Accepting Responsibility
Play “I Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot
I hope you all are able to see that worshiping Jesus Christ is our central focus at Arcadia Christian Church and because of this “I dare you to move” after all worship is a verb in action!
Worship and obey the God of the impossible
Exodus 4:10-16 (NLT)
10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
11 Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”
13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
14 Then the LORD became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. 15 Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. 16 Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say.
See with me Moses’ hesitation and the excuse given for not packing his bags and heading to deliver the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.
Exodus 4:10 (NLT)
10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
This certainly isn’t Moses’ first excuse. Look with me at Exodus 3:11 (NLT)
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
Then in Exodus 3:13 (NLT)
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
Do you see a pattern developing, a pattern of excuses as to why he shouldn’t go.
All this continues again in chapter 4:1; this time Moses says “What if they don’t believe me?” Do you sense that God might be getting frustrated with Moses’ excuses for not obeying? Now God gives Moses three signs that will help the Hebrew people believe that he has sent him. The first sign is that of the shepherd’s staff. God said throw your staff on the ground and when he did it became a snake then God said pick it up and it tuned back into the shepherds staff. God then had Moses put his hand inside his cloak and when he did it became severely diseased! When Moses put his hand back inside it was returned to normal! God told Moses, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground and when he did it turned to blood.
Does it sound like Moses is ready to worship and obey the God of the impossible?
10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
God is patient! He gives Moses miracles to perform; and after that he tries to reason with Moses so that he stops making excuses for not obeying. Do you see where God is reasoning with him? Exodus 4:11 (NLT)
11 Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD?
In a way what God is now saying to Moses is “hey, I created this land you are standing on, I have given you these animals for food and clothing, doesn’t it make sense that I will be with you and help you?”
“Moses don’t you remember those miracles? The shepherd’s staff that turned into a snake and then back again into a staff when you picked it up, or your hand normal then turned diseased then back normal again, and who could forget the Nile water turned to blood when you poured it on the ground?”
Friends, you tell me after being given the miracles and having been reasoned with is Moses now ready to worship and obey the God of the impossible?
However, before you answer can I step away from our story for just a minute to ask another question? What caused you to believe? Or put another way what reasons are there for believing? Do you know what I mean? What is the central factor causing you to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord? For us to properly worship and obey the God of the impossible we must have some conviction of who God is and what he has done for us. For me it’s the cross. For others it might be the very sovereignty of God. For example, Paul would ask the Father that the church would come to believe.
Ephesians 3:18 (NLT)
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
A friend calls this aspect of God four dimensional. He likes mathematics which tends not to lie. Do you see the four dimensions of God’s love? His love is deep and wide, long and high. His love reaches as far as the East is from the West.
What about us are we ready to worship and obey the God of the impossible? Worship is a verb; therefore, I dare you to move.
Although God reasons with Moses telling him that he has the power to create something as small as the mouth, and making that mouth speak, and giving him ears to hear, and eyes to see; he is still hesitant to accept responsibility (God’s call), to worship and obey the God of the impossible.
The staff, his hand, and water turned to blood, after giving Moses these three miracles to perform before the people, reasoning with him intellectually as Sovereign Lord Creator of everything, Moses then has the audacity to say…
Exodus 4:13 (NLT)
13 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
God’s temper explodes, he let Moses have it! Has there ever been a time you have been utterly frustrated, a time you have had your fill of another? This is that kind of time. I am surprised God just doesn’t wipe Moses off from the face of the earth and find someone who will go, someone who will accept responsibility, someone who will worship and obey the God of the impossible! Well, in a way he does find someone else, Aaron. By this time God has too much invested in Moses to wipe him out.
Notice Aaron’s presentation by Moses author of Exodus.
Exodus 4:27-31 (NLT)
27 Now the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. 28 Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the LORD had commanded him to perform.
29 Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. 30 Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. 31 Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Having Aaron onboard must have been all Moses needed for example.
Exodus 7:7 (NLT)
7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.
Was Aaron the bigger brother Moses’ additional security? Or because of Moses’ life experiences is he now ready to step up to the plate? From this moment on his attitude is changed and he now worships and obeys the God of the impossible.
There have been other people that too have had this kind of faith. Although the earth shakes and the mountains quake there have been some people that because of their faith in Christ have remained resilient. Withstanding shock in their marriages, for example when something unexpected happens to your spouse—you then remember these words “for better or worse.” Others have been resilient in their Christian witness at the work place, on the ball field, and in their homes. These people know what the psalmist means when he says,
3 When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil,
I am the one who keeps its foundations firm (Psalm 75:3).
My challenge this morning is this. The story of Moses that I’ve just shared took place 3500 years ago! Times have changed in the last 70 years; therefore, how is God’s Word applicable to us today in the 21st century? Well, let me try and bring this message from God’s Word to where you live. Let me with God’s help make this message meaningful and relevant.
If a tribe, tongue, or nation had no Bible would they still be able to worship and obey the God of the impossible today? Jesus teaches that people can’t truly live without God’s Word, yet only 438 of the world’s 6,912 languages have the whole Bible translated. Only 1,168 languages have a New Testament—leaving about 200 million Bible-less people. How will these people ever come to know what I am asking us all to do today? How will they worship and come to obey the God of the impossible? For this to happen we must worship, obey, and move! I am very thankful that some have obeyed the Lord’s call. Some have let their children go to serve cross-culturally, some have helped support those who have gone to their own particular Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and some have gone to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). I am thankful for each of you and ask that we do more. For the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest field (Lk. 10:2).
Matthew 28:18-21 (NLT)
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,* baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Ephesians 6:18 says, “Keep on praying;” therefore, so that these words don’t fall on deaf ears, so that we don’t give up to early. Think with me of Solomon the wisest man who ever lived and his prayer. He asks God NOT for wealth, fame, or riches, NOT that he would be able to spend out the rest of his days content and happy, NOR for the contentment and happiness of his own children. Do you want to know what Solomon asked for? He asked for wisdom that is wisdom in leading his people. Church could we dare to trust God? Dare to tell others about Jesus so that they too can worship and obey the God of the impossible!
Father, thank you that as a result of studying your word, spending time with you, and reading books that help to strengthen your church you have put it upon my heart to pursue graduate work at Fuller Theological Seminary while continuing my pastoral ship at the Arcadia Christian Church according to your will. In Jesus name. Amen.