Dr. Ron Sumners
February 15, 2009
Why is it that we feel that we can offer excuses when it comes to the church that would be ridiculous if used anywhere else?
Have you ever wondered what would happen if people were as intense and committed and determined about church as they are about sports, or hunting or any number of other activities? Did you realize that there are people who will get up long before daylight, go to the woods and sit in a tree, in freezing weather, for hours, waiting for the opportunity to ambush and kill a deer? Tell me when the fun starts! If the deer had guns also; that would be a sport. Some years ago, “Moody Monthly” ran a piece that included excuses someone might use for not going to a sporting event. Excuses we hear in church work.
Every time I go to a game they ask for money.
The people I sat with were not friendly.
The seats were too hard and uncomfortable.
The coach never came to see me.
The referee made a decision I disagree with.
The games sometimes went into overtime.
The band played some music I had never heard before.
The games were scheduled when I was busy.
My parents took me to too many games as a child.
I read a book and I know more than the coach.
I don’t want to take my children. I want them to be free to choose which sport they like when they grow up, without undue influence.
You need to remember in Exodus 3, we have seen God tell Moses that He has heard the cry of the Israelites for deliverance and He is ready to deliver them. He then says to Moses, “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses’ excuses begin. Have you ever responded this way?
You are asked to teach a class – the excuses start.
You are asked to serve in the nursery – excuses.
God asks you to share with a neighbor – excuses.
You are made aware of a need – the excuses start!
In fact, if you are asked to do just about anything for the Lord the excuses start: “I’m too busy, I’m already doing this or that and I feel uncomfortable doing that.” Our excuses pile up to the place that we are not doing anything for the Lord!
I read a story about some GI’s on furlough that I think speaks to this idea of excuses. The commanding officer was furious when nine GI’s, who had been off on week-end passes, failed to show up for the morning roll call. Not until late afternoon did one soldier drag in, He said, “I am sorry sir, but I had a date and lost track of time and missed the bus back to the base. I was determined to get back on time so I hired a taxi, but halfway here the taxi broke down. I was determined to get back so I went to a farm house and asked the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding furiously to get back in time and the horse dropped dead. I walked the last ten miles and am just getting here.” The Colonel was skeptical but let the young man off with a reprimand.
One by one, all nine of the men returned and each had the same story as the first. By the ninth man the Colonel was tired of the story. He growled at the last man to arrive, “Okay, what happened to you?” The soldier began, “Sir, I missed the bus back to base and had to rent a cab.” The colonel exploded, “Don’t tell me that the cab broke down!” The young man replied, “Oh, no sir, but there were broken down cabs and dead horses all over the road and it took forever to get through!”
Moses had his excuses for not following what God had for him to do. Maybe you have used one or all of them yourself.
Excuse One: The “Who Me?” Excuse.
This first excuse Moses offers is a bit pitiful, but see if it doesn’t sound like something that comes out of your mouth sometimes. Verse 7 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. Stephen relates the story in Acts 7:23-29. “Now when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him and struck down the Egyptian….The next day he appeared to two Israelites as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you wrong one another?’ But one pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler or judge over us. Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’”
When Moses had tried deliverance 40 years earlier, he was not believed or listened to. If they did not believe Moses 40 years earlier, why should they believe him now? It is a terrible thing to believe that when we speak no one listens to us. If I preach a sermon, and believe that no one listens, why spend the time to try to present a word about faith and the Christian life? Most of you are great listeners. Some of you do not listen at all. You may hear words spoken, but you have no intention of listening with your heart! Often, we hang on to failures in the past and respond to God’s call to service the same way Moses did, “Who, me Lord?” Moses was afraid of rejection and failure and so are we. I face rejection every time I step into the pulpit. People twist what I say and even misrepresent it. I am criticized because I don’t preach like Bro. So, and So that you grew up with. I preached a sermon a few weeks ago and talked about my mortgage. My purpose was to show that everything belongs to God. A person in the congregation felt that I was giving a sob story so someone would help me pay my mortgage. I resent that damnable speculation more than I can say. That feeling from a church member says far more about the one who voiced it than it does about me. Did anyone else misunderstand what I was trying to say? If so, come and tell me. Don’t gleefully share misinformation and negativity to people who can do nothing but be adversely affected by that kind of poison.
I quit on ministry and the pastorate and vowed that I would never be the pastor of a church again. I failed. My initial response when approached by this church was, “Who, me Lord?”
Moses’ first excuse was doubt in himself, his second excuse expresses doubt in God.
Excuse 2: “By what authority?”
Moses said to God, “When I come to the Children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me unto you,’ and then they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
God did not ask Moses to go and explain all the things he did not know about God. He just asked him to go and explain what he did know about God.
God responds, “I AM WHO I AM!” Tell the Children of Israel, “I AM has sent me unto you. The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.” God tells Moses that the calling has nothing to do with who Moses is but everything to do with who God is. God is not a grandfather figure in the sky, merely watching our antics and turning a deaf ear to us. He does not give a knowing wink to our sin and rebellion. He is the giver of life. He is life! When God tells Moses that “I AM WHO I AM” He is literally saying, “I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WHAT I ALWAYS WILL BE.” It is God, the Creator of the Universe who calls us into service. He calls you just like He did Moses!
Excuse Three: “The what ifs”
Moses answered and said, “Suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” The question Moses asks is hypothetical. What if this or that happens was his excuse. “What if they ask me a question I cannot answer?” Have you ever used that as an excuse for not sharing your faith?
What ifs are victory killers and zeal quenchers. Excuses will relegate us to second best. Moses was so concerned about what might happen that he didn’t hear what God said would happen!
God gave Moses three proofs. First, his staff turns into a snake and back again. God said to Moses, “What is in your hand?” Moses answers, “A rod.” God then tells him to cast it on the ground and it becomes a snake and Moses runs from it. Then the Lord tells him to pick it up by the tail. Only the “Crocodile Hunter” was crazy enough to do that. You pick a snake up by the back of the head so it can’t bite. He reached out and caught the snake by the tail and it changed to a rod again.
It is important that God did not ask Moses to use what he did not have. God asks, “What is in your hand?” that is the question that He asks you and me today. God uses what we have, and does not demand what we do not have. We will never know our full potential in God’s Kingdom until we lay what we have at the feet of God; for Him to use as He pleases! God is not looking so much for ability as He is availability!
When God calls, we are tempted to put our assets and abilities in one column and our liabilities in another to determine if we can do what God has called us to do. We are all inadequate to do the job God has called us to do unless we go in God’s strength! When we discover this and say, “Yes”; God uses us.
God’s command to Moses is simple, “Throw it down.” He does so and because of his obedience God shows His power. Then God said, “Pick it up.” Again, Moses obeyed and the hissing snake became a rod again. Next Moses is given the sign of a leprous handmade clean. He also turns water into blood. Will Moses now accept God’s call?
Excuse Four: “But Lord, I don’t speak well.”
Instead of accepting God’s call, he tells God that he cannot speak well. He is not an eloquent speaker and feels that he cannot communicate the truth that God desires. God responds by reminding Moses that he made man’s mouth. He tells Moses to go and He tells him that He will be with his mouth and teach him what to say. Our inadequacies are not a problem for God. He made us the way we are. But if we do not make ourselves available for God’s plan, God’s plan for our lives cannot go forward. God is extremely patient with Moses and says that Aaron, Moses’ brother can go and do the speaking.
Excuse Five: “Send someone else.”
No matter what, signs or no signs, whether God promised to be with him or not, Moses does not want to go. The last objection was not based on even the thinnest thread of a reason. Moses simply did not want to go. Moses is telling God, “No!” Exodus 4:14 tells us that the Lord became angry with Moses. God becomes angry at our excuses. His blessings are withdrawn from those who whine! It is not that the Lord can endure four excuses and not five. Moses is refusing to trust God. When Moses begs for God to send someone else, he is telling God, “I don’t trust you.” This angers God. It still does in 2009. When was the last time you told God, “No!”
The Lord’s anger burned against Moses. The sin of excuses will someday come to judgment. One day we will all stand before God and there will be no excuses. Not only do excuses anger God, they also cause discontentment and discouragement within the Body of Christ. Excuses cause a few to bear the burden of many. Satan will use this as a wedge to bring discouragement.
You do not need for someone else to do what God has called you to do! Have you ever stopped to realize the harm you are doing when you make excuses and fail to do what God has called you to do?
Moses finally responds in obedience. He took his family and headed for Egypt. He carried the staff of God in his hand. Think of the lives that were touched because of his obedience. Over a million Israelites walked out of the land of their slavery.
Cannot or will not: this is the question we all must ask ourselves. It is almost never that we cannot. We have God’s strength when we are obedient. The problem is that we will not!
Listen carefully and do not misunderstand. God has a plan and a calling for the life of each person here. He expects for you to respond in obedience. He desires for you to do what He asks. He has heard all the excuses He cares to hear.
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