Moses the Prince of Leadership
The Call to Leadership
Exodus 3:1-14
Today we are going to start a sermon series on Moses, and talking about his leadership. Over the next four weeks we will be talking about His Call to Leadership, Moses the Vision Caster, The trials he had during his leadership, and his art of delegation.
The one ingredient necessary for success in any organization is leadership. When the Chrysler corporation stumbled several years ago they hired a new CEO – Lee Iacocca. In the early 90’s UK basketball was a mess. There was a huge scandal and they needed a strong leader to revive the legacy. So they hired Rick Pitino and he turned the program around. Just a few years ago when we were in Northern Kentucky, we were hearing constantly on the news up there how Procter and Gamble was getting in a mess and their stock was dropping to almost nothing. Some changes needed to take place so they brought back Mr. Pepper as the CEO to turn things around.
Charles Swindoll defines leadership with 2 words – “inspiring influence.” Effective leaders are people who inspire others to follow. There may be a difference in style, leadership technique, personalities and involvement in the job but good leaders are able to inspire others to follow.
The purpose of this sermon series is to motivate us to expand our influence for Jesus. Fred Smith, in his book "Ready to Lead," says, “When God wants something done He turns to an individual such as Moses, David, Peter, and Paul, people like Martin Luther, Dwight Moody, Mother Teresa, and Billy Graham. Rarely do things get done by consent.
Yes, we need to recruit more leaders for the church we need youth leaders, Sunday School leaders, Deacons, Elders and more godly, mature leadership in every area of our church, but we also need to stir up the gift of leadership in you so that you will have a more positive impact on your circle of influence.
I realize this morning that I am talking to some who are good leaders and you may be looking for ways to refine your leadership skills. I also realize that I am speaking to some who may be a potential leaders who need to be persuaded to take leadership positions to make a positive difference. Jesus said he looked upon the people with compassion because they were sheep without a shepherd. It is my prayer that God will develop shepherds who will lead their flocks and great things will be done in the name of the Lord.
Moses was one of the best leaders in all of history. He was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the land of Canaan, he led them from slavery to freedom. That had to be one huge job. It was so great in fact he almost buckled under the stress. But we are going to study what made Moses an effective leader in the hope that you can develop the same qualities in our lives. We begin studying today the call of Moses into leadership at the burning bush. If you have your Bibles, then turn with me to Exodus 3:1-4.
"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ’I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.’ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ’Moses! Moses!’
And Moses said, ’Here I am."
Now notice first that God had prepared Moses in advance to lead. In order to understand why God would take an 80-year-old sheep herder and call him to be this great leader we need to take a minute to review his past. Remember Moses was born to Godly Hebrew parents at a time when the Jews were severely persecuted. The Jews were slaves to the Egyptians but they were multiplying so rapidly that Pharaoh was threatened by their numbers and he ordered that every Hebrew male be executed. But Moses’ mother would not comply. She just couldn’t kill him, so she put him in a basket in the Nile River.
He was discovered by Pharaoh’s wife. What coincidence. And Moses’ mother just happened to be available so she would nurse and care for her own son. Moses had the best of both worlds. He was taught about Jehovah God, but he was also exposed to the protocol of the palace and he was comfortable around the movers and shakers of his day. Moses could speak both Hebrew and Egyptian. He understood power, but he had empathy for the slaves. Gene Getz wrote, "God gifted Moses with a three-dimensional advantage." First he had great physical assets. His mother saw he was a beautiful child. Josephus, a Jewish historian wrote that Moses was so outstanding in his looks that the Egyptians would try to get a glimpse of him. They would stare at him finding it hard to turn their eyes away from him. According to history, Moses was very handsome.
Moses was also a very smart man. Acts 7:22 says he was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. He became a scholar. As a son of Pharaoh, he had all the resources of the day at his disposal. Architects to this day marvel at the Egyptian pyramids and all they built and wonder, "how did they do that?" So Moses became very educated in one of the most advanced civilizations of all time.
He also had exceptional leadership abilities. Acts 7:22 says Moses was a man of power in words and deeds. Josephus reports when the Ethiopians attacked and was on the verge of defeating the Egyptians, Moses was appointed General of the Army and under his leadership the Ethiopians were driven back and defeated. So Moses was the Norman Schwarzkopf of his day. He was very strong in leadership.
Leadership is a gift that needs to be developed. Not everyone is gifted to lead. In Romans, it says everyone has different gifts and if your gift is leadership, then you govern diligently. Henry Ford once said, “To ask who should be the leader is like asking who should be the tenor in the quartet? The tenor should be the tenor and the leader should be the leader.” Now, you can appoint someone to lead but if they don’t have the gifts of leadership then there will be some bad results. Moses had this strong desire and gift to lead. He wanted to make a difference. One day he saw this Egyptian guard whipping a Hebrew slave. He lost his temper and he killed him. Now Moses was wrong. He had a character flaw that followed him all of his days and he never really overcame it. No longer was Moses safe, and so he ran to the land of Midian. There he tended sheep.
What a contrast between his first 40 years and his last 40 years. Moses had been living the life of luxury and privilege. He had great skills, he was a leader of a great army, but now he was watching sheep on a hillside and he did that for 40 more years. I think that you need to know that God had a purpose in this. God may have been mellowing him out. Maybe God was humbling him. God was getting him familiar with the wilderness where he would be leading he children of Israel.
I can look back in my life and see how God prepared me for ministry. Mom and Dad took me to church every Sunday. I was very involved in our church in Chaplin. Then came the big question from my minister at the time, "Brent we want to have a Youth Sunday and we would like for you to preach." I was scared to death, but little did I know that one sermon was going to change my life when I got older. I had two dreams growing up, one was to be a graduate of UK and the other was to go to Bible College. I couldn’t make up mind. So as you know I went to UK first and while I was there God was preparing all the more for the ministry. I was able to serve on the leadership at Christian Student Fellowship. Little did I know how God would lead. I dropped the ball sometimes, but listen to this; God has a greater circle of influence than you can imagine right now. He is giving you exposure to people and places and ideas that can be invaluable to you later. God is using every opportunity to prepare you for something greater later.
God uses every experience in our lives to prepare us to lead later. God told Jeremiah, “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you a prophet for the nations” (Jer 1:5). God called Jeremiah to be a leader even before he was born. David spent lots of idol time playing a harp. When Saul needed someone to soothe his troubled spirit, he called David. It was during this time when David became familiar with palace protocol and it readied David for the time when he would be king.
One day, when Moses was tending sheep, he received a dramatic call from God. He saw a bush that was burning but it wasn’t burning up. It was an incredible sight. Now that was a dramatic call to leadership, but the reality is that most of us will not receive such a call. Sometimes God may draft someone through a burning bush, or a bright light, or an audible voice, but most of us feel the gentle tap in our spirit to God’s direction. It’s like the little boy who told his mother that he had decided to be a preacher. She asked why that was. He said, "well, I know I’m going to have to go to church all my life so I guess I’d rather stand up and yell than sit down and listen."
Here is a question that George Barna asked of several community leaders; “Why Did You Choose to Lead?" They answered, “I was concerned about my kid’s future and I wanted to bring integrity to government."
"Why did you want to coach?" They answered, "because I love kids and I love the game and coaches can have a great impact."
"Why did you choose to teach grade school kids?"
They answered, "well, I know they are so pliable and teachable."
"Why did you pursue the presidency of your company even though you don’t need the money?"
They annswered, "well, I just feel this drive to make a difference and I saw changes I could make." Now these people, and many of you, could have been asked and never have seen a burning bush or heard an audible voice. But there was an urge, maybe a calling from God to lead.
A principle was asked what motivated him. His answer was, “I was slightly insane but a teacher is a leader who can cause change. I just had to do it." So don’t sit back and wait for some miraculous sign before you agree to lead. You must be open to green lights and open doors and knock on a few doors yourself, and then be open to the opportunities that are given to you by the Lord.
Well, in spite of his dramatic call, Moses responded with reluctance. Look at Exodus 3:10-11. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” We can understand that can’t we? Moses had tried before, but they rejected his leadership and the scars were still with him. Besides, he kind of liked his lifestyle. No people, no responsibilities, no stress, no problem. At the top of his excuse list was that he was 80 years old. Who wants to start a career at 80? Moses tried to get out of this and so he made excuses. We are good at that aren’t we? "I work weekends, I’m not knowledgeable. I’m too tired. I don’t like kids. I’m too old. I’m too young. Others are more qualified. I’m not gifted to do that." On and on it goes!
Sometimes you worry about those who are too anxious to lead. James and John were anxious to lead, but they had the wrong motives. Sometimes people want leadership, they want the position, they want the inside scoop, they want the power to make decisions but they aren’t willing to accept the responsibility that comes with it. They don’t want to give the time and effort that comes with it. They don’t want to make sacrifices that are required. I heard a friend of mine say one time, "it’s better to have no leadership than bad leadership."
A little boy came home 15 minutes late from school and his mother wanted to know why he was late. He said, “Jeffrey was the school crossing guard and he made us wait 15 minutes until a car came."
Some people love authority, and so the reluctance of Moses wasn’t all that bad. Some of the finest leaders were hesitant to take their positions. Solomon said, "who am I to lead these people? God I need wisdom." David Faust, the president of Cincinnati Christian University went back and forth for months before finally accepting the position. Mike Breaux, when he took over for Wayne Smith at Southland said that, "taking this position is scaring me to death."
Moses was hesitant, but Moses went beyond humility. God saw that it just wasn’t fear or humility, it was his lack of faith. Dr. Richard Hamilton of Asbury College says that Moses’ hesitancy can be described with the letter “I”. The first word is Inadequacy. Who am I that I should go? Moses said, "who am I?" God said, "I’ll be with you." The second objection is Ignorance. Exodus 3:13-15 reads, "Moses said to God, ’Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ’The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ’What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ’I AM has sent me to you."
Another excuse Moses made was incredibility. Look at Exodus 4:1-5. "Moses answered, ’What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The LORD did not appear to you?’ Then the LORD said to him, ’What is that in your hand?’
’A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ’Throw it on the ground.’
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, ’Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ’This,’ said the LORD, ’is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."
God will never lead you to a position of leadership without giving you the necessary resources to accomplish what He’s asked you to do. He gave Moses a staff. He gave David a sling.
The fourth word that Dr Hamilton uses to describe Moses’ hesitancy is inarticulate. Look at Exodus 4:10 “Moses said to the LORD, ’O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Moses is rationalizing away his abilities. "I haven’t given a speech in 40 years. I’ve forgotten how. I’m too nervous." God says, "I made your mouth, I will be with you." Can’t you just see Moses saying, "shoots, I can’t believe that one didn’t work."
Well, here’s one more: insubordination. Look at Exodus 4:13-14. "But Moses said, ’O Lord, please send someone else to do it.’ Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, ’What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you."
Moses finally accepted the challenge. He was dragged into it, but he took it. Humility is not a sense of inadequacy. Humility is finding out what God has gifted you to do and then doing it with the best of your ability for His sake and not your own. Moses was an imperfect person. He struggled with a bad temper, lack of faith, he was fearful at times; he was a murderer, but listen to this. God forgave him and God not only forgave but He used him. And God didn’t use him in some ordinary way, but God used him to do great things. Moses became a great leader.
I like this poem called the Edge of the Cliff.
"God said, ’come to the edge.’ We said, ’the edge is too high.’ He said, ’come to the edge.’ We said, ’we may fall and be crushed on the rocks below.’ He said, ’come to the cliff.’ We said, ’but we are afraid.’ He said, ’come to the edge.’ And we came, and he pushed us off and we flew."
Moses came to the edge and he flew. And God used him, and God can use you. He wants to use you, but could it be that the only reason God isn’t using you is you? God will use you to do great things if you’ll hear His call and obey it. "Let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify God who is in Heaven!" (Matt 5:16).
