Answering the Call

Well, as everybody can see, I'm not Pastor Tim, and I was going to actually

start today with a joke about how I'm actually a better version or better looking version of Pastor Tim,

but then my kids told me that I shouldn't make jokes about him since he was about ready to leave,

and then my wife also reminded me that I have this ever-enlarging bald spot in the back of my head,

and so I think I'll bypass the jokes for today, so you're off the hook.

Uh just a quick introduction i'm sure most of you guys know me but i'm andy

niemeyer i'm not a preacher you've probably run into my kids at some point in

the last year or more accurately they have ran into you,

and i apologize for that i have three kids jay sadie and kayla and then that

good looking blonde over there that's my wife,

she sings like an angel she's an amazing high school middle school choir teacher,

and she can make a singer out of anyone.

And just as an aside, if you want to join community choir, she will make you

sound good next year. Talk to her.

I teach at Teach Tech at a high school, and usually I'm more of a doer than

a talker, so this is a little bit out of the realm of normal for me.

I appreciate everyone being here today, and if today is your first day at Free

Methodist, come back next week. It only gets better.

So today I wanted us to reflect on a topic that I have recently been thinking

about, something that has come about after Pastor Tim asked me to preach,

something that has resonated with me since family camp, actually, this past July, where,

Paul Elf, one of the speakers up there, mentioned his thoughts in one of his nightly sessions.

But before I start, let's all bow our heads and pray.

Lord God, we come to you today asking you to open our minds,

our thoughts, our hearts to hearing and understanding your word.

I ask that the words I say come from you and bless those who seek your presence in their life.

Lord, we know it is said that where two or more are gathered in your name, you are here.

Lord, I ask that your presence is felt by all this morning. Thank you for loving

us. Thank you for providing for us.

And thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross. It's in your heavenly name we pray. Amen.

So, last July, similar to the last 12 years of my life, my family and I went

and attended a family camp up at Sky Lodge Christian Camp.

And not to get too far in the weeds, but everybody should go,

at least once, just to experience what Christian Camp is all about.

It's truly a time of self-reflection and learning that I think can speak to everyone.

Anyways, last July, our family went to Sky Lodge, and Pastor Paul Elf was one

of the main nightly speakers.

In Paul's sermon that night, he said something that I had actually been thinking

about for quite some time. Paul asked the question.

As he paused the moment, I thought to myself, Oh boy, God's talking to me right now.

You see, earlier this year, when Pastor Tim started asking others to preach

a sermon, I could kind of see the writing on the wall.

At some point, he was going to ask me.

And as slow as my brain takes to process, I started to brainstorm some ideas about a sermon.

The thought that crossed my mind then was, why are you here?

The same thought I had formed months earlier was now coming from a preacher

at family camp, and it was like God was directly talking to me,

which meant I had better get prepared.

So it was no surprise then that within a few short weeks of camp ending,

Tim asked the question, can you preach?

Or more specifically, you're preaching. August 16th.

And reluctantly, I said yes.

Now you might ask yourself, why were you so reluctant to speech or to preach?

And that's why, because I can't speech.

I can't speak. I can't preach, you know.

And to be honest, the answer is kind of embarrassing. The first thing that crossed

my mind initially, thankfully, was, do you know how busy I am?

Then the other thoughts of, I'm not very smart with my words,

I'm not blessed with Bible knowledge like Chris, and I can't read Hebrew.

I'm an introvert. And the list went on.

But as I heard myself think, do you know how busy I am?

The angel on my other shoulder also whispered the question, you're too busy for God?

And it was at that moment I knew I had to answer the call.

When I began speaking, or when I began studying scripture for this sermon,

I realized I wasn't the first person to hesitate when God called.

In fact, some of the greatest people ever used initially struggled with the very thing.

This morning, I'd like us to take a look at the following three men.

Moses, Gideon, and Jonah.

Through my studies of these three individuals, I quickly learned that my hesitation

to preaching greatly mirrors many when God calls on them to take a stance for the kingdom.

If you would turn in your Bibles to Exodus, we're going to be reading through

Exodus 3 and 4 this morning.

To set the scene, Exodus tells the story of Moses.

The beginning of Exodus 3 shows us Moses coming up to Horeb,

the mountain of God, to see a burning bush that isn't being consumed.

Exodus 3, 5-11 Do not come any closer, God said.

Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers,

and I am concerned about their suffering.

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them,

out of the land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Prezorites, Hivites, and the Jezebites.

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the

Egyptians are oppressing them. So now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring

my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

But Moses said to God, and this is what we need to pay attention to.

Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?

Moses says, who am I? Because he just didn't think it was him.

If we know anything about Moses' background, and to be brutally honest,

I probably did more Bible research in the last two weeks than I have in the last year.

So that's on me. It was a good thing that Pastor Tim said, hey,

you're going to preach because it's forced me to get into the word.

But one thing that I learned was Moses kind of lived in 40-year stints.

40 years with Pharaoh, 40 years out as a shepherd, and then the next 40 years,

leading his people to the freedom land.

And when I think about that, you know, God's never actually done with us no matter how old we are.

Anyways, to go back, Moses says, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring

the Israelites out of Egypt?

God is literally talking to Moses from a burning bush that isn't being consumed.

If Tim would have approached me and would have burst out into flames,

I probably would have been like, yes, Tim, absolutely, let's do this,

because that would have been the sign.

But Moses has what I would call this deer in the headlights moment in response. Who, me?

Continuing on. Exodus 3.12. And God said, I will be with you,

and this will be a sign unto you that it is I who have sent you.

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.

Moses said to God.

Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your fathers has

sent me to you. And they ask me, what is your name?

Then what shall I tell them? God says to Moses, I am who I am.

This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you.

When I first read this, I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, I am who I am.

And I'm like, why is this in capital letters? And so I did a bunch of research.

And in this research, I kind of went down this rabbit hole Which,

led me to finding out that the translated Hebrew to this phrase is Ayyeh Asher

Ayyeh, which means I am who I am Or it can also be translated into I will be

what I will be Or I am who I will be.

The basis for this is basically it comes from an active form that means the

past, the present, and the future,

But the whole meaning of the capitalized I am who I am,

Is to show that this functions as a divine title Just like we would capitalize

God I am who I am is exactly the same So there's your Hebrew lesson for today,

Continuing on, God also said to Moses Say to the Israelites,

the Lord of your God has sent of your fathers the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

So let's review up to this point. God talks to Moses. God wants Moses to tell

Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

God literally tells Moses what to say.

And at this point, you would be thinking, Moses would be like,

okay, God, let's go do this.

I believe in you. Thank you for trusting me to accomplish this task.

But no.

Exodus 4, Moses answered, What if they do not believe me or listen to me and

say, The Lord did not appear to you?

Then the Lord said to him, What is in your hand? A staff, he replied.

The Lord said, Throw it on the ground.

Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.

Then the Lord said to him, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.

So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and turned it back into a staff in his hand.

This, said the Lord, is so that you 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.

Then the Lord said, put your hand inside your cloak. So Moses put his hand inside

his cloak. And when he took it out, the skin was leprous. It had become as white as snow.

Now put it back inside of your cloak, he said. So Moses put his hand back inside

of his cloak. And when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

Then the Lord said, If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first

sign, then they may believe the second.

But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you,

take some water from the Nile, pour it on dry ground.

The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.

Moses said to the Lord, Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent

neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow with speech and tongue.

The Lord said to him, Who gave human beings their mouths?

Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it I, not the Lord?

Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.

But Moses said, pardon your servant, Lord, please send someone else.

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses.

At this point, Moses has exhausted every excuse he can think of.

Notice that God's anger burns Not because Moses had questions But because now

Moses had moved from honest hesitation To refusing God's call.

Continuing on. And he said, What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well.

He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.

You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth.

I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as he were the mouth,

and as you were God to him.

But take this staff in your hands so you can perform the signs with it.

There is so much to unpack in Exodus 3 and 4, but when we look closer,

we see the following Moses' stories.

Hesitation. Moses doesn't immediately refuse. He hesitates because he feels

overwhelmed by the task.

In Exodus 3.11, he asked, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?

We also see self-doubt or insecurity. Moses sees his own weakness more clearly than God's power.

After 40 years of tending sheep, he likely no longer saw himself as a leader.

Fear. After Moses never explicitly said, I'm afraid, fear is evident.

Fear of Pharaoh. Fear of rejection from the Israelites. Fear of failure.

Reluctance. This may be the best overall word and one that resonates well with me.

He doesn't want the assignment even though he knows God is calling him.

Or a lack of confidence. Moses repeatedly focuses on what he cannot do.

I have never been eloquent with my words.

Resistance. As the conversation progresses, his reluctance becomes active resistance.

Please send someone else, he says in Exodus 4.13. And at this point,

the text, as we recall, the Lord's anger burned against Moses.

It is very interesting to me to see the development of this conversation.

We see that Moses wasn't struggling with rebellion at first.

He was struggling to trust that God's ability was greater than his own inadequacies.

What is also interesting and

encouraging is that God did not replace Moses because of his hesitation.

Instead, he patiently answered his question, provided signs,

promised his presence, and even gave him Aaron as a spokesperson.

God's response shows that he often works for those people who feel inadequate,

not just those who feel capable.

Stories like Moses' are scattered throughout the Bible.

In Judges 6.15, Gideon states the following as he prepares for battle.

Pardon me, my lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest,

and I am the least in my family.

He then asked God for multiple signs. And if you've ever read through Judges,

you know that Aaron puts a fleece on the ground.

And one day the fleece is full of dew and the ground around it has no dew.

The next day the fleece is dry and the ground around it is full of dew.

These are the signs that Gideon was looking for.

We can also look to the story of Jonah, a man who straight up just didn't want

to do what God had asked him.

Unlike Moses and Gideon, Jonah doesn't question his ability. He simply refuses.

In Jonah 1-2, God asks, Jonah, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against

it because its wickedness has come up before me.

And the response we see in Jonah 1-3, Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.

Even in Jonah's lack of obedience at the beginning, we see God used Jonah and

Nineveh to soften the hearts and change their ways, leading God to spare the city.

In Jonah 3.10, when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil

ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction that he had threatened.

Although this didn't really sit well with Jonah, it is what God had planned at the beginning.

In a nutshell, here's what we can learn from these three scriptures.

God rarely calls people who feel qualified. He calls on ordinary people who

are willing to trust him.

When I first agreed to preach today, I spent a lot of time thinking about why I was so reluctant.

It wasn't because I don't believe in God. It wasn't because I didn't want to serve him.

It was because I was looking at myself, my issues, my insecurities,

instead of looking at him.

Moses did the same thing. Gideon did the same thing.

Jonah said nothing. He just bought a ticket in the opposite direction.

Yet in every one of these stories, God's plan didn't depend on their confidence.

It depended on their faithfulness.

This morning, I'd like to leave you with one question. What is God asking you

to do that you've been putting off?

Maybe he's been asking you to forgive somebody or even forgive yourself.

Maybe he's asking you to share your faith with a co-worker. Maybe he's calling

you to teach, to give up a bad habit, to volunteer, to serve,

to give, to lead your family spiritually.

Maybe he's just asking you to take the next faithful step.

But instead of moving forward, you've been saying, I'm too busy.

I'm not qualified. Someone else could do a better job.

What if I fail? What if people reject me?

These are the very same words spoken by Moses, Gideon, and Jonah.

Yet when we really dig in, we notice something incredible.

God never asked them to be enough. He simply asked them to trust that he was enough.

The words that God spoke to Moses are just as true for us today.

I will be with you, Exodus 3.12. That promise made all the difference for Moses.

It made all the difference for Gideon.

It eventually changed Jonah.

And it can make a difference for us. So I'll leave you with this.

What excuse have you been giving God? And what might happen if today was the

day you finally stopped looking at your own inadequacies and started trusting God's ability.

Because throughout the scripture, God has never been looking for perfect people.

He's been looking for willing people who will serve him. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much.

That you give us second chances, that you allow us to be molded,

and that you have patience with us.

Lord, I just ask that the words that were spoken here today resonate with individuals,

and that we can go out into a world and look to make more disciples to love you.

Lord, we thank you. We love you. We praise you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.