Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "How Much Persuading Will It Take?"

Text: Exodus 3:1-15

I’m really glad Moses is in the Bible . . .

He gives me hope for myself,

and, I suppose, all the rest of us as well.

Because he is so human!

Although he is one of the best-known characters in the Bible,

he doesn’t exactly fit the mold of some of

our other biblical super-hero types.

He’s not super-strong like Samson,

or super-brainy like Solomon.

He’s not a gifted poet and musician,

or military strategist, like David.

You really might describe Moses as fairly average.

Got into trouble with the law once in his youth,

but he’s been a model citizen since then.

Has a job, a wife, and a son . . .

but none of it came easy for him.

In the words of the country-western song,

"Everything he got, he got the hard way."

Yet it is Moses whom God chooses . . .

Moses, to whom God appears in a bush

that is burned yet not consumed.

Which might well cause us to wonder, why Moses?

He appears to have wondered that himself.

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh,

and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

Good question.

And in chapter 4 of Exodus comes the well-known exchange

where Moses thinks up all kinds of reasons

why he can’t possibly be the one,

and God answers every one of them

in dramatic divine fashion.

Turning sticks into snakes, and back into sticks,

giving Moses an instant case of leprosy and then healing it,

things like that.

Until, finally, Moses is convinced.

And out of excuses,

he begins preparation to make the journey.

Not willingly, but under compulsion.

Not because he wants to,

but because God wants him to.

Not because he’s suddenly convinced

that he’s the right person for the job . . .

but because he is convinced that God thinks he is,

and God isn’t going to let him alone

until he gets the job done.

And, in fact, it takes a fair amount of persuasion on God’s part

including those more-than-human techniques and tricks.

I have sometimes wondered about

the content and the character of

the excuses Moses made.

Did he really believe the job was impossible?

Or, at least, that he himself

was incapable of doing the job?

I suppose that’s quite possible;

it was a tall order,

and Moses wasn’t exactly going to be welcome

if and when he returned to Egypt.

Or is it just that he didn’t want to do it,

and so he tried to come up with some excuses

to justify himself?

Finally had his life in order,

and no desire to return to a place where

there was a murder charge pending against him?

Obviously, in his case, we will never know for certain.

But we can answer the question for ourselves,

if we have the courage to be honest about it.

What is it that so often

keeps us from doing the will of God?

And how much persuading on God’s part

is it going to take,

before we let go of our careful excuses,

and follow God’s instructions?

Well, let’s start by giving ourselves

the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps a part of the difficulty we have

is that it’s not always easy to discern God’s will.

Probably the last time any of us saw a burning bush,

we also saw someone with a fire extinguisher

trying to put it out!

It was a grass fire, not God!

God’s voice is perhaps harder for us to hear.

We don’t live in the relative quiet of the desert,

like Moses.

There are voices all around us

that clamor for our attention and obedience.

It’s hard to make out the still, small voice of God

from among the competition.

Perhaps we really are willing to do whatever God asks,

if God will only make that crystal-clear.

And if that is in fact the case,

then the only persuading we need

is to be regular about our praying and studying God’s word,

so that God’s will can become clear to us,

and so that we can distinguish God’s voice when we hear it,

even when it’s not as dramatic as a flaming bush.

Maybe for some of us,

that really is all we need.

But my hunch is that many more of us,

at least a fair amount of the time,

probably ought not to get the benefit of the doubt!

What we need is at least a gentle push,

perhaps more often, a swift kick in the pants.

Because frequently,

we do know what God wants or expects from us.

It’s just that we don’t do it.

Why?

What would it take to persuade us?

God says, "Do this."

We don’t.

God says, "Don’t do that."

We do.

God says, "Here’s a job that needs doing."

We say, "Not me."

How do we break the cycle of request and refusal?

Of command, and resistance?

How much persuading is it going to take?

Let’s assume, for the moment,

that our excuses are valid ones.

Or at least, that we honestly believe them to be.

We believe that we are not eloquent enough

to persuade Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

We believe that our family will go hungry

if we give away 10% of our income

to help people in need.

We believe we cannot find another two hours each week

to prepare and teach a Sunday school lesson,

or to attend an in-depth Bible study.

We believe that we will lose our job

if we speak out about cheating, or fraud,

or harassment, in the workplace.

Whatever it is that we hear God telling us to do,

we believe either that we are incapable,

or that the risks are so great that we don’t dare.

And so we avoid the voice,

or we evade it,

or we make our excuses,

hoping God will see how reasonable they are,

and let us off the hook.

What will it take to persuade us?

· Perhaps, God will agree with our excuses

and make allowances for them.

Such as,

"You’re right, Moses, you’re not very eloquent.

Tell you what . . . take your brother Aaron with you;

he’s a member of Toastmasters."

· On the other hand,

we may be informed that our excuse is not valid,

no matter how good it sounds to us.

Such as:

"You can’t find another two hours in your week

to do what I’ve asked you to do?

Perhaps you should examine the amount of time

you spend doing things

I didn’t specifically ask you to do."

Or even:

"You’re afraid you’ll lose your job?

When did you stop trusting me to care for you?"

Scary stuff!

Responses that really challenge

some of the priorities we have set for ourselves,

and even our whole way of looking at the world.

And in this case,

what it takes to persuade us

is a renewed sense of God’s goodness,

and God’s trustworthiness,

and a leap of faith on our part.

What if, on the other hand,

our excuses are really just a smokescreen

for the fact that we don’t want to do

what God wants us to do?

We say, I don’t have the time,

but when God finds us the time,

then we say, well, I don’t know how,

and the next day in the mail

we get a flyer about a training event that will show us how,

but then we think up something else.

What will persuade us,

to do God’s will and not our own?

Only two things,

and they have to be done in proper order.

Truthfulness, and confession.

We have to level with ourselves.

To recognize our excuses as evasions.

And to come to terms with

what really is keeping us from God.

Then we confess what it is we have discovered.

We ask forgiveness for evading and avoiding God,

And then we’re ready to be persuaded . . .

maybe for the first time.

We can’t be persuaded

until we remove the obstacles

that we ourselves have placed

between ourselves and God.

Here’s a picky issue of wording

that I think makes a huge difference.

Moses asks God in verse 11,

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh,

and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

"Who am I?"

Why would anyone listen to me?

What authority cold I possibly have?

Who am I?

God answers, in verse 12, with just two words:

(that is, in Hebrew it’s only two words):

"I will be with you."

Who am I?

I will be with you.

In other words,

it doesn’t matter who Moses is.

What matters, is who God is.

Who are we to answer the call of God?

That isn’t even the right question.

If it’s God’s call,

and we are hearing it,

then who we are is the instrument God has chosen.

As one of my pastor-friends is fond of saying,

"God never lays on your heart

something for somebody else to do."

No, whatever it is God has called us to do,

God expects us to do,

and will be there alongside us as we accomplish it.

God needs us, just as God needed Moses.

What does it take to persuade us to respond?

God may take seriously our excuses,

or may punch holes in them . . .

and we need to be prepared for either!

God does speak to us,

and does want a response,

and will empower us to respond,

if and when we listen seriously.

Like Moses!

Are we ready to be persuaded?

If not now, when?

Amen.