Five great arguments against "doing something with our lives."
One bright and sunny day Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, near the mountain of Horeb in the Sinai wilderness. He was about forty years old. Though quite happily settled down, he still remembered his glorious childhood.
Raised by the daughter of a great Pharaoh of Egypt who had found him as a child, floating in a basket down the River Nile, Moses enjoyed a royal upbringing. His privileged life soon ended when, as a young and impetuous man, he involved himself in a struggle between an old Hebrew slave and a cruel Egyptian overseer. Something strong and unknown had drawn him into this great injustice of a powerful man against a weak slave and in the battle he slew the Egyptian slave driver. Moses discovered in the process that he was a Hebrew himself, so he fled the country of Egypt and settled in the neighboring wilderness of Sinai with a desert Bedouin tribe called Midians. There he married the sheik's daughter, Zipporah, and settled down with his early memories to a long and seemingly happy life of a sheepherder.
Moses was just about ready to turn his flocks homeward for a comfortable evening around the fire when his eye caught sight of a strange phenomenon. There in front of him was a bush ablaze, burning brightly, but not a leaf or twig was consumed. He turned aside, the story tells us, to watch this incredible sight, when a great, booming voice called to him out of the bush, "Moses." And Moses responded, "Here I am."
"Moses, take off your shoes," said the voice, "for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your people, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Listen to me." Moses was greatly afraid and so he hid his face from God and said in a barely audible voice, "Yes, Lord?"
"Moses," said God, "I have seen the affliction and oppression of our people in Egypt, I know their sufferings, and now I have come to deliver them out of their slavery and back into the land which I gave to Abraham."
Moses was of course tremendously pleased with this announcement of God's power and generosity, was about to run back to his home to tell everyone the good news when God spoke again. "Oh, by the way, Moses, I'll need some help. Tomorrow you are to go to Pharaoh and tell him for me, 'Let my people go!'"
Moses stopped dead in his tracks, turned back to the burning bush and responded as most of us would have responded, "No way! Not me, Lord. You picked the wrong person. I'm just a simple country boy."
There follows in this story from the Book of Exodus (Chapters 3-4) one of the great dialogues between God and man, Creator and created, Divine Love and human fear. Right then and there, on that very holy ground, Moses invented humanity's five greatest arguments against "doing something with our lives."
First, he said to God, "Who am I that I should bring Israel out of Egypt? I'm just a nobody, a shepherd."
And God said simply, "Don't worry, Moses, I'll be with you."
Then, Moses said, "Well, who are you that you should ask me to do this?"
And God gave Moses His name. For the first time in history, He revealed His Holy Name to humanity. And from that point on He told Moses he could get in touch with Him any time he wanted.
Next, Moses reminded God, "Let's face it, God, they will never listen to, or believe, me. They will say, 'Prove it.'"
So God said, "What's that in your hand, Moses?" Moses said, "That's just a rod, my shepherd's staff." God said, "Throw it on the ground." And when Moses tossed his stick to the earth it became a snake. "Now," God said, "pick it up by the tail." And reaching down very gingerly, Moses grasped the snake and, sure enough, it became his staff again. "Not bad," said Moses, "not bad at all!" Yet, that was not enough, and so Moses said.
Number four, "God, and you know this very well, I am a stutterer. I am not eloquent of speech. How can I speak to and convince kings and princes of Egypt?"
This time God responded with great gentleness and love, "Moses, remember it is I who made you, as I make everything--the blind, the deaf, lame and stutterers. They are all part of My creation. You will go to Pharaoh the way you are, but know this, Moses, know that I will be with you, I will be your mouth and tell you what to say."
Moses knew he was about to be had, but he gave it one last try--he invented man's greatest excuse to avoid divine responsibility.
Five, "Send someone else, God. Not me."
Well, God became downright furious at this point. The heavens rumbled, lightning flashed. "These humans are hard to get going," thought God. But then, as God settled down, he saw Moses' brother, Aaron, coming up the hill. "You can take Aaron along with you, Moses. He's got a silver tongue and a winning way with people. Go as a committee of two. Now, off with you, Moses, we've got work to do to save my people. And by the way, Moses, remember, always remember during the hard times, I'll be there with you, through thick and thin--I'm always there."
Well, the rest of the story is history, history that has been told and re-told from the ancient rabbis to Cecil B. DeMille. Moses did go to Egypt and with his brother, Aaron, confronted hardhearted Pharaoh, and they demanded freedom for God's Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh refused, of course, and so to make their point they asked God to bring down ten great plagues upon the Egyptians. Remember: The River Nile turned to blood...There were great pestilences of squishy frogs and swarms of gnats and flies...Storms and darkness covered the land...And, finally, to make the point stick, He sent the Angel of Death to claim Egypt's firstborn. Ten plagues were enough for old Pharaoh and he reluctantly released the slaves.
With Moses in front of this ragtag group of people, they dashed off to the safety of the desert wilderness. But another obstacle stood in their way--the great Red Sea. And just as they came up to this seemingly impenetrable Sea, someone in the back of the group shouted out with great fear and anxiety, "The Egyptian troops are bearing down of us. Now we're really sunk!" It was the beginning of forty years of grumbling by the Hebrews. The Midrash tells us that Moses called on God to open a way through the Sea, but nothing happened. And all the while Pharaoh's chariots were closing in on them. Pray and cry as he did, Moses' words had no effect. So Moses did a very brave and a very human thing. In desperation he stepped into the Sea anyway. Then, and only then, when his big toe touched the water, did the Sea make way for the Hebrews to cross.
Freedom followed, but freedom from what and freedom for what was a big question. For this group of slaves had a lot of growing up to do. So with God's guidance and love, and under Moses' stern leadership, they wandered in the desert wilderness for forty long years. Fed by manna from heaven and water from the rocky deserts they grew into a strong and faithful nation.
Early on in their journey they received their Law from God. Moses was called up again to the top of Mount Sinai and there God presented Moses His Law, the Ten Commandments.
Well, as you might expect, this rather disparate bunch of slaves became, after forty years of hard life in the desert, a powerful and faithful nation of Hebrews. They were now ready to enter Canaan, the Land of Milk and Honey. But as the story tells us, Moses, at age one hundred and twenty, was not allowed to make that final journey into the promised land. God called him up the mountain one last time. Escorted by his sons and his disciple, Joshua, Moses climbed upwards. Slowly and alone he entered the misty clouds and looked back one last time at his proud people, all standing with tears in their eyes and pain in their hearts. When he reached the top he halted. "You have one more minute," God warned him, so as not to deprive him of his right to face death.
And so Moses lay down, crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes and waited. Then, silently, God kissed his lips and the soul of Moses found shelter in God's breath, and he was swept away into eternity. A fitting close for a great leader.
Now, what are we to make of all this? What help for our daily lives comes from the story of Moses?
First, remember that the Exodus Event is for the Jews what the Christ Event is for Christians. One theologian says, "There are two great miracles of the world--The Exodus and The Incarnation of Christ. Everything else is commentary." Passover is the Jewish Celebration of Exodus; Easter is the Christian Celebration of Christ. This year, on Saturday, April 2, Jews will celebrate Passover as Christians begin their Easter Vigil.
Secondly, note that God always calls us forward while we are yet inadequate. There are no excuses when God calls. Moses tried them all. If we wait until we are fully prepared and ready and right, nothing will ever get done in this life, for none of us are ever perfect or right or ready.
There will never be enough money to build our new sanctuary at St. Margaret's. There is never enough time in our busy days to stop and pray and worship God. We will never have enough courage to stand up against the world's great injustices. We will never quite be together enough to look beyond our own needs and reach out in love to others. But the fact is...it is while we are not ready that we are called, as Moses was called, to get on with our lives, to build and pray and minister and love, and to do something with our lives. To have faith and put our feet in the water.
And, finally, if we remember nothing else, fix in your minds and in your hearts God's parting words to Moses, which are also His words to you:
"I will be with you always."
No matter where you go or what you do or what happens, God is with you. And that is very good news indeed! Amen.
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