The Calling of God
When We Find Ourselves in the Wilderness • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This is one of those passages where we sit in awe of the power and majesty of God. When Moses returned to this event in his mind as he penned Exodus, it was almost impossible to put into words what took place. Encountering the God of the universe in such a unique and humble way was something that Moses could not have imagined.
He was out doing what he had been doing for forty years - tending sheep for his father-in-law, Jesse. Moses ran from Egypt forty years earlier after killing a man for harming a Hebrew slave. He hid from his possible captors but not from God. During those years, Moses set out to learn from his father-in-law, who was the Midian priest and worshiped Yahweh. He learned about God and how to be a leader. God was preparing him for the moment he appeared to him in the burning bush.
God called Moses while he was doing an ordinary task. Moses was not special. He had simply been chosen by God. Today, we will begin our time with Moses as he answers the call of God, goes to Egypt, and leads the Israelites to the promised land. We will follow this journey from an ordinary shepherd to the leader and lawgiver of a nation. Moses’ journey is our journey as we navigate the ordinariness of life and the spiritual wilderness around us. God has a call for us, too, and like Moses, we must listen to that call for us to be the church and people God wants us to be for his glory.
1. God calls for a specific purpose. (vs. 1-6)
1. God calls for a specific purpose. (vs. 1-6)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
2. God calls us to have compassion for the world. (vs. 7-12)
2. God calls us to have compassion for the world. (vs. 7-12)
14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
3. God calls us to proclaim his name. (vs. 13-15)
3. God calls us to proclaim his name. (vs. 13-15)
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.