July 6, 2003 Exodus 3:1-10
So now, go. I am sending 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?" And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." 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?"
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.’" 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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob— appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
God’s Call Deserves an Answer
I. Because of who God is
About three weeks ago I was knocking on some doors to hand out some flyers for our upcoming Bible camp. I noticed a young lady watching TV in her apartment. There were some old play things outside of her door, so it was obvious to me she might have some children that could come to our camp. I walked down to her door and knocked, but she didn’t come and answer. I knocked again - but she just sat there. I could see her sitting there, and she could see me standing there, but she just kept watching TV. So I left a flyer in her door and walked away, thinking to myself, “I guess she didn’t want to talk to me.” To tell you the truth, I was a little put off by it.
As I get to thinking about it, that little slice of my life is representative of how our society has become. Instead of having open doors and welcome mats, we have closed gate communities with “no soliciting” signs posted everywhere. We have caller ID on our telephones so we can see WHO is calling, and then determine whether they are worth our time or not.
Today, Moses was called by God - directly - as God appeared to him in a burning bush. He knew who was calling. You would think that Moses would have been excited to hear from God Himself. But his response betrays a lack of excitement. Why was that? Moses wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to God. It wasn’t that he didn’t love God or His people. That wasn’t the problem. What was it with Moses that made him so hesitant to serve God? Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Who am I? Moses had gone from being a famous and royal son to being a fugitive and unknown shepherd. He didn’t feel worthy to such a task because he was just a “nobody.” Do you see how much 40 years of shepherding changed Moses. He went from picking up the phone and calling God and saying, “when are you going to let me lead,” to saying, “there’s no way I can do it now.” He was already 80 years old.
Notice that God doesn’t say, “oh, you’re not too old. You’ve still got good eyes. Your legs still work. I still think you’re ok.” He doesn’t refute what Moses was saying at all, and with that silence he was really saying in effect, “you’re right Moses - you aren’t anybody! But you still don’t get it! I don’t call you based on WHO you are or what YOU’VE done.” The call of God is never based on WHO you are. God says he chose you before He even created the world - so how could His choice be based on anything you’ve done? (Eph. 1:4) Paul says that you were born DEAD in your trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), so how could God choose you for your abilities or looks when you were dead? It’s never about who you are or what you’ve done. God didn’t say, “hey, I think you’d make a pretty good parent, I think I’ll give you a child!” He didn’t say, “hmm, that person could make a really good Christian and spread the Word a lot, so I think I’ll choose him.” It doesn’t work that way. But like Moses, we just don’t get it because we think that God only works by works. We get angry when we see immoral people get riches and fame, while we don’t have half of what they do. We always have in the back of our minds that what we get and who we are is really based on what we’ve done. Anything you have - anything you’re called to do - is not based on what you’ve earned or haven’t earned. It has nothing to do with who you are! Oh that God wouldn’t have to send us into a desert for 40 years to figure that out!
Moses said, “who am I, that I should go?” He understood at least that he was nobody now. That’s the right start, isn’t it? When God comes calling, our first reaction shouldn’t be, “it’s about time God!” Instead, when we realize that we are born dead and worthless sinners we would pray, “who am I, Lord, that you would give me your Holy Spirit? Who am I, Lord, that you would give me this child? Who am I, Lord, that you would give me this spouse? Who am I Lord, that you would give me such a good reputation?”
So how did God answer Moses who didn’t feel worthy for such a task? I will be with you. It wasn’t about how many talents Moses had - but about who would be with Moses. God Himself would be with Moses, standing by his side. And when Moses asked, "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?" 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.’" 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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. The same God that had appeared to their forefathers over five hundred years beforehand would be there with them. The same God who had seen kingdoms fall and rise, who had created the universe - who never ceased to be - would be there with them. The same God who provided Abraham with a child at 100 years old, who saved Jacob from Esau’s anger and who brought them safely down to Egypt would be with them. This was the God known as I AM, Yahweh. Not I was, or I will be some day - but I AM. That’s who would be with Moses. So it wasn’t about who HE was, but about who GOD is, and where the call was coming from, that was to give Moses his confidence.
That is the same basis of God’s call to us today! When you are called to be God’s child in baptism - it’s not about who your parents were, how good of a baby you were, or how smart you would become. That’s not what the call is based on. No, Ephesians 5 says that, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Your call at your baptism was based on the fact that Christ loved you so much to sacrifice Himself for your sins - to make you holy. That’s why God calls you his child in baptism. But why did God have YOU baptized? It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Ro 9:16) The reason you were called is based on WHO GOD IS - He is the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love. (Exodus 34) This applies to EVERYTHING you have. The reason you have a spouse or children or good parents is not because you deserved it, but because God wanted to give you these gifts by his mercy. If you have been called to serve in God’s kingdom in a special way, it’s not because of your talents, but because of God’s mercy.
The sad thing is that there are so many people in this world that don’t feel worthy to enter a church because of their past. God could never love me they think - because they’ve been drug users or abusive. Maybe you feel that God really doesn’t want you because you’ve made a big mess of your marriage or your life. God has a message for you this morning - “that’s not why I’m calling you! I’m calling you because I love sinners. I love to give people things. I love to forgive! I love to clean up dirty people! That’s why I’m doing it - because as a merciful God that’s just what I like to do!”
II. Because of what He can do
Once Moses was able to get past the identity crisis, he had another obstacle to cross. “Ok,” he may have thought, “God wants to call me even though I’m a nobody. But he’s not calling me to sit around and do nothing! He’s calling ME to lead two million into this desert where I have a hard time taking care of sheep! How in the world am I supposed to do that?” So Moses just didn’t feel like he could do it.
This is something that we need to realize also as Christians. When Jesus called his disciples he said to them, If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. (Jn 15:20-21) When you were baptized, God wasn’t calling you into a lifestyle of sitting around and having everything handed to you on a golden platter. Just because Christianity is FREE doesn’t mean it’s EASY. Paul said, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12) You, my friends, have been called into a battle of good vs. evil - against the very forces of hell itself. This is no easy lifestyle you’ve been called into.
Moses was realistic about what he was being called into. He said, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” (Ex 4:1) Honestly, if a man convicted of murder told you to Mexico today because he had seen a vision from God, how many of you would believe him? This wasn’t the only problem. Moses also said, “O 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.” Even though Stephen said he was “powerful in speech and action,” Moses for some reason honestly felt like his mouth didn’t work well enough. In fact, Moses was so convinced that he COULDN’T do what God wanted him to that he was actually so bold as to say, “go send someone else.”
Again, Moses was looking in the wrong place for his strength. He wondered how HE could lead two million people out of Egypt - but it wasn’t HIM who was going to do the work. It was the LORD - Yahweh - who would work through Him. So God patiently tried to point this out to Moses. For the first time ever God put His power in the hands of man. He enabled Moses to perform three miracles - turning a staff into a snake and back again, turning his hand from clean to leprous to clean again, and turning the Nile river into blood. These miracles would be visible proof that Yahweh had sent Moses. This is similar to Jesus giving his disciples the ability to chase out demons - which would prove to the people that they were working with the power of God.
When we really consider what God has called us into - fighting against Satan and his demons, not to mention thousands of hard hearted people who are born dead in sin, it is an overwhelming prospect. How can we fight such a battle? How is an unbeliever born dead in sin going to believe that Jesus died on a cross for him 2,000 years ago so that he is holy in God’s sight? How is someone who is born to think he has to earn his way to heaven going to actually come to the realization that it’s by God’s grace that he is saved, not by works? We aren’t able to turn staffs into snakes or water into blood. But God says to us, “Is not my word like fire, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Je 23:29) God’s Word works miracles. It breaks hearts into two, like a hammer breaks a rock into pieces. Just like Moses was able to change the water of the Nile into blood, God is able to change a child’s heart from death to life through the water of baptism. In another miracle he is able to take a simple meal of bread and wine into a partaking of Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. This is a miracle! These things are able to change hearts - turn people from miserable sinners in the slavery of sin into freed saints on the way to the promised land! Don’t forget about the miracles you have with a Bible in your hand and the sacraments by your side. This is where the power is.
Moses was able to perform miracles. But what about Moses mouth? How could he convince them to leave? God reminded Moses, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Ex 4:11-12) When Moses complained about his mouth, it seems that God took this complaint personally, because HE gave Moses his mouth. How could he complain about the mouth he was given to the very one who gave it to him? Yet if we stopped to think about it, how often do we do the same thing to God. When we complain about our looks, our weight, our mouths, our jobs - we are actually complaining to God who gave us these things. When we use our complaints as excuses to not do what God wants us to do, it is even worse. God gave you your mouth. If God’s Word worked through Moses mouth and through a donkey’s mouth, surely it can work through ours!
Finally, when Moses couldn’t think of any other excuses he told God, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” Notice how Moses seemed to want to be polite about it. Please send someone else. But how did God respond? Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.” There came a point where God’s patience ran out. Even with the miracles and the assurance that HE would be with Moses, Moses still didn’t want to go. Yet even in His anger He didn’t kill Moses. Instead, he graciously gave him the support of his older brother Aaron who would stand by his side, speak for him, and treat him with the utmost respect. All Moses needed to do was go and take his staff with him. That was it. So Moses, probably still convinced that God had the wrong man, finally went anyway because God commanded him to and assured him that he would have his and Aaron’s help.
There are many things that you can be called to do in this world. He may be calling you to get married. But you may say to yourself, “there’s no way I can be a good enough spouse! Why would anyone want to be married to me? I snore. I smell. And I eat too much.” He may be calling you to have children. You may be saying to yourself, “there’s no way I could handle raising a child! They cry too much, demand too much!” He may be calling to a promotion at work. You may say to yourself, “I don’t have the abilities to perform this task!” Maybe he’s asking you to teach Sunday school, be an elder, or spread the gospel to a neighbor. We can think of a thousand excuses as to why we can’t do something. We may have even refused to do what seemed obvious to everyone else that we should do.
In these cases, God should become angry with us. If we have talents that we’re burying in the sand, we’re wasting them. If we have a call that we’re refusing to listen to, this angers God. There’s a difference between humility and unbelief. If God says he will strengthen you, He means it. When God says he won’t test you beyond what you can handle, He won’t. Yet notice that God didn’t just give up on Moses and pick someone else. He wouldn’t let him say no. With encouragement after encouragement, God was patient with Moses and gave him the support he needed to do what needed to be done.
This reminds me of a story I was told about my grandfather once. He had two doors in the back room of the church. One led to the pulpit, the other led to the exit. He once told another minister, “I’d much rather go through that door - (pointing to the exit) than through that door - (pointing to the pulpit.)” He didn’t feel worthy or up for such a call. Yet every Sunday he went, because that’s what God called him to do. In the same way - you may not feel you have the ability to be a parent, a spouse, a boss or a teacher. You may not feel that you have the power to deal with the sickness or neighbor that you’ve been given. But you have no choice. That’s where you are in life. You have to go forward. It’s a scary thought and a daunting task. But God is with you. If he could work miracles through Moses, He can work miracles through you. If he could have Moses lead two million people through a desert, he can enable you to lead your children, your parents, or your body through whatever desert you’re facing.
When America embarked on Operation Iraqi freedom, it was an unbelievably huge task. With over 250,000 troops they stormed into the southern part of the country. With precise million dollar bombs they took apart the Iraqi radio towers and captured their capital in a matter of weeks. It took highly trained military personal and weapons to accomplish it. But now the Iraqis are “free” from Saddam Hussein. Compare that huge operation to what God did. He sent one man and a staff, along with his wife and sons into Egypt. They didn’t ride in on a tank. Moses walked, while his wife and children were on a donkey. (Exodus 4:19) Think about the miracle of this scene! Here comes Moses - this eighty year old man - saying, “I’m on a mission from God to set my people free!” How ridiculous. How in the world would Moses, this old man, be able to set his people free? It wasn’t up to what Moses could do, but what God could do. So God told him, “remember to take your staff.” With the power of God on his side - the impossible became possible.
You might think that your family or your job or your church would be a lot better off with someone else in charge of your position. Why on earth did God call you? Remember - it’s not about who you are or what you can do. It’s about who GOD is and what HE can do. That’s what His call is based on. So when He comes calling and you see His name on your caller ID - for heaven’s sake - don’t be shy - answer the call! Amen.
