11.04.2012 Moses - Pt. 2 - Continued Genuine Transformation

SermonAudio

We are looking at the life of Moses – not the whole story, but some of the events that shaped his life – last week we looked at his failure and murder of the Egyptian - and today, we are looking at the big event that shaped his life – Moses and the burning bush. This is the transformational event of his life. We will look at his encounter with God and how it relates to us today.
Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
Verse 1 gives us a bit of a back-story – what has been going on in Moses’ life. This all takes place on the far side of the wilderness – the back side of the desert. Much of this translates to a metaphor of what is going on in Moses’ life. Though Moses was physically living in a wilderness, he was also SPIRITUALLY living in a wilderness.
Stephen tells us in the book of Acts, chapter 7, that Moses was about 40 years old when he killed the Egyptian and fled into the wilderness. And then a few verses later, tells us that he spent 40 years in that wilderness when he comes by the burning bush – so for 40 years, he was far from his family – he married a foreign woman and seems to have lost his faith. We don’t know that for sure – but there are indications that he has set it all aside. He is living with his father-in-law – he had two sons who were not circumcised – and it is in this situation – when it seems like it is too late – that Moses is finished – that it all begins. God encounters Moses and makes it clear it is not too late. No matter how far you have strayed, God is able to connect with you and enter in to that person’s life.
This is the only time God encounters a person with a burning bush – so we won’t go out looking for burning bushes – they don’t burn here anyway, they are too soggy. But God wants to have encounters with us – to speak with us – to make His presence known. There are principles here:
1) The angel of the Lord appeared to him – God is the initiator here – He determined how and when it happened. It is not something we can manipulate – it is God who determines when He is going to encounter us and speak with us. There is a subtle and serious distinction between wanting to experience God and trying to produce some sort of spiritual encounter. There is a fine line we should not cross there.
3:3 So Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
Moses turned – he was willing to see what God wanted. And it is THEN that God speaks.
We need to turn – to make ourselves available to listen to God – to create space where God can connect with God. We don’t often connect with God because we don’t create the space for God to speak to us. There was an opportunity for God to get Moses’ attention.
Do you believe that God wants to encounter you? Do you believe that? That God wants to connect with you and that he can? If you don’t believe that can happen, it probably won’t. For Moses, it happened on a very ordinary day – he was just doing his job – he had some livestock that were grazing – and in the context of a regular day God met him. And it can happen with us. It doesn’t have to be a special time.
I was driving this week – and I was spending some time with God – and I popped in a podcast – and as the guy spoke – there was something that I had been working over – and he spoke to it – and God was putting these things together in my heart. He was speaking of something different, but the principle applied. Often people tell me – how did you know – you spoke directly to me in this circumstance – and I think – how does this apply to that circumstance? But God can speak through Biblical principles to everyone. I didn’t drive by and see a burning car that didn’t stop burning! He knows what we need to hear and how we need to be encountered. He is looking to do that. But like Moses, we need to take some time to turn. Maybe it is turning AWAY from television/being overly busy/some idol in your life that has you caught and hooked.
It was an ordinary event that became extraordinary because God entered that event. God took an ordinary man of ordinary circumstance and gave him an extraordinary task. By this time in Moses’ life – he was washed up – a failure – his big claim to fame was murdering someone and having to flee to the wilderness.
You are not too far gone for God to do something extraordinary with your life. It might not be that you become famous – but you may minister in a lonely place – to touch lives – that God has something significant for all of us – at any point. He really does.
5 Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
I think there were two things going on here – I think when you see God, you must turn your face – but also, because of his failure and sin, he was afraid to look at God.
Remember when Peter and the guys were fishing and Jesus told him to put out the net on the other side? Peter: Depart from me – I am a sinful man.
Moses is hiding his face – not only from the glory, but because of the shame.
Isaiah: I am a man of unclean lips!
When you see glory – you realize you are not there. This is a necessary step for transformation – you need to be overwhelmed by God’s glory and your sinfulness. What we will see – it is not about feeling guilty, because God offers tremendous grace to Moses. Yes, this is holiness, but a holiness of grace and love – not guilt. It is realizing WHO God is and who we are.
7 And the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…
This is God’s grace – “I have seen” – “I have heard their cry” “I know their sorrows” “I have come down to deliver”
Moses has gone through failure and living in the wasteland – and everyone was asking if God was really out there – and God is saying – I have seen and heard – I have been watching – and now I am coming down.
When God delays, there is mystery in that – I don’t know the answer. Sometimes God delays with us – maybe not a couple centuries, but maybe a decade or two – but we might not understand the mystery – But God is good.
9 “And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
I am going to deliver – and I am going to do it for you.
God answers suffering – by calling people to stand for and with those who suffer. And the people He is calling? Guess who? You and me.
It is easy to want to fix somebody – it is another thing to enter in. It is easy to teach and instruct – what is difficult is entering in to the person’s life – to enter in to what they are feeling and to enter their suffering – to find out what it really feels like. That is what God is doing with Moses. That is what God did – He entered into our world and our lives and our struggle.
Now – as He sends Moses – we are sent in to people’s struggle and need – but Moses is also sent with a specific message – to deliver the people from slavery. We are sent to help people – to minister – to cook meals – to give and serve – but we are also sent with a message – that Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day – and through that we have forgiveness of sins.
A couple of weeks ago – I was asked by a friend – our sons ran together – he is a single Dad – we’re having a wedding – would you do it? I said sure. A couple of years later – his step mom passed away – would you come and do the funeral? This can be difficult – there is no faith family there – no church that they belonged to – but I saw it as an opportunity to come into their pain – but also to deliver a message.
One of the guys there coaches little kid baseball (which is a nightmare in itself!) – Beginning of every year – he tells his families – I am a Christian – I go to Grace Summit – and it changes the way I coach. We all have circumstances where we can properly, graciously introduce the message. Not in every moment in every day.
At this point – Moses become reluctant. I don’t want to say that he makes excuses -
11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain."
13 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM";
First sign of reluctance – What is His name? I don’t really know who this is – who are you really. He realizes that his relationship with God is just not right – he doesn’t know God the way that He will need to know God to accomplish the task. We need to take time to know God better – if we are to be sustained in the task He has called us to do.
4:1 Then Moses answered and said, "What if they will not believe me, or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The Lord has not appeared to you.'"
“I get no respect” – and it is true – when he stopped the fight and killed the Egyptian – the Israelite guys asked – who are you? Will you attack us too? But our concern of what others think should not determine our response to God’s call.
Third:
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
Moses thought of himself as one who could not communicate
11 And the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes [him] dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 “Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."
And Moses’ next area of reluctance is his weakness – but it is in our inadequacies that God’s power and resources are revealed.
Finally:
13 But he said, "Please, Lord, now send [the message] by whomever Thou wilt."
Moses is saying – I have heard it all – and I don’t want to do it. Find someone else!
And then, for the first time in the Bible it says that God was angry with an individual.
14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, "Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
God understands our weaknesses and failures and fears – and He is okay with it. He is not looking to call the perfect, or the extraordinary – or the mighty – He is calling the ordinary – and we all fit into that – and often, He calls the sub-ordinary! Moses was 80! I don’t know where you are – but it can start NOW! Let’s pray.