I AM
May 6, 2018
Exodus 3:13-15 (p. 40)
Introduction:
I spent 5 days in Central Baptist Hospital when I was born without a name. I was baby boy Burdette. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with me…It was simply that my mom and dad couldn’t agree on what to name me.
My dad had it figured out…He was raised in South Carolina and one of his heroes was Frances Marion…a fighter during the Revolutionary War…(Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot” is based on his life.) He was nicknamed the “Swamp Fox” by his enemies because of his ability to hide there.
My dad thought it was an amazing name for his youngest son…I like the name “Frank” fine, but can you imagine 1st grade as “Frances Marion Burdette.”
Well, my mom could, and she hated the thought of it as much as my dad loved it…she just couldn’t do it.
So, my amazing mother, who has a psychology degree from the University of Kentucky, decided when my Dad’s best friend…Richard Mays and his wife Lou came to visit she would use it to her advantage… “Jack, I really like the name Richard…how ‘bout you.”
My dad folded like an old lawn chair and I left the hospital no longer Baby Boy Burdette, but Richard Allen.
Names are important. They have meaning…according to “Facebook app” mine means “Courageous Leader.” I don’t know about that…but I like it better than “Dummy who likes fried chicken.”
I bet everyone here this morning has some idea what your name means…or where it comes from…some thought was put into the thing that would identify you for your whole life.
[Stand up for a minute…find someone (not related) behind you or around you and share your name with each other and where it came from…not the encyclopedia version…The Reader’s Digest version.]
In the Bible, names were very important and often God would change people’s names… “Jacob” the Deceiver became “Israel” which means “God Rules.” (Pretty good trade, huh?) Jesus would look at Cephas…(Simon Peter) and say your name shall not be “Petra” from “Pebble” to “Rock.”
Names become more than just words…they become associated with who we really are, our personality, our character…Think about it…you don’t meet a lot of people named “Adolf” or “Jezebel,” or “Saddam.”
So as Moses stands in the presence of God, shoeless before His Holiness, He asks God His name.
“God you’re sending me to the Israelites to tell them you’re going to deliver them from slavery…but suppose they ask me “Who sent you…What’s God’s name? What do I tell them?”
And God says “I AM who I AM.” This is what you are to tell them, “I AM” sent me to you.
In Hebrews it’s the word “Yahweh.”
Isaiah 42:8 says, “I AM the Lord (Yahweh) that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images.”
This name became so sacred to the Hebrews they refused to say it out of fear of mispronouncing it…when they spelled it they would leave out the vowels spelling it Y.H.W.H…Just in case they misspelled it! It’s used 6,800 times in scripture…3 times more than “Elohim.”
Yahweh literally means “To Be” “To Live.” He is the self existent One…Always present and engaged. The only time the Hebrews would pronounce His name out loud was on the Day of Atonement…once a year.
God is telling Moses… “There was nothing before me. There will be nothing after me. There is nothing beyond me. There is no greater power, There is nowhere I can’t be. There is nothing I can’t see…I AM EVERYTHING.”
I was everything to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…And I will be everything to you…no matter what…I AM.
God hasn’t changed. No matter who you are or where He might find you this morning…He is the all knowing, all power, all present One who wants to deliver us from slavery.
I AM is here and we
I. STAND ON HOLY GROUND
It’s Holy because of God’s presence. “Where 2 or more are gathered in my name I will be in your midst.”
Have you ever been in the presence of someone famous, powerful and important? Someone you really thought was amazing?
[Paul Newman used to tell the story about entering a “Haagen Dazs” ice cream shop in Kansas City while he was filming a movie called “Mr & Mrs Bridges.” The woman in front of him purchased her cone, pistachio, turned around to leave and there was “old blue eyes” Paul Newman. It cause her knees to buckle, she mumbled a “Hello” and rushed out of the shop, heart pounding. When she gained her composure she couldn’t find her ice cream cone…and started back into the store…only to meet Paul Newman coming out…He asked, “Are you looking for your ice cream cone?” She nodded and Newman said, “You put it in your purse with your change.”]
Let me ask…“When was the last time your knees buckled, your heart pounded in the presence of God?”
God tells Moses, “Don’t come any closer until you take off your sandals…for the place where you are standing is Holy Ground.”
Holiness belongs to God alone! It is His presence that makes it Holy and a place of worship.
I wonder do we take off our spiritual sandals when we come to worship God?
God’s name has become an expletive in our world. It’s thrown around like an old baseball. My challenge and your challenge is to prepare ourselves for real worship…daily as we walk in His presence…and Sunday as we assemble as His people.
Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God…Maybe we ought to recapture some of that reverent fear and stop worrying about the face we see in the mirror.
But let me also mention…
II. SOME ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD HAPPEN WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT THEM
Exodus 3:1 tells us “Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Median, and he lead the flock to the far side of the desert.”
Moses is at work when he encounters the presence of God…and he’s not just at work, but on the far side of the desert.
God does not live in houses made by human hands…His presence in our lives isn’t limited to Sundays.
Church is awesome…coming together to worship, remember and celebrate is so essential. God’s Word says, “Don’t forsake the assembly of the saints as some are in the habit of doing…but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)
Church is the huddle that prepares us for the game…it’s where we love and encourage others for the week to come…God is certainly present as we meet at his table and hear His Word and sing His praise…He’s the audience for our action.
But God is “I AM.” he’s present in our lives everyday, even when we are in the far side of the desert.
[David met God on the battlefield before Goliath, Jacob wrestled with God on a campout, Abraham, encountered God presence during a sacrifice, Elijah met God in fire on a mountaintop…and in a still small voice when he was depressed.]
I remember by wife was coming back from Louisville one evening…It had been a horribly tough day…our children were going through really difficult circumstances…I was home trying to take care of mom and Sam…and Kari called me from Versailles and said…I sent you a picture of the car stopped in front of me…I was crying out to God…I was broken and empty and I said God I need to hear from you…And as I finished my prayer I looked up and saw this license plate in front of me…and I felt the presence of God…I knew He was with me…
SHOW PICTURE - HIKARI
I’m glad God winked at my wife that night. If you don’t believe God is with you even on the far side of the desert, or aware daily of your struggles…don’t be surprised if you don’t experience His powerful presence.
You see, no matter where we are or what we’re going through we can ask…God are you near…His answer is…“I AM.”
God are you with me at work or school…“I AM.” God are you with me in the greatest times of joy… “I AM.” God are you with me when I walk through the valley filled with shadows and death…“I AM.”
I like this reminder from Romans 8
ROMANS 8:35-39 (p. 787)
Let me share one final truth this morning about the Great I AM.
III. GOD EXPECTS US TO SPEAK UP FOR HIM
Moses is afraid people will not listen to him or believe him…Here’s what God says,
EXODUS 4:10-13 (p. 41)
Standing before the Holy burning presence of God…Moses says, “Please send someone else.”
We all feel like that don’t we? I’m scared…I’m not that eloquent…I’ll say something wrong or stupid…“God send someone else.”
God doesn’t call the eloquent…He calls the willing…God does call the able…He enables the one He calls.
I often tell people that God spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament to deliver His message, He can certainly use you and me…
Moses walked back into his past life so he could rescue those in slavery…He brought a message of freedom from the Most High God…Moses brought the message…God provided the power.
Romans 10 tells us, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how can they call on the One they have not believed in? How can they believe in the One of whom they’ve not heard? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
Our world needs the good news of a Savior. He’s filled His people with His Holy Spirit…whose promised to provide just the right words at just the right time…But not if we are not willing.
We’d rather God send someone else…but He’s chosen you and I…Isn’t it time for our feet to beautifully obey Him?
