“Oh my Lord!” That was how objection #4 started. I cannot do this, Moses said, because I am not a good speaker. I am not eloquent. I am slow of speech and of tongue. Much has been written about what he meant by this, and the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, says that Moses stuttered and stammered. We simply don’t know. I am glad we don’t, because it really doesn’t matter. Moses’ excuse is one of the most prevalent among Christians since the cross first came up as a matter of conversation. When it comes to proclaiming the truth of the Gospel, we say we cannot do it, we are not confident, we don’t know what to say, we don’t know how to answer objections, we aren’t wise or powerful or noble or… “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?… For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…” That is how God responds to us.

In Moses’ case, God answers his excuse with a question, a deeply theological one: “Who made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Profound truth here, that our abilities, our inabilities, and our disabilities are all ordained by God. But not one of them is a problem for God, just for us until we reconcile them with the sovereignty and the mercy of God. It reminded me of John 9 when the disciples asked why the man born blind was born blind. Was it his sin? His parents’ sin? Surely someone is to blame for this! Jesus said the man was born blind “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” 

I am God, the Lord said to Moses. I made each person as I made them. No mistakes. Donald Grey Barnhouse used to tell the story of a pastor’s wife he knew who had given birth to a baby with Down’s Syndrome. And the pastor was deeply ashamed, devastated, and he told Barnhouse the news and said that his wife didn’t know yet. The nurse had only told the father the news. He said, “I don’t know what I am going to tell her.” Pastor Barnhouse said to him, “My friend, this is of the Lord.” He turned to this same chapter in Exodus and read to him this text. “Who made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” The he said, “My friend, you know the promise of Romans 8 that all things, including this child with Downs Syndrome, work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” The man returned to the hospital and told his wife, “My darling, the Lord has blessed us with a child with Downs Syndrome.” After she cried, she asked him where he got that from and he shared with her the same passage from Exodus 4. Later when she called her mother, she shared the news, “Mother, the Lord has blessed us with a baby with Downs Syndrome.” Word spread in the hospital of the pastor and his wife rejoicing over this gift from God and the next Sunday more than 70 nurses from that hospital attended this pastor’s church, and thirty of them came to faith in Christ that day. 

Who made your mouth, and mine? The Lord God did.

Every living thing grows. That’s why we have to keep our grass mowed in the summer time, lest we
lose small children in the backyard. God created the earth and started civilization in a garden, one
that was already growing when man was created. You plant seeds in your garden, and you water
them with the expectation of growth. Otherwise, what’s the point? But, let’s be honest: you and I can’t
make the tomato plant grow. Only God can. Jesus said it himself: “The kingdom of God is as if a man
should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and
grows; he knows not how.” Gardens grow, and so do people. We started life as a zygote, a fertilized
ovum. After we were born, our parents took care of us as we grew from an infant in arms to a baby
trying to turn over and to crawl. We learned to crawl, and then to walk. That is expected growth and
maturity. If you walked by a church nursery and saw a few babies crawling around in diapers, you
wouldn’t think twice about it. Babies do that sort of thing. But if you glanced in there and saw a
couple of the adult leaders sitting on the floor and wearing onesies, pacifiers in place, playing with
toys, you would have every right to be alarmed. Babies in the nursery are normal. Fully functioning
adults in a nursery? That’s tragic.
There is an expectation of growth because God, the creator of all things, made us to grow up. We
expect it. We also desire it. Though some of us might like to go back to our childhood and have the
energy of a ten-year old, none of us wants to go back and have the stature of a ten-year old. Or the
wisdom of a 5-year old. It is natural and normal for a child to want to grow up to be a teenager, and
it is normal for a teenager to want to grow into an adult. Yes, ‘adulting’ is hard, but God created us for
growth and maturity. We do not want, nor should we want, just to maintain the status quo. Even
worse, we do not want to regress, to go backwards in our growth. Stephen Um writes, “Now the only
thing more fearful than stasis (not growing) is regression, decline, and death. We go to great lengths
to hide the ways in which we decline and regress. What is clearly known in the universe is that the
principle of decay clearly exists. As it has been said, ‘Gravity isn’t just physical, it’s also historical.’”
Growth is part of God’s plan. So is regression and decay of all things physical. Every living thing has a
growth cycle and then it begins to move towards death, quickly if it’s a fly, and very slowly if it’s an
oak tree. You want to hear some really good news? Incredible news? That is not the case with our
spiritual being. Paul wrote, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner
self is being renewed day by day.” Continual spiritual growth for the Christian is as much the plan
and purpose of God as the life cycle of an apple tree. Our bodies may break down, and they do, but
our life with Christ grows stronger every day.
This is why Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. The church there was a spiritual nursery.
Instead of growing to maturity, the church was filled with jealousy and strife and factions. The people
were fighting like 3-year-olds, and Paul asked them, “Are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a
human way?”
God hard-wired us for growth, so we do not have to be ‘merely human.’ In Christ, we can grow into
spiritual men and women, fully equipped to do all that God has created us to do.
So, how’s it growing, church?

When God called Moses by name out of the burning bush, Moses answered “Here I am!” But when God told Moses He was sending him to Pharaoh, Moses said, “Who am I?” I love the honesty of Moses. Because you and I can relate to it, right? We have each had a “Who am I” moment when confronted with something we believe God is calling us to do. I ask that question of myself often, and am comforted by the fact the Paul, the mighty apostle, asked the same thing. He said, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” We are sent to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of God. Then Paul asks, “Who is sufficient for these things?” What’s the answer? Christ is! It is Jesus who leads us in triumphal procession as His sent ones. Yet we often say like Moses, “Who I am?” 

The good news is that Moses was asking GOD that question. Listen, dear reader. If you have a “Who am I” moment, have it with God. He will answer and has answered that question clearly in His word. I believe what we see in Moses’ story is true for every believer. We are called first to faith (salvation) and second to service. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling because as Paul said, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” 

It is God who works in you, not you who work for God. Notice that God didn’t say in response to Moses’ concern, “Oh no, no, you can do this, Moses. You were born a Hebrew and you clearly love your people. And you were raised in Pharaoh’s house and have clearly learned how to be a prince of Egypt and speak truth to power. You are the perfect man for this. Not feeling it? Here, Moses, read this book I found at the bookstore on how to imagine yourself into a way of feeling powerful. ‘Cause it is in you, man!” 

No. God said, essentially, “You are dead right, Moses. You cannot do this. And good news, you’re not doing this. I am.” God said, “I will be with you.” You are being sent but I am going with you. And it is I who work in you both to will and to do. We can start every day that way because God does not change, so we say with confidence, “God is with me.” The call of service to God is always accompanied by the promise of God’s presence. One of my favorites is where God said to Isaiah (and you and me), “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 

“Moses,” God said, “I will be with you.” And then he gave Moses a sign! “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Think about that one. Moses may have thought, “Hey, wait a minute. Whoa. God, are you saying I will know I can do this when all the people of Israel are here, free, serving you on this mountain?” “Right.” “But, but, that’s not a sign is it? I mean, that’s a sign I won’t see until…” Shhh, yes, Moses. What I am telling you to do is to believe My word. To trust. Me. 

Moses was still not convinced so he said, “What if they ask me the name of the God who sent me, what do I say?” Moses went from “Whom am I?” to “Who are you?” He was still trying to deal with his own fears of inadequacy instead of trusting in God’s all powerful sufficiency. 

Now, not to be too hard on Moses, we all struggle with the same questions at times. But here’s the positive side of what Moses was doing. In his trembling before God, he was working out his salvation, not working it in or working for it, but working it out. He was wanting to know the God of the universe. Who are you, God? It is the most important question we can possibly ask. And God delights in answering that question. Our God has made Himself known to us. 

Who are you? God. My King and my Lord. Who am I? I am yours.