“Couldn’t You Send Someone Else?”
Romans 12:9-12; Exodus 3 and 4, Various Verses
The Reverend Anne Benefield
Geneva Presbyterian Church, August 31, 2008
Introduction: Today, we will continue the story of Exodus. We’ll hear the story of the burning bush and God’s call to Moses. Since the story is pretty long, I’m going to highlight certain passages and quickly summarize other parts.
Exodus: 3 & 4
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send 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?” God said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’:
This is my name forever,
And this is my title for all generations.
[Next God gives Moses some instructions, telling him what to do and to expect the Pharaoh to not agree. God promises Moses that the leaving will go well and the Hebrews will not leave empty handed.]
Then Moses answered, “But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” [The Lord shows Moses how He will work through Moses’ rod. Next the Lord shows how He can create leprosy and heal it.]
But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But Moses said, “O my Lord, please sent someone else.”
Prayer: Gracious God, we resonate with Moses’ words, wondering if there isn’t someone better equipped, wiser, or stronger than we who can carry Your Word out into the world. Show us that You are with us, supporting us the whole journey. Amen.
When I received my call to go into ministry, I was praying. Immediately, I rejected the call, telling God that I was a business person, not really minister material. I knew how to speak about marketing. I knew a bit about managing people. I could talk about that. On and on I went with all of the reasons I couldn’t become a minister including money, my daughter Deborah, and my ignorance of the Bible. There were plenty of reasons why I couldn’t become a pastor and I would learn more of them along the way—long after I’d become a pastor.
I struggled for three days without telling anyone about the call. How do you explain to someone that you think God is talking to you—not with words, but clearly enough to make you sure that God wants you to be a pastor?
Finally, on the third day, my sister Jean called. I had not spoken with anyone during those three days, but Jean said that Mother had called her and told her something was going on with me. So, Jean called me.
I was afraid to tell anyone because I knew they might laugh at me, but I was particularly worried about telling Jean who was already an ordained Presbyterian pastor. After I told her, I held onto the phone with white knuckles awaiting Jean’s response. It was pure delight. I could feel her warmth and encouragement through the phone. She laughed with joy and said that I would make a wonderful pastor. She also said that my experience in business would be terrifically helpful. It was a great relief that she didn’t laugh at me.
But I still didn’t feel very comfortable with the call, which I explained to Jean. She directed me to the scripture I read a minute ago: the call of Moses. She explained that Moses struggled with his call just as I was struggling with my call.
I answered, “But I’m no Moses!” Jean said, “That may be true, but God is still God! God’s the one that makes the difference.”
In Men of Integrity, Luis Palau explains it this way:
Major Ian Thomas the founder of Torchbearers said, “God was telling Moses, ‘I don’t need a pretty bush or an educated bush or an eloquent bush. Any old bush will do as long as I’m in the bush. If I’m going to use you, it won’t be you doing something for me, but me doing something through you.” [Luis Palau, Men of Integrity, (May/June 2002)]
God wants to work through us, too, but so often just like Moses we say, “Couldn’t you send someone else?” Our mistake is thinking God’s plan is about us. As Rick Warren says in the opening sentence of his book The Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.” [Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), 17]
I think it’s a little bit of a let down to realize that everything isn’t about us. However, if we can grasp that reality, our lives will make much more sense. Warren goes on to say:
I once got lost in the mountains. When I stopped to ask for directions to the campsite, I was told, “You can’t get there from here. You must start from the other side of the mountain!” In the same way, you cannot arrive at your life’s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.” [Ibid., 18]
Rick Warren goes on to explain how to find the purpose of your life. I don’t have time this morning to do his book justice, but I would encourage you to read it. I don’t agree with everything he says, but I do agree with almost everything.
What I want us all to know is that God does have a plan for our lives. It may not be as grandiose as we think it will be. It may be more like Fred Carddock describes his own faith journey. When he was young he gave his life to the Lord. As he’s grown older he’s come to realize that the cost of giving one’s life doesn’t come in one dramatic, heroic payment, it’s paid in nickels, pennies, and dimes a whole life long.
God has a plan for your life and mine. In my experience, God can be very persistent. I sometimes laugh—painfully—at the 2” by 4” that God seems to hit me over the head with when I don’t get it.
Look at how persistent God was with Moses. Again and again, Moses objects. He doesn’t think the Hebrew people will believe him. He doesn’t think Pharaoh will listen to him. He isn’t an eloquent speaker. On and on he explains to God why he’d rather God sent someone else.
When I was in New York, I taught confirmation. I’m delighted to announce that Scott Roby and the confirmation teachers are planning to use the materials (updated, of course) that I used. The strength of the curriculum is that each student has a mentor, an adult from the congregation.
The young people in the my class came from very different social economic settings. One boy at 13 had already had a brush with the law. His name was Omar and he was being raised by his grandmother. He was so clearly a sweet, kind boy, but like all children he was open to peer pressure, just like we adults are.
One day each child was given a scripture story that they were to read and then summarize for the class. It’s not easy to read and summarize a Bible story—I know! Omar got the story of Moses’ call. While the children were reading their stories, I was circulating among them. Omar asked me to help him. He signaled me to step outside the room so we could talk privately.
Outside, he explained that he didn’t understand the story at all! We sat on a bench outside the class and he read the story to me, stumbling. After each sentence he would look up at me. Together we explored the story. I gave him some history about Moses, explaining about his being adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and how he had to flee from Egypt because he had killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.
Omar got it. He said that he was also adopted by his grandmother because his mother couldn’t raise him. He said he had made a mistake and gone to juvenile court. Then we got to the part where God called Moses, but Moses kept saying, “No.”
When Omar’s turn to summarize his story came, he was ready. He told the story efficiently and clearly. Then, he went beyond the story to say, “God could have given up on Moses. Moses made a lot of very bad mistakes, but God didn’t give up on Moses and God won’t give up on me or you. God sticks with us no matter what.”
I’d invite you to think back over your life. God’s call comes back, again and again. God does not give up on us no matter how long it takes us to answer His call.
One way to look for your call is to remember the things that gave you joy at earlier times, even childhood. As Frederick Buechner says, “The place God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Keep listening to your joy and see where it might lead you.
There is one more thing I want to say about our relationship with God. God is patient. God is more patient than anyone else. When your spouse loses patience with you, God is still there with you. When your parents are disappointed in you, God is still in your corner. When your children think you are hopelessly dumb, God still thinks you’re great, after all, God made you!
Even if you have turned down God before, God will always take you back. Look at poor Moses. God did get a little impatient there, but God stuck with Moses when everyone started to doubt him.
God’s patience reminds me of a story told by Bill White, a pastor in Paramount, California. He writes:
Recently I witnessed an unusual accountability partnership at my church.
In an effort to break his habit of using profanity, Paul started meeting with a guy named William from church, and they set up an aggressive plan for holiness. Each Sunday, Paul would report to William how many times he cussed during the week, and he’d put $5 in the offering plate for each incident. The first week cost Paul $100. Although following weeks improved somewhat, he wasn’t having the success he wanted and was losing a lot of hard-earned cash.
After the fourth week, William told Paul he had unilaterally changed the deal for the coming week, but he wouldn’t tell Paul how. Paul wanted to know, but all William would say was, “Trust me. It will cost you both less and more.”
The following Sunday before worship, Paul was looking a bit down, obviously having failed again. William put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Paul, this will cost you. It’s called grace.” At that he took out a check made out to the church, dated and signed by William. Only the amount was blank. “Your swearing still costs, but for you it’s free. Just fill in the numbers. And next week there will be more grace.”
That first week of grace cost William $55, but the second only cost him $20. There was no third week. It cost Paul too much to fill in those checks, so he quit swearing. [Will White, Paramount, CA, PreachingToday.com, retrieved 8/28/2008]
God has a plan for you. God is persistent. God is patient. And God has paid the price. Isn’t it time for us to stop saying, “Couldn’t you send someone else?” Now it’s time to say, “Here I am, Lord.” Amen.
