Sermon Tone Analysis

God’s Bold Call — Our Feeble Response

 

\\ | O |

ur text for this morning comes from the appointed Old Testament reading for the today,  Exodus 3:1-15./

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 desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

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.

So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-- why the bush does not burn up."

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." "Do not come any closer," God said.

"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

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.

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.

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--So now, go.

I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

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

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."

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?"

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.'"

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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation./

As a youngster I can remember going with my parents to see my first of many viewings of Cecil B. DeMill’s /Ten Commandments./

Spectacular!

There were so many wonderful scenes in that movie — the Ten Plagues that fell upon the land of Egypt; the great escape of the Israelites through the Red Sea.

There was the breath-taking spectacle of God writing down the Ten Commandments for Moses to take and present to the Israelites.

There were so many captivating scenes; it could be very easy to overlook some of the important ones.

One event in the life of Moses it is important not to overlook is the scene described in our text for today.

Moses’ life is roughly divided into three 40-year periods.

The first period was his life in Egypt; the second period was his life as a shepherd in Midian; and the third was as the shepherd of the Israelites as he led them to God’s Promised Land.

Our text tells us that Moses was out doing shepherd-business one day.

The routine of the day was disrupted by an angel’s visitation.

The angel appeared as a flame from a burning bush in the desert.

Moses, confused because the bush was not consumed by the fire, approached.

And the Lord, seeing that he was coming closer, called him by name and warned him not to come any closer.

Additionally, he commanded Moses to take off his shoes, advising him that this was “Holy Ground.”

And then God informed Moses who voice he was listening to.

Moses immediately covered his face, for fear of what would happen if he were to look at the face of God!

 

Then the Lord advises Moses about the purpose of this surprise visit.

He said, “The Israelites are being treated cruelly; they have cried out to be saved and I have heard their cries for rescue.

Then comes the truly wonderful news from the lips of the Almighty Himself: /“I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and bring them out to the spacious and fertile land.”/

Under normal circumstances, Moses would have been exhilarated by this news.

After all, he had been raised in the land of Egypt, an Israelite adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter.

He had seen first-hand the oppression suffered by his people.

He had even killed an Egyptian taskmaster who he found mistreating Israelites and had fled to Midian to save his own scalp.

Certainly, God’s revelation that he was going to save the Israelites was good news.

But the not-so-good news was this:/ Now I am sending you to the Egyptian Pharaoh so that you can lead my people out of the land of Egypt./

Moses ever-so-quickly comes back with a protest: Hold it, God, I am a nobody.

Moses is quick to ask God to reconsider.

After all, he might argue, you need an important man to do this most important job.

I am nobody; I am not important.

God is not impressed by the weak argument.

In essence, God assures Moses that the task is not beyond his ability for one very important reason: He assures Moses that he will not have to do this alone; God assures Moses that he will be with him every step of the way.

We also know that Moses made another valiant attempt to avoid this call: He said, “Lord, I am slow of tongue.”

God cut the legs from beneath this argument when he assured Moses that his stuttering and stammering would not be a problem.

“Your Brother Aaron will be your mouthpiece; he will speak for you.”

Moses, grasping at every straw to avoid the inevitable asks: Lord, if I go they are going to ask me, ‘Who sent you?’

Then, what am I going to say~/” God says, “Moses, just tell them my name; tell them that ‘I Am’ sent you.”

Finding no further grounds to protest, Moses, accompanied by his brother Aaron, wen to Egypt to carry out the will of God.

God’s call was indeed a bold one; Moses’ response was miserably feeble.

I suppose that it is appropriate for you to pass a bit of judgment upon Moses for his feeble, milk-toast response to his calling if, BUT ONLY IF you are willing to apply the same standards of judgment to yourself and how you have responded to God’s call to become his servant.

Granted, the manner in which you have been called lacks the drama of Moses’ call; God has called you into his service.

When we hear that call, we can quickly resort to a long list of “How-Come-I-couldn’t-and-shouldn’t-be-expected-to-do-its.”

How about . . .

I don’t have the knowledge.

I don’t have the training.

I don’t have the ability.

I don’t have the time.

I can’t speak well enough.

I am afraid in front of people.

I am on a fixed income.

That’s why we train and hire preachers.

I’m too old.

Or, I’m too young.

I am too busy.

Or, I’m too . . . .

(you fill in the blank with your own personal favorite!)

There are two basic reasons for our reluctant responses.

On the one hand, we might simply be too lazy; on the other hand, it may be that we are genuinely humble about our abilities.

I am not going to address laziness.

However, if laziness is your problem, I suggest that you need to seriously address that problem.

But I will address the person who does not feel worthy of the call.

Bear in mind what God did for Moses.

When Moses said, “God, I am a nobody,” God says, “You are somebody very special; you are my child; you are my messenger.

Don’t be worried about your limited abilities,” says God, “For I am going to be with you every inch of the way.”

When Moses said, “But I stutter and stammer,” God said, “No big deal.

I’ll take care of those little details.”

You just do what I tell you to do, and all will be as it should be.”

The secret to success is to remember who sent you, and remember to all you encounter who sent you.

Tell them, “God sent me.”

It’s important for us to remember who sent us so that we do not fall into the pit of despair when things are not going well, nor swell up with boastful pride when things are going well.

And it is very important that all those around us know who sent us so that they know the source of their salvation.

For an unwilling guy, Moses did a great job.

For a guy with limited abilities and talents, Moses succeeded admirably!

As God worked his miracles through some unlikely candidates in years gone by, so he can work miracles through you and me.