Whom He Chooses: Moses

A Sermon on Exodus 3:1-4:17

ME - calling to be a pastor

When I felt that call to pastoral ministry, I felt inadequate and fear. 

I was looking at the examples of other pastors who I knew and had grown up under and did think I could ever do something like that. 

I felt genuinely unqualified for what I knew God was calling me to.

There have been more times than I can count where I've looked at what God was asking of me and thought, “I am not the guy for this.” Not a false humility, but genuine, gut-level doubt.

WE - Unsure why God would be calling you.

Have you felt the gap between what you're being asked to do and what you feel capable of doing?

Parents who don't feel equipped to raise the kids God gave them.

You were asked to lead, serve, share their faith, and inwardly not feeling like you can do it, or just straight fear.

Throughout life we have these experiences: a student facing a decision, the new believer afraid to speak up, the leader who feels like a fraud, the elderly person who thinks their usefulness is over.

Transition: If God's plan depends on qualified people, none of us qualify. So how does God actually work?

GOD - God’s call of the imperfect Moses

God sees and initiates (Exod 3:1–8)

Moses is not looking for God — he's tending sheep in obscurity, 40 years removed from his failed attempt at deliverance (Exod 2).

God speaks first. God has "seen," "heard," and is "concerned" (3:7). 

Point: Salvation begins with divine initiative, not human readiness. This is God's plan before it's Moses' plan.

God calls an imperfect man (Exod 3:9–11)

"Who am I?" Moses' first objection is self-doubt.

Note his history: a murderer, a fugitive, a man who ran from his calling once already.

Point: God's choice of Moses is not in spite of a brief background check, but how we see God work throughout scripture. Moses is one of many that would not have been our first choice, but the one God chose. (Abraham, Rahab, David, Gideon, the disciples, Paul).

God answers doubt with His presence (Exod 3:12)

God doesn't say "you're more capable than you think." He says: "I will be with you.”

The sign given to Moses isn't proof of his ability.It's proof of God's presence. 

- Point: God's answer to inadequacy is always His presence.

God reveals who He is to sustain the mission (Exod 3:13–15)

"I AM WHO I AM" — self-existent, self-sufficient, unchanging.

Moses does not need more confidence in himself but more knowledge of God.

Point: The doctrine here: divine sufficiency covers human insufficiency. Salvation/mission always rests on who God is, not on who we are.

God patiently answers every objection (Exod 3:16–4:17)

When Moses objects that the Israelites and Pharaoh will not believe him? God gives him signs to use. 

When Moses says that he is not eloquent, God gives him Aaron to help him speak.

Point: This is divine-human partnership in salvation history: God does what only God can do (deliver, empower, sustain); Moses does what only Moses can do (go, speak, obey). Neither replaces the other.

Transition: The good news is Moses is not the exception in Scripture, but he follow’s God’s pattern for salvation history. God has always moved His redemptive plan forward through imperfect people.

Point towards God coming down to rescue his people in the person and work of Christ.

Jesus in the great commission promises his presence with us. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

YOU - Resting in God’s presence

That call you have been avoiding, because of fear or the feeling of being unqualified, I want you to think about that this week. 

This week, identify one place you've been avoiding a calling because you feel unqualified, and take one step of obedience, trusting God's presence rather than your own competence.

Parents: you don't need to be a perfect parent; you need to walk in obedience with God present.

New believers/those hesitant to share faith: you don't need to be a theologian; God will teach you what to say (4:12).

Leaders in the church: stop waiting to feel ready.

WE - Answering God’s call

Imagine a community where nobody disqualifies themselves from obedience because of past failure or present inadequacy. 

Imagine a community where the go-to excuse, "I'm not the right person,” doesn’t matter anymore because God has promised to be with us, where God has promised us all "I will be with you." 

Imagine what could happen among us if every person walked into where God was calling, in their home, their job, their neighborhood, not because they finally felt ready, but because they trusted the presence of the God who called them.

That's God's plan of salvation. Not perfect people. God's presence with imperfect people is what moves His purposes and mission forward.

Go in the callings God has given you. Go not because you're ready, but because He is with you.