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Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene |
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Texts:
Exodus
3:1-15 I
suppose it must have been hard for Moses.
There he was, an Israelite, growing up in Pharaoh’s household, watching
his people be beaten, abused, and worked continuously in labor for Pharaoh.
And yet here was Moses, an Israelite by birth, living in a position of
privilege and entitled to all the luxuries of Pharaoh’s palace.
I imagine that Moses struggled greatly as a young man, wishing to help
his people, but not daring to damage his standing in the ruler’s household. But
one day, it became too much for poor Moses.
He had gone out to watch his people at work and saw an Egyptian beating a
Hebrew. We
don’t know exactly what caused this, but we can imagine that the Hebrew was
exhausted and weak, unable to carry on with the load, and so the taskmaster
whipped the slave in order to keep him working.
Moses became overwhelmed and indignant with anger toward the taskmaster
and killed him, burying him in the sand. Moses
believed that no one had seen him kill the Egyptian, until the next day when he
saw two Hebrews fighting.
He attempted to reason with them to stop the argument, but one of the
Hebrews shot back an insolent response, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Moses realized that word had begun to spread of his attack on the
taskmaster, and so he fled to the region of Midian.
It turns out that Moses fled just in time, as Pharaoh had caught word of
his activity and was preparing to have Moses killed. While
Moses was in Midian, he proved helpful to a Midianite priest and his seven
daughters, and so the priest offered Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage.
Moses married Zipporah, becoming the priest’s son-in-law.
Moses stayed in Midian for many years, living with his new father-in-law,
and tending his sheep. Meanwhile,
Pharaoh died, and yet another king came to power in Egypt.
The slavery of Israelites continued, and they cried out to God for
deliverance from their hard labor. Hear
the Word of the Lord from Exodus 3: 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 desert 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 no, 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?” 12
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.” 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?” 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 by which I am to be remembered from
generation to generation.” Moses
learns something very important there at the burning bush.
He learns something that we should not forget easily.
Moses learns that an encounter with the Holy, Living God forever changes
the very fabric of our lives, so that we can no longer carry on “business as
usual.” Moses
has a complete life-altering encounter with Yahweh--the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the I
am that I am. Moses
is minding his own business, actually he is minding his father-in-law’s
business, out in the fields tending to his sheep.
He is simply carrying out mundane activities of life when Almighty God
breaks in upon his activities through a burning bush. Throughout
scripture, we often see the presence of God represented through fire and
lightning. In
Genesis 15, God appears as a flaming torch and a smoking pot.
When the Israelites leave Egypt, God leads them with a pillar of cloud by
day and fire by night. When
God is preparing to give the Ten Commandments, He descends on Mt. Sinai in smoke
and fire. Ezekiel
talks about fire when he attempts to describe his vision of God’s throne, and
John talks about lightning in Revelation 4.
Fire symbolizes the presence of God among us--that is why we light
candles in our worship--and that is why Moses was attracted to the bush which
burned but did not burn up. The
very nature of fire informs us about the qualities and characteristics of God.
Even as our very existence depends on the fire which burns in the Sun, we
recognize that we also depend on God.
Throughout scripture, fire is used to purify and cleanse, which is what
God does with our hearts.
Fire destroys undesirable impurities and chaff, reminding us of God’s
power over evil. Fire
provides light, and God’s “Word is a lamp to [our] feet and a light for
[our] path[s]”(Psalm 119:105).
Moses
has an encounter with the Holy Living Powerful God, and is forever changed.
It is likely that Moses would have been comfortable living with his
father-in-law for the rest of his life.
It appears as though this priest had no male children, and so Moses would
have likely inherited the entire estate.
Moses seems content in his new home, with his new wife, and his new job
tending sheep. And
yet, an encounter with I
am who I am forever changes all of that.
Moses is now the great deliverer, servant of the Most High, mouthpiece of
Yahweh sent to deliver a message to the mighty king of the Egyptians.
Once a stuttering shepherd, now leader of a mighty nation, Moses has been
entirely transformed by his encounter.
An encounter with they Holy Living God forever changes the very fabric of
our lives so that we can no longer carry on “business as usual.”
As we look more closely at Moses’ encounter with the Living God, we
become aware of the way in which we are to anticipate, prepare for, and be
changed by such an encounter in our own lives. First,
we see that God initiates the encounter.
God creates the fire in the bush, and God calls to Moses from within the
bush, “Moses! Moses!”
Moses didn’t wake up that morning hoping to have an encounter with God,
rather God called Moses unto Himself.
God initiates encounters in our lives as well.
Oh, we may not see burning bushes, but God moves in our lives, directing
our paths, as He initiates encounters with us.
Sometimes, we just have to become more aware of the Divine encounters in
our lives. I
don’t believe that any of us are here by accident today.
God has initiated encounters in each of our lives that have brought us to
this place in our spiritual journey.
God desires to do great things with each of us, if only we will be
available when He initiates contact. Second,
we see that Moses made himself available to God’s call: “Here I am,” he
says. When God
called his name, Moses didn’t ignore the call, nor did he run away, he simply
replied, “Here I am.”
Perhaps the greatest hindrance in our lives is that we fail to recognize
the need to be available to God.
In our busy, fast-paced lives, we don’t make time to be available.
We are too busy to help the stranger or the outcast.
We don’t find time to spend with God and in His Word.
If we are not available to Him, we may never experience the sort of
Divine encounter that He desires to have with us. Third,
we see Moses preparing for his encounter with God.
God tells Moses to take off his sandals because he is standing on holy
ground. Going
barefoot before God was a sign of great reverence and humility.
The priests could only enter God’s presence with ceremonially washed
bare feet. An
encounter with God requires preparation.
I fear that too often we don’t prepare our hearts and minds to spend
time in God’s presence.
We march into the sanctuary of God without first examining our hearts and
minds to see if there are any barriers preventing us from hearing God’s voice.
We must beware of attending church simply out of habit or custom.
While attending church is a good habit, if it degrades to only a habit,
we are not prepared to have an encounter with God.
When we enter His sanctuary, we should enter with a sense of expectancy,
believing in faith that He desires to intrude upon our lives, in order to
accomplish His purposes with us. Fourth,
Moses becomes aware of who is speaking to him from the bush.
God revealed Himself to Moses as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob.”
Moses response was to hide his face because he knew he was in the
presence of God and was afraid to look upon Him.
There was a certain knowledge that Moses possessed at that point in time,
knowledge that he had been brought face to face with the Living God.
We must recapture that knowledge in our own lives.
Our times of devotion, prayer, and scripture reading will be more vital
when we practice the knowledge that we are in the very presence of God Almighty.
Our times of corporate worship will be more meaningful when we practice
the awareness of His presence, and realize that we are bringing songs and gifts
to His altar, for His glory. We
enter into worship every week, giving testimony to God’s presence in our
lives. An
encounter with God provides knowledge that we are in His presence. The
fifth thing we notice from Moses’ encounter with God is that he listens.
Exodus 3:7 begins with the words, “The Lord
said.” Moses
didn’t barge into God’s presence with a list of demands, or a number of
questions that he wanted answers to.
Instead, he simply listened to what God had to say.
I fear that we our culture has created so much noise around us that we
have become unable to be silent and listen for the voice of God.
As God’s people, we must find ways of incorporating times of quiet
listening into our private and corporate lives of worship.
In order to have an encounter with the Living God, we must listen for His
voice, so that we can respond to Him. Sixth,
we see dialogue between God and Moses.
This encounter isn’t just passive listening by Moses, he asks
questions, makes comments, and even protests.
I find that first question Moses asks very interesting.
Moses asks, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the
Israelites out of Egypt.”
Notice God’s response in verse 12.
God doesn’t directly answer Moses’ question.
Instead of telling Moses about who Moses is, God tells him about who God
is. The only way
that Moses is able to go to Pharaoh is because God will go with him.
Moses asks a question about the identity of Moses, and God replies by
telling Moses that He will be with him.
It is not the identity of Moses that is important in this encounter, but
the identity of God. Despite
God’s affirmation of His identity, Moses continues to dialogue and ask
questions. Moses
doesn’t appear to be confident in his abilities to lead the Israelites out of
slavery. And
yet, perhaps that is precisely where God wants him, incompetent on his own, in
order to greater display God’s glory and power at work in his life.
An encounter with the Divine requires that we recognize our own position
as created beings, deriving our very abilities and gifts from the Creator. The
final thing we notice about Moses and his encounter with God is that God sends
him. In verse
15, God tells Moses what to tell the Israelites.
God says, “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.’”
There are two points of great importance that we can learn here.
One, Moses had to obey.
In order to have been sent, he had to go.
Despite his stuttering and protesting, God’s commission on Moses’
life was so great that he would have to follow in faithful obedience.
Second, Moses was not alone.
He had been sent by the Almighty--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As Moses became acutely aware of God’s presence in his life, he
developed the boldness and confidence needed to march into Pharaoh’s courts
and demand the release of his people.
When God sends us, He empowers us.
When we have an encounter with God, He directs us to take the next steps
in our lives. He
may challenge us to help a stranger, or witness to a co-worker, or to remove an
area of sin from our lives.
When God does this, there are two things we must do.
First, we must obey Him.
While we can ask questions in hopes of better understanding His will, in
the end we must choose to obey and follow Him.
Second, we do so in the knowledge and assurance that it was the Living
God who sent us, and He will empower us and go with us.
An encounter with God empowers us for ministry and for good works, for
His greater glory. Moses
had a life-altering encounter with the Living God.
God initiated it, but Moses was available and prepared himself for the
encounter. God
spoke to Moses, but Moses listened.
God sent Moses with a great commission, but Moses chose to obey.
And so it is with us.
God seeks to have encounters with us on a daily basis, but we must choose
to be available, and prepare ourselves to be in His presence.
God will direct our paths, but we must choose to listen.
God will send us with great things to do, but we must choose to obey.
In doing so, we recognize that our lives will be reorganized and
disrupted. Moses
couldn’t go about “business as usual” after his encounter with God, and
neither can we. But,
we can’t imagine life any other way than in His service, doing His bidding,
being empowered by His Spirit.
Let us live our lives in prepared anticipation of an encounter with the
Holy Living God, which will forever change the very fabric of our lives so that
we can no longer carry on “business as usual.” Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
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