Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

Excuses excuses.

When we don’t want to do whatever we’ve been asked to do, we make excuses - it’s part of our DNA, I think - we think of a logical, reasonable excuse for not doing what we have been asked to do.

Or perhaps it’s not even when we don’t WANT to do whatever it is - sometimes we make excuses when we are afraid of what it is we’ve been asked to do.

Perhaps we’ve been asked to do something that terrifies us and so we make excuses.

I noticed online, when I was preparing this, that there are websites that actually give advice on how to give the best excuse for missing work.

Here are some real-life excuses given for missing work.

Apparently these were actual excuses.

[Show list]

Ok, so these are funny excuses…and, like I said, apparently they are real - and I suppose for some of them you couldn’t really make them up, or at least, if you were, you’d think of something more convincing than that.

But the point is that we make excuses - legitimate excuses for things that we don’t want to do or for things that we are scared of doing.

And if you have ever made an excuse like that, you’re not the first...

Because, today we’re going to see the great lengths that Moses went through to get out of going back into Egypt, face his own people and face Pharaoh.

Because Moses went to such lengths to make excuses that he got God himself angry - and that’s pretty impressive.

God who is SLOW to anger even got to the end of his tether with Moses, as we shall see.

Pause

And it all starts in chapter 3 where we see one of the most well-known stories in the bible and in the story of Moses.

Moses has an encounter with God through a burning bush.

Now, if you remember from last week, Moses was brought up by his own mother, although under interesting circumstances - but he was brought up as a Hebrew boy because he was one....

And he then lived with Pharaoh’s daughter until he murdered an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave.

Pharaoh wanted to kill him so he ran for his life to Midian and he settled down and got married to Zipporah, the priest of Midian’s daughter, they had a son, and Moses became a shepherd.

Now, how old was Moses at this time?

Well, Acts 7 tells us that Moses was 40 when he fled Egypt to Midian.

And Exodus 7 tells us that he was 80 when he returned to Egypt - so Moses, at this point in time was around 80 years old…somewhere between 40 and 80, but more likely much closer to 80 years old.

And it was when he was out with the sheep in the wilderness that he sees this bush that is on fire but is not being consumed.

And it is interesting that it is in the wilderness that he experiences God.

And sometimes in our lives, it is in the wilderness times of our lives, when it appears that nothing is happening or has happened for years, and we are in a drought of sorts, that we, too can experience God.

Sometimes that’s when God reveals himself most clearly.

But what you’ve got to see is that the bush wasn’t on fire - what Moses saw was the fire of God - this was like the pillar of fire that led the Israelites in the wilderness, which we’ll see later in the story - this was the fire of God.

And God spoke to Moses from within the bush.

Moses said here I AM… Interesting use of words.

Pause

God then tells Moses to take off his sandals because the place where he is standing is holy ground…Again, note that it’s not the bush that is holy, but the place where he is standing is holy.

And Moses takes his sandals off out of reverence for God.

And God introduces himself to Moses and says that he is the God of his father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, at which point Moses is freaked out - he is afraid to look at God and he turns his face away.

Then the Lord tells Moses what we touched on at the end of last week’s sermon - he tells Moses that he has heard the groaning of his people and he’s come to deliver them...

Now I want you to notice verse 8 here…What does God say to Moses?

God says that I have come down to rescue them.

God doesn’t say, I want you to rescue them.

He doesn’t say, I have chosen you to rescue them.

God tells Moses, ‘I…ME…I am the one who has come down to rescue them.’

But he still wants to use Moses, which is why he says to Moses in verse 10...

Pause

So when it comes to Moses leading the people out of Egypt - God is doing the work here, not Moses.

Let’s stop here for a second and remember what we said last week - that God has chosen the church to be his instrument in spreading the good news about Jesus Christ.

Let’s remember that God doesn’t NEED the church to do this work.

And in the same way as with Moses, let’s ALSO remember that when it comes to the church God is doing the work, not us.

He USES us - sure, but it is GOD who is doing the work.

Pause

One commentator wrote this on the passage...

God’s word, God’s rule, God’s teaching, God’s deliverance come not from man, no matter who that man may be, but from God

That needs to be front and centre of everything we think about with respect to the church, with respect to our own mission and individual calling, and with respect to everything that we say and do…God does HIS work HIS way - and it is GOD who is doing the work.

We might be the vessel to be used, but it is GOD who is doing the work because it is HIS work.

So when it comes to the church, who is God’s chosen instrument in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ - it’s GOD’S work and he does it HIS way.

Now, that should take the pressure off us a little.

Pause

But when Moses is told to go to Pharaoh, the excuses start to flow...

The first one is in verse 11...

WHO AM I? Interesting use of words.

When God calls Moses, he says, ‘Here I AM.’

And now he asks, ‘Who AM I?’

This isn’t humility - this is inferiority.

Moses is scared.

He doesn’t want to face Pharaoh.

Of course God’s reply is...

It’s OK Moses…I will be with you.

Don’t forget, Moses, this is MY work and I’m doing it MY way and it WILL be done…so don’t worry because I AM God and I AM with you.

Pause

But that doesn’t seem to help Moses, so off comes another excuse...

Ok, God, let’s leave Pharaoh aside for a second…what happens if I go to my OWN people, the Israelites and tell them that their GOD has sent me and they ask what his name is, what am I going to say?

Now, there is so much in these verses that it would take weeks to unpack, which we don’t have.

But God’s response is one of the key moments in the bible...

God says...

I AM…interesting choice of words.

Moses says, ‘Here I AM.’

Moses says, ‘who AM I?’

Then he says, ‘Who are YOU?’

God’s reply is ‘I AM’

What does this mean?

Simply put, this is God telling Moses his name and also who he is - God IS…he always IS, he never WAS and he never WILL BE, he always IS… And because he always is he, is assuring Moses of his presence.

Moses isn’t given a name, per se, he is given an assertion of authority…but when you write down the words ‘I AM’ in Hebrew it is almost identical to the the written form of Israel’s God’s name... Yahweh.

So God is telling Moses - tell my people that the God you were speaking to IS the God of their fathers, the eternal God who was and is and is to come…in fact, who IS and IS and IS again.

And it is my IS-ing that means that I am always present.

I AM hearing their cries and I AM answering…and I AM with you.

Pause

That isn’t enough for Moses.

Excuse after excuse after excuse.

Either Moses didn’t want to do this or he was scared…or maybe a bit of both.

But he’s being called by God and God wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.

So God gives Moses a few signs.

First of all his staff turns into a snake - and digging a little deeper you’ll discover that snakes were worshipped by Egyptians - so God has power and authority over the Egyptians gods.

Then Moses’ hand becomes leprous and then is healed.

And the third sign isn’t performed, but the water in the Nile will be turned to blood, which was the first of the plagues in Egypt, which we’ll see later in the story.

Pause

But that isn’t enough for Moses, so Moses says...

And God’s response is a great encouragement to back up all the other encouragement that he has already given...

‘Hang on a second, Moses…you say you can’t talk, that you are slow of speech and tongue?

Who made your tongue?

eh?