For the past few weeks except for Palm Sunday and Easter, our sermons have centered on the Book of Genesis, corresponding to our Home Bible Survey Course. In our Home Bible Survey, we are now in the Book of Exodus. We start a series of sermons focused on the Book of Exodus and especially on the life of Moses, the great liberator of his people.
You will remember that after the death of Joseph the Hebrew people were in the land of Goshen, which was a part of Egypt. As years went by the Hebrews multiplied greatly and became a numerous people just as God had promised to Abraham. Of course, by this time a new Pharaoh is in power who does not show the benevolent spirit of the Pharaoh in Joseph’s day. The Egyptians now look at the Hebrews with fear and apprehension. They conceive the Hebrews as an internal threat to their security. Suppose the Hebrews throw their allegiance to one of their enemies. They would become a possible enemy within their own borders. So the Egyptians tried all they could to reduce the Hebrew population. So much so that at one time the Pharoah ordered the death of all Hebrew boy babies. At the same time, the Egyptians persecuted the Hebrews with hard and torturous labor.
Moses was born in this timeframe. His mother hid him in an ark made of bulrushes and put the ark in the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter rescued Moses from the river and adopted him as her son. But as God would have it, Moses’ mother was chosen to nurse the baby although the Egyptians did not know she was the mother. So actually Moses was raised in Pharoah’s palace. He was a Hebrew, but the Egyptians raised him as an Egyptian.
One day when Moses had grown up, he saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew. His sentiment was still with the Hebrews although he was considered an Egyptian. So he killed the Egyptian believing no one had seen him do it. The next day he saw two Hebrews fighting each other. When Moses tried to intervene, one of them said, ”Are you going to kill me as you did that Egyptian?” At that time Moses knowing the cat was out of the bag so to speak, became fearful for his life and fled Egypt. He went to a place called Midian where he met a priest named Jethro. Eventually, he married one of Jethro’s daughters and became a shepherd of Jethro’s flock of sheep. It is interesting to know that Moses’ life can be divided into 3 parts of 40. He spent 40 years in the palace of Egypt. He spent 40 years in Midian, and he spent 40 years leading his people out of bondage in Egypt.
As our story today begins, we find Moses tending his father-in-law’s sheep. No doubt he was a skilled shepherd by that time, well-acquainted with the duties of a shepherd. For some reason on this particular day, the sheep grazed farther than usual to a place called Horeb. Moses noticed that a bush was burning somewhere in the distance. During his years as a shepherd, he had often seen bushes burning in the dry and arid desert. But for some reason, this burning bush attracted his attention. He decided to get a closer look at the burning bush. To his amazement, he noticed something different about this bush. It was burning, but it was not consumed by the fire. Generally, the fire would burn out when the bush was consumed by the flames. But this bush kept on burning and burning but was never consumed by the flames. As he took a closer look at the burning bush, the voice of the Lord spoke to him out of the midst of the fire. The text says it was an angel of the Lord, but later on, it speaks of it being the Lord. The voice cries out, “Moses, Moses.” Moses answers, “Here am I.” Let us stop and put on our caps of imagination and try to imagine what was going through Moses’ mind. It was enough that a bush was burning which was not consumed. But now a voice comes from out of the bush calling his name. Then the voice said, “Stop where you are. Don’t come any closer and take your shoes off for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then the Lord introduced Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Bible says Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then we know the rest of the story. God told Moses that he had heard the cries of his Hebrew people and he is sending Moses to tell Pharoah to let his people go. But as we look at the story of the burning bush, can we draw any signs or symbols from it? What lessons can we learn from the burning bush?
The subject for our sermon is the bush still burns. Not only was the bush not consumed by the fire then, but it still burns today. The bush still burns. How does the bush still burn today? First of all, it still burns with a presence that abides. God was in that bush. There is no doubt that this was an appearance of God on earth. That’s why God told Moses that he was standing on holy ground. Wherever God is becomes holy ground. When we come into this place on Sunday, we are standing on holy ground. But wherever God becomes holy. God is everywhere. In a sense wherever we go is holy ground. Is that not a reason for caring for the world that God has left in our care? We should treat everywhere we go as holy ground. But as God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God is telling Moses that he has been around for a long time. God didn’t just get started. He identifies himself as the great I am. God’s name YHWH or Jehovah indicates that he is a self-existent one. God has no beginning and he has no end. Just as the bush burned with the presence of God on that day, the bush still burns with the presence of God today. God has promised never to leave us alone. No matter where we are, no matter where we go, God is with us. We are never alone. The Psalmist said that there is nowhere we can go to escape the presence of God. The bush still burns with a presence that abides. It can be a sobering thought to realize that God knows and sees everything we do. We can’t hide from God and our sins will find us out. But it’s a comforting thought to know that God is with us through all the trials and turmoil of life. We do not face life’s battles alone. God is with us. We are never alone. Some of us have seen the lightning flashing and heard the thunder’s roll. We have felt sin’s breakers dashing trying to conquer our souls. But we have heard the voice of Jesus telling us still to fight on. He has promised never to leave us, never to leave us alone. I don’t care what you are going through, you are never alone. The bush is still burning with a presence that always abides. Many times in my life I thought I was facing hard trials on my own. But God never left me alone.
I had a stepson one time, knowing I didn’t have any close relatives said to me, “I don’t know who’s going to take care of you.” What he didn’t know was that God would take care of me. Beneath his wings of love, I would abide. Through everyday o’er all the way, God would take care of me. He is always there for us, 24/7. In the economic struggle, he’s there. In financial woe, he’s there. In jobless times, he’s there. In the sick room, he’s there. When friends forsake you, he’s there. In lonely nights, he’s there. In cloudy days, he’s there. God is present all the time. The bush still burns with a presence that always abides.
But the bush still burns with a power that always avails. There is power in the presence of God. Some people are with you in hard times. But they can’t do anything to help you. We are glad they are there. But they can’t really do anything to help us. But God is able to do all things. God is with you and he is able. Moses was afraid when God told him he was sending him to set his people free. Moses said, ”Who me? Why me?” Moses thought God was going to do it all. Moses was thrilled when he heard God say that God was going to come down to deliver the people from the Egyptians. Moses thought to himself that a God who could set a bush on fire with an eternal flame could do anything. He was going to deliver his people from bondage in Egypt. But then on the next breath, God said that he was sending Moses to set the people free. When Moses heard that he would have to do it, he said, “I can’t do that. I am unable to do that.” He made up all kinds of excuses for why he couldn’t do it. Moses didn’t understand that even though he was going to Pharoah, God had the power to set the people free. Moses couldn’t set the people free, but God could. Moses was an instrument in God’s hand. A violinist may love to play a beautiful piece of music. But he cannot play it unless he has a violin. The violin is the instrument he uses to play the music. God uses us as his instrument to do what he wants to do through us. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. With God, we can do anything, but without God, we can do nothing. God works through us to accomplish his purpose. We are helpless unless God empowers us to do his will. We have the power, but it is up to us to turn the power on. We have electricity in our homes, but it does us no good unless we turn on the switch, which causes the light to come on. God asked Moses later on what he had in his hands. Moses had the power to do many things because God gave him the power to do it. But he had to use the power God gave him. There is power wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Jesus says that without me you can do nothing. With the power of Jesus, all things are possible. The bush still burns with the power that avails. God has as much power today as he had to keep that bush burning. The power may be manifested in a different way today. The blood of Jesus Christ shed on Calvary resulted in a new kind of power. That blood gives us strength from day to day. It reaches to the highest mountain. It flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives you strength from day to day will never lose its power. Many of us including me often say what we can’t do. We can’t do that. We can’t do this. We can’t turn this church around. We can’t minister to the people in our neighborhood. We can’t get our members to give more money. We can’t get them to do something in the church. We can’t get them to memorize Bible verses. We can’t get them to invite people to church. Our vocabulary is filled with we cants. But we need to get into the habit of saying we can. We can do all things with God on our side. We can do what God gives us the power to do. We can do anything God wants us to do with his power. Don’t sell God short. He is still able. Surely God is able. He’s able. God can do anything but fail. Clouds may gather around you so dark and dreary. But God is able. How do we know he is able? He was Daniel’s stone a rolling. He was Ezekiel’s wheel a turning. He was Moses’ bush a burning. He was Solomon’s rose of Sharon. He was Jeremiah’s mighty battle ax. He has been a friend to the friendless. He’s been a mother to the motherless. He’s been a father to the fatherless. He’s been joy in our sorrows. He’s been our only hope for tomorrow. Don’t you know that God is still able? The bush still burns with a power that always avails.
Finally, the bush still burns with a purpose that always abounds. God’s purpose in calling Moses was to enable him to set his people free from bondage. God’s purpose is still to set people free from bondage. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free. Jesus Christ came to set us free from sin and death. If Jesus sets you free you are free indeed. All of us were bound by sin and death. But Jesus climbed the hill of Golgotha to die on a cross to set us free. That’s why Paul could say: “Death where is your sting. Grave where is your victory?” The bush still burns with the purpose of God. God wants to set us free from whatever has us in bondage. God heard the cry of the Hebrew people for freedom from bondage in Egypt. That’s why God called Moses from a burning bush to set his people free. God’s purpose is still to set us free. The bush still burns with the purpose that always abounds. What is it that you want to be set free from? It may be some habit that has you bound. It may be smoking, drinking, drugs, gambling, or some other thing from which you want to be set free. T D Jakes is famous for his book to be set in a new movie called Woman Thou Are Loosed. Women and men need to be loosed from whatever has them bound. The character in this film, Woman Thou are Loosed, was bound by some terrible experiences of the past: rape, abuse, drugs. But while serving time in prison, she contacted T D Jakes who came to visit her, and that started the beginning of her being set free from the past that had her bound. God’s purpose is to loose us from whatever is holding us back. The bush still burns with a purpose that always abounds. His presence, power, and purpose are at work to set us free. God’s purpose was to set his people free from bondage in Egypt. He still wants to free us from whatever Egypt has us bound. What is your Egypt? Are you in Egypt today? You can be set free from whatever Egypt has you bound. God wants you free. God wants you out of Egypt. Get out of the Egypt of fear. Get out of the Egypt of guilt. Get out of the Egypt of doubt. Get out of the Egypt of failure. Get out of the Egypt of weakness. Get out of the Egypt of insecurity. Get out of the Egypt disbelief. Get out of the Egypt of tradition. Get out of the Egypt of burdens. God wants you out of any and every Egypt that has you bound. Get out. Get out. Get out of Egypt. You have everything you need to get out of Egypt. You have the presence of God. You have the power of God. You have the purpose of God. What is the probability of getting out of Egypt? The probability is up to you. It’s up to you if you will get out of Egypt. Moses did what God wanted him to do despite his fears and doubts. Moses took God at his word. He believed God could use him to take the people out of Egypt. Ask God to take you out of Egypt. Ask him to set you free. Ask him to let you go. Ask him to let you mount up with wings like an eagle. Ask him to let you run and not get weary. Ask him to let you walk and not faint.
Well, what about the church? Will we get out of the Egypt that has us bound? Everybody believes that the Black Presbyterian Churches in Detroit are in crisis. We are in Egypt whether you know it or not. We are stuck in the Egypt’s of the past. We are stuck in Egypt. How are we going to get out of Egypt? God wants us out. It is up to us to get out. Each one of us can do what is necessary to get the church out of Egypt. We have the presence, the power, and the purpose. What will we do about it? We talked about dreams last week. I have a dream that this church will finally get out of Egypt. I believe it is possible for this church to be what God wants it to be. He wants us to get out of the Egypt of the pass and be about his business of reaching out into the community, of making disciples for Jesus, of helping the membership grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We can do it. But the question is will we do it. What will you do the help the church out of Egypt? I believe that if we work hard enough and pray long enough we can get out of Egypt. We can get the church out of Egypt so that it not only survives but prospers. Will we get out of Egypt? The odds are against us. But with God on our side, we can beat the odds. But we can do it. We can get the church out of Egypt. We can get out of Egypt. It is up to each of us. But when we do get out of Egypt we can say, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty we are free at last.” THE BUSH STILL BURNS!
