Last week, we heard a powerful message on the topic of faith and works... about how faith without works is dead. The pastor said, “Focus on God, and then He through you will produce the fruit... You can’t do anything for God... but God through you can do amazing, amazing, amazing things!” He then challenged us with the question, “Where’s your fruit, Church?”
That message really challenged me and the Lord redirected my heart toward today’s message... We’re going to explore last week’s question, “Where’s your fruit, Church?” a little deeper today... Is there something holding us back as believers? Something keeping us from being as fruitful as the Lord would desire for us to be?
I'm convinced we can gain insights into this question from how Moses responded to God's call in Exodus chapter 3... Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 3:1-11... [READ]
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Let’s PRAY... [OPENING PRAYER]
When we reach the events captured in Exodus chapter 3, Moses is already about 80 years old... and he’s had a very interesting 80 years... He spent his first 40 years thinking he was really somebody... that he was going to be used in a mighty way by God to deliver the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery.
But Moses tried to do this all on his own, without waiting on God. So, after he kills an Egyptian, he has to run away into the desert and go into hiding. He then spends the next 40 years as a shepherd.
And now, Moses is 80 years old... He is an old man when the events of Exodus chapter 3 happen. He has spent the last 40 years thinking he’s a failure... He had received the best education... He was a member of the most powerful and most wealthy family in the world... He had been trained and prepared to be a leader of nations... But his efforts to free the Israelites was a huge failure, and he had to run for his life!
For 40 years, he was no longer a royal prince... He no longer led armies of men... He is now the leader of a flock of sheep... He no longer has wealth and power... Instead, he has become a simple man living a quiet life in the countryside... He’s given up on those thoughts of grandeur... He’s content... He has a comfortable life... He’s probably ready to retire and take it easy.
And then he sees this bush on fire but not burning up... When Moses goes to check it out, God calls out to him... It’s time to deliver the people of Israel out of slavery... Moses, it’s not time to retire... It’s time to get going! If God reaches out and calls you into action, wouldn’t you be excited?
But instead of being excited that God is calling him into active service, Moses makes one excuse after another. As we look at how Moses responded to God’s call, let’s examine ourselves... “Where is your fruit, Church?” Maybe the world doesn’t see much fruit from us because we’re hiding out like Moses and making excuses instead of jumping into action... Faith without works is dead...
Let’s look at 5 excuses Moses came up with...
EXCUSE #1 – BUT I’M NOT QUALIFIED
The first excuse that Moses gives... He basically tells God that he’s the wrong guy for the job... He feels like he's not qualified to do what God is calling him to do. Look at verse 11 again... “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
He didn't feel that he was up to the challenge! That wasn't the case 40 years earlier when he was younger and stronger and a prince of Egypt... but now after 40 years of chasing sheep around the desert, he feels that being Israel’s deliverer is just too much for him. He had already tried on his own, and failed. The people of Israel had already rejected him... He’s now just a tired, old man... How could Moses possibly take on such a huge task? The Bible doesn't say specifically, but I can imagine Moses thinking something like, “God, I’m just a simple country shepherd... You should have called me 40 years ago... I was qualified for the job back then, but now, I’m just an old, tired, nobody.”
Let me ask you this... Do you think God gets more glory when He works through an unqualified nobody, or when He works through a highly qualified person that everyone already expects to succeed? Do you think God gets more glory when a multi-million-dollar mega-church sends missionaries around the world, or when a little bitty church in rural Georgia sends missionaries around the world? Do you think God is glorified more from the gifts that come from someone’s excess that they have no need of, or from the widow’s mite... who was already in need but gave all she had anyway?
Let’s read God’s answer to Moses in verse 12... God wasn’t at all concerned whether or not Moses was qualified... Instead, God simply said, “I-will-be-with-you” ... and just to prove it to you, Moses... “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
God doesn’t tell him to slowly work his way back into the political scene in Egypt... to work his way up through the ranks and rebuild his reputation so he could have a shot at an audience with the Pharaoh... He doesn't tell him that his problem is low self-esteem... that he just needs to pick himself up by his bootstraps and carry himself with an air of confidence.
"Who am I?" ... This really wasn’t the right question... “Who is God?” was the proper question. God’s identity is more important than who Moses is. It doesn't matter what God has called you to do or to endure... or how impossible it may seem... you can do it if you trust in who GOD is! When we know the God who is with us, we can go forward confidently to do His will!
Have you sensed God calling you to something, but you’re hesitating? Thinking things like... "Who am I? I’m not qualified to do that. I’m just a nobody. If I ignore it, maybe someone else will take care of it. Maybe the pastor will step in and do it so I won’t have to... after all, isn’t that what we’re paying him for?"
Stop focusing on yourself and what you think YOU can do! What has GOD called you to do? Has He called you to be bold and share your faith? Has He called you to love your enemies? We’ve already been called to do these and many other things if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ. But maybe He's called you to something like leave your home and invest your life in reaching unreached people groups in other lands? Maybe He's called you to start a Bible study in your home and invite your lost co-workers.
Whatever it may be, are you thinking God has laid something on your heart, but you're resisting because you don't feel qualified?
“Where’s your fruit, Church?” When God says He’ll be with you, do you think He means it? Do you really trust Him? If so, you’ll do whatever He asks of you no matter the cost!
EXCUSE #2 – BUT I DON’T HAVE ANY AUTHORITY
But Moses isn’t ready to trust God yet, so he gives God excuse #2... “Lord, I don’t have any authority.” Let’s read verse 13...
13 Moses said to God, “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?”
40 years before this, Moses had plenty of authority as a Prince of Egypt... but now, he’s nobody. How can he go to the Israelites and expect them to take him seriously? They had rejected him as a deliverer of their nation once already, why should they change their mind now?
If Moses claims to come to the Israelites as a representative of God, then surely God must have given His name to Moses... After all, when God would speak in the days of the patriarchs, it was often associated with a newly revealed name or title for God:
Genesis 14… He is God Most High
Genesis 16… He is The God Who Sees
Genesis 17… He is Almighty God
Genesis 21… He is the Everlasting God
Genesis 22… He is The Lord Will Provide
So if Moses were to come to the elders of Israel as a representative of God, it would be logical for them to wonder, “By what name did He reveal Himself to you?” Let’s see how God responds in verses 14 and 15...
14 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.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
God is essentially saying... I have no equal... I have always existed... I have always been GOD... I AM GOD... I will continue to be GOD forever... I created all things, and I have made a promise to My Chosen People... I have promised to be their GOD... Moses, tell them my name is YHWH...
Moses and Israel knew the name Yahweh. God did not give Moses a previously unknown name for Himself, but the name they had known before. God called them back to the faith of the patriarchs... After all, YHWH is God’s covenant name... This is the name that He called Himself when He made His covenant with Abraham.
Moses wasn’t being sent to speak on his own behalf... He’s being sent to speak under the authority of YHWH! “Tell them the great I AM has sent you... They’ll listen.”
Where’s your fruit, Church? We sometimes forget that we’re not sent out to speak in our own authority... We speak with the authority of the great I AM. At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus said that all authority was given to Him, so therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations... We are sent under the authority of Jesus...
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, the Apostle Paul writes... “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”
Start speaking under the authority of Jesus, and God will provide the fruit.
EXCUSE #3 – BUT I WON’T BE EFFECTIVE
Even after all this, Moses still has more excuses... God has already told Moses that the people will listen to him... But Moses comes up with excuse #3, “But I won’t be effective” ... Jump ahead to Exodus 4:1...
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
I hear what you’re saying, God, but I don’t think it’s going to work... They won’t believe me... All Moses could see are the problems... the obstacles... He is having a hard time believing what God was telling him would really come true. Moses has already failed in a big way... Why should he put himself in a position to possibly fail again and be rejected a second time? Most likely, none of us like being rejected.
So, God gives Moses 3 different miracles or signs of His power... He turns a staff into a snake and then back into a staff again... He covers Moses’ hand with leprosy and then heals it... He takes some water, pours it on the ground, and it turns into blood...
You and I don't need these kinds of signs to know that God is real. We have history. We have the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have the Bible. We have the evidence of changed lives all around us. Moses had none of these things. So God gives him these signs... and I think Moses is beginning to believe that what God is saying will actually come true.
We have the same problem as Moses... God tells us, “I will supply your needs” but we don’t really think it’s true when we are struggling with our finances... God tells us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” but then we start thinking we may not be saved when we don’t always feel God’s presence close to us... God tells us, “The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth” but we don’t read our Bibles because we think it’s too hard to understand... When we pray, we stay away from “big prayers” because we’re afraid God won’t answer.
Where’s your fruit, Church? Actually, let me change the question a little this time... Where’s your FAITH, Church? Do we not trust that what God says is true? Are we so afraid of messing up? Of failure? Of rejection? Of looking foolish? I know this is what God is calling me to do, but I won’t be effective... It’s not going to work... They won’t believe me.
But just like Moses, and Jonah, and David, and Peter... God still calls us and wants to use us for His glory... Make no mistake, God WILL be glorified... It's just that sometimes He's glorified in spite of us as we make excuses and drag our feet... But wouldn’t it be so much better if God is glorified *because* of us, through our faithful obedience to His call?
EXCUSE #4 – BUT I’M NOT GIFTED
God said, “I will be with you, Moses... I AM has sent you, they’ll listen, Moses... I’m sending you with miraculous signs, Moses” ... But Moses STILL doesn't want to obey God’s call, which takes us to Excuse #4 – “But I’m Not Gifted” ... Jump ahead a little more to Exodus 4:10-12...
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Let's remember, the Lord is not asking Moses for help... God is *sending* Moses... This is an *assignment*. So Moses uses an excuse that is very popular with many Christians... “God, I’m just not gifted to do that.” In Moses’ case, he did not feel that he was a gifted speaker.
God has blessed each one of us with different gifts and abilities... and each of us is gifted in varying degrees. Yes, it is important to know what God has equipped you to do... but it’s a mistake to think that God will only call you to do things that you are good at doing!
Let me repeat that... It's a *mistake* to think that God will only call you to do the things that you are good at doing!
Instead, God tells Moses, “I created you! I already know what you can and can’t do! Just go, and I will help you!” When you obey God’s call, He supplies what you lack... In fact, the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9... "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness..."
Where’s your fruit, Church? If you are willing to serve Him, He will equip you to serve Him well. You may not have a natural talent or be gifted in a particular area... but if God has called you to a particular work, He will give you what you need... and HE will produce the fruit through your faithful obedience to His call.
EXCUSE #5 – BUT I DON’T WANT TO
After that, Moses tries his final excuse... Excuse #5, “But I just don’t want to do it” ... Let’s read Exodus 4:13...
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Moses finally reveals what has been in his heart this whole time... “I just don’t want to do it... Send someone else, God! Surely, someone else would do a better job! Please don’t move me out of this comfortable bubble I’ve built around myself.”
Moses refuses to trust God... refuses to obey God’s call... In the next verse, we see this makes God very angry, but God continues to be patient with Moses... God makes it possible for Moses’ brother, Aaron, to be the speaker for Moses... and so Moses finally submits to God’s call, but not in a way that pleased God.
Where’s your fruit, Church? Are you making excuses so you don't have to obey? Are you making excuses so you don't have to do what you know God wants you to do? Or to go where He wants you to go? Are you making excuses for why you will not trust Him?
If you want to be greatly used of God you must be willing to follow wherever He leads you. It's time to stop hiding behind the excuses we are so good at making. It's time to stop resisting and to start following. It's time to stop talking about faith and it’s time to start living our faith.
Let’s PRAY... [CLOSING PRAYER]
