where have we pitched our lives this morning? Are we on the rings f what God is doing? Are we centred on Jesus? Do we need to move our 'tent' closer to Him?