Years ago there was a comedian named Milton Berle who wrote this poem:
“I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.”
In our text this morning we read of a “has been” who became an “are.” Moses "had been" a great man - the adopted grandson of the Pharaoh; a man destined for power and prestige until… well until one day he saw a cruel Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew. And Moses struck the Egyptian and killed him. When Pharaoh found out what Moses had done, he put a price on his head and Moses fled into the desert where he lived for the next 40 years as a shepherd taking care of his Father-in-law’s sheep. In a matter of weeks, Moses went from being a powerful prince of Egypt to become a lowly shepherd caring for flocks he didn’t even own.
Someone once noted that Moses spent forty years in Egypt thinking he was somebody; And forty years in Exile learning that he was a nobody. (Shortened version of an observation by D.L. Moody)
So now he’s 80 years old. He lives in a tent out in the middle of nowhere. He has no hopes, no prospects, no future. Years ago, the Beatles wrote a song that summed up Moses’ life to that point: “He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land. Making all his nowhere plans for nobody.”
Moses was a nowhere man - going nowhere, doing nothing, being nothing… but then he meets God. And God tells Moses I want you to do something for me! “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10
And Moses responded to God with these words: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
WHO AM I? I’m just a nobody. A has-been. A failure. You don’t want me. I’m not worthy of your attention. At one time I could have made a difference. At one time, I might have led a mighty army into battle. But now… now I’m just an old man who can’t seem to do anything right. You need to find someone else.
And for the next few verses Moses makes all kind of excuses about why he can’t do what God wants him to do: The people won’t believe you’ve talked with me; I stutter; and I don’t really want to go.
The thing about Moses was… he was right… and he was wrong.
Moses was right that he WASN’T WORTHY to do what God asked. He was an old man, he’s a failure (that’s why he fled Egypt), and apparently he did stutter. But God wanted him anyway. Moses was kind of like us. Romans 3:23 says we’ve “all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We’ve all failed and messed up and, we all have corners of our lives that are dark and disappointing.
The group Casting Crowns sang the song we played at the beginning of our worship: “Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name? Would care to feel my hurt. Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart? Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin would look on me with love and watch me rise again? Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me?
And in the chorus of that song, they tell you why God would do that: “Not because of who I am but because of what You've done; Not because of what I've done but because of who You are.”
You see, God is in the business of fixing people who are broken. He’s in the business of cleaning up the messes in our lives. He’s in the business of taking that which is old & useless… and making us new again.
2 Corinthians 5:17 declares “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
And Romans 8:1 tells us “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
That’s WHO we are!
So, here we have God choosing Moses to something great, and Moses nearly turns God down because Moses doesn’t think he’s capable. What Moses didn’t understand was… that he didn’t have to be capable!
ILLUS: Back in 1959 Charleston Heston starred in Movie Classic called “Ben Hur”. One of the most powerful part of the movie was a climatic chariot race that required 5 weeks of filming, 15,000 extras, and 18 chariots. Heston was a committed actor who practiced for weeks learning to drive his chariot. But after weeks of practice he pulled the STUNT coordinator aside and said: “I can drive the chariot… but I’m not sure I can win.” The stunt coordinator smiled at him and said “Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot. I’ll make sure you win the race.”
Charleston Heston didn’t think he was capable of winning. BUT IT’S MOVIE, of course he was going to win… it’s in the SCRIPT. It wasn’t up to him to win. All he had to do was not fall out of the chariot during filming and the outcome was assured.
And that’s pretty much what God was saying to Moses. You just do what I tell you to do… I’ll do the rest. IT’S IN THE SCRIPT!!! God said: “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.” (Exodus 3:19-20) IT WAS IN THE SCRIPT
(PAUSE) Now, here’s where the all this applies to you and I! First – God has a plan for your life. In the Old Testament, God told Israel: “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) And in Ephesians 2:10 God promises us “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
BEFORE you even became a Christian God said: If this person ever decides they want to belong to me, I’ve got something special in mind just for them! God has designed good works just for you!!!
ILLUS: My daughter Naomi just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (Luella Mae), but before Naomi even gave birth she had plans for the child. To start out with, BEFORE Luella was born Naomi had all kinds of things just for that baby. There’s a swing, a baby bed, a crib and all kinds of baby clothes and toys. Naomi intends to shower this child with attention and love. But right now Luella is just a helpless baby girl. She can’t sing or speak, and she really can’t play much. All she can do is eat and poop… and maybe gurgle a little. But that’s NOT what Naomi sees. Naomi sees a little girl filled with potential. And Naomi has dreams and plans for what that child will be like when she grows up.
And that’s how God looks at you and I. He loved us even when we couldn’t do all that much. He saw that you and I were filled with potential, and He has dreams and plans for us. In fact, God has something special just for YOU - something He wants YOU to do. I don’t know what it is, but the closer you get to God (just like Moses getting close to that burning bush) - the closer you get to God, the better chance you have of learning just what it is He wants you to do.
You may not know what that SOMETHING is He wants you to do, but once you find out what it is (I’m here to tell you) it’ll knock your socks off. The closer you walk with God the more he’ll direct your steps.
So, first – God has a plan for your life. Second – neither you nor I are worthy (OR capable) to do what He has planned. We’ve all sinned… we’ve all messed up. There’s times we’ll look in the mirror, and we don’t like what we see very much. But God wanted you anyway.
There’s a song by Don Francisco that says it this way: “It doesn’t matter what you’ve DONE, it matters what you’ll be. There is no condemnation when the Son has set you free.” (“No Condemnation” by Don Francisco)
ILLUS: A man named John Newton had been a foul and evil man. He was a sailor who cursed and drank spent time in the red-light district. And he bought and sold slaves with little concern for their lives. But then, God got hold of Newton, and this former trader of slaves became a preacher of freedom in Christ, and he fought (successfully) to outlaw slavery in Great Britain.
I’m told John Newton wrote these words: “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”
It didn’t matter what he’d done, it mattered what he’d be, because once John gave himself to Jesus – the Son set him free.
And that leads me to my THIRD and final point. As I prepare for my sermons, I’ll look at what other preachers have preached, and the title one of man’s sermon impressed me: “Without God's Fire, It Was Only A Bush” (Ernie Arnold).
Exodus 3:2-3 “the Angel of the LORD appeared to (Moses) in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
It was just a bush… a common, ordinary bush. A bush Moses probably would have seen lots of times before but never even gave it a 2nd thought. But it wasn’t the bush that got Moses’ attention. It was the fact that it was on fire… but it wasn’t burning up. Without God’s fire… it was only a bush.
Now, here’s how it applies to you. On the outside, you and I appear to be just ordinary folks. But on the INSIDE (of those of who belong to Jesus) there’s a fire that makes us extra-ordinary. That fire is the Spirit of God. Without that Spirit inside of us we’re just… A BUSH. We’re mere mortals. But with that Spirit that’s inside of us we’re IM-mortal. The fire of God LITERALLY burns inside of us. That’s why 1 Thessalonians 5:19 tells us “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”
The Spirit teaches us; He intercedes for us; He helps us when we pray; He helps transform us into the image of God. “And the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (I Corinthians 2:10)
Essentially, the Spirit is GOD LIVING INSIDE OF US. And the more we walk with God everyday, the more God changes our lives as His Spirit works inside of us.
CLOSE: So, where do we get this Holy Spirit? Acts 2:38 tells us clearly: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
