Sermon Central
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It's Not You, It's Me Series
Contributed by Brian Vickers on Feb 12, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: A sermon illustrating the fact that the call of God on our lives is about being used for God’s glory.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
The Story of Moses
Let me ask you a question this morning. Let’s say that you were once involved in a dating relationship with someone and that you had spent a lot of time together over several months. You believed that the relationship was going well when one day, out of the blue, that special someone said, “I don’t think that we should date anymore.”
For a lot of people, maybe even most, the initial shock of the situation is often voiced in a flurry of questions. “Did I do or say something wrong?” “Have I made you angry?” “What can I do, how can I change so that we can stay together.”
Then it comes, the “It’s not you. It’s me.” line.
When faced with life-altering news like that, our first inclination is to consider the implication for…me. How does this affect my plans for tomorrow. We’re like the lyrics to the Carly Simon song, “You’re so vain. I’ll bet you think this song is about you…”
Moses was just like the rest of us. He wasn’t talking relationship with his girlfriend, his conversation was about God’s call to serve him in ministry. But the jist was the same: what about me?
In the course of their conversation God would make abundantly clear who our call centers on.
It’s Not About The Call of Others
Wednesday night our youth pastor met with some other leaders. He spent some time watching how another ministry does things, looking for inspiration and good ideas.
Next month I’ll be going to a prayer summit if the Lord allows me and one of the things I’ll be searching for is ways to help our church grow in certain areas. I’ll go to a class or two, ask some questions, see some other things.
We do that – compare what we’re doing or where we’re going to others who are similar in nature. It’s human nature to look and see what’s going down on the other side of that fence. But understand today: that’s not what the call of God on your life is about. What other people are doing or where they are going is not the same as your call. What they might think or say or believe has no real bearing what God is calling you to do.
Moses’ stated concern here in Exodus 3 was not, “Well God, I’d like to see some ID because I’m not sure you’re really who you say you are.” No, his concern was that his peers, his contemporaries, his family and friends wouldn’t believe in him. He was making a comparison and saying, “There aren’t any other guys coming in saying they heard from ‘God’. They’re going to say I’m crazy or ask, ‘What God are you talking about?’ and I’m not ready to deal with that kind of rejection.
God says, “Moses, it’s not you we’re talking about. It’s me.” Another leader of Israel would experience something similar a long time down the road.
1 Samuel 8:6-8 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
When God begins to deal with your heart, he may call you to work with the hungry or minister in a jailhouse or serve in the nursery or drive a bus. No matter where you’re called there will be people who will wonder, some will question, and others will flat out reject that it’s God’s will at all. But when it comes to God’s call on your life, it’s not about comparing your call to someone else’s. The call of God on your life is about God.
It’s Not About Those We’re Called To
God states matter of factly, “The elders of Israel will listen to you.” Let God worry about confirming your call to others. Remember what we saw last week: We need to go where He sends us, say what He tells us and do what we’re instructed. The rest is in God’s hands.
Not only is it not about the call of others, the people we’re called to are not the driving force behind our mission.
“I will stretch out my hand…”
“I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed…”
This assignment was not based on the ability of Moses to convince the king of Egypt of the truth of the message. God wasn’t depending on the people in Egypt being awestruck because of Moses’ burning bush experience. In fact, there was no expectation that the people involved would do anything outside of what people can normally do.
