What’s Your Excuse? (Exodus 3:1-15; Exodus 4:1-17)
Billy Milton - September 18, 2005
The last time we saw Moses, in a moment of misguided zeal, he had just killed an Egyptian. We can almost hear Taggart shouting ‘murrderr’! As a result he had to flee into the desert to escape the wrath of his step-grandfather, the King of Egypt. However, as we pointed out, God used this period of time to put him through God’s University. I made the bold statement (and surprisingly a good number of you came up to me afterwards to say that you agreed) that, “God cannot use you until you have been through his desert university! In other words, its only once we have been through a time of suffering and refining that God can use us.” If you want to hear the whole sermon get the tape afterwards or else go to our website (www.kingsroadchurch.org) and read it there.
At any rate, Moses finds himself treading water for 40 years and he’s now 80 years old. Its too late now you might think, but you’d be wrong! One day he’s walking in the desert, watching his father-in-law’s sheep - what a comedown for a former Prince of Egypt - and he sees a bush spontaneously burning up. Now that wasn’t such a big deal, its so hot in that area that this is not all that an unusual occurrence. What was unusual was that this bush did not appear to be being consumed by the flames. It just kept on burning and burning - unlike Moses himself who had burnt out in a flash 40 years earlier. Moses was curious and as he approached the bush to check out this strange phenomenon, God spoke to him! Yes, he actually heard the voice of God and had a conversation with Him - not a very encouraging talk as it turned out. The gist of the conversation was that God wanted to use this 80 year old man to rescue the Children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and Moses decided that he had loads of excuses why that wasn’t a good idea! Now before we get too harsh on Moses try to put yourself in his shoes. He had been out of action for 40 years. The most leading he had done was some sheep; the most talking he had done was probably to his wife and kids. You can understand why he felt that God had definitely got it wrong this time and that there must be someone more qualified to do this task. And, after all, he was really a failure in hiding. And so he begins to make excuses, one after another, why God had got it wrong.
God tells Moses that he has heard the cry of Israel for deliverance and that he is now ready to deliver them. Then the surprise came in v10 when God said, “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” We are going to see today that when God called Moses, he offered ‘excuses instead of service’. Have you ever responded that way? I suspect we all have – I’m too busy; I can’t speak; I’m not confident enough about my faith; I’ve got children; I haven’t got any spiritual gifts… and so on it goes. As I say, we are probably all guilty to a greater or lesser degree of making excuses why we can’t serve God right now.
We all learn to start making excuses from an early age. Starting with, “Its not my fault, she made me do it,” to the much more sophisticated, “My alarm didn’t go off.” I read a funny story about some soldiers on a weekend leave that I think illustrates the art of excuse making to perfection. “THE commanding officer was furious when nine soldiers who had been out on passes failed to show up for morning roll call. Not until 7 p.m. did the first man straggle in. “I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier explained, “but I had a date and lost track of time, and I missed the bus back. But I was determined to get in on time, so I hired a cab. Halfway here, the cab broke down. I went to a farmhouse and persuaded the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding to camp when the animal fell over dead. I walked the last ten miles, and just got here.” Though skeptical, the Colonel let the young man off with a reprimand. However, after him, seven other stragglers in a row came in with the same story - had a date, missed the bus, hired a cab, bought a horse, etc. By the time the ninth man reported in, the colonel had grown weary of it. “Okay,” he growled, “now what happened to you?” “Sir, I had this date and missed the bus back, so I hired a cab.” “Wait!” the colonel screeched at him. “Don’t tell me the cab broke down.” “No, sir,” replied the soldier. “The cab didn’t break down. It was just that there were so many dead horses in the road, we had trouble getting through.”
Excuses! Sometimes our excuses hold us back from accomplishing anything for God. Moses had his “good reasons” in his own mind for not following the call of God. Perhaps you might identify with one or two of them?
1 – The “Who Me” Excuse. (3:11-12)
2 – “By What Authority” (3:13-15)
3 - The “What If’s”” (4:1- 9)
4 – “But Lord I Don’t Speak Well” (4:10-12)
5 – “Wouldn’t someone else be better?” (4:13-17)
Excuse One – The “Who Me” Excuse. (3:11-12)
The first excuse that Moses offers is kind of pathetic, but see if it doesn’t sound like something that you may have said to God. V11 says, “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Moses no doubt remembers his earlier failures. When Moses tried this ‘deliverance thing’ 40 years earlier, he had mucked it up badly. Why should it be any different now? It’s a terrible thing to believe that when we speak that no one is going to listen to us or believe us. But the past is redeemable. We may feel that everything is set in concrete. But the truth is that things change. People change. We change. But what Moses had failed to realize is that the people of Israel and he himself are at a different spiritual place than they were 40 years earlier. Moses is terrified of being rejected and feeling like a failure. So, Moses first excuse expressed doubt in himself. His second excuse unfortunately, expresses doubt in God.
Excuse Two – “By What Authority” (3:13-15)
“Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
God didn’t ask Moses to go and explain all that he did not know about God. He just asked him to go and explain what he did know!!! God responded in vv14-15, “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (15) Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, 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 is My memorial to all generations.’
God says, “I AM who I AM.” God told Moses it doesn’t have to do with who you are but with who I am. In any conflict it important to know who is sending you into battle. What is the reason why so many people are not committed to God? Quite frankly, they do not know God. They sort of know about Him. But like the Hebrews in Egypt they have lost track of who God is. He is not a grandfather figure sitting in heaven, merely watching or antics and turning a deaf ear to our language, closing his eyes and winking at our sin. He is not only the giver of life, HE IS LIFE!!! When God tells Moses that “I Am who I Am” he is literally saying “I am He who was, and is and always shall be!” or “I will continue to be what I have always been.”
Excuse Three -The “What If’s”” (4:1- 9)
“Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’”
In the King James Version Moses’ third excuse began with the words, “What if…” and it was totally hypothetical. Moses’ excuse was basically, “But what if they ask me a question that I don’t have an answer to?” Have you ever used that as an excuse for not sharing your faith, “I would but I am not an expert on the Bible, they might ask me a question that I do not know the answer to.” What ifs” are victory killers, zeal quenchers. In any walk of life, excuses will relegate us to second best. Moses was so concerned about what might happen, he didn’t hear what God said would happen.
God gave Moses three proofs:
First, his Staff turns to a serpent and back again (vv. 2-4).
Its important to note that God didn’t ask Moses to use something that he doesn’t have. God asks Moses, “What is in your hand?” God uses what we have, and has never demanded from us what we do not have. We will never know the full potential of what can be done until or unless we are willing to offer it to God. The old saying is still true, God is not looking for ability, he is looking for availability.
Secondly, Moses is given the signs of his hand being made leprous then clean again (vv. 6-7) and thirdly, the ability to turn water into blood (vv. 8-9).
God has thus far revealed himself to Moses, told Moses of his desire to deliver the people, has promised him success, and given him three signs that the people will believe him. Despite all this revelation, it is not enough for Moses.
Excuse Four – “But Lord I Don’t Speak Well” (4:10-12)
“Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Moses now says, “I am not an eloquent speaker and I talk funny. He may have been slow of tongue but he seems fast enough with the excuses. That seems odd in the Stephen indicated in Acts 7:22 that Moses in his first forty years of his life in Egypt was a man “mighty in words and deeds.” The LORD responds to Moses in vv11-12: “So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? (12) Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
Our inadequacies are not a problem for God. He made us the way we are. But if we don’t`make ourselves available then God’s plan for our lives cannot go forward.
Excuse Five – “Wouldn’t someone else be better?” (4:13-17)
“But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”
No matter what, signs or no signs, whether God promises to be with him or not, Moses does not want to go! This last objection was not based on even the slimmest shred of a reason. Moses just does not want to do it. Moses is simply putting his foot down and telling God, “No!”
Exodus 4:14 says, “Then the LORD’S anger burned against Moses…” Let this truth sink into your heart. God becomes angry at our excuses! His blessings are withdrawn from those who whine. It is not because the Lord has patience for four questions but five is one too many. No. The real problem is that Moses is refusing to trust God’s answer. When Moses begs God to send someone else, he is in effect telling the Lord, “I don’t trust you.” This angers God.
The Lord’s anger burned against Moses. The sin of excuses will someday come to judgment. Standing before our Judge - our excuses will be all gone; we will be standing in naked truth. Not only do excuses angers God, they also cause discouragement within the body of Christ. Excuses force the few to carry the weight of the many. Satan will use this as a wedge to bring division and discouragement. Have you ever stopped to realise the harm you are doing when you retreat in fear?
Incidentally, the one obvious excuse that Moses doesn’t use is, “But I’m too old!” Now we see the breakthrough. Moses finally responds in Obedience! Exodus 4:20: “So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.” Moses ultimately did as the Lord asked. Think of the lives that he touched because of his obedience. Over 2 Million Israelites under Moses eventually walked out of the land of slavery. When we walk in obedience, we too will touch the lives of those around us. Let me leave you with this final thought…
Can’t or Won’t? Christians need to be very careful which one they choose. Although we often choose to say we ‘can’t’ it really is a case of ‘I won’t’. What’s your excuse? The sooner we accept the truth the sooner we can make a change.
HAND OUT – Alpha invites and ‘Faith sharing strategies’.