God Knows How to Change Us based on Exodus 3:1-14

Second Wednesday of Lent

Sermon Text: Exodus 3:1-14

Sermon Theme: God Knows How to Change Us

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is there something you would like to change about your life? Maybe you want to change a bad habit? A bad decision? A bad relationship? What do you look at in your life and say that this is not right and this has to change?

We live in a society that likes instant change. If we want to change the channel, then we take the remote and click, click, click. If we want to change the screen on our smartphone, then we tap, tap, tap. If we want to warm up food fast, then we put that food in the microwave and zap, zap, zap. Because we change the channel and screen and food almost instantly, we would like to make changes in our lives quickly, too.

We are in a series of sermons based on the book of Exodus. Today I would like to have us think about how God changes us. God did not change Moses in Exodus 3 instantly. God took His time to change Moses. Change into becoming more like God takes time. God takes His time to change each one of us.

When Moses was 40 years old, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses killed the Egyptian. The next day two Hebrews were fighting and Moses told them to stop. The one Hebrew asked Moses if he wanted to kill him like he killed the Egyptian. Moses then left Egypt out of fear for his life. Moses ended up working with sheep with his father-in-law in distant Midian for 40 years.

That is where Exodus 3 picks up the life of Moses. Moses was taking care of sheep. For 40 years all Moses heard was sheep. All Moses saw was sheep. Sheep, sheep, and more sheep was what was on the mind of Moses for 40 years. Moses was stuck in a rut. He had to be thinking that something needed to change.

We get stuck in ruts, too. We watch the same things on TV like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy. We eat the same food regularly. We fail to study the Bible or do daily devotions. We, like Moses, think that something needs to change.

God changes us a little bit at a time. God’s presencestarted to change Moses at the burning bush. Exodus 3:2 tells us, “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.” This was no ordinary angel. This was a heavenly messenger from God. This was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. This was the Son of God. This was the fire of God. The fire of God means one thing. Change.

God called to Moses out of the bush. Moses responded, “Here I am.” In other words, Moses said to God, “I am at your service.” Moses was ready to change.

Exodus 3:7-8 states, “Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” God cared about the suffering of the people of Israel. He had come down to deliver them from their slavery. The same is true for us. God cares about our struggles in life. He wants to change us by His Word.

God’s plan to change Moses comes next. Exodus 3:9-10 informs us, “And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses at age 40 in Exodus 2? Ok. Moses at age 80 in Exodus 3? No way!

Exodus 3:11 tells us, “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” God does not say, “Moses, where is your confidence?” or “Moses, don’t you know you can do anything you put your mind to doing.”

God does not say any of that. Because the question “Who am I,” is always the wrong question. When we want to change, the question “Who am I,” is always the wrong question. The right question is “God, who are You?”

Who is this God? This God is the One who can change us little by little. This God helps us to learn how to live by faith in Him.

In Exodus 3:16 we hear these words, “(God) said (to Moses), ‘But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’” That was not exactly what Moses wanted to hear. He did not want some future promise. He wanted something right now. Change is little by little.

The same is true for us. We do not want some promise of something in the distant future. We want something to help us right now. Change for us is little by little too.

God’s plan calls us to change by regularly saying, “Here I am.” Little by little God can help us to get out of our ruts. He helps us change our bad habits. He helps us to start reading the Bible and do daily devotions to grow in our Christian faith little by little. He helps us work on repairing that relationship that has been damaged. He helps us to be a little Christ to the people around us.

God’s provision. Moses had four excuses for not wanting to change. 1.) I don’t know your name. God gave Moses His name, “I AM.” Jesus is the Great I AM. I AM the light of the world. 2.) Israel’s leaders won’t believe me. God gave Moses two miraculous signs. The wooden rod that turned into a snake and the hand with leprosy that was healed. 3.) I’m not a good speaker. God gave Moses His brother Aaron to speak for him. 4.) Somebody else could do a better job. God told Moses that he was the right man for the job.

What are your excuses? God, I’m too old. God, I’m too young. God, my ship has sailed. The voice from the bush is the voice of Jesus to you. Jesus says, “I love you. I shed my blood on the cross for you. I am not finished with you. There is work for you to do.”

The story is told: In the early 19thcentury Napoleon Bonaparte was in the middle of a huge battle. His officers said, “If we don’t retreat now, we’ll be annihilated.” Napoleon called his bugler and ordered him, “Sound the retreat.” The fourteen-year-old bugler began to cry. Napoleon commanded him again, “Sound the retreat!” The bugler replied, “I was never taught how to sound a retreat. I was only taught how to sound an advance.” “In that case,” Napoleon commanded, “Sound an advance!” The bugler sounded an advance, and history records that Napoleon won the battle.

You might think God should call a retreat in your life. Instead, God wants you to advance ahead. God is calling you to change little by little. The fire of God is calling you to do what God has prepared in advance for you to do. God’s presence, God’s plan, and God’s loving provision are with you. What is your response? Here I am, Lord, send me, send me. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.