"What Should I do with the Life God Gave Me: The Bush is Still Burning"
Exodus 3:1-4:13
Sometimes when we wake up in the morning and take a look at ourselves in the mirror we might not like some of the things we see.
Perhaps we become self-critical of the things we don't like about ourselves.
Sometimes this leads us to criticize others based on what we don't like about ourselves.
Well, I'm your pastor.
And if you find yourself doing this--STOP IT!!!
It's a waste of time.
Listen to the voice of God instead!!!
And God is saying to you--"You are standing on holy ground,"
"I am with you,"
"I am the Lord, the God of your ancestors,"
"Now go and live the full life of service I have called you to--I'll teach you what you should do and say."
God loves us.
God created us.
God died for us.
God calls us--everyone of us to serve Him so as to make disciples of Jesus Christ in order to transform this messed up world.
And messed up, it is.
As you know, this past week journalist James Foley was beheaded by the terrorist group--Isis(L).
James was 40 years old, was one of 5 siblings and had parents who loved him dearly.
It is hard to believe that human beings are capable of this sort of--seemingly--inhuman behavior.
As the President said, "One thing we can all agree on is that a group like Isis(L) has no place in the 21st Century."
But here they are all the same.
In our own country, we have watched in trepidation, the violence, anger and chaos that erupted in Ferguson, Missouri.
And here at home, in East Ridge, North Georgia and Chattanooga--we have shootings nearly daily.
There are children living on the streets and in cars.
People are destroying themselves with drugs.
Folks living right next door to us are enslaved and oppressed by economic hardship, no positive role models, gangs, and life without relationship with God.
Whole generations are living with no hope for a better future.
And God has decided to use you and me to change all this.
But we aren't called to do it alone.
We aren't called to do it with our own power.
We are called to do it, together, as the church.
And we are called to do it with the power of God living in us, enabling us, strengthening us, surprising us.
God has gifted each of us and calls each of us to use His spiritual gifts so that this church--the Body of Christ on this block--will be the most effective human transformation system possible.
We are called to use the gifts God has bestowed on each one of us to do our part in transforming the world, by bringing others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ--the only One Who can save us, and then inviting them into the Church--the Body of Christ so that we can all be transformed together.
A couple of weeks ago, we started talking about spiritual gifts.
And we learned that spiritual gifts are just what they say they are: gifts!!!
They aren't merely acquired skills or natural abilities.
They are something we are given when we are saved.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: "A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good."
We are in this together.
The success of the life-changing mission of this church doesn't just rest on me, any one individual or just a handful of people.
We all have an important part to play.
When we joined East Ridge United Methodist Church, we made a promise to God, to ourselves and to the Church that we would uphold this particular Church with our service!!!
Which means every single one of us is accountable to God, ourselves and this Church as to whether or not we keep our part of this bargain.
We have a spiritual gifts inventory which many of you have taken home.
For those who did not get one, I pray you will take one today.
They are out in the hall.
Take it home and enjoy taking the test.
There are no wrong answers.
When we discover our spiritual gifts, we find out what is unique about our call from God; we discover that which most personally relates us to our Creator.
And because of this, our deepest joy comes from using the gifts God has given us to do God's work in the world.
(pause)
When Moses was called by God, the Hebrew people had been enslaved for some time by the Egyptians.
They made their lives miserable and hard.
And God had decided to use Moses to "bring...the Israelites out of Egypt."
But Moses didn't have a very good view of himself.
It's as if Moses would get up every morning, look at his reflection in the mirror and say: "Ugghh!!!"
"I'm good for nothing."
But God had a completely different take on Moses!!!
God called Moses from that burning bush and said, "Get going, I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites out of Egypt."
But Moses was sure God had picked the wrong guy.
So he said to God, "Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Moses had been so highly critical of himself for so long that he believed his own self-assessment.
Can any of you relate?
Is this kind of thing keeping you from doing what God is calling you to do?
Are you in the way of God's calling on your life?
And, you know, we are all called by God.
The Greek word for call means an "upward call," a "holy call," a "shared call," and a "hopeful call."
God calls us to share in God's joy and God's purpose.
And central to this call is the salvation of the world.
Have you/are you answering God's call?
Or do you feel inadequate.
There is no doubt that God will often call us to do things that are beyond our comfort zones.
And therefore, we can have a tendency to resist God's call.
We often say to God, "That's beyond my abilities."
We plead our inadequacies.
But God's call remains.
And we will never be at peace until we answer His call.
Think about Moses.
There he was.
It was a normal day.
He was busy taking care of his father-in-law's flocks of sheep.
And all of a sudden he sees a fire in a bush--a bush is burning, but it won't burn up.
"Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn't burning up."
"When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!"
"Moses said, 'I'm here.'"
I wonder what would have happened if Moses hadn't gone to check out that "amazing sight."
He didn't have to do it.
God didn't force him.
He had a busy day, a full agenda.
He could have kept going and missed his call.
He could have missed the Exodus.
He could have missed knowing God.
But the world has never been the same because, because Moses went to check out what God was doing.
You have to wonder.
How many times have there been little shrubs on fire, but with a great calling missed just because somebody didn't take the time to "check it out."
Once Moses came to God, God issued God's call on his life.
"I've seen my people oppressed in Egypt.
I've heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters.
I know about their pain.
I've come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that's full of milk and honey...
...So get going, I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites out of Egypt."
Now, Moses was not stupid.
He knew that Pharaoh was the most powerful man on earth, and yet God was saying, "Go. Tell Pharaoh you're taking his labor force out of his country. Then just walk out."
Moses knew this would not go over well.
So, Moses was quick to object: "Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Do you remember when Dana Carvey used to do his George H.W. Bush impression?
He would say, "Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be wise. Wouldn't be prudent."
That's kind of like Moses' first response.
I'd imagine Moses was thinking, "I'm just a broken-down shepherd in the desert. Who am I that I should go?"
And I know I've said those words when called to do something, how about you?
I heard God's call to go into the ordained ministry when I was 5 years old, and I planned to answer that call.
I went to college, expecting to follow it up immediately with seminary.
I went to a United Methodist event called "Exploration" where young people who are thinking about going into full-time ministry go for a weekend of...well...exploration.
It was at that event that I decided, "Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent."
So I ran in another direction.
But the whole time, God was continuing to call me.
Eventually, 7 years later, I found myself on the campus of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, set to begin my 3-year Master Degree Program in Divinity.
God's reply to Moses was, "I'll be with you.
And this will show you that I'm the one who sent you."
In other words, God says to Moses the same thing God says to you and me and a billion other "Moses" just like us: "Yes, I know who you are.
It doesn't matter.
Your sin, your limitations, your shortcomings are no longer the ultimate truth about you.
I will be with you.
You are mine."
And this is the promise of God's calling.
God may take us out of our comfort zone, but never out of His caring hands.
Still, this is not enough.
Moses tried another line of objection: "Who are you?"
"If I now come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' if they ask me, 'What's this God's name?' What am I supposed to say to them?'"
When Moses asked for God's name, he wasn't looking for a label for identification purposes.
A name is much deeper than that.
A name, in the Old Testament, had to do with someone's character.
He's asking here about God's character, about God's trustworthiness.
In today's world, if you want immediate access to an important, busy person, you want their cell phone number--their private line.
It cuts through all the layers of bureaucracy.
Your call goes right through.
This is what Moses was asking.
"Will I have access to you--or are you a distant God?
What can I tell my people about You--Your heart, Your power, Your availability?
Will I get through to You, or will there be barriers?
What is Your name?"
And God tells him that GREAT NAME: "I Am Who I Am."
"I am the God Who saw you as a baby hidden in the reeds.
I am the God Who saw you in the desert when you fled as a fugitive.
I am the God of your ancestors.
I am the God of infinite power.
I am the God Who cares for My people."
This becomes a defining moment in the history of God's dealings with the human race.
God says to Moses and God says to all of us: "I want to be known. I want you to grow in the knowledge of me and who I am."
If we are going to step out to serve God, we need to know God.
And this isn't just a matter of theology, it's a matter of survival.
There will be days when God's character is all we will have to hold onto.
It's all we will have to trust.
In the final analysis, following the call of God is all about trust.
It's all about clinging to the character of God made known through Jesus Christ in the face of risk, weakness, and possible failure.
Thankfully, there will never be a day when clinging to the character of God will not be enough!!!
But Moses still has his objections.
And these are based on what he sees when he looks in the mirror.
"My Lord, I've never been able to speak well, not yesterday, not the day before, and certainly not now since you've been talking to your servant. I have a slow mouth and a thick tongue."
And God's response is, in essence, "Where do you think your mouth came from, Moses?
It was my creation.
And I will fill it with amazing words.
I will give you an ability far beyond your own human ability."
And what we see here is a foretaste of the distribution of spiritual gifts!!!
God will give Moses an ability beyond Moses own human powers.
When God calls, God always gifts and empowers.
But we are a stubborn species.
Moses objects again.
"Please, my Lord, just send someone else."
And this time, we are told that Moses will not have to carry out this mission by himself.
He can do it in community.
Aaron can help.
Later on, God will also send Moses' sister, Miriam.
They will be a team.
They will do the job together.
As the Church of Jesus Christ here in this stretch of East Ridge, we are a team--a called and gifted team.
This world and this city is a mess.
We are called to do our part in changing that.
God will empower us.
We are not called to do this alone.
Each of us are a part of Christ's Body.
We each have a part to play.
There's an interesting thing about the story of Moses.
We find out what happened to Moses.
We find out what happened to the children of Israel.
We find out what happened to Pharaoh and the soldiers.
But we never find out what happened to the bush.
You know what I think?
I think it's still burning.
God is still calling us to "Go out into the world and change it."
Will we hear God's call and courageously pursue it?
