In this series we have been considering the concept of every average-Joe Christian a minister of the Gospel. Thus instead of asking if one is called into “THE ministry,” perhaps we should be asking to which ministry are we called. Yet many of us are reticent, shy even, when it is time to begin actively seeking active involvement in the lives of others in Jesus’s Name. For those of us in this quandary, Moses connects with our vulnerable souls. Let us consider several snapshots of Moses.
Exodus 3:1-12
In this vignette we see a Moses who is Shepherd Milquetoast. The one who would speak face to face with God now hangs his head, shying away. “Who am I that I should ….” Moses is not exactly inspirational is he? Yet, I argue that Moses has not always, nor will always be Shepherd Milquetoast.
Exodus 2:11-22
This vignette offers a “slightly” different picture of Moses than that on The Mountain. Moses is Captain Courageous, a Hollywood-swashbuckling-ladies-man.
Consider that Moses grew up as Pharoah’s son. He would have received the best education in the world. Since he is 40 at the time of this incident, he would certainly have had military leadership experience, not to mention political suave and acumen. Consider now later in Moses’s life. Moses comes down from The Mountain, fresh with the Ten Commandments engraved by the finger of God. He sees their idolatry and smashes the stones in anger. Later still, the people complain once again, and instead of speaking to the rock for water (as God had directed) Moses out of anger smashes his staff into the rock.
Now consider Exodus 2:11-22 again in the light of the above paragraph. A fire begins burning in his heart for his people. He will be their deliverer. So, he jumps out one day and daringly guts an Egyptian. The next day he happens upon two Hebrews fighting and attempts to be their peace-maker-deliverer. Their sarcastic response drives a wooden stake into his swash-buckling adventures in deliverance. He flees his homeland and is able to defend helpless ladies against ruffian shepherds (shepherds are hated by high-class Egyptians, of which Moses was one). Perhaps this added to the weight of Pharoah seeking Moses’s life, influencing him to stay.
Is it possible that Moses was consumed with passion and rage in desiring to deliver his people? Is it possible that Moses was simply consumed?
Now let us return to that fateful scene upon The Mountain. God asks Moses to be his instrument of deliverance, to which Moses responds, “who am I that I should?” I believe when God asked Moses this question, all he heard in the background was the sarcasm of those two Hebrews he meant to help: “Who made you prince and a judge over us?” I believe Moses’s attitude was at least flavored a little with snark: “They don’t want me to be their deliverer.”
Sound familiar?
- These people in this church better be glad I’m not the preacher!!!
- They better be glad I’m not their boss!!!
I believe Moses, that swash-buckling hero of a ladies-man held no lack of self-confidence. Rather I believe Moses was scared of his own tendencies towards all-consuming passion. Is it not interesting that the form God speaks to Moses in is a fire that covers a bush, yet does not consume the bush. God burns, yet is fully self-controlled. Moses burns and is consumed. The promise Moses receives is that God would be with Him. Consider one more vignette of Moses.
Numbers 12
Moses is challenged–yet again–by his own people. However, this time the challenge is from his own kin. How hurtful and shameful. This is no ordinary challenge, this is in essence a coup d’état. What is Moses’s response? I know what my response would be: I’d burn them in my wrath. Yet, Moses interceded for Miriam.
While in the first vignette Moses is featured as Shepherd Milquetoast, and in the second as Hollywood, in this vignette he is featured as meek. Contrary to popular misconception, meek does not mean weak. Rather, like the fire all over the bush, while not consuming it, meekness means strength under control.
From the time of Hollywood Moses to the time of Shepherd Milquetoast to the time of Shepherd Meekness, God was at work on Moses. As Moses walked with God, God transformed him into what He needed Moses to be for his people. Are we courageous enough to believe that God will equip His called-ones for the needs of the ones with whom these “called-ones” are placed to serve? God transformed Hollywood Moses into Undershepherd Moses. He will do the same for us.
