Andrew M first preached this on September 3rd at St Denys, Exodus 3:1-15 - Moses, God and the Burning Bush

Introduction

We are starting a new series, aiming to go deeper into what it means to be a Friend and Follower of Jesus.  This is the way that we like to think of ourselves here at St Denys, because it sums up so well what it means to be a Christian.  It speaks to it being about a relationship with God, our Father in heaven – we can know Jesus His son as a friend.  And it speaks to Jesus being Lord and the Lord of our lives – the one we want copy and the example we want to follow.

 If we want to understand more about what it means to be a Friend and Follower of Jesus, there are good reasons for focusing on Moses, and today I want us to think of him in the category of a work in progress.  Does that make it a bit easier to get started?  Can we identify with that concept as we move into the story from Moses’s life that we have read today?

Moses Early Life

Moses had had a very unusual start to life.  We are talking about three and a half thousand years ago (1,450 years before Jesus was born) and the Hebrew people, God’s chosen people known as Israel, had become enslaved in Egypt where they had originally travelled as economic migrants during a period of famine.  They had grown numerically, and become a threat to Egyptian society.  Moses had survived into childhood and avoided Pharoah’s purge of Hebrew male newborns through a cunning bit of deception, and he had grown up with an Egyptian education in the royal household.

 However, he reacted angrily to the injustice of a Hebrew slave being beaten and committed murder.  He fled the scene and became a fugitive in the desert of Midian, where he married and became a father.  His fall from grace, from a position of privilege, was huge … but God was preparing him for a future that only He knew!

An Extraordinary Encounter

And it was here, in the desert, that an extraordinary encounter happened.  Moses was looking after his father-in-law’s sheep when he saw something strange – a bush in the distance was on fire, but it wasn’t being destroyed by the flames.  Moses decided not to ignore this strange phenomenon, but decided to go and investigate.  Curiosity got the better of him, and it was then that God called him.

 There have been other people in the Bible who have experienced God visibly if not in human form.  Abraham saw the smoking fire-pot and blazing torch.  Jacob wrestled with a man.  Moses was called directly by God, by name, from within the burning bush … and responded to this call: “Here I am”.  So that Moses knew exactly who he was dealing with, God showed him His holiness.  Moses had to remove his shoes (a sign of respect), stay his distance, and stop looking – Moses hid his face.  God is awesome and holy and sovereign.  God is our friend … but also our sovereign Lord!

God Calls Moses   

As we read on we see all sorts of questioning by Moses about his suitability to be called by God.  But we see here, first and foremost, God calling Moses.  Calling Moses to be His man for the time.  Calling him to rise up and be the voice of God … to Pharoah and to His people.

God Appoints Moses

The next thing we see in v 7-11 is that Moses is appointed to carry out a specific task.  The suffering of the Hebrews has not gone unnoticed, and God has a rescue plan.  Moses was to be the central figure in this and was appointed to deal with Pharoah and bring the people out of captivity in Egypt.  Wow … he couldn’t have seen that one coming!

 And so the excuses start coming thick and fast.  Why me?  Who am I? Who am I to say that you are, God?  I’m not even good with words … and so on.

God Anoints Moses

 It is not surprising that Moses felt inadequate to the task.  It was natural to feel the way that he did.  But God wasn’t asking Moses to work alone – He offered other resources to help, to make the seemingly impossible mission possible.  He was given brother Aaron to help, the ability to do miracles and, most importantly, God’s self-definition of who He is - I AM / Yahweh – and the promise of His presence with Moses and with His people.  So …Moses was anointed for the task in hand.

The account of the burning bush is our first window into the life of Moses, and shows us how God called him – called him to be God’s man for the time.  How he appointed him – appointed him to a specific and mind-blowing task.  And how God anointed him – anointed him to succeed, equipped by God himself.

What Can We Learn as Friends & Followers of Jesus?

So, what can we learn from all this for ourselves, today at St Denys? 

We are called:

Firstly, we too are called.  We are a people called by God.  I Peter 2:9 says: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.¨  We are the Church called out of darkness and into His wonderful light.  We live with purpose.  We walk with direction.  We stand in promises because we have been called by God.  We like Moses have been invited to be a part of the plan and purpose of God.

God spoke to Moses from an unexpected source, a burning bush.  When Moses saw it, he went to investigate.  God may use unexpected sources when communicating with us too, whether people, thoughts or experiences.  Are we willing to investigate and be open to God’s surprises?  If you are not yet sure whether you are a Christian, allow your curiosity to get the better of you.  Keep exploring, keep listening … because whatever our past, whatever our failings, God wants to use us … because He is in the business of using imperfect people to accomplish His mission on earth.  Through Jesus, we are forgiven and brought into a right relationship with God.  We will see over the next few weeks how God moulded Moses to become a truly great leader of Israel.  Throughout his long life he was a work in progress.

We have a role and purpose within God's plan:

Secondly, like Moses God gives each and every one of us a role and purpose within His plan – specific tasks that play to our natural strengths and abilities … and which draw on our life experiences, good and bad.  We are all called to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, and to love our neighbour.  But the specific outworking of this will be different for each of us.  Few of us will be tasked to lead, but Jesus himself took on the role of serving.  All of us are to have Jesus’s servant heart.  Our service will vary, and depend on abilities and opportunities.  But we are all needed and all have our part to play.  We are sometimes asked to consider what new things God might be wanting us to do, how He might want us to serve Him within the church.  Again, I would encourage all of us to be curious, to be open to new things and to keep listening.

God equips and anoints us for the part he wants us to play:

And finally, if all this sounds a bit scary, taking us way out of our comfort zone … well, that is God for you!  Make no mistake about it, God cares about the suffering of mankind, the mess this world is in, just as He wept over the Israelites in captivity in Egypt.  He is not remote, uncaring, unresponsive.  He has a rescue plan.  He wants people to be back in relationship with Him – as friends of Jesus, and to walk in His ways - as followers of Jesus – His commands and His example.  And He equips and anoints us for the part He wants us to play in making His kingdom come on earth.

 Through signs and wonders God worked to empower Moses to bring the most powerful government on the earth to its knees.  Pharoah, a man who considered himself a living God, finally came to submit to the one true God.

Called to be effective, not big or popular!

Moses led his people out not by his own ability but, in fact, despite it.  Effective does not mean big.  Just because a church is large does not mean it is effective. Many of the largest churches are drawing great crowds and they are highly effective entertainers but not highly effective churches.

 Effective does not mean popular.  Churches can have the favour of all the community making everyone happy by watering down the gospel, avoiding controversial subjects and accepting any and all ideas as equal ... but they are not highly effective churches.  Effective means that lives will be changed, eternities impacted, and the kingdom expanded as a result of our living in the calling of God.  Is that our heart-felt prayer for ourselves and for St Denys?

A closing thought from an African pastor: “The Lord has his faithful servants planted in the places they are least expected so that they can carry out the work of God where it is most opposed.”  (Rev Dr Musa Gotom)