Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · June 21, 2009

Third Sunday after Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

God of our days and nights, we come into your sanctuary and into your presence to worship you. Help us to give you the praise that you deserve, to show you the love we have for you and to learn what you call us to do and be. Grant that we, like Moses, may live by faith as we answer your call. Amen.

Scripture

Exodus 4:1-17

Then Moses answered, “But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, “The Lord did not appear to you.” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail” – so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand – “so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. Then God said, “Put your hand back into your cloak” – so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body – “If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow in speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Message

Living by Faith

Larry Gallamore

Don’t you just love these Old Testament stories?  They are better than reality TV with characters like Moses, Abraham, and Sarah.  Before we get to Moses, let’s take a quick look at Abraham and Sarah (our couple of the week).  You know the story.  God told Abraham, who was 100-years-old, he was going to be a father.  His wife Sarah was 92.  Abraham must have thought, “Are you kidding?” In fact, Abraham came close to knocking himself out laughing.  He laughed so hard he fell on his face.  Sarah was hiding behind the door eavesdropping, and when she heard God she nearly split a gut laughing.

God said, “Sarah, is that you back there laughing?”

She said, “Oh, no! Not me.”

God said, “I heard that.  You were laughing.  You are going to have a boy, and you will name him Isaac, which means “laughter.”

Can you envision this?  Two chronologically-gifted people laughing, because only a fool could believe that a woman with one foot in the grave could have the other in the maternity ward.  How many of you believed that story the first time you heard it?  I’m not going to ask you if you believe it now.  

I know we scientific types would prefer to stick to things scientific.  We can’t envision a 92-year-old woman giving birth.  We surmise that since we are limited, God must be limited, too.  Nothing is further from the truth.  God has no limitations.  By the way, neither do we when we live by faith instead of circumstances.  Living by faith, Abraham and Sarah adjusted their thinking to the omnipotence and supremacy of God and became living proof that anything is possible.  Like Moses, they quickly learned to trust God to secure for themselves a marvelous future.

If you find Abraham and Sarah’s story hard to identify with, let me tell you about Moses.  I know you’ll see yourself in some of God’s dealings with Moses.  In the character of Moses, God shows us what it means to be called, to be chosen, to live by faith, and to do incredible things.

Our beloved Old Testament friend Moses is proof that we human beings have no limitations when we are living by faith.  One day as Moses was feeding his herd, he took them up the mountainside.  Now this was no ordinary mountain.  It was thought to be the mountain of God.  Rumor had it that God lived up on this mountain.  Some people were afraid to go there.  The mountain was named El Shaddai, which means “God of the mountain.”

As Moses approached the mountain, he had no idea his life was about to change.  Here is how it all started.  Moses saw a burning bush, a bush that kept burning but was not consumed.  Moses couldn’t believe his eyes.  At first, he may have thought he was seeing a mirage or maybe he had been out in the sun too long.  But then he realized he was definitely seeing a burning bush.  He must have thought that’s weird.

Well, hold on to your seats – the bush not only was burning, it started talking to him.  Moses probably thought he was losing his mind.  That’s when it really gets interesting.  The bush says, “Moses, Moses.”  The bush is calling him.  Anytime you hear your name called twice, someone is trying to get your attention.  Moses finally realized it was God trying to get his attention.  

Would a talking bush get your attention?  What do you say to a talking bush?  I’m rarely in a position where I don’t have anything to say.  Like me, many of you always have something to say.  But I must admit I wouldn’t know what to say to a burning bush.  What would you say?  

If you’re a scientist, you’d say, “I’m not really hearing this bush.”  If you’re a psychologist, you’d say, “Oh my!  I’m hearing voices!  This isn’t good.”  If you’re an engineer, you’d think, “Someone has invented the telephone.”  If you’re an atheist, you’d say, “I don’t believe in God,” and God would really be steamed.

Now Moses was a very intelligent guy.  He just listened.  When God talks, it’s good to listen.  God told Moses to take off his shoes.  The dress code didn’t allow sandals on Holy Ground.  God said, “Take your sandals off, Moses, and relax.  I want to talk to you.  People don’t think I care.  They think I live up here on this mountain because it is a holy place.  They think I’m unconcerned with what’s happening down in Midian and all over my world.  Moses, people need to know that I know everything.  I know that you are a murderer and a fugitive.  I know all about you, and I know all about the suffering of my people.  I’ve heard their cries and I have come down to deliver them.”

Now Moses is thinking, “Wow!  God is really a great God!  God is coming to deliver God’s people.”

But then, comes the surprise: “Oh, by the way, Moses, did I say I’m sending you to deliver my people?”

Moses stood there in shock as God said, “You heard me right.  I want you to lead the people from oppression and slavery to freedom.”  

Moses said, “God, I’m 80-years-old.  I’m a fugitive.  I had to leave Pharaoh’s Egypt because the word was out that I killed an Egyptian.  Besides all this, I stutter.”

God said, “Moses, wait a minute!  Cut me some slack here.  I made you the way you are!  Go and I will be your mouth, and I will tell you what to say.  What more can you ask of me?  I’m buying your books and sending you to school, Moses. Forget about looking for a loophole.  You’re not going to find one.”

Moses said to God, “Here I am.”

What did the burning bush experience mean for Moses?  God wanted to get him up out of his comfortable existence to do the work for which he was destined.  Moses was never the same again.  He had a new intimacy with God; he knew God as friend to friend.  The experience gave him a new motivation; his past lifestyle was forgotten. He received a new power for his call to service.

What does this life-changing story mean to us?  The same principle applies to us when God’s call comes.  The job description that God has for you and me won’t be the same as for Moses, but it will be real and challenging all the same.  God wants us, who name the name of Christ, to get involved by our living, by our praying, by our giving, and by our caring.  God looks not for our ability but for our availability.  Let’s be sure to be receptive to his call, and, when it comes, to obey it.

That’s what I mean by living by faith.  There is really no other way to live.  When God calls, your initial response is always, “Who am I to do this?”  It’s natural to ask, “God, are you sure you want me?”  

When God calls, I want you to know God doesn’t make mistakes.  When God calls, God will reassure you.  God will qualify you.  God will give you the confidence to do what you need to do.  You’ll be able to do anything God calls you to do.  That’s not being egotistical. That’s living by faith knowing that when God calls, God will prepare you.

Nothing is impossible for God.  Once you have crossed that hurdle, your whole life will start to change.  Look at Moses.  Think about the changes that came into his life.  He started to think about living by faith.  Living by faith is always living forward.  Let me explain.

Moses suddenly realized that his thoughts and his mental attitude had controlled his life.  He had become a slave to his mental attitude: thoughts such as, “I have never been eloquent in speech. What will I say? Who will I say sent me? Send someone else.”  All these thoughts are self-defeating.  Moses had no faith in his own ability and very little faith in God.  His thoughts of himself and his ability had limited him.

If your dominant mental thought is, “I can’t do this,” you’re not likely to do anything.  God persuaded Moses to discard his negative attitude of himself and to start living by faith. In very plain language, God showed Moses how Moses could alter his thoughts and so alter his condition.  Moses began to perceive the vastness and the grandeur of his responsibility.  He became powerful instead of powerless.  He recognized he was as powerful to obey God as he was to disobey.  He was ready to trade human ignorance for God’s wisdom.  Moses allowed everything that God said to vibrate through every cell in his body, thus turning Moses from a reluctant leader to one of the greatest leaders in all of history.  He was completely transformed.  

Listen carefully.  It all started in his mind, the only place transformation can ever start.  As Paul said many years later in the New Testament, “We are renewed by the transforming of our minds” (Romans 12:2).

When all this takes place, look at what happens to Moses.  He is a new creature, a new leader, a different man with powers he never had before, with courage he never had before, with determination he never had before, with abilities he never had before.  Moses was determined to go forward with his life ignoring the naysayers, dream killers, and negative people who told him it couldn’t be done. Obeying God, he would develop a constant campaign to address the Pharaoh with the constant message of “Let my people go.”  His life was lived forward every day he lived by faith in God.

You’re asking, “What does this mean for us?”  I’ve got very good news.  It means you have an infinite, untapped power that will guide you if you allow it to.  You have one life to live.  Why not choose to trust God to help you gain control of whatever you experience now?  Don’t miss out on this life that God is offering you.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Guiding Father, as we walk through each day of this life, through each moment that we are given, please help us to become more faith-filled. Let this faith guide our thoughts, our actions, our hopes, and our hearts. Let this faith shape who we are and inspire who we can be. May this faith be an inspiration for those whose lives we influence. Amen.