Called Out of the Ordinary

Have you ever gotten asked to do something or maybe a call to help with something and you might have said yes, but realistically you were way over your head?

A few years ago, I remember getting this call for me to be the person who organizes the district mission trip, which is the trip that all of the churches in our area of the denomination go on.

And I remember being told there are over 50 people coming this year and , and not just this but it was the year of Covid, so every week the regulations were changing, and it was super complicated and we were going to Africa

And I remember thinking… Wow I have no clue what I am doing.

And then once we got on the ground fairly early in the trip, there was this giant bridge that was help up by wire, and it was long and high in the air. And not just that but when the wind blew, the whole bridge would swing

And It looked like the sketchiest thing you could build, (Here is aa picture of it)

But I remember being told we had to cross it and you know me, I am a chicken with heights.

And just thinking Ii can’t do it. and even as I was crossing it, I remember taaking the first few steps out on the bridge and saying I can’t do it…

And turning around this girl behind me goes Brendan you have to… I I took a few more steps and started to feel dizzy and turned back around and said nope I think I will pass out and fall over the bridge..

But the girl goes Brendan you are leading the trip you have to cross the bridge and if you pass out, we will drag you across.

And I ended up crossing the bridge, and really it ended up being an awesome trip,

But I remember whether it was crossing that bridge or getting the initial call about the trip, there was this moment of I can’t do this.

And if I haad to guess almost all of us have had these “I can’t do this” moments in our lives.

Maybe you have been asked to lead something aand your initial thought it “I am not gifted enough” or “Maybe you should ask this person over there”

Maybe it was that moment where you found out you were going to be a parent and there was excitement, but a few days later it set in and you thought “how in the world am I going to take care of a little human.

Maybe you got a promotion at work and its cool, but you are thinking “I have no clue what I am doing”

Maybe God has laid on your heart to start something new, but you feel like you are getting up there in age, and are going “I can’t do that… Do you know my age?”

But heres the thing God often calls ordinary people in ordinary circumstances into an extraordinary life.

but to often our response is I can’t do that.

And today we are going to be starting our new series looking at the story of a guy named Mosses in the Old Testement and Moses was born Hebrew, during a times when the Hebrew people were oppressed by the Egyptians.

However, long story short Mosses ended up being raised in Pharoh of Egypt's house, However as he got older he saw an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew slave, and to help the slave he had to flee Egypt and lived in an area called Midian to escape. He then spent 40 years being a shepherd in this area that was in the dessert and essentially the middle of no where.

But at the end of the 40 years God calls Moses out of being a shepherd and into something extra ordinary.

And so we will be in Exodus 3 and we are going to look at this first part starting in verse 1. It says this:

New International Version (2011) Chapter 3

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

So Moses is a Shepherd and he goes to the Wilderness and Moses is already in the middle of no where, but we are told he goes into the wilderness.

Anyone from Gilean? This is like you live in Gilean (there is nto a ton there, and then you decide we are going off grid into the woods.

And so here is Mosses going to the wilderness which is dry, no one is around, its probably hot.

But something interesting happens, because Mosses is in the Wilderness, with his sheep and all of the sudden there is this bush on fire but the bush is not being consumed or burnt by the fire.

And you can picture Mosses looking at the sheep and going “you guys seeing this?!”

And aas he gets closer this voice calls him from the bush saying “Moses, Moses”

And Mosses comes and it turns out it is God calling Him.

And I just want to sit in this for a second, because when you think of the wilderness, you think of an awful place, you do not expect God to call someone in the worse place you can imagine.

Even when you think of Moses, you would look at him and go this guy killed a person, and then fled like a coward. Couldn’t God have called someone more coragous?

He has been taking care of sheep for 40 years… Couldn’t God get someone with a better Resume

He is 80… Would’n’t God want someone younger?

But here is the thing God often calls ordinary people in ordinary circumstances into an extraordinary life.

And i believe if your life seems ordinary, thats not a red flag for God, but you are probably the exact person God wants to us!

And I want to look at the next few verses, because as Mosses comes to God look what happens…

Exodus 3:7–15 (NIV)

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” 

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ 

“This is my name forever, 

the name you shall call me 

from generation to generation.

So before God calls Mosses anywhere He starts, by saying I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt.

And there is something comforting here, because just having someone see you makes aa different.

And whats neat is God tells Mosses I am going to do something about this.

And not just that but God gives mosses this amazing promise that He is going to lead the people out of the hand of the Egyptians and into a land flowing with milk and honey.

And this is an interesting part of the passage, because there is this intersection where God says I am going to do something, and this is where I am going to lead you but then there is this gap of well that seems a little far off or even a little unrealistic.

And I will be honest, because I hate this gap. I do not like living in the gap of knowing God wants me to do this, but I don’t see how.

I feel like God is calling me here, but financially I am not sure how it will work out.

Wee feel like we are supposed to start this ministry in the church, but we need people.

And I think we find ourselves in this place where we say that looks awesome, but there is a gap here…

And Mosses sees the Gap and he actually comes up with a few excuses, because he goes “who am I?” Later we see him say I do not speak elequantly, or I am a slow talker and you can picture him say I can’t do it.

But God tells Moses something interesting, because in verse 12 He says “I Will Be With you”

And I think this is the biggest part for us in the gap between how things are and where things should be and it is that God is with us in the wilderness, He us with us in the gap and He is with us at the destination

And this morning I want to wrap it all together for us, because I imagine we are in a few places this morning.

There are some of us where we have gotten caught in the wilderness. this 40 year period that we have been stuck in.

We have been raising kids and we have just been stuck.

We have been working to pay bills and our lives have looked very ordinary

And maybe this morning we need a burning bush experiance…

We need this call to something so much bigger.

Maybe this morning we are stuck in the gap and it feels like we do not have the faith to stick with it.

Maybe we are at the destination, and we are figureing out whats next.

This morning can I just encourage you thaat regardless of where you are God calls ordinary people in ordinary circumstances into an extraordinary life.

And this morning I believe God wants to do that with us.

And as we close we are going to be singing the song…