The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E56 - Burning Bush

Episode Date: July 20, 2020

Hey, church family. It is time for DeVos. If you got your Bible, we're going to go to Exodus chapter 3, where God calls Moses into his calling. The Bible says this. Now, Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and he came to Oreb, the mountain of God. Now, the reason, just in case you're not super familiar with his story, Moses is like 80 years old now, and the reason that he is leading, that he working for his father-in-law as a shepherd is because, um, though he grew up in Egypt and he grew up in the household of Pharaoh, uh, at one point he killed a guy. He killed an Egyptian that was attacking his Jewish brother. And so somebody ratted him out. And so he is on the run. And so this is what he's doing here. And I am sure at this point in his life, he is probably thinking that his best days are not ahead of him. He's probably thinking his best days are behind him. And even though in our like Bible bookstore world, we make a big deal out of being a shepherd. We hold it up in high esteem, partly because

Jesus said he was a good shepherd because David was a shepherd, Moses is a shepherd. But in reality, it was like the lowest of low of all jobs. It does not take a lot of skill. You just got to keep your cheap from drowning, eating poisonous stuff. And occasionally, if something comes, in a predator to take out your sheep, you do have to man of him fight the thing. But it did not take an incredible amount of leadership or intellect to be a shepherd. And so this is where Moses is. And again, Moses, I'm sure he's thinking, and this is a conjecture on my part, because I don't know what he was thinking, but I think he was thinking, this is it. For the rest of the days of my life, I will meander around nowhere, doing nothing and working for my father at all. But he takes the

the flock of the sheep up to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. Verse two, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked and behold, the bush was burning and yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. Verse five. And then he said, do not come near.

Take off your sandals for the place on which you were standing is holy ground. Now again, some conjecture on my part. I talked about it a little bit this past week in the sermon. But I wonder in that moment if Moses thought, I've been walking on this ground for 40 years. Did it just become holy or have I been missing out on it all of this time? Church, I would highly encourage you. to always have your eyes and ears open to what the Spirit of God may be telling you.

I mean, may it not require a burning bush and some sort of miraculous sign, but God may he be able to just speak to us and the still small voice inside of us? May we be sensitive to the nudges and the opportunities and the conviction that God brings us. But God calls out to Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses. is take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground. And he says, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Now, one of the things I always find interesting all throughout the scriptures, particularly the old covenant, God introduces himself as the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And you'll remember, I don't know, weeks and weeks and weeks ago, we talked about the fact that Jacob had his name changed. That Jacob means deceiver or deceitful one or heel grabber. And after Jacob surrenders his life to the Lord, then God says your name will no longer be deceitful one, but your new name will be Israel, wrestles with God. And yet, all throughout the old covenant, God always refers to Jacob is Jacob, not Israel.

I wonder why this is. Could it be that God is not ashamed of your past? Could it be that God, God has no hang-ups on who you used to be, that's not who you are anymore. And he is okay with you not being okay. He's just not okay with you staying there. And so he says to Moses, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. And then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their suffering. and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to do a good and broad land,

a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Parazites and the Hivites and the Jevites, and now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me. I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, the children of Israel out of Egypt. A couple things here.

We talk about prayer a lot, and the reason you should pray is because God is listening. And his timing is almost always different than our timing. I told you I was praying for my dad for 30 years, and just recently had a conversation with my dad about my dad's faith, and he has come to Christ. I don't know what you were praying for. I don't know what you were crying out for, but don't stop crying out to God because he hears the cries of his people. But notice what God is going to do, what God is saying to Moses is I hear the cry of my people and the means by which I am going to answer their prayer, Moses, is you.

Did you ever consider that you oftentimes are the means by which God answers people's prayer? like people are praying God if you're out there would you show me and then sure enough you come across somebody's pathway and you introduce them to 1122 or you share your faith with them or you share a link to our online service or you bring them here whatever it is but god hears their cry answers with you one of the things i'm always i always try to communicate to like first responders police officers ambulance people rescue all these people firemen all that nurses doctors do you realize that oftentimes God has a plan for somebody's life and the means by which he will accomplish that plan is you.

People cry out, Lord, help me. And God doesn't send a preacher, God sends a policeman, or sends the fire department, or some people are praying for their mom and dad because they're ill, and God does not send them first to church. He sends them first to the doctors and the nurses. And it's not just those vocations. It's true for every single one of us that we could be the answer of prayer

that God would use, again, people like Moses, not exemplifying a whole lot of leadership skill by leading sheep, doesn't require a super high IQ, but he has this encounter with God. And God says, all right, Moses, I'm going to use you to lead my people away from, at that time, the most powerful country on the planet. In verse 11, but Moses,

said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? Now what we'll see later is this, this isn't some sort of like God-centered humility, like you would say, like, who am I that I get to do this? It was more fear and cowardice. And what's crazy about this question, in my opinion, is that if I was standing there with Moses, knowing what I know now, I could look at him and be like, what do you mean who are you? Moses, don't you remember that when you were born, the Pharaoh was afraid that somebody would take over his kingship or his throne. So he ordered that all the little boys, two years old and under, be slaughtered. But your mama would not do this. She put you in a basket and sent you down the river. And when you got

down the river away, the Pharaoh's daughter found you in the basket and said, we're going to adopt this one. And then, because God is sovereign, they did a nanny search and they picked your mama to come be your nanny so your mama got to raise you and she raised you in Pharaoh's palace. You know the ends and the outs. You know the Wi-Fi password. Do you know where the bathroom is? You know proper protocol before the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh knows who you are. You grew up there into being a young man and then, you know, you killed some people and now you're out here. But what do you mean who are you? I'll tell you who you are. Moses, God has been orchestrating your entire life to be the man that he would use for this very moment.

Church family, the same thing is true for you. Every hurt, every habit, every hang up, every experience, the times when you got it really wrong, the times when you got it right, the parents you have, your personal disposition, that God always gives us everything we need to accomplish everything that he has called us to accomplish. and oftentimes he does that over a lifetime. So I know if God has called you to do something, I think the same thing.

Who am I? Redneck from Dylan, who am I, that I should pass to this church? And Moses is like, who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh? And I'm sure you say the same thing. I'll tell you who you are. You were chosen, anointed, and appointed by the most high king. And so, Moses, and just swimming in insecurity, Who am I that I should go to the Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And he said, here's God's answer, but I will be with you. It's the same answer he gives all throughout the scriptures. He's going to give it to Joshua in chapter one, be strongly courageous. Why? For the Lord your God is with you. It's what he told Gideon when he was threshing wheat on the wine press, trying to hide. He said, hi, mighty man of valor. I am with you.

That's what he told King David. When King David writes Psalm 139, if I go to the heavens, you're there, if I go to the depths, you're there, you're before me, you're behind me, you him me in, you are always with me. And in fact, when Jesus gives the most dangerous commandment called the Great Commission, therefore go now

and make disciples of the entire world, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you and baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and the Holy Spirit and lo, which means pay attention, I will be with you to the very first. ends of the age. So one of the best things you can do when you feel like God is calling you to do something that makes you nervous and you feel like God is calling you into something that's a bit above your pay grade or outside of your skill set or beyond what makes you comfortable, then understand the

promise that God gives us is that through the cross of Christ for anyone who believes in Jesus, he's not only with us, he is in us. The Spirit of God lives in us. God says, but I will be with you and this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt. You shall serve God on this mountain. I think this is funny. God doesn't say I'll give you a sign as you're going into Egypt to get the people out.

He says the sign that I'm telling the truth will be, trust me, you're going to be back here on this mountain with the people of God. And then Moses said to God, here comes excuse number two. If I come to the people of Israel and I say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me, what is his name?

What shall I say to them? And God says to Moses, I am who I am. In Hebrew, that's Yahweh. It's supposed to, you know, when Hebrew people speak Hebrew, it's very guttural. So it's supposed to sound like breathing.

Like you breathe in, you breathe out. Yahweh. It gets translated here, I am, that I am. It can also be translated. be who I be. In other words, it is God's name, God's covenant name of his people, is the eternal now. Maybe this is why in the book of Revelation, the elders and the angels circle the throne room of God, and they continuously sing who was and is and is to come. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Why? Because with the eternal I am, there is no past and present. There is the eternal now.

And so he says, somebody asks you, you tell him my name. I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am, has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob, has appeared to me saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt. I promise that I will. will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land, to the Cadenites and the Hittites and the Amarites,

and the Parasites, and the Hivites, and the Hibites and the Jebites. This is why it's called the promised land, because God promised it. A land flowing with milk and honey. And they will listen to your voice. You and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say, the Lord, the God of Hebrews, has met with us. And now please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. And then for the rest of the time after Moses gets all this information, Moses is like, yeah, no, I still think you got the wrong guy. I need a sign. And so God says, all right, here's a sign. Take your staff, throw it on the ground, turns into a snake, pick it up by the tail, turns back into a staff. For some of you, that would have been enough that you would have

disqualified yourself because you would have never picked the snake back up. Then he says, stick your hand inside your cloak, pull it out, it's leprous, put it back in, pull it out, it's healed again. Then he says you can take a cup of water out of the Nile, you can throw it on the ground and make it turn to blood. I'm giving you these signs. And even after all this, mind you, he's talking to a bush on fire. And he's still like barefooted and completely doubting that he's the right guy. So then in chapter four, he goes on to say, I still don't think this will work because I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and of tongue.

In other words, I stutter. I'm not a good speaker. So what does the Lord do? The Lord says, you got Aaron. Aaron's a professional communicator. He's a priest. He'll go with you. So oftentimes when God calls you to do something

and you feel like you can't do it, he surrounds you with some people to help you get there. And then God's promise to Moses again when he says, yeah, but I can't speak well. This is chapter 4 verse 11. He says, then the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth. Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind?

Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. So, Church of 1122, maybe you've never had a burning bush moment. Maybe it was just a God-glorifying dream or desire. Or maybe you were sitting in a service at some point and we were talking about mission trips

or serving at the church or reaching your neighbors or caring for the least of these in our city, what is the thing that God has called you to do? What are the excuses that you have been bringing to God? And why don't you, by faith, put those excuses down and pick up obedience and walk in the way that he has called you to walk? And the promise is not because you're awesome,

it's because he is awesome. And I can tell you from my own personal experience, whether it's do you just pick up the phone to make a phone call and share your fate or forgive somebody or start a new ministry or playing a church, I can tell you you have no idea the God glorifying results that hang in the balance. And I think the most God glorifying thing is not even the fruit, but the obedience that leads to it. So may you be obedient, may you put away your doubts and excuses,

may you pick up faith and courage and do what God has called you to do. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, I thank you that you use ordinary, uneducated men and women like us to do extraordinary God-glorifying things. God, we thank you that you are a God that hears the cries of your people and you do something about it. God, may we have ears to hear and eyes to see when we are the means by which you are going to answer other people's prayer. And may we not be overcome with fear and doubt, but may we stand on the rock of Jesus, may we be more than conquerors and do what you say.

We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.