“Treasuring God’s Miracles”
Exodus 3:11-4:13
One of our Hope Church members said something to me a few days ago that was significant and wonderful. She was commenting on how over the last couple of years the General Fund giving was going down, but that it was amazing how expenses also went down and the checkbook balance remains steady; yet still we’ve done so many extra things – like completing projects for finishing the addition and special offerings for missions. Then she said, “It’s almost like Jesus multiplying the loaves!” I love that! And I agree! She has seen the kind of miracle God does when His people are faithful. She treasures God’s miracles.
Exodus 3 & 4 are all about God’s miracles. The call to Moses is an amazing encounter with a persistent, awesome, miracle-working God. Most often these verses lead to analyzing Moses’ excuses and discovering how they are ours as well – and that’s a fruitful exercise. But this morning I want to look at this scene from the perspective of what we can learn about this miracle-working God.
In verses 1-4 of chapter 3, Moses – while tending his sheep – sees a bush that is burning but is not being consumed. So he goes over to it to check it out. And there God speaks to him. WHEN GOD WANTS OUR ATTENTION, HE PROVIDES AN ATTENTION GETTER. The key is to see it and check it out. There’s a great old play called Harvey, by Mary Chase. This play is about Elwood P. Dowd, an eccentric drinking man whose closest friend is an enormous rabbit called Harvey (who is invisible for the most part to anyone but Elwood). In fact, because Harvey is unseen, yet so real to Elwood, his family hires Dr. Chumley, a psychiatrist, to cure Elwood and rid the family of Harvey’s embarrassing presence. Being a good psychiatrist, and therefore open, Dr. Chumley has a spectacular conversion; not a Christian conversion, but a good conversion nonetheless. In one scene, Dr. Chumley says, “Flyspecks. I’ve been spending my life among flyspecks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts on Eighteenth and Fairfax.” (Eighteenth and Fairfax is where Elwood had originally met Harvey the rabbit.) Then later, after talking further with Elwood, the doctor bursts out in a magnificent crescendo of joy, exclaiming: “I’ve got to have that rabbit.” The dull-minded, unimaginative, dead-spirited will immediately conclude that the psychiatrist was as sick as the patient, that both had lost touch with reality. But maybe, just maybe, you and I are a lot like Dr. Chumley—living among flyspecks when there are miracles leaning against lampposts right on our own corners. (1)
That’s a big part of the meaning of the story of the burning bush: there are miracles where we have been seeing flyspecks—or whatever matter-of-fact, routine part of our lives we have given in to. (2) THERE ARE MIRACLES ALL AROUND US – WE JUST NEED TO SEE THEM. Edmund Burke, the eighteenth-century political philosopher, turned a marvelous phrase: “History is full of momentous trifles.” “Momentous trifles”—ordinary events shot through with extraordinary meaning. (3) But we often fail to see beyond the ordinary.
GOD OFTEN USES THE COMMONPLACE IN UNCOMMON WAYS.(4) We think of ‘miracle’ as a transcending, suspension or reversal of the natural order. But the Hebrew thought of miracles as a marvelous use of the natural order, by the God who created it and controls it. In one sense, therefore, the Hebrew did not distinguish between the ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’, for all was God’s work. So God uses many commonplaces to get our attention. God uses the birth of children, the onset of good fortune, the entrance of tragedy, or even the occurrence of roadblocks to get our attention. Think for a moment what He’s done for us here at Hope Church in recent years. He grew our children and youth ministries to a point where we had no room. He built a desire in a number of people to reach out through worship to a different group of people – and He did both at the same time. So we launched an expansion project – and wondered where the money would come from. And our first campaign totaled a higher pledge amount than most of us thought possible – and we took in over 90% of the pledge – significantly above the 80% average. But the economy turned south and we wondered how we could ever gather enough pledges and funds for the second campaign – yet just enough was pledged to cover the mortgage; and then we took in around 120% of the pledged amount and even more beyond that to start completing the leftover projects. God used commonplace events – a scary indebtedness and a sour economy – to gain our attention. Let’s not fail to see that. THE IMPOSSIBLE BECOMES POSSIBLE ONLY WHEN WE PRAYERFULLY LOOK AT THE COMMONPLACE EVENTS OF LIFE. Then, when God gets your attention, pay attention.
There’s a second thing we learn about this miracle-working God. In 3:10 God says to Moses, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” IF GOD WANTED SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT, HE WOULDN’T ASK YOU. Moses was convinced God asked the wrong person – thus his myriad of excuses and hesitations. But God’s challenges are not requests – they are calls to obedience. God wouldn’t put the challenge in front ot you if He didn’t want you to meet it. God wouldn’t put the mountain in front of you if he didn’t want you to climb it. God wouldn’t put the obstacle in front of you if He didn’t want you to overcome it. God wouldn’t call you if he didn’t want you to go. God puts and calls you so that you can join Him in his mission in the world and receive the blessing of doing so. As Moses was soon learned, EXTRAORDINARY MOVES OF GOD BEGIN WITH ORDINARY ACTS OF OBEDIENCE. (5) Failure to obey forfeits the blessings of obedience and forgoes the opportunity to witness a miracle. So when God calls we trust and obey. Shortly after Dallas Theological Seminary was founded in 1924, it had a financial crisis, coming very close to bankruptcy. All the creditors were going to foreclose at noon on a set day. That morning a group met in the seminary president’s office to pray that God would provide. It came time for a man named Dr. Harry Ironside to pray. He simply yet boldly prayed, “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are Thine. Please sell some of them and send us the money.” While they were praying, a tall Texan in boots and with an open collar stopped in the business office and said, “I just sold two carloads of cattle in Ft. Worth. I’ve been trying to make a business deal go through and it won’t work out and I’ve been compelled to give the money to the seminary and I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check!” The secretary timidly tapped on the door of the president’s office. The president finally answered, looked at the check – which was made out for the exact amount of the debt – and said, “Harry, God sold the cattle!” Boldly trust and obey.
God said to Moses, (4:2-3) ““What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” ALL GOD WANTS IS WHAT YOU HAVE. God was asking Moses to throw down one of his most important, yet also most common, possessions – his shepherd’s staff. His rod was his means of making a living – all shepherds used one. And the rod was what God needed. So God asked Moses for what he had. GOD WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE; YOU ALWAYS HAVE THAT FOR WHICH HE ASKS. Over these past six years God has never asked us for anything we did not have. Every time He has called and challenged us we’ve had what He wanted – sometimes He had to multiply it, but first He asked us to give it to him.
When Moses released his staff to God he didn’t lose it – he got it back with divine power. With the staff he parted the Red Sea, brought water from a rock, and led the multitudes of Israelites to the Promised Land. We may never part a Red Sea, but we might open the way for people to come into the presence of Christ. We may not strike water from a rock, but we may feed hungry children and families. We may not conquer enemy armies, but we may overcome obstacles that block our paths to blessing. As Frances Schaeffer said, “AS THE ROD OF MOSES HAD TO BECOME THE ROD OF GOD, SO THAT WHICH IS ME MUST BECOME THE ME OF GOD. Then I can become useful in God’s hands. The scripture teaches that much can come from little if the little is truly consecrated to God. There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people.” God is not looking for experts. God is not looking for Supermen and Superwomen. God is not looking for uncommonly strong and resourceful people. God is looking for people who will take what they have in their hands and place it as His disposal. God can do uncommon things with common people and common tools, (6) if they are released to Him. What we release to Him we receive back with divine power.
There’s something else about this miracle-working God. GOD DOES IT THROUGH US WHEN WE ARE CONVINCED WE CANNOT DO IT. 4:3-4 – “Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.” God asks us to do things we at first deem impossible. It’s His way of leading us into a deeper dependence on Him. God told Gideon to go and deliver Israel. Gideon asked “How can I…my clan is weakest?” But he went and delivered Israel. God called Jeremiah to preach and prophesy but Jeremiah said he didn’t know how to speak, that he was only a youth. But he spoke and became one of the greatest prophets. God told Moses (3:12) “I will be with you.” It’s not about our strengths or weaknesses; it’s about who’s with us. IT’S NEVER ABOUT WHO WE ARE BUT ABOUT WHO GOD IS – AND NEVER ABOUT WHAT WE CAN’T DO BUT ABOUT WHAT GOD CAN DO. There is no hour without His presence, no difficulty without His cooperation, no Red Sea without His right arm, and no step without His strength.
When we realize that only God can do it, and He wants to do it through us, GOD SUPPLEMENTS OUR WEAKNESS WITH HIS GRACE. Paul wrote (2 Cor. 12:8) that God told him “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God accomplishes uncommon tasks through common people using very common tools. As Steven Furtick wrote, “...great men and women of faith don't have some special spiritual DNA that God injected in them. What makes them unique actually has very little to do with them. Because when you get down to it, they are no different from you and me: full of fear, plagued by sin, and riddled with insecurity. What makes world-changing Christians unique, audacious, and powerful isn't their perfection; it's their understanding of God's perfect nature and purposes in the world.” (7) God does miracles through us when we’re convinced we cannot do it. It makes us dependent on Him.
Here’s a fourth lesson about our miracle-working God. (4:5) “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” GOD DOES THE UNEXPECTED MIRACLE SO PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IN HIM. God is very much aware of our tendency to either overlook the miracles He performs everyday or to take them for granted. In writing about Jesus’ miracle (John 2) of turning water into wine, Simon Tugwell said, “Our Lord’s miracle in turning water into wine comes as no surprise to those who know that it is God who did it. At the wedding that day he made wine in the six water pots he had filled with water; but he does the same thing every year in the vines. The servants put the water in the jugs, and he turned it into wine. In just the same way the Lord turns into wine the water that the clouds drop. Only that does not amaze us, because it happens every year…So the Lord kept back certain unusual things for himself to do, to wake us up with miracles to worship him. The miracle that breaks the rules reminds us that the rules themselves are miraculous.” (8)
If we truly believe that God is waiting to do the unexpected miracles then we must admit that, far from asking too much, WE TOO OFTEN ASK FOR TOO LITTLE. God does the ordinary miracles all day, every day. He longs for the opportunities to do the unexpected. God is challenging us to dare to believe in the impossible as a normal way of life and faith. “If we have the audacity to ask, God has the ability to perform.” 990 Remember Jesus’ words? (Jn. 14:12-14) “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Our faith and God’s faithfulness equals miracles to the glory of God. “The God of the Bible can do whatever he pleases. And what pleases him is to show off his power for his glory and renown. So give him the opportunity.” (10)
So WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RELEASE TO GOD? WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO ASK FROM GOD? What is in your hand? What do you have that God has asked you to throw down so He can fill it with divine power and multiply its impact? Is it your time, your talent, your treasure, your money? What does God want you to do? How does God want you to be a blessing? What does God want to do through you? And what does God want Hope Church to release to Him? What unexpected miracle is God waiting to perform so that people will believe in Him?
What an opportunity we have before us. Sometimes we get to not only see the miracle but to be the miracle. God is not looking for extraordinary people – he is looking for ordinary people to trust an extraordinary God.
In a large cathedral in Europe there is a very large, magnificent pipe organ. One Saturday afternoon the sexton was making one final check of the choir and organ loft high in the balcony at the back of the church. He was startled when he heard some footsteps echoing up the stairway. He turned and there stood a man in slightly tattered traveling clothes. “Excuse me sir,” said the man, “I have come quite a distance to see the great organ; would you mind opening the console so that I might get a closer look at it?” The sexton at first refused but seeing the eagerness and insistence of the visitor finally gave in. Then the visitor asked, “May I sit on the bench?” From the sexton there was an absolute refusal. “What if the organist came in and found you sitting there? I would probably lose my job!” Again, the visitor was so persistent that the sexton gave in – “But only for a moment.” He did notice that the man seemed very much at home sitting at the organ, so he was not surprised when the man asked if he could play the organ. “No! Definitely not! No one is allowed to play it except the cathedral organist.” The man’s face fell and his deep disappointment was obvious. He reminded the sexton how far he had come and assured him there would be no damage. Finally, the sexton again relented and said he could play, but only a few notes and then he would have to leave. At that the man pulled out a few stops and began to play. Suddenly the cathedral was filled with the most beautiful music the sexton had ever heard; it seemed to transport him heavenward. In what seemed like too short a time, the man stopped playing and started to leave. “Wait,” cried the sexton. “That was the most beautiful music I have ever heard in the cathedral. Who are you?” The man turned and said, “Mendelssohn.” It was Felix Mendelssohn, one of the greatest organists and composers of the 19th century. Now alone in the loft, the sexton said, “Just think, I almost kept the master from playing his music in my cathedral!”
Will we let Jesus play His music through our lives? Will we release to Him what He’s asking for so He can multiply it and lead others to believe in Him? It’s true – if we have the audacity to ask, God has the ability to perform. After all – if God could use His crucified, dead Son to save you and me, what is there He cannot do? Do you truly believe that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us?” (Eph. 3:20) Then let Jesus play His miraculous music in your life. Release what’s in your hand – so Jesus can keep on multiplying. Let the world treasure His miracles.
(1) Dunnam, M., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Vol. 2: Exodus. The Preacher’s Commentary Series (54–55). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
(2)Dunnam, M., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Vol. 2: Exodus. The Preacher’s Commentary Series (55). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
(3)Dunnam, M., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Vol. 2: Exodus. The Preacher’s Commentary Series (55). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
(4)Charles Swindoll, ‘Moses’, (1998) Insight for Living, © 1998 Chuck Swindoll
(5) ‘Sun Stand Still’, Steven Furtick, Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, CO, © 2010 by Steven Furtick
(6) “Common Tools and Uncommon Tasks”, B. Clayton Bell, Preaching Magazine, July/August 1999
(7) Furtick, p. 81
(8) Sikon Tugwell, from A Guide to Prayer, The Upper Room, Nashville TN, © 1983 by The Upper Room, p.295
(9) Furtick, p. 18
(10) Ibid, p. 84
