The Fugitive Becomes the Prophet, Nov. 17, 2013

The Fugitive Becomes the Prophet

Exodus 3:1-12, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Grace Presbyterian Church

November 17, 2013

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Qualifications of a New Pastor  As you know, you have elected a Pastor Nominating Committee whose task it is to find the right pastor to help lead you into the future. One of their jobs is to write a job description for your next pastor.

I thought they might like some help in doing this, so am suggesting the following qualifications that they might like to include. The next pastor for Grace Presbyterian should have the following attributes:

Will be between 29 and 34 years of age, be married with four children, and have forty years experience.

Will preach no more than ten minutes, condemn sin roundly yet hurt no one’s feelings, and include at least two amusing illustrations.

Will conduct Bible studies on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

Will donate $200 a week to the church.

Will have a burning desire to work with teenagers, taking them on mission trips and youth rallies, and spend great lengths of time with our older members.

Will make fifteen home visits a day and will always be in the office to be handy when needed.

Will always be at the hospital waiting for a member scheduled for surgery.

Will have a superb singing voice and know how to make apple butter.

Will be an active member of presbytery, chairing at least one major committee.

And will increase the membership of Grace by twenty percent each of the first five years.

Now I think these qualifications are reasonable don’t you?

Moses Now imagine if you will that one of the candidates who sent his information to the PNC said the following: “I am a modest and meek man and have spent the past few years as a shepherd. Although I try hard, I am a poor communicator and even stutter at times. Many years ago, I lost control of my temper and I murdered a man. I fled to another country to escape punishment and ended up hiding as a fugitive from justice for many years. And when God asked me to return to the scene of my crime, I tried to weasel out of it with several lame excuses.”

I don’t think the PNC would consider this candidate the person right for Grace Presbyterian, do you? Yet, God reached out to this stuttering misfit of a murderer and transformed him into one of the greatest prophets of the entire Bible. And his name was Moses. Can you imagine that? God’s choice defied all logic. Moses had no experience as a leader. He had no self-confidence and couldn’t speak very well. And he surely didn’t want to return to Egypt, the scene of his murder. Yet in spite of all Moses’ sins and shortcomings, God chose Moses to be the person to lead his people out of slavery into the promised land. God saw something in Moses that Moses couldn’t see and that was his untapped potential. And so, when Moses ran out of excuses, he finally returned to Egypt and led his people to freedom.

Paul  Now let’s return to our PNC. Not only did Moses apply to be your pastor, so did a volatile, headstrong young man who said, “My name is Paul. I used to make tents for a living. I’m considered rather headstrong and zealous in what I feel is right. Some might even call me bullheaded.

I’ve never been married and don’t plan to be. I’ve stood by and watched a man stoned to death. I’ve heard voices when no one around me could hear them.

Two Candidates  So now the PNC has two applicants: an escaped murderer and a bullheaded man who hears voices. Before we reject both applicants, maybe we should ask ourselves why God chose Moses to lead his people out of slavery and chose Paul to start churches all over the known world - both of whom would likely be disqualified by PNCs of every congregation.

All are Imperfect  One reason is quite clear. God chose Moses and Paul because couldn’t find anyone who was perfect. Everywhere God looked were men and women who were seriously flawed and imperfect, just like each of us here this morning. Seriously flawed and imperfect is another way of saying that all of us are sinners. So that means that no matter how hard your PNC looks, your next pastor will not be perfect. He or she will have flaws and shortcomings just like you.

Power made Perfect in Weakness The second reason is found in our New Testament reading where Paul wrote: “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” [2 Corinthians 12:8-9]

Isn’t that wonderful? Even though Moses and Paul and each of us here this morning are flawed, imperfect sinners, it doesn’t matter! God can use us anyway because God’s grace is sufficient for each of us. God’s great power is made perfect in our weaknesses! And as a result, we can do great things for Christ.

Herein lies the hope of Grace Presbyterian Church and the Church Universal throughout the ages. God’s power is made perfect in our shortcomings, past or present. It didn’t matter one whit that Moses had murdered a man. God knew that Moses could lead the Israelites to freedom. And it didn’t matter one whit that Paul had persecuted Christians and had consented to the stoning of Stephen. God knew that Paul could be transformed into a great evangelist for the Church.

We are like Moses  So what does Moses and Paul have to do with us. Whether we realize it or not, or like it or not, we have a great deal in common with Moses.

(1)    For instance, like Moses when he murdered the Egyptian guard, we hope no one is watching us when we sin, especially God. It is said that the test of our faithfulness is when we know that no one will ever find out.

(2) And, like Moses, we run away from the consequences of our sins. We may not flee to another country, but we either deny committing them (I’m not guilty) or give a reason why it was OK to do what we did. Virtually everyone who has been accused of a crime or inappropriate behavior claims to be innocent at first. And we are the greatest rationalizers in the world. We have to be simply because we want to avoid the horrible feeling of guilt. So before we sin, we must convince ourselves that it is justified. 

We are like Paul  If we look at Paul, we realize that he had many reasons he could have used to quit the ministry to which God called him. According to his own words, he had been beaten with rods and pelted with stones. He had been shipwrecked and, on his extensive travels, met dangers from rivers and robbers, dangers in the city and in the wilderness and on the high seas, and dangers from false brethren. Paul could have used any one of those as an excuse to abandon his calling as a Christian, but he didn’t.

In like manner, we can list a dozen excuses why we aren’t able to be more active  at Grace, or reasons why we can’t pledge more money, or why we should say “No” when asked to serve. Older members might say, “I’ve put in my time. Let the younger ones take over.” Younger members might say, “I’m not qualified,” or “I don’t know the Bible well enough to teach,” or “I just don’t have the time.” 

Twenty-Eighty Principle The fact is that in an average congregation, twenty percent of the members do eighty percent of the work. Are you one of the twenty percent who are actively involved here at Grace, or one of the eighty percent who do little more for Grace than show up on Sunday morning?

God’s Calling  The facts are these:

 In spite of our weaknesses, problems and excuses, no matter what they might be, God calls each of us to serve him.  And in spite of our weaknesses, God has chosen us to do great things for him.

Seminary A vivid memory of mine is the day I arrived at the seminary to start my three years of classes. I was scared to pieces that I would flunk out. After all, all of the rest of the incoming class had majored in religion, or Bible, or theology. I had majored in business. I faced the daunting challenges of learning Greek and Hebrew, doing exegetical analysis and preaching, studying theology and philosophy, learning about church government, and taking classes in Christian Education and Church history. Not only that, as I was taking these classes, I had a wife and two children. I was commuting 100 miles roundtrip every day to the seminary and preaching in three churches every Sunday morning. How God could take a mediocre student such as myself and empower him to complete all requirements for ordination is one of the great mysteries of my life.

New Pastor  Sometime next year you will call a new pastor. I have two thoughts to share.

Under no circumstance should you consider that person your savior and one who will lead Grace Presbyterian to great heights and prosperity. Church vitality and growth is a group effort all the way.

Don’t tread water until your new pastor has arrived. Start now to energize Grace into the congregation God wants it to be. How?

Paul asks us to be living letters of recommendation for Christ. That means inviting people to church. Most new church members join because someone first invited them to worship or a church function. So begin inviting!

He asks us to give of our time, talent and treasure to Grace. If you are not already doing this, then begin giving!

God is With Us  However, God does not ask us to undertake them alone. He promises to be with us at all times. The only thing that persuaded Moses to undertake the awesome task to which He had been assigned was the knowledge that God promised to be with him all the way.

Final Thoughts God wants to use us just as we are. No matter what we have done in the past, and often because of what we have done, we are better prepared and more receptive to be God’s instrument than ever before. After their call to service, Moses and Paul were no less sinners than before. God reaches out to sinners like us and uses us for his divine purposes. He makes sinners into prophets, winners out of losers. What has God in store for you? What gifts and talents lay dormant? What excuses have you made to get out of what he wants you to do? Take time to listen to his voice for he is calling you today to do great things for him. Remember, God’s power can be made perfect in our weakness. Amen.

Exodus 3:1-12  NRSV

Moses 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. There 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. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When 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.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He 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.

 Then 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, and 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. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ He 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.’

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 NRSV

It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.