Fighting With Hands Lifted Up: God Is With You

Introduction

This teaching from Tokyo Christ Church looks back on a year marked by heavy battles. The message begins with a simple answer to those who asked, "Are you okay?": "Yes, I'm okay." Not because the trials have disappeared, but because God has shown how to fight according to his heart. The preacher opens Exodus 17 (the battle against Amalek at Rephidim), then Hebrews 6 (Jesus, our great high priest), and closes with the promise of Immanuel (God with us), illustrated by the testimony of a brother from the church who went home to heaven after five years fighting ALS. Two points, one single thread: fight with hands lifted up, and stay anchored in Jesus, who is our hope.

Outline of the Message

1. Fighting God's way: Exodus 17:8-11

• At Rephidim, the Amalekites attack Israel. Moses says to Joshua, "Choose for us men, go out, and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."
• Joshua goes down to fight in the plain. Moses, Aaron, and Hur climb to the top of the hill. As long as Moses holds his hands up, Israel prevails. When his hands grow tired, Amalek prevails.
• Aaron and Hur give him a stone to sit on, and hold up his hands, one on each side. His hands stay steady until the sun goes down. Israel defeats Amalek.
• This text traces two movements within the same battle: going down to face the enemy with courage, and going up to lean on God. Neither one works without the other.
• Fighting God's way is not fleeing the difficulty. Nor is it throwing yourself into it alone. It is holding on in the fight by keeping your hands lifted toward the Lord, and by letting others hold up your arms when they grow tired.

2. Staying anchored in Jesus, our great high priest: Hebrews 6

• The letter to the Hebrews is addressed to Jewish Christians tempted to go back to the old system: the temple, animal sacrifices, a human priest to approach God.
• The author shows why Jesus is an infinitely superior high priest: he was chosen by God himself, he is without sin, he has no need to offer a sacrifice for himself, and he offered himself once, for all, once for all time.
• "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit... and then have fallen away, to restore them again... since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt" (Hebrews 6:4-6). It is not an isolated moral failure that is in view here, but the public rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
• What this means for us concretely: every time we put another mediator between God and ourselves (our performance, our guilt, our shame, the fear of not being enough), it is like putting Jesus back on the cross.
• The preacher shares, "I repeat it to myself every morning in prayer: God's love does not change. I cannot increase it by what I do, nor decrease it by what I fail to do. In peace, I give my best for God today."
• Hebrews 6:13-20 recalls the promise made to Abraham, sealed by an oath. This hope in Jesus is "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" that reaches into the inner place behind the curtain. Our forerunner has entered there for us.

3. Immanuel: God is with you, even in loneliness

• The quietest enemy of our time is neither sickness nor poverty. It is loneliness. Japan appointed a minister for loneliness in 2021, the second country in the world to do so after the United Kingdom.
• This is not only an older person's problem: many people between 20 and 30 suffer from it too. Chronic loneliness raises the risk of early death by about 30 percent, comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It raises the risk of dementia by 40 percent. It drives up cortisol, the stress hormone, and feeds depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
• Striking fact: loneliness is not cured by being surrounded by many people. It is cured through connection, through trust, even with just one person.
• Mary did not give birth to Jesus in a cold, empty wilderness. Recent research suggests that the manger was part of a room in a family home (the English word is guest room, not inn). Jesus was born surrounded by people, in a communal setting. From his birth, he was with people.
• "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:23). God is not only above. He is not only far away. He is right beside us. He chooses to be with us.
• To be with someone is to believe in them, to encourage them, to correct them in love when needed, to weep with them when everything falls apart, to never reduce them to their problems. This is exactly Jesus' attitude toward every person he meets in the Gospels.

4. A brother's testimony: five years with ALS

• The week before this sermon, a dear brother from the church went home to heaven. He was in his fifties. Two children, one in college, one in middle school.
• Five years earlier, he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a disease that gradually destroys control of the muscles, up to and including breathing.
• He first lost the ability to stand, then to speak, then to move, until he could no longer send out the slightest signal to the outside world.
• And yet, those who walked closest with him all testify to the same thing: since he became sick, his love for God, his hope, and his trust have grown. The word that came out of his mouth the most (even when he could no longer speak) was thank you.
• Thank you for being loved, kept, believed in by God. Thank you for the people who stayed close. That is what Immanuel produces in a life, even when everything is stripped away.

5. Come and drink: John 7:37-38

• "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).
• Jesus compares himself to living water. He invites us to come, to drink, to trust him. Whoever walks with him becomes a source that overflows toward others.
• Immanuel is not only beside you: he lives inside you through his Spirit. Closer than a neighbor. That is where the living water flows from.

Key Takeaways

• Fighting God's way means going down to face the trial and going up to lift your hands to him. Neither fleeing nor fighting alone.
• Let the Aarons and Hurs in your life hold up your arms. No one keeps their hands lifted alone until sundown.
• Don't put Jesus back on the cross: stop letting your performance, your guilt, or your fear act as a mediator between God and you. Jesus is enough.
• Loneliness is a measurable poison. Trust, even with just one person, neutralizes it.
• Immanuel (God with you) is not a nice idea for Christmas. It is a permanent promise, valid in a hospital bed as much as in the workplace.

Personal Application

• What concrete battle are you facing right now? Are you going down to face it, or are you fleeing it?
• Who are the Aarons and Hurs to whom you can say today, "My hands are getting tired, come and hold them up"?
• What mediator other than Jesus do you keep clinging to and putting between God and yourself (your success, your guilt, your fear, your shame, your inferiority complex)?
• Who around you can you be a presence for (not advice, just a presence) this week?
• What would your morning prayer look like if you repeated every day, "God's love does not change today"?

Verses Cited

• Exodus 17:8-11 · The battle against Amalek and the lifted hands of Moses.
• Hebrews 6:4-6 · The warning against falling away.
• Hebrews 6:13-20 · Hope as an anchor for the soul.
• Matthew 1:23 · Immanuel, God with us.
• Luke 2:6-7 · The birth of Jesus in the manger.
• John 7:37-38 · The invitation to drink the living water.

FAQ

What does it mean to "fight the good fight" in Exodus 17?

In Exodus 17, Joshua fights in the plain while Moses climbs a hill to lift up his hands before God. Israel wins as long as Moses' hands stay lifted. Fighting God's way means going down to face the enemy while also going up to lean on the Lord. It is neither fleeing the difficulty nor throwing yourself at it alone. It is holding on by lifting your hands toward the One who keeps you.

Why is Jesus called a great high priest in Hebrews 6?

Hebrews 6 presents Jesus as the great high priest chosen by God, without sin, who offered himself once for all. There is no longer any need for a human priest or an animal sacrifice to approach God: Jesus connects us directly. That is why the author begs his readers not to go back to a former intermediary, but to remain attached to Christ alone.

How do you concretely live out the promise "Immanuel, God with us"?

Immanuel means that God is neither above nor far away, but right beside you, and even within you through his Spirit. Living it out concretely means remembering every morning that his presence does not depend on your performance. He trusts you, he stays with you in the trial, he weeps with you, he lifts you up. It is out of this mutual trust that peace is born, even in sickness or loneliness.