A Joy to Serve
3rd September 23
Five times Moses refused to go. Five times he found an excuse. Five times he tried to wriggle out of it.
Who am I? – in other words, I am a nothing!
What shall I tell them? – in other words, I have nothing to say!
What if they do not believe me? – in other words, I have no credibility
I'm not a eloquent speaker – in other words, I'm the last person you want to speak for you!
Finally, Please, send someone else – in other words, there must be better candidates than me!
Moses did everything possible to get out of this challenge.
Who wants their comfortable life style disturbed?
Who wants to go into dangerous territory and expose themselves to challenges?
Moses had created a new life for himself in the desert without God – but God was not finished with him yet.
40 years had passed since that day he struck the Egyptian, and so with the passing of time was the passing of many people who would have known Moses in Egypt. He had been a wanted person but he now had found freedom in the desert. Moses was older and wiser.
But, to go back, he risked his life.
What was it that eventually convinced Moses to go?
Well, a number of reasons.
Moses deep down had a passion and care for his people. He was a Hebrew and the very issue that drove Moses away was the cruelty that his people were facing.
But the main reason that Moses signs up, was God's reassurance that God was with him.
God would give him the skills and the confidence to overcome.
Basically, God said to him, just go Moses, and I'll be with you.
Moses is not alone in receiving a call from God. The Scriptures are full of individuals whom God met in their daily lives, and whose hearts he touched, and he sent them out on Mission.
When God calls us to do his work, he does so because he sees in us gifts for the task that lies ahead. We often cannot see our gifts; our potential, perhaps we don’t want to see our gifts like Moses, but God sees our gifts, and he calls us to use them.
We might not see a burning bush; we might never be an national leader like Moses; but as Christians, as followers of Jesus, we are called to mission and to lead God's people; our call might be a lot quieter and simpler and often it’s a gentle guidance towards working for God.
Jesus final words to his disciples were, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I will be with you until the end of the ages.” Matthew 28 v18-20
I believe everyone who follows Jesus and seeks to serve him is called to fulfil this great commission, to use their gifts to his glory. As a minister it gives me the greatest pleasure when I see folks shining their light and serving God in and through his church and I see it here at Cadder Church. . If our Church is to grow then it involves us all being part of the journey and mission.
It's not just for a few people, but when we arise together as an army, then we can have great impact on our community.
At Cadder, over the last few years we have been working hard at producing a growth plan for the future; a plan that gives everyone the opportunity to be involved; a plan which is about people stepping up to the mark and being part of God's jigsaw at Cadder; a plan that fulfils the great commission set by Jesus. God is not finished with us. We don’t accept that 900 years of Christian worship and witness here is coming to an end.
God still calls people to serve him today. It is not just for the saints of the Old Testament; he calls us to join him in the task of building his kingdom.
Perhaps he is calling you today, to be part of the Cadder growth plan.
What can I do you may well ask?
The growth plan gives us all an opportunity to be involved, from the youngest to the oldest.
It is built on two distinct groupings of teams.
One is Mission and the other is Resources.
They are both closely linked in that they both play a big plan in bringing the church forward.
The Mission is connected to the Five Marks of Mission that the Church of Scotland has adopted and they have encouraged congregations to engage with. Teach, Tell, Transform, Tend and Treasure and the resources are our buildings, finance, and practicalities such as risk management.
The resources are there to support the mission and make our mission possible.
So is God calling you to be part of his plan?
Does being part of the Treasure Group interest you, which cares for Creation? If it does contact Frank.
Could you be part of our Care and Fellowship Team and perhaps contribute by being a pastoral support to someone or be part of the social programme in the church? - then see Janet or Pat.
Does being part of our Community and World Outreach team interest you? Do you want to take God's love out to the local community or see how we can help others in lands of need? - then see Rebecca or Mary.
Do you want to see our church grow through nurturing our young people? Then see Laura.
Do you want to be part of our communications team? Then see Helen or Brian.
If you feel that you have gifts that you can contribute to our worship and spiritual leadership then see myself or Gavin.
That’s the Mission side of things and they are all tied into the Five Marks of Mission.
Then the other side of our mission, is our Resources, and you might feel that your gifts lie in finance – then see Dianne or in Property and Maintenance then see George and Jim or in Risk Management – then see Bill, or perhaps you are able to serve, bake or cook at our coffee shop then see Jaqueline our manager.
Lots of exciting ways to fulfil God's mission here in this Church. Is God calling you to be part of something exciting here at Cadder Church?
Or maybe he is calling you to serve in other ways and to other people. Maybe he is calling you to full time service in the Church of Scotland?
Let me return to Moses' call again.
Who knows what Moses was thinking and reflecting on over those 40 years; but I'm sure that God was working in his heart, preparing him for his mission. Perhaps the sight of the mistreatment of his people haunted his mind; perhaps the thoughts of freedom for them was never far away from his thoughts; perhaps the incident of him killing the Egyptian was weighing heavy on him – we don’t know, but what we do know is that God's timing was perfect, and he met with Moses in that lonely place which became a holy place.
Moses was brought to his knees by the holiness of God. This is where mission begins, when we catch a glimpse of who it is we are serving; who it is that is calling us to do his work.
After Jesus was resurrected, he met with Peter on the shore, Peter had denied him 3 times and Jesus came to Peter and said, Peter do you love me? And Peter replied, yes Lord you know that I love you, and a second time he asks a similar do your really love meand Peter replied you know Lord I love youand Jesus said feed my sheepand a third time he asks him the same but deeper question, do you really, really love me? -and Peter said Yes Lordthen Jesus said, feed my sheep.
When we take on tasks around the church; we are doing them not to keep an institution running, but we are doing them because the living God has called us to do so; it should never be a duty; it’s a joy to serve God and his people.
I watched a football documentary last week, and the manager was trying to coach his failing team, and he told them in the dressing room before they went out to play the match, shut your eyes and think back to when you were a wee boy and you have a football in your hand and you go to play a game; think of the excitement, the joy when you score your first goal, remember how you felt, now open your eyes; I want you to go out there and enjoy your football again, remember what it used to be like - a joy to play.Yes, it's good to get passion into our service and perhaps ask ourselves why do I do this? Am I doing it as a chore or is it a joy to serve the Lord?
Moses had no option but to go forward trusting in God; it was his calling, his life plan. He went with the faith of the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”
The happiest place that we can be in life is when we know that we are doing God's will, and serving Him and His people.
As God said to Moses, “So now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh…I will be with you.”