Jesus Calling (Exodus 3: 1-15)
1Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
13But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:
This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.”
“Here I am.” What an innocent willingness. Young Samuel also uttered these words when confronted by God (1 Samuel 3: 4). Abraham was of the same heart (Genesis 22: 1). We should be so willing. We should write these words on a card and place them on our mirror so that the first thing we see in the morning is an attitude that is receptive to God.
Oh, the delight; to be open to whatever wonders God has in store. Put aside your agenda, your list of duties, and just listen and respond. Deny the impulse to accommodate self. Lay aside all perceived purgatives and simply follow. The cross we bare might not seem so heavy. In fact, it might be a joy. To love genuinely, show honor and respect, rejoice in hope, be patient, to persevere in prayer, to give generously, to show hospitality, is as much of a blessing as it is a command (Romans 12: 9-13). Strange, how when we forsake self-interest, life abounds! Conversely, when we grasp at this world’s distractions, and our own ideas about self-fulfillment, we experience a kind of inner barrenness, a spiritual death for sure.
Moses’ response to God’s plan was “who am I” (Exodus 3: 11)? Aware of our flaws, our shortcomings, our limitations, we all feel this way. You might wonder, does my witness matter? Does my perspective count for anything? Do I have something different to add to the fray of opinions? What can God possibly do with my experience? But remember, God chooses the humble and weak to shame the proud. God uses the simple to confound the wise. “Christ crucified” is the mysterious message; “a stumbling block to (skeptics) and foolishness to (the learned)” (1 Corinthians 1: 23).
Still, I simply am who I am. There is nothing impressive about me. But in that is God’s powerful name: the Great I Am! He causes and creates. He sends and brings forth. He has heard the cries of those in your midst, and he compassionately answers through you.
What shall I say? Say this: there was nothing deserving about Abraham, but God blessed him so that he would be a blessing. There was nothing deserving about Moses, but God blessed him so that he would become a blessing. The entire ancestral line from Adam to Joseph, the father to Jesus, was established and maintained to bring about Christ, the Mesiah, the culmination, the fulfillment of God’s gracious desire. All experience frustration and failure so that God can show mercy to everyone. God is love. And love is expansive. It yearns to bring more people in. Now, God has demonstrated his tender might by doing what nobody can do, what nobody has done, not since the dawn of time.
Today, consider the mystery of your place in the world, how your body, mind, experiences, and personality, came about. You have a perspective; a witness. It is unique and meaningful. It did not come about at some other time, or in somebody else’s life. It is you! Consider the mystery of this vary moment. Had one single detail been out of place in your past, things would be different. You were wonderfully conceived in that precise millisecond, unaltered by human whim or desire, to be here today as a blessing. God reigns over you and your life by some inconceivable power bringing together providence and free will to this pivotal moment. In awe and wonder, what do you say. What can you say except “here I am.”
Oh, the wonder and mystery of God’s gracious ways. In the end, he humbles us so that we might get past the obstacle of self. He pays for our mistakes, all the while encouraging us to be better, something that ultimately benefits us! Like a good Father, he wants what is best for us, if only we would allow.
God is great! I am not; yet I matter. This confession is the gateway, the necessary step in becoming useful. God wants us to be fruitful. In this is purpose amidst the vanity of the world. Seek something eternal. Seek God. He has adequately answered all questions through Jesus Christ our Lord. He provides. He has made a way. The great deliverer has done it again in your life and mine. He blesses us so that we might become a blessing. So, experience the joy in participating in the great gathering before the King whose title reminds us of his great mission to us and the world.