The Servant

"The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!'  And the Lord said, 'If you had faith like a grain of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you.'"  - Luke 17:5-6

Throughout the New Testament, we read story after story of people encountering Jesus.  Their response?  They run to tell everyone they know that they have met the Messiah.  The Living God.  The One who healed them, rescued them, and made them whole.  They became "Word-bearers."

Yet, the beginning of Exodus tells the story of a man whose core identity has been rocked.  He encounters God, and rather than running back to His people, being filled with life - he is only filled with excuses.

Moses declares-

• Himself unfit: I am not the person you need (3.12)
• As not having enough knowledge:  I have not the necessary gift (3.13)
• As ineffective:  I have not the required effectiveness (4:1)
• As lacking eloquence:  I have not the necessary gift (4.10)
• He is not unwilling:  I am not the person you need (4.13)

But why was this his reaction?

Before Moses left Egypt he had come to a point where he could no longer stand the injustice he saw around him.  We read in Exodus 2 that his blood boiled over.  The problem?  He claimed justice as his own and took things into his own hands.  Moses murdered an Egyptian official - not the smartest way to go about things, taking officials out one by one to overthrow a country.  Then he attempted to settle an argument between two Hebrews, only serving to make things worse.  Finally, he thought he had kept the murder a secret, but Pharaoh knew and tried to kill him.  Did Moses think he could single handedly overthrow one of the greatest powers in the world?  And yet - all the time in the desert did not change him.  He still was trying to do things by force when he rescued women but put everyone at risk over water rights.

And so after another 40 years pass, giving time to reflect on all that had gone wrong, Moses could not believe that God would choose to use him.

Does this story find resonance with your soul?

It's as if Moses needed his wilderness time.  Like Abraham.  Isaac.  Jacob.  Elijah.  David.  Jonah.  The people of Israel.  Paul.  John the Baptist.   And Jesus.  God's principle that shows us: "Before we go out, we must come in, and so we see how the Lord brought Moses into the secret place of communion with himself prior to sending him out to Israel and Pharaoh.  The Lord has a training school.  He says, 'Come into my presence.' Satan will, of course always seek to reverse that procedure, reminding us all the time of the needs of the world and of the desperate necessity to get on with the work...But the Lord says, 'No, come and stand with me for a bit.  Come and listen to me.' Service begins in the presence of the Lord, spending time alone with God."*

And so God is patient with Moses.  God knew exactly what had happened to Moses' heart.  But also that Moses had been prepared for what was to come.  For each and every excuse, cry of desperation, and feeling of inadequacy, the God of the universe took time for Moses.  To explain his plan.  To give what was needed.  To equip.  Down to the most minute detail.

Down to the signs and wonders that God gave to Moses to prove that "I AM who I AM" had heard the cries of his people.  Rescue was here.

The signs and wonders given?  The rod turned into a snake was meant to show the power of Yahweh over the kings of Egypt who used a serpent as their sign of power.  While leprosy ran common and was incurable, here Yahweh had the power to heal.  And the river that turned red?  If the Nile was destroyed Egypt would be destroyed too - and God had the power to do that.  But these signs were more than simply for the nation of Egypt.  They were also for Moses.  To remind him that God hears, and sees, and knows each of his people.   "The Lord is Lord of power - to transform (2-5), to renew (6-7) and to conquer (8-9)."*

The problem? The people had to wait 40 more years.

And so the question is two-fold.  For the situations where you see great injustice and are crying out to God to right the wrongs.  Who is God taking the time to form to bring deliverance and great rescue?

And, where is God forming you to bring His Word to people?

Moses stands before God and complains.  It makes sense.  He had tried before and failed.  Left with a limp and a broken heart.  But after the desert?  A true deliverer.

And yet Moses was simply the forerunner.  People cried out for centuries for a deliverer.  It took God longer than 40 years to send Jesus who has led the ultimate exodus to freedom through his death and resurrection.

And while it has taken longer than 40 years for Jesus to come back...  He has left His Spirit so we do not walk alone.  For we have been called to be "Word" bearers.  In spite of our limp, our inadequacies, sin, and blunders.  It's important to understand that another correct translation for the word "disciple" found earlier in Luke 17 can be the word "brother."  As Luke intentionally points out the fact that our relationship with God has been severed by sin.  And so we have the great privilege not to simply tell our own stories, but rather the great rescue of Jesus Christ who has called us out of darkness into marvelous light.  What was broken has been healed.  Transformed.  Renewed.  Restored.  Sin has been conquered by an empty tomb.

But while we continue to wait, and we wander - don't mistake the stillness for anything but the moment that comes before great rescue.  "Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  God saw the people of Israel--and God knew."  (Exodus 2:23b-25)






*Motyer.  J.A.  The Message of Exodus.  IVP: Downers Grove, IL, 2005.