Any Excuse will do!
Luke 14:16-14:24
This morning we are going to talk about excuses.
We all have made them. Some excuses are better than others. Some are more valid than others and some are just plain lame.
I have heard that some girls when asked out on a date, and they did not want to go, might gave an excuse. I have to wash my hair….I have home work to do….perhaps something else. To me this would be an example of bad excuses… instead of just telling the truth they just make up a little story to say no.
This last Wednesday I called one of the students in my Wesley foundation group to ask if she was going to make it to the meeting that was starting.
She said “Oh , I am so sorry. I forgot all about the meeting. I am in the hospital having a baby.” Since her excuse was completely true. (I saw the baby Friday afternoon.) I think that was a pretty good excuse.
But the point is that it really was just an excuse.
An excuse is an explanation with the hopes of being forgiven or understood with the real intent of NOT doing something.
Today’s scripture comes from Exodus 3 and 4. We are looking at selected passages from Moses call story. We are talking about the burning bush incident. That starts in chapter 3 of exodus.
- Moses is out in the wilderness tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro when he notices a fire. A bush that seems to burn and not burn up. He has been working in the wilderness for 40 years and this event catches his attention. It is unusual and he goes over to check it out and God starts talking to him…
The voice of God calls Moses over and tells him that He (the voice) is the God of his forefathers. Moses responds my falling to the ground and covering his face. Not wanting to see God and die.
Moses exposure to the God of Abraham is minimal. He was raised in the house of Pharaoh. He was around Israelites (the children of Israel) but he was an outsider. Besides, the Israelites were heavily influenced by nearly 400 years of exposure to Egyptian culture and Gods.
But, it seems that Moses knows when he is being spoken to by God and he knows how to show reverence.
In verse 10 God tells Moses that He is sending him to Pharaoh to lead His people out of Egypt. Basically, Moses, I have a job for you.
Moses first response is to offer an excuse.
But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Wait an minute, Sir, Jehovah, YAWAY, I am just a hillbilly shepherd. I am not qualified to go down to Egypt and lead anybody any where. All I know is sheep.
Is it different today? How do we react when God speaks to us?
He does speak to you doesn’t he? In your devotion time, Bible study or perhaps on rare occasions a sermon?
How do you react…..? Do you respond obediently or do you react like Moses?
What if some one asked you, “Will you teach Sunday school?”
Would your reaction be a thoughtful yes or at least maybe? Would you say I’ll pray about it and really do it or would it be more like, “Oh, well, I don’t know the Bible well enough Or I could just never do that.”
Moses shows us that resisting a call is a normal reaction. The strange thing is, he thinks that he can just say no to God’s call.
He thinks that “Who Me?” is a valid excuse.
And all too often we make exactly the same assumption. But we need to realize that when God calls us to take an action, we must put aside our doubts and fears.
God responds to Moses, "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."
I am not sure that is very reassuring…after you do what I tell you to do, you will have a sign that I sent you.
First of all, God never says that Moses is specially qualified for the job. He does not offer any disagreement of Moses statement.
What he does is tell him that He (God) will be with him.
Somehow Moses was unclear about the math. He thought 1 +1 = 2 which is not very big. When really he should have been thinking, Me + God is bigger than any other combination.
All of us forget that if God is with us we will win every time. There is no assignment to big or dangerous if we are responding to God’s call.
Moses next excuse is stated like this: "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?"
Moses is worried about his lack of knowledge.
He has heard a voice which has identified itself as "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."
But, Moses thinks he needs a name. He needs to have something to indicate his authority. He thinks that the Israelites will have doubts in this old man that comes strolling in from the desert and claims to be their deliverer from God.
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.’ "
God is telling Moses, that he has no authority of his own. He is being sent by I AM, God and that is all there is to it.
God did not expect Moses to go and explain all the mysteries of God that he did not know.
He only expects him to go that tell what he did know.
God sent me and let God take it fro there.
We yield to all kinds of authority don’t we?
We trust the government for our protection and for financial security. We understand the rules and laws of our government and if we think about it we may actually have more faith in the promises and authority of a man made institution than in God.
*** We fear the consequences of breaking the laws of our nation and the punishment it can give, MORE than we fear going to hell for disobeying God.
Moses doubted his own abilities and he was uncertain about the abilities of the God of Israel.
Christians today, including this church, have doubts in the abilities of God.
First of all, the majority don’t really believe that they are forgiven of their sins.
They don’t believe that God hears their prayers.
They don’t really believe that they will ever make it to heaven.
We have doubts in God that allow us to hold back and protect ourselves and remain exactly like we are.
When ministry to others stops in a church it is because we no longer believe in the abilities of God. It means we have started believing the world around us.
It means that we believe if we can’t do it alone, then it is not going to happen.
When ministry to others stops in a church, they come up with all kinds of excuses for what they don’t do any more.
All too often they believe their own excuses so much, that they actually can blame God for leaving them and allowing them to suffer and die.
The Israelites had slipped into the religious culture of the Egyptians hundreds of years before. They had only slight remembrance of the God of their fathers. They had drifted from the closeness and trust that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had experienced and depended on the Egyptian culture for their promises.
EVEN IF IT MEANT SLAVERY FOR THEMSELVES!
The same happens to Christians when they fail to actively work on their relationship with God.
When they only listen to the voices in the culture around them, they loose their identity as God’s chosen.
This happens because they fail to listen to the message in the word of God. That is what happens when they don’t read and study and listen to God for themselves.
If you don’t have a relationship with God, then you are in your own form of slavery. You depend on the culture to give you an identity. The culture to give you power. The culture to put you in your place. The culture to take care of you.
If you make the excuse that you don’t know God, then you are saying that you don’t have the time or energy to listen to God for yourself.
Now we will move into Chapter 4 verse one for our next excuse.
Moses asks, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The LORD did not appear to you’?"
What if’s can be the biggest excuse in any church. They are killers of ministry in any church. It is a doubting of God’s power.
God’s response to Moses’ “what if” was to give Moses tangible representations of His power.
His walking stick turns into a snake. Next he can stick his hand into his robe and when he takes it out it is completely leprous, completely white and dead, and then make it well again. An as a third sign, he can take water from the Nile and turn it into blood.
These were pretty impressive signs. No body had seen anything like it before.
-- When God calls us to do something he will equip us for success.
But we rarely look at the signs that God gives without weighing them against failure, and expense and potential embarrassment. We fear that some one will use the dreaded words, I told you so! If anything goes wrong.
We let the “what if’s” of this world outweigh the signs and instructions of God.
The little boy could have yelled and screamed that the disciples stole his loves and fishes and only he would have had lunch that day.
The woman with the issue of blood could have kept a proper distance from Jesus and not been healed that day.
David was only a kid and he had no responsibility to face a Giant. He could have left King Saul to deal with the problem and Israel would probably have lost the battle.
If the “what if’s” get in the way, we will never try anything we will never witness God at work in our lives.
I think it is interesting that Moses wasn’t given any thing new to impress any body. He already had the walking stick, He already had a hand and water was not all that impressive.
But God took the normal things within Moses control and made them special in the life of Moses and the people he is sent to.
The question we must answer is, are we willing to offer God what we have to use for His purposes?
What if excuses are a sign of worry and doubt? They point out anxiety and stress. They are a warning sign that God is not trusted to provide and we must question his every instruction.
God does not hold any value in “what if” excuses. He gave Moses several tools to use in that situation; however, they are more to comfort Moses than to impress the Israelites.
-- So far, Moses has had three excuses and God has answered each one. God has said he will be there, He has told Moses to tell them what he knows about God and He has provided tools to prove the power of God.
However, Moses is not satisfied. And he offers another excuse.
Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
Lord, I can’t talk good. I get nervous in front of important people. I say dumb things all the time.
He may even be saying that he does not speak Hebrew very well.
What ever he is saying, it is just another excuse to avoid what God is calling him to do.
We might say, I can’t read the Bible out loud or in front of people because, I can’t pronounce all those names and words. Or perhaps, I can’t speak in public because I am shy. Me, pray out loud…oh no, no way.
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
I think that we need to take special notice of scriptures where God starts stating obvious questions.
When he does, he is setting people straight. He I normally clarifying which person in the conversation is God an which one is not.
Who gave man his mouth, gives hearing and sight……?
Moses does not need to answer…they are rhetorical questions, and meant to inform Moses that is claim of no talent was just wasted air, just an excuse.
God knows exactly what Moses is capable of and he will resolve any problems that Moses might have. God was not impressed with Moses excuses.
God will never be impressed with any excuse we offer either. All our excuses are meaningless and the only shout our lack of faith in our creator.
They only tell of our lack of proper relationship with God
Basically, when we decide to say no to God, any EXCUSE will do!
Because, anything we offer is completely transparent to God. He knows the truth, the knows the doubts, fears, lack of faith or an other issue we really have.
The thing is, God has no doubt in our potential because. he knows the math. He knows that when he calls you, you are assured of success because He is enabling and empowering and providing everything.
All you are expected to do is to show up.
Out of excuses, Moses says, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Moses offers only a plea, that God to choose someone else.
How many churches operate on the 80/20 rule?
80% of the ministry and chores and giving are done by 20% of the congregation. The 80% of the church are speaking like Moses and ignoring the opportunities to serve in the church. Saying, oh no lord, I won’t do it.
You know, God was patient with Jonah and he found a way to motivate him. He accepted is calling eventually.
God is patient with us but, his patients has limits. If we continue to say no, He will find someone else to respond to his call, and that someone will receive the blessings he had for you. God blesses the ones that respond to his call..even slowly or fearfully.
When no is our final answer, we will be allowed to go on our way and receive the full consequences of our choices.
Saying no to God can be a dangerous thing because when we decide to go our own way there is no telling what might happen..
So What is God telling us today? First he is calling al the faithful to a life of service.
He will be with you all the way.
He will give you the words and the abilities that you need.
I have a friend named Pearl, she is the sweetest little lady. So quiet and so polite. She had friends in Sunday school but was sort of a wall flower from her description of herself. She was so shy that a lot of people didn’t know her name in her big church.
She went to a retreat, and she heard the voice of God, probably for the very first time.
She realized that God wanted her to start a prayer ministry in her church. Before long she was talking about this message from God to her Sunday school class. The class has nearly people on any given Sunday. And they quickly embraced the idea. The class would take a few minutes each week to pray for the prayer list. They decided that they needed to announce this new thing to the church in their there worship services.
They thought that Perl should be the spokesperson.
She said, “Tom, you are never going to believe this; I got up in from of the whole church to talk about this prayer ministry. I never thought I could do it. Now they wonder if I am ever going to stop sharing and talking. I am praying out loud and I know almost half of the people in our church by name.”
I don’t think Perl went to that retreat by accident.
I think it was her burning bush experience.
She had a choice. To offer an excuse, I am 80 years old, I am shy, I am alone,….
To say no to God any excise will do.
To say yes means a step of faith, it means a risk and it included at least a small trust in the abilities of God.
Are you giving God excuses or are you responding to his call!
All Glory be to God!
