Sometimes we’re a bit like the Wizard of Oz you and I. We put all of our energy into being impressive; donning impressive clothes; speaking impressive words; putting on an impressive display. All the while we are terrified that someone is going to notice the man behind the curtain. And if they notice that we are just people after all, will they listen to what we have to say? Can our message be impressive if we are not? And on some level, it is a valid concern. Another Christian crumbling under shame. What will people think of our God, if we are just people after all? But maybe that is just another curtain we hide behind. If it is about God, make it about God. Maybe God doesn’t want us behind those curtains straining to come off as impressive, putting on a light show of confidence. Maybe God doesn’t need us to be impressive for his reputation. Maybe he wants us clearly in view for what we truly are. Isn’t that a scary thought?
This is the message God gives Moses in Exodus 4:1-9. Yahweh wants Moses to go to the elders of Israel and tell them that he had been sent by God to lead them out of Egypt. Moses responds with what seems like a valid concern, “What if they refuse to trust me and hear my voice? They might say, ‘Yahweh didn’t show up to you and talk to you in a burning bush’.” I mean Moses ran away from Egypt with a death sentence hanging over his head. He had not been at home among his own people. They questioned his motives when he had merely tried to break up a fight. They aren’t going to trust him and if you don’t trust the messenger, how can you trust the message? Especially if they are not privy to the same burning bush theophany. You can almost hear Moses thinking, “Man, I wouldn’t trust me!”
So the Always Present One asked, “Hey, Moses, what is that you have in your hand?” Not that he needed the information mind you. “This? This is just my staff”. God commands him to chuck it to the ground and when he does, the blasted thing becomes a serpent. Moses did what I would have done; he dashes on out of there. Probably behind a rock. Serpents were considered in many ancient societies to be wise. Asclepius was the Greek God of healing and his temple was full of snakes that people would let slither all over them in order to be healed. In Egypt the snake was worshipped along with almost everything imaginable. And yet snakes were considered dangerous. Yahweh tells Moses to grasp the snake by the tail, which is not where you want to grab a snake. Those things tend to twist their bodies around and sink their fangs into whatever grabs their tail. When Moses manhandled the snake, it became a staff again. Did Moses sigh in relief? I would have. Don’t miss the message. Yahweh has power over the very things the Egyptians worship. But what if the stubborn Israelites still won’t accept Moses? Give them another sign that it is not about Moses. At Yahweh’s command Moses put his hand inside his robes and when he pulled it out it was leprous. Skin diseases were considered unclean and highly contagious. And Moses is told to put that diseased hand right back inside his garment, close to his chest. Did he let out his breath when the hand came out clean? Yahweh has power over what people call unclean; over diseases that fill men’s hearts with dread.
And if they still refuse to believe? Yahweh tells him to take some water from the holy Nile and poor it on the dry ground where it would become blood. Yahweh would turn the life giving waters of the Nile into the symbol of death. The God of Israel has power over life and death. And in all of this, God is showing Moses and through Moses the Israelites and eventually Pharaoh and the Egyptians that it has never been about whether they can trust Moses. Can they believe in and trust the Always Present One? That is the question.
God didn’t ask Moses to pretend to be impressive so that the Israelites would believe. God didn’t need Moses to put on a show so that Pharaoh would trust in Moses. Likewise, God doesn’t need us to hide behind curtains speaking with impressive voices. He doesn’t need us to put on a Sunday show so that others will trust in Him. What he asks of us is to be genuinely his servants; his flawed yet faithful servants. It is about God anyway, isn’t it? And yet there is something in us that fears that if we don’t appear to be perfect – impressive – that people will not accept our story about God. But our message isn’t about us and how impressive we are. Our message is about how impressive God is. And God is impressive. Absolutely always. He doesn’t need us to put on a demonstration. Nah. He calls us to serve with flaws and all. Walter