How about.... ?”
Exodus 3
Introduction
US Statesman Daniel Webster was a powerful orator who gave early evidence of his quick mind. One day Webster's father, who was to be absent from home, left Daniel and his brother Ezekiel specific work instructions. On his return, he found the task still undone and questioned his sons about their idleness. "What have you been doing, Ezekiel?" he asked. "Nothing, sir." "Daniel, what have you been doing?" "Helping Zeke, sir."
There's something about excuses that lure us. There's always a reason. There's always something we can blame. Something that warrants our admission or inadmission. We live in a world of self-excusing. We don't always do what we are supposed to do. A poor workman always finds fault with his tools. Or how about this list: 1. I forgot. 2. No one told me to go ahead. 3. I didn't think it was that important. 4. Wait until the boss comes back and ask him. 5. I didn't know you were in a hurry for it. 6. That's the way we've always done it. 7. That's not in my department. 8. How was I to know this was different? 9. I'm waiting for an O.K. 10. That's his job--not mine. [Bits & Pieces, Nov., 1989, p. 18. ]
If you hear those, you might forget that you and I have said those very things. Another category of excuse is "I did it, but.." Now it's not that I did or didn't do it, but rather that someone else or some circumstance is blamable. I did it, but the car died, or the clock failed when I set it to awaken me at the right time. I did my homework, but on the way to school the dog ate it. The assignment wasn't clear. This is what we hear in our world today.
The Biblical story of Excuses (Part 1)
We aren't the only ones. Look at Moses in Exodus 3. Moses is God's man of the day. He was called to perform what the Jewish people had been begging God to do for hundreds of years. They were not bellyaching, but crying out to God. "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... you promised the Land..." (:7-9) they cried to the Almighty. Into this painful situation, God drops a baby, fantastically. This unusual baby Moses is God's choice and will fulfill the promises of the Lord.
Horeb is the Mountain of God (verse 1) because God showed up there and visited Moses. Moses sees a bush. That’s not unusual. The bush is burning. That's not unusual. Tumbleweeds catch on fire in a desert sun. Then a voice comes from it, and that's unusual. And the voice says, "Take off your shoes." God said, "I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians." (:18). This is an awesome moment in history. Moses should have been glad, he should have rejoiced. He should have shouted. "Wow, before I was born, our people longed for this day." Fantastic... let's rejoice! God is going to act. But then God says, "I will send you to Pharaoh" (:10) Wait a minute, he's thinking. It's not my job. We've never done it this way before. This is definitely someone else's department. Moses asks for negotiation. He wants to excuse himself.
Excuse #1: Identity
Moses says, "Who am I?" (:11) I'm not somebody so mighty, at least not compared to you. They didn’t like me 40 years ago and chased me away. I’m not really an insider. I’m a nobody. Look what God answered, or rather, did not answer. He never answered who Moses was. He didn’t say, “You’ve got this, Moishe.” His answer had nothing to do with Moses at all. It had to do with who God is. "I will be with you." In the modern world, there has been a serious self-stroking that has so subsumed us. If you are not self-actualized or self-consuming or self-aggrandizing or self-ish, then you will not succeed in this dog-eat-other-dog world.
So the point of my being somebody is to survive in a ruthless world. But God wants us to succeed, not only to survive. He wants us to trust Him in all things and all circumstances.
Excuse #2: Ignorance
“Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” (:13) I don't know enough. I would know enough, but they didn't teach me. I didn't have the advantages of Brooklyn or in Yeshiva. I didn't have all the possibilities that others had. It's just not the way we do it in Australia; maybe in Japan or Israel, yes, but not here.
Moses, you are right, you are uninformed. The answer to them is not you, it's me. In all of our uncertainties, God's answer is not you, it's Himself. That's making you radically less than self-important. That is healthy.
Again God’s answer is not “You are smart, mate.” Rather it’s I AM. “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (:14)
There are many things God will tell you to do in your life. Things as simple as 'love your neighbour' or "love your wife' or as simple as taking food to your neighbour when they are hurting. But we always have excuses.
I was 19 when I first heard the Gospel of Yeshua. I said, "I'm Jewish. I don't need Jesus." How silly was that! We all have so many excuses why we won't give our lives to the One who died and gave Himself for us.
Conclusion: What do we learn as a result of reading this text?
Those of you who are believers, when you who get told by God to take the message of Jesus to the whole world, what will you do? Will you say, I can wait for the professionals, the Bible college grads, God must certainly use only them. After all…Who am I? To each God does not say, "You are somebody!". What He says is trust me. What He wants is for us to know God’s presence.
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