1 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:13,760 Shall we pray together? 2 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:20,040 Father, we thank you for choir and for music group and for the way 3 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,960 in which they enhance and help our worship. 4 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:29,750 We thank you for your word, which is ever living and is your 5 00:00:29,750 --> 00:00:33,510 means of communicating to us, one of the means of your communicating 6 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:33,990 to us. 7 00:00:34,390 --> 00:00:37,830 And we pray that as we now turn to that word, you would speak 8 00:00:37,830 --> 00:00:40,230 to us through Jesus Christ. 9 00:00:40,390 --> 00:00:41,110 We pray. 10 00:00:41,430 --> 00:00:41,989 Amen. 11 00:00:44,230 --> 00:00:49,350 When I wrote the sermon, I began with the phrase or the question, 12 00:00:49,430 --> 00:00:51,350 what do you see every Sunday in church? 13 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,000 That because you see it so often, you either almost forget it's 14 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,960 there or you forget its significance. 15 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:02,080 And then I wrote the children's talk and realized that 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,800 that first question wouldn't have the same punch as maybe otherwise. 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,960 But isn't it true that you know, if you were maybe stopped by 18 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:16,640 somebody in the street Monday morning and they said, when you think 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,000 of the church, you go to an analogue, what do you think of? 20 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,150 And you might say the pulpit, or you might say the piano, or you 21 00:01:25,150 --> 00:01:26,310 might say the pews. 22 00:01:26,470 --> 00:01:27,030 I wonder. 23 00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:30,070 Many of us would say, well, in our church there's a burning bush 24 00:01:30,230 --> 00:01:32,070 as the symbol of our church. 25 00:01:32,950 --> 00:01:37,790 The burning bush resonated with persecuted Christians in 16th 26 00:01:37,790 --> 00:01:42,470 century France so deeply that the Protestant grouping called the 27 00:01:42,470 --> 00:01:46,810 Huguenots, adopted it as their official symbol during their 12th 28 00:01:46,903 --> 00:01:49,650 National Synod in France, 1583. 29 00:01:50,130 --> 00:01:54,890 So it goes back a very long way in terms of the Protestant Reformation 30 00:01:54,890 --> 00:01:56,690 as a symbol for the church. 31 00:01:57,410 --> 00:02:00,210 It's thought that the Huguenots were influenced by John 32 00:02:00,210 --> 00:02:04,129 Calvin's description of the church and the sufferings it must 33 00:02:04,129 --> 00:02:07,330 endure at being symbolized by the burning bush. 34 00:02:08,210 --> 00:02:13,010 When Presbyterianism was re established In Scotland after 1690, 35 00:02:13,900 --> 00:02:17,780 the Church of Scotland, our mother church, adopted the burning 36 00:02:17,780 --> 00:02:19,020 bush symbol. 37 00:02:19,580 --> 00:02:23,860 This then became a very powerful reminder to Ulster Presbyterians, 38 00:02:23,860 --> 00:02:28,340 who in the 17th and 18th centuries suffered persecution from 39 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:31,020 the establishment of the Anglican authorities. 40 00:02:31,660 --> 00:02:35,460 And the burning bush was brought forward as a symbol with 41 00:02:35,460 --> 00:02:39,180 the motto that we use, of course, is Ardennes Sedwerins, meaning 42 00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:41,020 burning but flourishing. 43 00:02:41,580 --> 00:02:45,340 It was a reminder that in Christ the church could flourish 44 00:02:46,220 --> 00:02:48,580 even in the fires of persecution. 45 00:02:48,580 --> 00:02:52,540 Now all that, of course, is history, long after the time of Moses. 46 00:02:53,580 --> 00:02:57,820 And so, believe it or not, Moses had no idea of what a Presbyterian 47 00:02:57,820 --> 00:02:58,300 would be. 48 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:04,940 And when he saw this burning bush, there are some lessons I think 49 00:03:04,940 --> 00:03:08,330 that I felt we could learn to our benefit this morning. 50 00:03:08,330 --> 00:03:12,570 So again, as I said earlier, apologies to David who gave me verse 51 00:03:12,570 --> 00:03:14,610 20, 21 or 22 to do. 52 00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:18,570 I really just felt the Lord saying, let's just stick with the 53 00:03:18,570 --> 00:03:22,490 burning bush and see what we can Learn from that this morning. 54 00:03:22,490 --> 00:03:27,970 And here's the first God appears where we least expect it. 55 00:03:28,850 --> 00:03:31,290 Let me read the first three verses again, if I may. 56 00:03:31,290 --> 00:03:35,260 Now, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, 57 00:03:35,260 --> 00:03:36,420 the priest of Midian. 58 00:03:36,660 --> 00:03:39,980 And he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to 59 00:03:39,980 --> 00:03:41,700 Horeb, the mountain of God. 60 00:03:42,180 --> 00:03:45,180 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire 61 00:03:45,180 --> 00:03:46,980 from within the bush. 62 00:03:47,620 --> 00:03:51,340 Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. 63 00:03:51,340 --> 00:03:54,260 So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight, 64 00:03:54,580 --> 00:03:57,140 why the bush does not burn up. 65 00:03:58,430 --> 00:04:02,030 Now, let me fill in a bit of backstory here and apologies, because 66 00:04:02,030 --> 00:04:05,750 I'm sure maybe David has done this before in the last week or two. 67 00:04:05,750 --> 00:04:08,910 But forgive me if I just go through this again. 68 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:14,950 For 40 years, Moses had been brought up in a palace, rescued from 69 00:04:14,950 --> 00:04:18,270 the infanticidal cruelty of Pharaoh against Hebrew slaves. 70 00:04:18,270 --> 00:04:23,990 Exodus 2:10 tells us that Moses was adopted as the son of Pharaoh's 71 00:04:23,990 --> 00:04:26,260 daughter, who named him Moses. 72 00:04:26,820 --> 00:04:32,580 Thus he was a prince of Egypt, educated, cultured, part of the court 73 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:36,900 of Pharaoh, used to the finer things of life, living in luxury 74 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:37,700 and security. 75 00:04:38,500 --> 00:04:43,900 He was living his best life, but he was also an Israelite and 76 00:04:43,900 --> 00:04:44,900 aware of his origins. 77 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:49,220 And one day, seeing an Israelite mistreated by an Egyptian, 78 00:04:49,220 --> 00:04:52,640 Moses murdered him and buried the body. 79 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:54,280 But he thought he had got away with it. 80 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:58,240 But somebody had seen him and news eventually got through to Pharaoh, 81 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,480 who we read in the scriptures, tried to kill Moses. 82 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:06,759 So he fled from that life of luxury and palace security. 83 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,320 Indeed he fled to Midian, east of the Gulf of Aqaba, across the 84 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,600 Sinai peninsula, probably into what we would call southern Jordan 85 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:17,160 today. 86 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,700 There he met a lovely lady called Zipporah and then married 87 00:05:21,860 --> 00:05:25,700 and he became a shepherd, looking after the flock of his father 88 00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:28,820 in law, Jethro, What a change. 89 00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:34,660 40 years of fine dining par privilege and enormous wealth to 90 00:05:34,660 --> 00:05:37,740 poverty stricken shepherd caring for somebody else's sheep 91 00:05:37,740 --> 00:05:39,300 in the wilderness of Midian. 92 00:05:39,940 --> 00:05:44,420 And it's one day as Moses was at work as usual, he comes across 93 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:46,740 something highly unusual. 94 00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:50,470 And I don't think it's taking a wild guess to think that Moses 95 00:05:50,470 --> 00:05:55,910 wasn't expecting an encounter with God that day with 40 years of 96 00:05:55,910 --> 00:05:56,430 shepherding. 97 00:05:56,430 --> 00:05:59,870 And there's no biblical record of anything really unusual happening 98 00:05:59,870 --> 00:06:02,590 to Moses, apart from the normal stuff of life. 99 00:06:02,590 --> 00:06:06,070 He meets the girl, he gets married, he carries on working. 100 00:06:07,110 --> 00:06:09,230 Moses was just doing his daily work. 101 00:06:09,230 --> 00:06:13,150 Maybe in the back of his mind he was thinking, I wonder what zipper 102 00:06:13,150 --> 00:06:14,230 I will have for dinner. 103 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,600 Maybe Lamb chops followed by apple crumble, whatever they ate 104 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:19,160 in those days. 105 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,680 I don't know, maybe he was wondering about why some of the sheep 106 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,000 had disappeared and where they'd got to. 107 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,480 Maybe he noticed a ewe was a bit lame. 108 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:30,000 Whatever. 109 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,960 He's just going about his daily everyday existence at work. 110 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,480 And that's exactly where God met him. 111 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,200 Right in the middle of tending his father in law's sheep. 112 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,760 It's like saying that God met you at the kitchen sink or whilst 113 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,480 mowing the grass or doing the milking or driving the car or staring 114 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:52,720 at a computer screen. 115 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,400 Note that Moses wasn't at worship somewhere. 116 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,200 He wasn't in the middle of a church service. 117 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,600 He wasn't in the middle of doing his daily devotions or whatever 118 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,080 they did in those days. 119 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:03,360 He wasn't at prayer. 120 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:09,570 But in the middle of that, in the midst of mundane everyday activity, 121 00:07:09,570 --> 00:07:12,970 God shows up and interrupts with a miracle. 122 00:07:12,970 --> 00:07:15,530 A burning bush that wasn't being consumed. 123 00:07:16,730 --> 00:07:20,770 I remember many years ago talking to a lovely man who came 124 00:07:20,770 --> 00:07:21,570 to our church. 125 00:07:21,570 --> 00:07:26,250 A lovely, glorious, gracious man, not a Christian. 126 00:07:27,370 --> 00:07:31,370 And when I challenged about why he came to church every Sunday, 127 00:07:31,530 --> 00:07:35,610 why he supported the church so well but had not yet given his life 128 00:07:35,610 --> 00:07:37,440 to Jesus, he, he said this. 129 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,920 I'm waiting for God to prove himself in some miraculous way. 130 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,680 You know, Jesus faced the same attitude with people who said, show 131 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,640 us a miracle, Lord, and then we'd believe. 132 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:49,720 We'll not look it up. 133 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:55,360 But if you want to reference Matthew 16:1 4, John 6:30, Matthew 134 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,800 16:1 4, John6:30 is a reference for that. 135 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:01,600 Maybe a lot of us are like that. 136 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,030 We think, oh, you know, I'll become more committed to Christ or 137 00:08:05,030 --> 00:08:08,550 I'll become committed to Christ if God just shows a miracle. 138 00:08:08,550 --> 00:08:12,830 If God just does something spectacular, maybe there's some of 139 00:08:12,830 --> 00:08:14,150 us and we think, you know what? 140 00:08:15,030 --> 00:08:16,670 I'm busy trying to make a living. 141 00:08:16,670 --> 00:08:19,670 And you know, when I get a bit more established, I'll have more 142 00:08:19,670 --> 00:08:21,030 time for Christian things. 143 00:08:21,750 --> 00:08:24,390 Or maybe we think that when we're a bit older and the children 144 00:08:24,390 --> 00:08:28,150 have grown up with less responsibility, we'll take more time 145 00:08:28,150 --> 00:08:31,340 to think, think about Jesus and about our Christian faith. 146 00:08:31,340 --> 00:08:32,460 But here's the thing. 147 00:08:34,060 --> 00:08:41,100 God will show up in the most unexpected places and in the most 148 00:08:41,100 --> 00:08:42,700 unexpected ways. 149 00:08:43,420 --> 00:08:47,460 And I wonder, just as we maybe take the burning bush symbol for 150 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:51,820 granted in front of me in the pulpit fall, I wonder how many burning 151 00:08:51,820 --> 00:08:55,100 bushes we have walked past in life without taking time to notice 152 00:08:55,650 --> 00:08:59,410 and to draw aside as notice did, and to look and to listen, pay 153 00:08:59,410 --> 00:09:01,170 Attention to what God is saying. 154 00:09:02,130 --> 00:09:05,610 Perhaps we're too busy or too distracted or too unbelieving that 155 00:09:05,610 --> 00:09:08,610 God can speak to us in the everyday stuff of life. 156 00:09:09,570 --> 00:09:12,290 But note the order of verses two and three. 157 00:09:12,290 --> 00:09:15,650 Verse two says, and the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in 158 00:09:15,650 --> 00:09:17,650 flames of fire from within the bush. 159 00:09:17,970 --> 00:09:20,850 And that Moses saw the bush wasn't being destroyed. 160 00:09:20,850 --> 00:09:23,410 So he sees the miracle first of all. 161 00:09:24,210 --> 00:09:27,890 And then verse three tells us Moses decided to go over and see 162 00:09:27,890 --> 00:09:30,930 this strange sight, why the bush does not burn up. 163 00:09:30,930 --> 00:09:35,890 In other words, the miracle was there, but Moses had to pay attention 164 00:09:36,290 --> 00:09:40,009 and to deliberately go over to the bush, go out of his way to see 165 00:09:40,009 --> 00:09:41,010 what was going on. 166 00:09:42,530 --> 00:09:45,570 So when you're going on the school run or doing the dishes or 167 00:09:45,570 --> 00:09:48,930 milking the cows or cutting the grass or working at the computer 168 00:09:48,930 --> 00:09:54,190 or whatever, and that thought comes into your head or that realization 169 00:09:54,430 --> 00:09:58,670 hits you that you wonder, is God trying to say something to me? 170 00:09:58,750 --> 00:10:03,470 Pay attention, turn aside and do what God called you to do. 171 00:10:04,270 --> 00:10:05,390 It could be a thought. 172 00:10:05,390 --> 00:10:09,110 Have you apologized to that person for the thing you did or said 173 00:10:09,110 --> 00:10:11,230 that you know, was off color? 174 00:10:12,750 --> 00:10:16,430 You know, there's another song that says, I think Elton John, sorry 175 00:10:16,430 --> 00:10:18,190 seemed to be the hardest word. 176 00:10:19,470 --> 00:10:24,830 And I wonder, have we actually actualized the power of apology? 177 00:10:26,910 --> 00:10:30,310 I'm going to make a deviation from the script here and tell you 178 00:10:30,310 --> 00:10:30,590 a story. 179 00:10:30,590 --> 00:10:33,990 I hope I haven't told this before, but when we were going through 180 00:10:33,990 --> 00:10:38,030 our building scheme, we discovered in Orangefield way back 181 00:10:38,030 --> 00:10:44,550 in 2006, that 40% of the congregation voted against it, and 182 00:10:44,550 --> 00:10:47,150 that greatly exercised the elders. 183 00:10:47,310 --> 00:10:50,300 And we began to pray about it. 184 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:53,740 We began to wonder, what was God saying to us in this? 185 00:10:54,780 --> 00:10:58,380 And the thought came into our heads as an eldership that we had 186 00:10:59,260 --> 00:11:02,940 not let the trumpet blow a certain note. 187 00:11:03,580 --> 00:11:07,820 There was a bit of confusion over the money, the bit of confusion 188 00:11:07,980 --> 00:11:10,540 over some of the aspects of what we were doing. 189 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:15,140 And so as we thought about it, and God implanted this thought in 190 00:11:15,140 --> 00:11:18,650 our hearts, and we thought, as an eldership, we should apologize 191 00:11:18,650 --> 00:11:19,370 to the church. 192 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:24,770 And so all the elders gathered with me around the communion table. 193 00:11:24,770 --> 00:11:29,530 We had a written statement, and we said that we really appreciated 194 00:11:29,530 --> 00:11:33,050 that there are people against the building scheme, but we really 195 00:11:33,050 --> 00:11:34,210 felt this was of God. 196 00:11:34,210 --> 00:11:38,250 And we apologized that maybe the trumpet hadn't sounded as clear 197 00:11:38,250 --> 00:11:39,290 a note as it should. 198 00:11:40,170 --> 00:11:44,490 And we said we were going to commit ourselves to leadership that 199 00:11:44,490 --> 00:11:46,650 was clear and decisive. 200 00:11:46,970 --> 00:11:48,250 And as we moved on. 201 00:11:49,050 --> 00:11:53,970 Now, I don't know about you, but I have never in my lifetime heard 202 00:11:53,970 --> 00:11:58,130 of a church session apologizing to the congregation and 203 00:11:58,130 --> 00:11:59,530 promising to do better. 204 00:12:00,810 --> 00:12:02,090 But you know what happened? 205 00:12:02,810 --> 00:12:07,930 It brought unity and it brought a sense of moving forward. 206 00:12:07,930 --> 00:12:10,090 And I'll tell you something rather lovely. 207 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,480 The building scheme is all paid off. 208 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,040 They're still owed a million, I think, when I retired eight years 209 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:16,240 ago. 210 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:17,320 It's all paid off now. 211 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,280 And you know, one of the lovely things, Many of the people 212 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,600 who have been giving over the last 20 years or so to the building 213 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:28,600 scheme are continuing to give that money to provide resources for 214 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,000 mission and outreach. 215 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,120 Hence, I think part of that is the church plant in the Titanic quarter, 216 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,240 enabling the church to do more in mission. 217 00:12:39,300 --> 00:12:42,540 And I wonder whether all that would have happened if we hadn't 218 00:12:42,540 --> 00:12:44,300 apologized to the congregation. 219 00:12:44,300 --> 00:12:47,380 Why is it that sorry seems to be the hardest word? 220 00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:50,740 And so when you're doing the dishes or when you're out mowing 221 00:12:50,740 --> 00:12:53,660 the grass, whatever you might be doing, and this thought comes 222 00:12:53,660 --> 00:12:56,900 into your head, maybe I should apologize to so and so. 223 00:12:57,060 --> 00:12:58,740 That's a burning bush moment. 224 00:12:59,060 --> 00:13:00,740 Pay heed and pay attention. 225 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:04,500 Maybe you are like this. 226 00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:09,020 I remember very much in my pastoral work as minister of congregation 227 00:13:09,020 --> 00:13:12,600 that sometimes I'd be driving past a home and the little thought 228 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,880 would come into my head, call in there. 229 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,760 And I'd maybe be thinking, but I'm going up the road to see so and 230 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:19,040 so. 231 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:20,800 And the little thought, call in there. 232 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,120 And I found that when I was attentive to that little burning 233 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:30,560 bush moment and went into that house unexpectedly and unannounced, 234 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,280 it was so often a God moment. 235 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:36,920 Something had happened or something was necessary there to 236 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,350 be dealt with as a God moment. 237 00:13:39,350 --> 00:13:43,350 Pay attention to the burning bush moments in your life. 238 00:13:43,350 --> 00:13:47,150 It's wonderful when God speaks through the supernatural and the 239 00:13:47,150 --> 00:13:50,910 spectacular, but how much more commonly does he speak? 240 00:13:50,910 --> 00:13:54,630 In the mundane, everyday activities of life, the key is always 241 00:13:54,790 --> 00:13:57,990 turning aside, paying attention, and acting. 242 00:13:58,070 --> 00:14:00,070 That's the invitation of the burning bush. 243 00:14:00,230 --> 00:14:03,190 Indeed, every Sunday, as you wait for worship to begin, why not 244 00:14:03,190 --> 00:14:08,430 let the symbol of this burning bush be a reminder to you this morning? 245 00:14:08,830 --> 00:14:12,510 Every day I come here to worship, I draw aside and pay attention 246 00:14:12,510 --> 00:14:14,910 to what God will say in worship. 247 00:14:15,630 --> 00:14:19,150 And the second thing I think I want us to learn is that God is with 248 00:14:19,150 --> 00:14:20,510 us in the fire. 249 00:14:21,309 --> 00:14:21,990 Verse 4. 250 00:14:21,990 --> 00:14:26,710 When the Lord saw that Moses had gone over to look, God called 251 00:14:26,710 --> 00:14:30,190 to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses. 252 00:14:30,510 --> 00:14:32,670 And Moses said, here I am. 253 00:14:33,730 --> 00:14:35,410 Now, here's another confession. 254 00:14:35,650 --> 00:14:38,730 Not only am I not doing the whole passage that David gave me 255 00:14:38,730 --> 00:14:43,330 to preach on, I'm not doing a wonderfully good exegesis of this 256 00:14:43,330 --> 00:14:47,730 passage, because I want to make a point here that I'm not sure 257 00:14:47,730 --> 00:14:49,970 that Moses would necessarily have thought of. 258 00:14:51,170 --> 00:14:56,370 He wasn't facing persecution, more he was in danger of prosecution 259 00:14:56,930 --> 00:14:59,410 for the crime he had committed 40 years before. 260 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,200 But I'm drawing on the idea from Calvin that linked this symbol 261 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,240 with persecution. 262 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,440 You see, the mystery that drew Moses to the bush was that whilst 263 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:13,200 it seemed on fire, it wasn't becoming blackened or charred, it 264 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:14,840 wasn't being destroyed. 265 00:15:15,879 --> 00:15:19,160 But the survival of the burning bush had nothing to do with 266 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,400 its strength or its natural properties. 267 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,200 Because the deeper truth was God was appearing to Moses in the 268 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:25,480 fire. 269 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:27,120 In the fire. 270 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,040 The true miracle wasn't the bush, but the presence of God. 271 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,680 Moses was a murderer. 272 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,320 He was a fugitive from justice. 273 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:41,600 He was a lowly shepherd with a life of mundane and routine on spectacular 274 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:41,920 days. 275 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,880 But God wasn't finished with him. 276 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,640 And isn't it significant, in verse four we hear God speaking to 277 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,680 him, repeating his name. 278 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:52,320 Moses. 279 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:53,880 Moses. 280 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,640 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hear God speak your 281 00:15:58,640 --> 00:15:59,000 name? 282 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:05,160 That fantastic thought God speaks to this fugitive from justice, 283 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:11,360 this murderer, this man who for 40 years has turned away from 284 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,760 the life of luxury in Egypt and been a shepherd in the wilderness. 285 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,600 This man of 80 years of age who maybe thinks he's washed up, 286 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,760 finished, burnt, out of no use for anything or anyone. 287 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:28,000 And God says, moses, Moses, I know you, I love you. 288 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,120 I'm calling you by name and I am with you because I have a job 289 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:33,040 for you to do. 290 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,720 Moses was not yet finished with in terms of God's work in his 291 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:39,040 life. 292 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,600 And so I couldn't help but think of this association with the 293 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,120 burning bush as a symbol for Presbyterians of persecution. 294 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,880 What is the fire that you're experiencing? 295 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,200 It could be the furnace of debt or unemployment. 296 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,040 It could be the fire of illness or grief or guilt, the furnace 297 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,240 of doubt or of unanswered prayer. 298 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,800 Maybe you're being discriminated against in some way, 299 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,600 maybe you're experiencing rejection, may not be the case, but 300 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,360 maybe you're having to suffer some form of abuse, whatever it might 301 00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:14,640 be. 302 00:17:16,330 --> 00:17:18,410 And Exodus 3 is a reminder. 303 00:17:18,410 --> 00:17:21,610 The presence of God is there in the fire with you. 304 00:17:22,250 --> 00:17:25,210 And there's a promise that the presence of God means you may feel 305 00:17:25,210 --> 00:17:27,450 you are burning, but you will not be consumed. 306 00:17:28,330 --> 00:17:31,610 Later in the Scriptures, the prophet Isaiah put it this way in 307 00:17:31,690 --> 00:17:33,930 lovely words from Isaiah 43. 308 00:17:34,650 --> 00:17:36,730 One, three coming up on screen. 309 00:17:37,050 --> 00:17:38,330 I love these words. 310 00:17:38,970 --> 00:17:43,220 Fear not, for I have redeemed you. 311 00:17:43,780 --> 00:17:45,860 I have summoned you by name. 312 00:17:45,940 --> 00:17:48,740 Moses, Moses, you are mine. 313 00:17:49,220 --> 00:17:52,500 When you Pass through the waters, I will be with you. 314 00:17:52,900 --> 00:17:55,860 When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over 315 00:17:55,860 --> 00:17:56,180 you. 316 00:17:56,260 --> 00:18:00,260 When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. 317 00:18:00,260 --> 00:18:03,220 The flames will not set you ablaze. 318 00:18:03,460 --> 00:18:06,340 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. 319 00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:11,460 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 320 00:18:12,580 --> 00:18:17,860 And notice God never says to his people, I will make sure you 321 00:18:17,860 --> 00:18:22,539 don't go through the waters of suffering or the fire, of persecution 322 00:18:22,539 --> 00:18:24,140 or difficulty or problems. 323 00:18:24,140 --> 00:18:28,220 It never says, I will make sure you don't suffer any of these 324 00:18:28,220 --> 00:18:28,580 things. 325 00:18:28,740 --> 00:18:33,900 It's when you pass through the waters, when you walk through the 326 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:36,560 fire, I will be with you. 327 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:42,880 So whatever fire you face in life, God has not finished with you. 328 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:45,600 He certainly won't abandon you. 329 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,080 And surely the reason that the burning bush became a symbol for 330 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,840 so many believers in the Protestant Reformation was the comfort 331 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,520 of the presence of God, even in the face of persecution and trouble. 332 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:02,240 Indeed, as Moses discovered in verse 4, God called to us from within 333 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:03,040 the fire. 334 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,160 And our response shouldn't be to run away, but to say, like Moses, 335 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:10,300 he, here I am, here I am, Lord, wholly available to you to 336 00:19:10,300 --> 00:19:12,020 listen to what you have to say. 337 00:19:12,820 --> 00:19:17,180 So when you hear that little voice inside saying, go and ring 338 00:19:17,180 --> 00:19:17,780 so and so. 339 00:19:17,780 --> 00:19:19,500 Go and call with so and so. 340 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:21,620 Go and send so and so a bunch of flowers. 341 00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:26,300 Go and send someone an encouraging text or have an encouraging 342 00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:28,180 conversation, Take them out for a coffee. 343 00:19:28,180 --> 00:19:32,550 When you hear that little voice, pay attention, for it may 344 00:19:32,550 --> 00:19:37,150 be a burning bush moment that will bring an amazing joy and wonder. 345 00:19:39,230 --> 00:19:42,710 I won't have time this morning to go into the call of God to Moses 346 00:19:42,710 --> 00:19:43,710 to go to Pharaoh. 347 00:19:43,950 --> 00:19:46,910 I'll make a little reference to it in a few minutes. 348 00:19:46,910 --> 00:19:50,950 But here's the third thing that we learn from this burning bush 349 00:19:50,950 --> 00:19:51,270 story. 350 00:19:51,270 --> 00:19:55,550 The third thing is where you are is holy ground. 351 00:19:55,950 --> 00:19:57,230 Verses 5 and 6. 352 00:19:57,970 --> 00:19:59,090 Do not come any closer. 353 00:19:59,090 --> 00:20:02,490 God said, take off your sandals, for the place where you're 354 00:20:02,490 --> 00:20:03,730 standing is holy ground. 355 00:20:04,450 --> 00:20:07,850 Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, 356 00:20:07,850 --> 00:20:10,210 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 357 00:20:10,690 --> 00:20:13,810 This Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at 358 00:20:13,810 --> 00:20:14,010 God. 359 00:20:14,010 --> 00:20:17,490 He realized that this was God speaking to him. 360 00:20:19,170 --> 00:20:20,210 See, here's the thing. 361 00:20:20,290 --> 00:20:23,090 Moses was looking at the miracle of the burning bush. 362 00:20:23,770 --> 00:20:26,090 And God says to him, look where you're standing. 363 00:20:26,650 --> 00:20:28,170 That is holy ground. 364 00:20:29,210 --> 00:20:32,690 Maybe Moses felt he had to be somewhere else to beat God and 40 365 00:20:32,690 --> 00:20:33,610 years of exile. 366 00:20:33,610 --> 00:20:36,570 I wonder, did he feel he was wasting his life, that he was in 367 00:20:36,570 --> 00:20:39,690 the wrong place, that he was living out a humdrum nothingness 368 00:20:39,690 --> 00:20:40,250 of life. 369 00:20:40,250 --> 00:20:44,170 And yet God invested new meaning into his desert experience. 370 00:20:44,890 --> 00:20:47,450 This is holy ground, Moses. 371 00:20:48,090 --> 00:20:53,700 This desert, this wilderness, this mundane routine, looking after 372 00:20:53,780 --> 00:20:56,180 sheep, this is holy ground. 373 00:20:57,460 --> 00:21:00,620 And he backs it up with saying, I am the God of your fathers, 374 00:21:00,620 --> 00:21:05,220 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I have come to meet with you. 375 00:21:06,659 --> 00:21:09,700 Isn't it possible that some of us have the attitude that when we 376 00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:13,580 become more financially stable and secure, we imagine our lives 377 00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:14,580 will have more meaning? 378 00:21:15,220 --> 00:21:19,310 Perhaps we feel unsettled, and we're always thinking the future 379 00:21:19,630 --> 00:21:22,910 will be better for us, spiritually speaking, or in other 380 00:21:22,910 --> 00:21:23,270 ways. 381 00:21:23,270 --> 00:21:24,350 Well, here's the thing. 382 00:21:24,350 --> 00:21:27,310 God doesn't wait for the right time of life. 383 00:21:27,950 --> 00:21:31,550 God doesn't wait for the lush valleys of prosperity to call you. 384 00:21:31,630 --> 00:21:33,310 Where you are is holy ground. 385 00:21:34,270 --> 00:21:36,510 So do you have a difficult family situation? 386 00:21:37,550 --> 00:21:39,070 God says it's holy ground. 387 00:21:39,870 --> 00:21:41,950 Do you have stress and difficulty in work? 388 00:21:43,070 --> 00:21:45,710 God says you're standing on holy ground. 389 00:21:46,510 --> 00:21:48,510 You're going through a period of ill health. 390 00:21:48,510 --> 00:21:50,030 God says it's holy ground. 391 00:21:51,150 --> 00:21:54,270 Do you feel your life is boring in the humdrum routine? 392 00:21:54,270 --> 00:21:55,790 God says it's holy ground. 393 00:21:55,790 --> 00:21:59,990 You see where you and I are right now, exactly in the place where 394 00:21:59,990 --> 00:22:03,390 we are, is where God speaks and says, take off your sandals, 395 00:22:04,350 --> 00:22:09,110 come before me in humility, for that is holy ground that you're 396 00:22:09,110 --> 00:22:09,710 standing on. 397 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,680 And we need to say that we're listening. 398 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,960 We're ready, Lord, to receive what you have for us right now. 399 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,320 Dare I criticize the Reformation, especially in a place 400 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:23,160 like Anna Long? 401 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,480 Well, if there's a fault of the Reformation, I think it might 402 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:33,520 be that somehow it began to see a division between what we call 403 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,560 the sacred and the secular. 404 00:22:36,970 --> 00:22:40,930 And so we've become very used to the idea that following God is 405 00:22:40,930 --> 00:22:44,610 what we learn about in church, and we do things in church and we 406 00:22:44,610 --> 00:22:49,050 go to our church organizations and we live together as God's people. 407 00:22:49,130 --> 00:22:53,050 But when we get to work on Monday morning, it's a very different 408 00:22:53,450 --> 00:22:53,850 thing. 409 00:22:55,290 --> 00:22:59,290 And yet, even if you're the only Christian in your workplace, 410 00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:01,450 God says it's holy ground. 411 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,440 When we think of the community of which we're part, there may be 412 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,400 things that the community want to do and do that we feel is very 413 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:11,440 anti our faith. 414 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,520 But God says it's holy ground. 415 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,440 Let's not think of this division between sacred and secular, 416 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:22,040 because all of life, it's to be holy ground, where God says, that 417 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,680 is where I'm calling you to serve me and to worship me. 418 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,200 And so when we begin to understand that the farm or the Classroom, 419 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,400 the office or the neighborhood or the supermarket, or wherever we 420 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,540 find our ourselves is holy ground. 421 00:23:35,540 --> 00:23:39,300 We will begin to learn to listen to God's call to serve him 422 00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:42,060 where we are and with whoever we are associating. 423 00:23:43,260 --> 00:23:46,300 Moses was just looking for grass to feed his sheep. 424 00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:50,380 80 year old fugitive from justice, he may well have thought 425 00:23:50,380 --> 00:23:55,020 he was done, but God told him he was just starting the rest of 426 00:23:55,020 --> 00:23:55,740 Exodus 3. 427 00:23:55,740 --> 00:23:57,260 I haven't time to go into it. 428 00:23:57,660 --> 00:24:00,820 It's the story of God's amazing call to Moses to go back 429 00:24:00,820 --> 00:24:05,290 to Pharaoh and to rescue his fellow Israelites from their slavery. 430 00:24:05,690 --> 00:24:09,370 A wanted murderer going back to the people who had been looking 431 00:24:09,610 --> 00:24:13,570 to take his life and say, hey, by the way, let my people go, says 432 00:24:13,570 --> 00:24:14,010 God. 433 00:24:14,890 --> 00:24:18,050 But the commissioning he received at the burning bush changed 434 00:24:18,050 --> 00:24:22,890 not only his life and the life of Israel, but impacted the world. 435 00:24:24,090 --> 00:24:27,650 And we can see that by the fact that the burning bush is a symbol 436 00:24:27,650 --> 00:24:30,790 of our church even today after these years. 437 00:24:32,470 --> 00:24:36,150 Perhaps as you come here Sunday by Sunday and see the burning 438 00:24:36,150 --> 00:24:39,590 bush symbol on the pulpit fall, you will remember the bush 439 00:24:39,590 --> 00:24:40,470 is still burning. 440 00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:44,590 That God is still saying that where you are right now in life is 441 00:24:44,590 --> 00:24:47,990 holy ground because that is where he has called you to be and 442 00:24:47,990 --> 00:24:49,590 expect you to serve him. 443 00:24:49,590 --> 00:24:54,950 So take off your shoes, turn aside and listen to God, pay attention 444 00:24:54,950 --> 00:24:56,070 to what he says. 445 00:24:56,940 --> 00:25:00,220 And if you hear that little voice saying, apologize to so and 446 00:25:00,220 --> 00:25:00,540 so. 447 00:25:00,860 --> 00:25:04,100 If you hear that little voice saying, give so and so an encouraging 448 00:25:04,100 --> 00:25:06,220 word or bring them a bunch of flowers. 449 00:25:06,700 --> 00:25:11,180 If you hear that little voice saying, speak to that person of Jesus, 450 00:25:12,220 --> 00:25:13,420 obey that voice. 451 00:25:14,620 --> 00:25:18,300 Forgive me if I've told you this story before, but trying to 452 00:25:18,300 --> 00:25:19,580 pay attention to God. 453 00:25:20,220 --> 00:25:23,580 I was visiting a man who was dying of asbestosis. 454 00:25:24,390 --> 00:25:26,390 He knew everything about the gospel. 455 00:25:26,390 --> 00:25:27,190 He knew it all. 456 00:25:27,190 --> 00:25:29,830 All he had to do was to commit his life to Jesus. 457 00:25:30,950 --> 00:25:35,230 And very strangely, I felt that little voice of God saying to 458 00:25:35,230 --> 00:25:39,110 me in my burning bush moment, don't speak to him anymore of me, 459 00:25:39,990 --> 00:25:44,350 just speak to him as a man who's interested in football, who's 460 00:25:44,350 --> 00:25:47,750 interested in various things and speak of those things. 461 00:25:48,390 --> 00:25:53,190 Very strange thing to say to a minister who's trying to prepare 462 00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:55,710 a man for eternity who wasn't prepared. 463 00:25:56,590 --> 00:26:01,510 And so that's what I did, went against my nature and my desire to 464 00:26:01,510 --> 00:26:03,990 evangelize and to lead him to Jesus. 465 00:26:03,990 --> 00:26:05,470 I got a phone call one night. 466 00:26:06,030 --> 00:26:08,190 His wife rang me at 10 past midnight. 467 00:26:08,190 --> 00:26:09,710 She said, he's calling for you. 468 00:26:09,870 --> 00:26:11,270 Would you come around and see him? 469 00:26:11,270 --> 00:26:14,110 So I got dressed and got into the car, drove around about Five 470 00:26:14,110 --> 00:26:14,590 minutes. 471 00:26:15,550 --> 00:26:17,350 And I went upstairs and he was in. 472 00:26:17,350 --> 00:26:18,230 I'll never forget it. 473 00:26:18,230 --> 00:26:20,920 He was in the bed just to the left of the door. 474 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,560 The door opened that way into the room. 475 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:23,800 He was in the bed on the left. 476 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,200 I went in and he took hold of my left hand. 477 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,440 And as soon as he did that, he said, lord Jesus, into your life 478 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,200 I commit myself. 479 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:34,920 Be with me as my savior. 480 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:37,480 He died half an hour later. 481 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:44,360 And that little voice that seemed so strange, pay attention. 482 00:26:45,500 --> 00:26:47,340 Do what God tells you to do. 483 00:26:47,820 --> 00:26:51,980 Take off your shoes, turn aside, listen to God and pay attention. 484 00:26:52,540 --> 00:26:54,340 And so I want to leave you. 485 00:26:54,340 --> 00:26:57,580 Hopefully it will come up on screen just with three little thoughts 486 00:26:57,580 --> 00:27:00,140 this morning to summarize what I've been saying. 487 00:27:00,460 --> 00:27:04,060 And it's God meets us in everyday life. 488 00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:08,540 God sustains us in the fires of life. 489 00:27:09,340 --> 00:27:12,950 And God calls us to serve him where we are. 490 00:27:13,910 --> 00:27:15,030 Let's pray together. 491 00:27:18,070 --> 00:27:22,950 Lord, we thank you that as Moses never expected on that day, 492 00:27:22,950 --> 00:27:26,310 tending the sheep, that he would meet you and hear your call 493 00:27:26,310 --> 00:27:27,350 to serve him. 494 00:27:28,070 --> 00:27:32,590 Yet you met him in the middle of the desert, not in church, not 495 00:27:32,590 --> 00:27:37,870 in private prayer, not in any kind of religious exercise, but looking 496 00:27:37,870 --> 00:27:41,320 after the sheep, wondering what's going to be for dinner, wondering 497 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:42,600 what's happened to that lame. 498 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:42,960 You. 499 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:44,480 You met him. 500 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,600 And I pray that you would help us, Lord, to recognize those burning 501 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,760 bush moments in our lives when you appear and you speak and you 502 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,120 call us to serve you. 503 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,480 So help us, Lord, to recognize that you meet us in everyday life, 504 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:05,560 that you sustain us in the fires of life and you call us to 505 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,500 serve you just where we are, with whomever we are. 506 00:28:10,300 --> 00:28:11,900 In Jesus name we pray. 507 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:12,940 Amen.