The Bush Does Not Burn – Sermon – 3 September, 2017
The Bush Does Not Burn
Exodus 3:1-15
Once President George W. Bush was in an airport and noticed a man in a long flowing red robe with a long flowing white hair and beard. The man had a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under the other arm.
George W. approached the man and asked, “Aren’t you Moses?”
The man ignored George W. and stared at the ceiling.
George W. positioned himself more directly in the man’s view and asked again, “Aren’t you Moses?”
The man continued to stare at the ceiling.
George W. then tugged at the man’s sleeve and asked once again, “Aren’t you Moses?”
The man finally responded in an irritated tone, “YES, I AM!”
George W. asked him why he was so irritated and why he had taken so long to answer him.
Moses replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but the last time I spoke to a Bush I ended up stuck in a desert for forty years!”
In a church the most dominant visual feature was a huge stained glass window depicting a Burning Bush as we have on our communion table.
You might think that a burning bush was an unusual choice for the most prominent symbol in a church. However, the Burning Bush has been used by Presbyterian churches around the world since the sixteenth century as their symbol – long before logos became fashionable. Images of the Burning Bush, when used as logos, usually have words associated with them. In Scotland they are “Nec tamen consumebatur”, “and yet it was not consumed”. In Ireland, they are “Ardens sed Virens”, “burning but flourishing”.
It’s these words that turn the Burning Bush from a Presbyterian symbol into some living words for today. Those words are there to remind us that even though the bush was burning, it was not consumed.
The bush represented Israel, the fire the persecution, the burning without consumption represented, that in spite the persecution of Israel will not be destroyed.
The message was regardless of what the nation of Israel had done; God was/will be in the midst of their affliction.
Our text today is the story of Moses and the burning bush. It is a story about a message from God to Moses.
Probably it was scorching hot and humid day in Midian, when shepherd Moses was watching over his father in law Jethro’s flock of sheep. Suddenly a bush catches on fire. Moses moved a little closer in order to watch as the bush is consumed. But instead of burning up, instead of being consumed, the bush keeps on burning.
That thing got Moses’s attention and he said: “How can this be?”
The Scriptures tell us that Moses moved in even closer and as he did, he heard a voice that sounded as if it was coming from the bush. “Moses… Moses!”
Imagine his thoughts. He is staring at the bush and hears his name. Turning around he sees no one and he thinks who called out his name? Was he imagining it?
Not knowing where the voice came from simply he replied: “Here I am.”
As Moses moved even closer, the voice commanded him to come no closer and to remove his sandals, for the place you are standing was Holy Ground.
The voice said: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses stopped and immediately hided his face for he was afraid to look at God and to be in His presence.
Then the Lord God said to Moses: “Come! I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.”
Nope, I can’t do it, I am just a shepherd.
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelite’s out of Egypt?”
Earlier Moses said: “I am here.”
God turned the “Who Am I” question said in weakness into the all-powerful proclamation “I AM WHO I AM.”
No matter what God has called us to do we have to trust in Him and do it!
God told Moses: “I will be with you” and He assured that what he lacked, He will supply. “I will be with you.”
When we say “Who am I”, the Lord God responds “I am who I Am, I am has sent you.”
There are three important factors in this passage.
- God Gets Our Attention – We Must Listen
The first factor to consider is this: when God is calling us for a certain mission; God will get our attention. When He does, we must listen to what He says as in Moses’ case.
God often gets our attention by allowing uncommon events to occur in our lives. They are God’s way of tapping us on the shoulder, so that we will “take notice” and to listen to what He has to say. We have to move closer to God to experience his presence in our life.
- God Reveals Himself to Us
When God called Moses into service, He knew that Moses was ready to execute God’s plan, but Moses found it very hard to believe. He was very hesitant. His response to God was “You’ve got to be kidding? What makes You think I will pull this off?”
God’s response to Moses was, “I will be with you.” God did not rebuke Moses; He wanted Moses to know that He was the One, who was going to rescue His people from slavery. Moses was assigned for duty as God’s agent.
III. God Reveals His Plan
God gave Moses specific instructions of how He wanted Moses to accomplish this mission. These instructions can be found in verses 16-22 of our text. Moses had to first, assemble the elders of Israel, then, go to the king of Egypt and finally go to the Israelites.
In order for this mission to go smoothly, Moses had to be obedient. If he didn’t, he was sure to fail his mission.
How about our mission? Is it an ongoing mission of God?