Living on mission requires removing our excuses...

This week, we are looking at an event from history that is recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament called the book of Exodus, where Moses had an encounter with God. Wednesday, we saw Jesus respond to Moses by promising His presence when we live on mission, because while we may think we are a nobody, Jesus, who is present in our lives, is somebody. And God want us to remember His name and His story, because while we may forget about God’s story, God has not forgotten about your story and how He wants to use you to impact others by living on mission. Today we will see Moses ask a third question to Jesus, which we see in Exodus 4:1. Let’s look at it together:

Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'"

Here we see Moses bring forth another excuse as to why he should not engage in the mission that he had been given by Jesus in the form of another question: What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?” By asking this question Moses is basically saying “don’t send me because they will not believe me.”

Now how often do we find ourselves using this excuse for why we are not living on mission? How often can we find ourselves saying or thinking “I can’t live on mission because nobody is going to believe me anyways? Nobody today buys the whole Jesus Bible church thing, so why would I want to live on mission by engaging those around me who aren’t going to buy it anyways.” How often can we be paralyzed by what we perceive as the unbelief of those around us? We see how Jesus responded to Moses excuse in verse 2:

 The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff." Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail "-- so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand-- "that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." The LORD furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. "If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. "But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

Jesus responded to Moses excuse by providing him with three separate signs that would serve to demonstrate God’s power. The first sign was to empower Moses staff to become a snake. In the Egyptian culture, snakes served as a sign of power and life. So this sign would serve to reveal that God was more powerful than the Egyptians.

The second sign was to empower Moses to have and heal leprosy. During this time in history, leprosy was a prevalent disease that was incurable. This sign would also serve to reveal the miraculous power of God over what was viewed as being incurable.

The third sign was to empower Moses to turn the mighty Nile River into blood. The Egyptians viewed the Nile as the source of life and blessings, so this sign would also serve to show that the Lord was more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians.

And it is here we see Jesus respond to Moses excuse by promising to empower him for the mission. You see, Jesus responded by promising to empower him for the mission because while Moses thought he was powerless, God was all powerful. And in the same way today, God promises to empower us to live on mission, because while we may think that we are powerless to accomplish the mission, Jesus, who gives us the mission, is all powerful.

Now, at this point, you would think that Moses is finished with all of his questions. And at this point, you would be right. However, Moses is not done making excuses, as we see in verse 10:

 Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

This time, Moses makes an excuse in the form of a statement: “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue”. In other words, Moses is basically saying to Jesus “Jesus, don’t send me because I am not gifted or talented enough”. Now how often can we find ourselves falling back on this excuse as to why we are not living on mission?

How often can we find ourselves using the excuse “Well Dave I can’t live on mission because I do not have the gift of evangelism. I can’t live on mission because I do not know my Bible well enough. I mean, what if they ask me a question that I do not know the answer to?” We see Jesus response to Moses excuse in verse 11:

  The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? "Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."

Now can you imagine what Jesus response must have sounded like here? At this point, I do not think that Jesus used a mellow voice. Instead, Jesus basically said “Moses who made your mouth? Who enables people to see and hear? Moses, last time I checked, that was Me. Now I have already promised you my presence, my power, and my gifting, so get going”. 

You see, while Moses thought he was without gifts, God was the giver of gifts. While Moses had determined that he was unable to complete the mission, God had determined that he was able to complete the mission. Now, at this point, you would think that Moses would stop talking and get going. And at this point you would be wrong as we see in verse 13:

But he said, "Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will."

Here we see Moses respond to Jesus responses by revealing the real reason behind his excuses that had been disguised in the form of questions. Moses tells Jesus “send the message by whomever You will”. In other words, Moses basically says “Jesus, don’t send me because I don’t want to go. Instead find somebody else”.

You see, the real reason behind all of Moses excuses and questions was that Moses did not want to obey the mission that He had been given by God. Moses wanted to live for his own mission instead of living for God’s mission. Moses simply wanted to live in disobedience to God’s mission and let Jesus know that, to His face.

Now you might be thinking to yourself “well Dave that is just crazy, I would never say something like that to Jesus face”. Now here is something to consider. Is overt disobedience any different than covert disobedience? I mean disobedience is disobedience, isn’t it?  

Now you might be thinking to yourself, well Dave, yeah it might be disobedient, but it’s not like I am robbing a bank or lying to someone. It is not like I am breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Is God really going to be mad if I just decide to live for my mission and not live for God’s mission? We find the answer to that question in Exodus 4:14:

 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, "Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. "You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. "Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. "You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs."

Now when it says the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means that the Lord was hot against Moses. Jesus was stoked in anger toward Moses for his rebellious and disobedient attitude toward the mission that He had given him.

And in His hot anger, Jesus responds in three specific ways. First, Jesus removes any excuses to engaging in the mission by providing Moses a partner in the form of his brother Aaron. Second, Jesus reminds Moses of the promise of His presence, power, gifting for the mission. And third, Jesus reinforces the reality that this mission was not optional. You see, while Moses thought the mission was optional, the reality was that the mission is an essential requirement of living in relationship with Jesus.

And it is here that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to living on mission. And that timeless truth is this: Living on mission requires removing our excuses. Just as it was for Moses, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, living on mission requires removing our excuses.

Living on mission requires removing the excuse that we are nobodies, because Jesus, who is somebody, promises His presence as we live on mission. Living on mission requires that we remove the excuse of a lack of authority to be living on mission, because Jesus gives us the authority and remembers both His story and our story. Living on mission requires that we remove the excuse that no one will believe me, because Jesus, who gives us the mission, is powerful enough to bring belief.

Living on mission requires that we remove the excuse that that we are not gifted enough to complete the mission, because Jesus is determined to give us the gifts to complete the mission. And living on mission requires that we remove the excuses that reveal our disobedience belief that living on mission is optional, because Jesus has made it clear that living on mission is an essential requirement of living in relationship with Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: What excuses have you been using in order to avoid living on mission? And what do you need to do to replace those excuses with God’s promises so that you can live on mission?