Moses' Response is Our Response
All year we are going through the Story of All Stories looking at the story of God and how we fit into God’s grand, beautiful story of redemption, relationship, and love. It is my hope and prayer that this series so far has brought a sense of clarity, raised a few questions, and helped to portray the wonder of God and his heart for you and me. We genuinely believe that there is no story like God’s story.
On Sunday we looked at the beginning of the Exodus, which is God’s story of bringing his people into the land of promise. The timeline of Israelite enslavement in Egypt was 400 years, as prophesied by God in Genesis 15 where he formed the covenant between himself and Abraham. In that covenant God promised Abraham that he would be made into a great nation, that all people on earth would be blessed through him, and that one day, he would receive a new land, the land of promise.
The tragedy of this promise, in our eyes, is that Abraham never saw the land he was promised by God. He died not having received the promise, and yet Hebrews 11 lists him as a person of faith who trusted that even though he didn’t receive the promise of God in his lifetime, that God would in fact remain faithful to bring his new people, the nation of God, into the land of promise. And the Exodus story is that very story. The journey of God’s people receiving the land of promise that had been waited on for 650 years (the timeline between the promise made by God to Abraham and the Iraelite people actually entering the land was 650 years).
Exodus 3 begins and God meets Moses in an ordinary bush to reestablish his extraordinary power and presence, his love and compassion for his people. In this seemingly strange encounter between Moses, a burning bush and God, God makes it clearly known that he hears us, he sees us, he cries with us, he feels the pains we feel. He then calls Moses out of his position as shepherd and farmer and into one of bringer of freedom, leader of the lost, and conduit of God’s love for his people. In Exodus 3:10 God tells Moses to go to Egypt to bring his people out of slavery. To bring the salvation of God to his people. And in Moses’ response to this call he reveals the hearts of all people when called by God to participate in the story of mission and redemption. So how does Moses respond?
Upon hearing God’s call to go to Egypt, Moses makes 5 objections that are a reflection of so many responses I have given to the calling of God on my life. What are these objections?
Who Am I? (Exodus 3:11) Countless moments in my life I have felt feelings of inadequacy. Like I am not good enough to lead, to be loved, to be worthy of someone’s care and kindness. And this constant feeling of inadequacy causes me to overcompensate by trying to make people love me or like me by thinking I’m funny, fit, a good speaker, or whatever it is that will make you like me. The hard truth is that these feelings of inadequacy, or the inability to measure up, are in so many of us. And so we hear the calling of God to love people, to invite people, to share faith, to...the list of things churches ask you to do is endless. We hear these and feel what Moses spoke to God, but really, who I am to do that?
God’s response to Moses at this moment is so beautiful because he reminds Moses that in God’s eyes, he is more than enough, he is far from inadequate. Instead he is chosen by God. Have you ever felt the pure joy and love of being chosen by someone? God hears the objection of Moses, “Who am I?” To which God responds, “you are Moses, my chosen.”
Moses’ second objection is based not in who he is, but rather in who God is. (Exodus 3:13) God’s response is to reestablish his name, his presence, his power for Moses at that moment. As a parent, there are moments when my kids will test my authority by asking “why” questions that basically are trying to say, “but daddy, who are you to tell me I can or can’t…” And in those moments I will say, “I am Your father.” That is who I am and it is by that authority that I am asking you to do this.
I think God in this moment is saying, “you want to know who I am?” “I am God, I am creator, I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is who I am.” God’s response would have carried tremendous weight with Moses because Moses would have known the power and authority with which God interacted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we feel like we need to ask God who he is for asking us certain things, it’s ok. He will gently remind us that he is God and it is by that name that he act.
Moses’ third objection comes as he is ok with going but is concerned if people will actually believe what he is saying. (Exodus 4:1) This is a common objection to participating in God’s mission in the world. The way God responds is important because he tells Moses that he will show the people through his work and power that what Moses is saying is true. Now, we don’t have a staff that turns into snakes to prove that Jesus is real. But what we have is just as powerful. We have the power of Jesus’ life ministry from Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Our “proof” of God’s truth is found in our willingness to engage in the freedom of oppression, poverty, abuse, and more. These speak louder than a stick turning into a snake.
Moses’ fourth objection is one we have all used before. He objects on the grounds that he isn’t gifted enough. (Exodus 4:10) This is similar to the “Who Am I” objection but specifically calls into attention our giftedness.
When I wanted to go into full time ministry I would tell people I just didn’t want to preach because I didn’t think I was good at it. I had a friend tell me that if I wanted to make God laugh then tell him what I wouldn’t do for him. Sure enough here I am preaching every week, albeit not super well.
God’s response to Moses’ objection is to remind him that it isn’t his words that change people’s hearts toward him, but rather God’s. Part of our role is realizing that we don’t have the gifts to do much of anything beyond high five each other and love each other when we are struggling. And even in that we need help. But the God of creation has the ability and power to use you and me to do far beyond what we could on our own giftedness. Trust in his giftedness through you.
Final objection of Moses was simply, but God, I don’t want to do this. (Exodus 4:13). I can’t tell you how often I have felt this very thing. God, I can’t do this, I am not gifted, I am not adequate, just send those guys who are obviously better at this than me. God’s response isn’t quite what we expect because he gets mad and tells Moses he will send Aaron to help. But think about this. Why was he upset? Because Moses wouldn’t believe what God saw in him. And still God paved a way for Moses to go but with help. So Aaron goes with him to free God’s people from Egypt.
The feeling of not wanting to go is common and not the end of the world. I think God gets frustrated, not because we won’t go but because we can’t see what he sees in us or in the people he is asking us to go to. And if we could just see those things then we would pack our bags and walk into the unknown with a readiness and confidence that far outweighs our feelings of fear.
Moses’ interaction with God’s calling so clearly reveals the hearts of most humans when faced with the calling of God on their lives. Ultimately Moses goes to Egypt and is used in ways that were far beyond his expectation or understanding. But he led God’s people out of slavery and to the edges of the land of promise. The question for us is, when we hear the call of God to participate in his activity in the world, what is our response? All these responses are ok as long as we allow ourselves to keep moving through them. Because we never know what we miss out on if we decide not to participate.
We have so much more to uncover about God’s story this year. I am so glad to be going through this with you all. Let’s keep digging in and trusting each other and God this year. Love you all.