Bible Verse: Exodus 4:1-15
Full Sermon Transcript
WELCOME
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Well, once again, everybody, good morning. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in the room. Thank you guys for celebrating with us today. We did not decorate like a rainforest because of Father’s Day. It’s VBS week and ma, they did a great job, didn’t they? All the volunteers who decorated this. Can we give them a hand? Yeah. Just awesome, awesome, awesome stuff. Walking through a boardwalk and turning that into a jungle bridge and stuff, it’s just awesome creativity, dedication. So thank you guys. And yeah, happy Father’s Day once again and thank you for celebrating with us. It’s kind of a joke in churches that on Mother’s Day we tell moms how important they are, how special they are and how great they’re doing. And then on Father’s Day, we tell dads how they need to do better and try harder and you need to step it up, dad.
That’s not going to happen today. I want to encourage you dads just for who you are and not just dads but like uncles, brothers, grandpas. Thank you all of you, men in our lives who help us be who we are. It matters and we hope you feel appreciated today because you are. And again, don’t pack your bags. There are no guilt trips happening today for you, man. You’re doing great. And today I want to encourage you, but also show you what’s possible and just the potential of what God can do through you when you’re just available like you are. So, thank you so much. And that’s kind of a word. It’s an appropriate reading for today because it’s a word that God has for us.
GREATER THAN
I think that’s appropriate for Father’s Day as we continue this series that we’re in called Greater Than, where we’re journeying along the life of this man named Moses and discovering as he does a life greater than we know with a God who’s greater than we know.
In week one we talked about how God’s plans are greater than your plans. And we watch the unlikely beginning of this man named Moses. And then in week two, he becomes a fugitive and we talked about this thing called shame last week. And shame’s a good thing. Shame prevents us from making mistakes or sins or doing wrong. But when shame lingers after forgiveness after like an apology and a confession and a forgiveness and the guilt is pardoned, shame is not good in that regard because then it lingers. And we talked about how shame remains. And the only thing that takes away shame is this thing called grace and we unpacked what that means. We talked about how God’s grace is greater than your shame. And that brings us then to week three here with Moses and this account with the burning bush. And again, we’re going to be talking about Moses’ just limitations and Moses’ eyes are raised to what God can do through him and the potential of what happens when you simply make yourself available to God.
And it’s an encouraging word I think for anyone who is struggling with their limitations. And just like, I’m doing the best I can, but it’s not enough. So if you’re a dad here today and you’re struggling trying to figure out how to pay the bills and provide and protect your family with the money that you have today is for you. If you’re a new dad and you’re like, “Oh my goodness, I’m responsible for this tiny human. Who put me in charge?” Today is for you. If you’re a dad who you get to the end of every day and it’s like you limp across the finish line and you just run out of energy and you don’t know if you’ve got enough today is for you because again, we’re going to see Moses’ limitations and what God can do with those limitations. A little bit of backstory to kind of bring us all up to speed.
MOSES’ BACKSTORY
This is Moses and he’s about 80 years old when this account happens. Anyone here under the age of 80, look at that. Everyone else who didn’t raise their hand, you’re over eight. Okay. Turn to the person next to you, say, “God’s not done with me yet because he ain’t y’all. You’re under 80. Come on. ” And if you’re over 80, like the rest of Moses’ life is the next 40 years, he lives to 120. So I mean, none of us are exempt. Okay. So, he’s about 80 years old when this happens. And prior to this, he spends the first 40 years of his life living in luxury in Egypt. He’s the grandson of the most powerful man on earth, the Pharaoh. He’s highly educated. He lives in a palace. He runs in social political circles and he’s among the who’s who. And that’s the first 40 years of his life.
There’s a preacher named Dwight Moody and he says, God, Moses spends the first 40 years of his life thinking he’s a somebody. He spends the next 40 years of his life learning he’s a nobody and he spends the last 40 years of his life learning how God can use nobody. So, he’s living this in the social circles and going to all the fancy dinner parties and when he tells a story, everybody stops and listens and they laugh at his jokes. He’s that guy. And then he commits a crime, murder, becomes a fugitive and he runs from the state and lives in Midian. It’s a desert. I said a joke last week that it’s very mid in Midian. All the young kids … Anyway, so Midian, my kids thought it was funny. It’s very mid and he’s living in Midian doing the thing and he eventually meets a girl there and gets married and starts to work for his father-in-law.
So, think about this. He’s been like serving in Pharaoh’s courts and now he’s working for his father-in-law as a shepherd. That’s it. That’s all he does. He’s just a shepherd for the next 40 years. And today I need to restrain myself because there’s so much I want to say this is such a rich story. There are so many things in this story that I have to restrain myself to this greater than our limitations kind of a thing because it’s just a rich story. But there’s a point to be made that he spends 40 years in obscurities, 40 years in anonymity. He’s humiliated because humiliation is how we learn humility. And I believe that he serves faithfully in those 40 years and God uses that, that he wakes up. So, for 14,600 days, he’s just a shepherd. But on 14,601, he wakes up, rubs asleep from his eyes, unaware that he’s about to enter into his next season, this assignment from God, this calling, and have a divine encounter with holiness.
And so, if you feel like you are in a season of anonymity, you are dwelling in obscurity and you’re just like, “Does God notice and is this all there is? ” Just know that this might be the day before you step into what God wants for you. And so, Moses is shepherding like he does and he’s out in the desert and he sees this famous account of this burning bush and he walks up to the bush to see what’s going on.
BAREFOOT BEFORE THE BURNING BUSH
And as he approaches, God calls out to him, Moses, Moses. And Moses says this word hineni. It means, here I am. It’s actually a word that his ancestor Abraham said, “Here I am when God called him. Jacob said it. Here I am.” Now Moses is saying it, here I am. Later on, a prophet named Samuel will say it. Hineni, here I am.
Isaiah will say it. Here I am. It means this idea of not just like, hello, it means this idea of present waiting for your orders. What would you like me to do, Lord? It’s kind of this, I’m available. What do you want from me? And Moses tells God in this moment, God calls to him. He says, “I’m here ready and listening, waiting your orders, but we’re about to hear how difficult this is for Moses.” And so, God says, “Moses, Moses, here I am.” And God says, “Don’t come any closer with your sandals on because the place where you’re standing is holy ground.” Now he takes off his shoes. I went sockless today to demonstrate this. If you think it’s a little irreverent for me to be standing up here barefoot, it’s kind of the point.
When I did this at the eight o’clock service, they gasped. Anyway, so there he is barefoot before a burning bush. And there’s a lot of people who have tried to prognosticate and try to, “What does this mean? Why? Okay. Why is it holy grounds? Why is it holy?” Because God’s there. Not that the location is holy, but anywhere God is, that’s holy. And so there he is barefoot before a burning bush and God tells him to take his shoes off. Why? Well, he’s been walking with sheep so his shoe sandals probably have stuff on it. Maybe there’s something with leather and God doesn’t want to be in the presence of dead things. I don’t know. But I think the more obvious thing is that God is trying to send a message to Moses that I want to let you touch holiness with your skin. Holiness by definition is set apart, different, distinct, uncommon.
And now he’s asking Moses to touch it, which by the way, later on in the service, we’re going to celebrate communion and you too are going to touch with your skin holiness. It’s beautiful.
So, there he is standing barefoot touching holy ground with his feet and there’s a burning bush. Why a bush? Well, I think it’s the same message. It’s a common object touching the holy, a common object touching the uncommon. It’s a bush, like any old bush full of the power of God, but it doesn’t consume the bush. I think the bush is a picture of Moses. This is what I’m about to do through you. A common object dwelling with the uncommon full of and bursting with power beyond itself. The bush is a picture of Moses. And so, he’s standing there barefoot before the bush. I’m going to put my shoes back on so I don’t offend anyone.
10 “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt”
Exodus 3
He’s standing there before the bush and God says, “I’m sending you. I’m sending you to the Pharaoh to bring my people out of Israelites out of Egypt.” Remember, it was Hineni, here I am. What would you like me to do? I’m sending you to Pharaoh.
11 But Moses said to God, “ Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3
And Moses is like, “Um, what? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? I’m a fugitive. 40 years ago, I did a thing and you want me to go back? I can’t just waltz into the White House and make demands.” Pharaoh doesn’t have to worry about the polls. He can just terminate his political opponents. And if this shepherd comes walking in making demands, who’s also a wanted criminal, that’s a risky occupation. He’s basically saying, “I don’t think I’m anyone who should go to Pharaoh, Lord.” And so,
12 And God said, “I will be with you.”
Exodus 3
God says, check this out, “I will be with you.
” I’m not trying to impress you with Hebrew. I want to show the importance of God’s response here. So, keep it in mind. He says, “Eyah. I will be with you. ” That’s his response. “So, I can’t go. I’m nobody. Yeah, but I’ll be with you. I’m somebody. I’m greater than Pharaoh. Pharaoh, he’s a nobody compared to me. Don’t worry. I will be with you.
13 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”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I am has sent you.”
Exodus 3
“And this doesn’t convince Moses though. He’s got a few other reservations about this whole assignment. And he’s like, “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? What should I tell them? “”I can’t go, Lord. I don’t even know your name. Nobody does.” And God’s like, “Oh, you want my name? I’ll tell you my name.” And God says, “I am who I am.” This is what you are to say to the Israelites that I am has sent me to you.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
Now check this out. The word he uses there is the same word.
It means I will be, as he just used it a few sentences ago, “I will be with you. He-eyah. I will be with you. Don’t worry, Moses. Well, who should I tell him sent you? Ashare.” And it translates as I am or I will be. It could be translated both ways. So, I will be with you, will be with you. I am who I am. I will be that I will be. I am. And the people of Israel go, okay, if God’s name is I am, well, then that means that I ain’t. So, I can’t call him I am because that would be making a David claim or a Messianic claim. “I am God. “And then everyone’s very confused running around saying,” I am God. “No, no, no, no, you aren’t. And so, Jews don’t say when talking about God, they say Yahweh, he is.
It’s the same root word. You can see kind of the letters kind of match each other a little bit. It’s the same root word. God says,” I am and we say he is. “It’s like this confession. Every time you say the name Yahweh or the name of God, you’re saying,” He is who he says he is. He can do what he says he can do. Yep. In fact, what’s wild about this though is the name God, like think about this. For thousands of years, the people of Israel are wondering or hundreds of years, wait, who is this God? He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That’s all we know. He’s God or a God among the gods. And God’s like, okay, I’m about to make myself known to you. My name. I am revealing myself to you.
Yeah, he is. Now, by the way, this name Yahweh, you say it often. You just don’t realize it. Jews, they were so reverent towards the name. The name was so holy. They didn’t want to ever use it irreverently so they would only say half of the name as a respect. So they would just say, “Ya.” So, you hear it in the names like Jeremiah Isa-ya, Haseka-ya or every time you praise God and say, “Hallelujah, you’re saying praise ya. Praise he is. ” Isn’t that awesome? It’s beautiful. But what God is driving home here is that, listen, okay, if I geeked out too much and I lost you, okay? His name is not just who he is. It’s what he does. He is with us and his name is how he saves. He’s about to go rescue the people of Israel from Egypt. How will he do it?
By his name. His name is how he saves. And this becomes very important later on as we listen to Moses and God interact with each other and make a conclusion for ourselves.
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation”
Genesis 3:15
So, God says, “I am who I am. I share a yeah. “That is my name forever. The name you shall call me from generation to generation.”
MORE LIMITATIONS
Now you tell me, Moses has been dodging some of the responsibilities, questioning God. Do we think he’s done yet? No.
Moses answered, “What if they do no believe me or listen to me or say, the Lord did not appear to you?”
Genesis 4
Because he goes, “Well, what if they don’t believe me? Okay, fine. You give me your name, but what if they don’t listen to me and say the Lord did not appear to you? ” And God then, for the sake of time, I’ll just say God goes through a series of miracles here with Moses. We’ll get into miracles in weeks to come, but he performs a sign of miracles right in front of Moses there.
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant Lord, I have never beem eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Genesis 4
And Moses is like, “Okay, okay, you’ve got the power, but have you thought that I stutter? Pardon your servant, Lord. I’ve never been eloquent. Neither in the past nor since you’ve spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. He probably stuttered.” So, it’s not that you aren’t powerful. It’s just that I’m not very eloquent. I’m kind of confusing and I get monotone and I stutter and Pharaoh won’t listen to me.
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Genesis 4
And God’s like, “Are you kidding me right now? That’s your excuse?” And he’s like, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Now go, “I will help you speak and teach you what to say.“
Moses isn’t done though.
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant Lord. Please send someone else.
Genesis 4
It’s 3,500 years later and I cringe reading this. I’m like, “Oh, stop, man. Stop.” It’s like watching the office and Michael’s about to do something. You’ve seen it 85 times and you’re like, “No, Michael, don’t do it this … ” It’s just cringe. Here’s the cringe. But Moses said, “Pardon your servant Lord, please send someone else.” Ah, there it is. Finally, Mr. Hineni is now Mr. Hineno. I know, go, go. I don’t know. I’m just saying that. All right, please send someone else. He said he was willing. He had all this lip service, but when the rubber meets the road, he had all sorts of reasons not to. All sorts of excuses, all sorts of limitations, but none of them mattered. And the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and eventually he says, “Okay, fine. Take your older brother, Aaron, to also go with you and then you guys can go do this thing, but it’s me.
I will be with you.
LIMITATIONS
And you kind of look at this account in hindsight and you start thinking about the lesson in there and it’s obviously a lesson of limitations. Moses lists all of these limitations. He doubts his status, he doubts others’ acceptance of him, his public perception, he doubts God’s power, he doubts God’s ability and then finally he doubts God’s judgment, but God uses him anyway because Moses is missing the key lesson that I don’t want us to miss because if you think about it for yourself, if you’re thinking about your own limitations of excuses you’ve told God you can’t do something, I bet one of those words up there would peg you like if God looks at you and gives you a command to give or a command to forgive and love your enemy or to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, we can find a command of God that you failed to do.
Probably one of those was your excuse.
And then if it’s not just a command, but a calling, if God gives you a calling to enter into a new season, to do this new thing, to take on this new assignment and you’ve run up against your limitations and you’ve come to the end of yourself and you opted out because it felt too big for you. You were over your skis, over your head, underqualified, under prepared. I bet one of those excuses would be yours. Sometimes God calls us to serve in our gifts. Absolutely. Sometimes he looks at you and says, “You are gifted for this thing or he gives you a gifting for a thing or an ability.” And you go, “Man, I love doing that. I enjoy that. I like those kind of assignments from God. Here, I want you to do this thing. This is who you are. Go fulfill and live out this calling.
It’s your giftedness and it’s just wonderful. You enjoy it. We like that, but sometimes God calls us to use our limitations to let our inadequacy demonstrate something like a burning bush or a man who’s going to rescue Egypt who stutters, almost a shepherd.
YOUR NAME, GOD’S NAME
When God calls us to use our limitations, we don’t like that. That’s not fun because we come to the end of ourselves. Well, why would God do that? Well, the answer is simple.
YOUR NAME IS MADE GREAT THROUGH YOUR STRENGTHS
GOD’S NAME IS MADE GREAT THROUGH YOUR LIMITATIONS
Your name is made great through your strengths. People see you do what you do and they go, wow, you are gifted. You are so talented. Your name is made great through your strengths, but God’s name is made great through your limitations. When you come to the end of yourself, when you are out of your comfort zone, when you are ill-equipped and unprepared. And so today, if you are dealing with a limitation, well be encouraged.
You don’t know how you’re going to do this new job at work, this new promotion. You don’t know how you’re going to be a new dad. You’re holding this tiny human that nobody consulted you. You’re in charge of this thing. What? Right? Or some type of sickness that seems to be your new calling or whatever it might be. However, you are feeling your limitations, well, rest assured, be encouraged because you have a front row seat. You’re about to see the power of God within you, a burning bush, a power that’s beyond you to accomplish this. And when people see how it happens, don’t forget when people see you and go, “How did you do that? It’s illogical. It’s impossible. Don’t forget to praise his name.
Make his name great. Say hallelujah.” Because it’s all about his name. It’s what he wants to demonstrate. It’s what he wants to make great. Take a look at some of these Psalms. Save me by, oh God, by your name, vindicate me by your might. Yet he saved them for his namesake to make his mighty power known and salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we can be saved. It’s his name that he wants to make great, not because he needs to boost his ego or he’s insecure. He wants to make his name great because it’s how we’re saved and he’s not done saving people. Amen.
And his name is not just who he is. His name is not just what he does. His name is how he saves. Of course, he wants to make his name great. So don’t be surprised if he chooses your limitations. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, first of all, thank you for giving us your name, the unknown God becoming known and choosing to give us your name. Forgive us if we ever take it in vain or profane it or misuse it. Teach us to revere it. And God, use us to make your name great. I pray for any person in this room who is wrestling with their limitations, for a calling that you’ve placed in their life or a command that you have for them.
Anyone who is overwhelmed by their limitations, God, I pray that you would make your power known in their limitations and that they would use an opportunity to make you famous, to glorify your name and say hallelujah, that others may call on your name, call on your name and be saved. So God, make your name hallowed among us. As we pray together, our Father who arts in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen.
