The Lord's Reputation Ignites Repentance
Exodus 3:1-8a, 10-15 shows that repentance is more than just feeling sorry, or more than giving up something for Lent. Repentance is about a change of attitude and a change of actions. It is about turning from sin and turning towards God's gift of salvation. The Lord's Reputation Ignites Repentance, and his reputation leads us to stand back in awe, to stay firm in his love, and to step up for service. March 11, 2007.
Here’s a Lenten theme you have probably heard before – “Repent!” What really is repentance? If you think that repenting means being really, really sorry for your sins, I have to tell you that definition falls short. If you think it means that you have to give something up for Lent, that definition won’t do either. So, how do we learn what repentance is? Let’s check how God describes it in the Bible. That will be time well spent because God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance(2 Peter 3:9), and if God wants us to repent, who are we to say, “No! I’m not going to do that”? True repentance is what Lent is all about. More than that, true repentance is what being a Christian is all about. In fact, if you’re not in a constant state of repentance, you can’t be a child of God. But before you get too nervous worrying about how you are going to do this repenting, please understand that repentance is really not so much something we do, but something God does to us.
Repentance is directly related to how God puts his reputation on us. The amazing thing is that when God puts his reputation on the line and puts it on people, changes take place, changes in a person’s attitude and actions. That’s what happened in the life of Moses. That’s what happens to us. You see, The Lord’s Reputation Ignites Repentance.
His Reputation Leads Us to Stand Back in Awe
This was quite a scene recorded in Exodus three, the first lesson today. Can you see Moses, cruising along with his sheep? Suddenly a shrub bursts into flame? We wouldn’t blame him a bit for being more than a little curious. “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.” It didn’t take long for him to find out what was going on. God called to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses! ... Do not come any closer ... Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” This was no remnant of a desert brush fire. This was the all-powerful Creator God revealing his reputation, what he is like.
So, what do you think God was teaching Moses by appearing in these flames? God was saying, “Moses, you are going to be my man to lead my people out of Egypt. But before you get started, you better know who I am and how I operate. So get this! I am holy and powerful. I will not tolerate disobedience or rebellion. When you go back to Egypt and tell the people, ‘God sent me to lead you out of Egypt,’ they’re going to ask, ‘Who is this God? What is he like?’ Tell them, ‘The Lord your God is a consuming fire’ (Deuteronomy 4:24).” When the Lord appeared to Moses as a blazing fire, he was revealing the holy side of his reputation which demands that everyone and everything around him be holy.
That flaming holy of the Lord’s reputation ignited a change in Moses’ attitude, in particular, his attitude about his sin. Moses had grown up in Egypt but left under ugly circumstances. He was out here in the wilderness trying to hide under the witness protection program because he had a murder rap hanging over his head. On top of that, he was aware that God not only was deeply displeased with that crime but really ripped off that he had the unmitigated gall to try and take things into his own hands. But Moses thought, “Out here in the boonies the Egyptian FBI won’t find me, and God won’t either.”
Now at this shrub the Lord confronted Moses with his reputation for flaming holiness. Moses had to stand back in awe because the almighty God of creation, the God who could suspend the laws of nature and flame up this bush without it burning up, was talking to him; stand back in awe because the God who was speaking to him could torch him in an instant; stand back in awe because he knew his own sin. All Moses could say was,“Who am I?” and hide his face. A flood of guilt rushed through his brain. When the Lord revealed his flaming holy reputation, Moses had to stand back in awe and fear like a guilty criminal being interrogated by Stabler and Benson (two police officers from Law & Order SVU).
With a flick of his finger, with a wisp of his breath, with one word from his mouth, God could send us hurtling into an abyss of torture and torment that knows no end. Why would God do that? Well, do you think he has changed his standards over the years? Do you think he has different expectations of us than he did of Moses? God may not flame up a shrub when you get home and call on you to take off your shoes, but he does expect us to be perfect. I mean completely perfect. Anything less really rips him off. Even one sin kindles the flaming holy side of his personality, and he has a reputation for using it.
Repentance involves a change in attitude, and that means, first of all, a change in attitude about our sin. Do you see how the holy side of the Lord’s reputation ignites that part of repentance? With Moses, we hide our faces in shame because we are sinful and unclean and have sinned against God. We cannot take sin lightly. The Lord’s reputation for being holy and burning up sinners scares the beejeebers out of us and makes us stand back in awe.
His Reputation Leads Us to Stay Firm in His Love
But God isn’t done with us, just as he wasn’t done with Moses. From the blazing bush God offered some very tender and compassionate words, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” What incredible compassion! God said, “Tell the Israelites that I am coming to the rescue! And if they ask, ‘Who is this God? What’s his name? What’s his reputation? What’s he like?’ tell them, ‘I am who I am ... I am sent me to you.’” That’s an interesting name for God, isn’t it? “I am.” When God says, “I am who I am,” that means God is who he says he is, he can do whatever he wants to do, and whatever wants to do he does all the time. What he wants to do more than anything else is do something about the sticky situation in which sinners find themselves because of their sin.
That’s what makes God’s additional words to Moses so appealing, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” What do you think God was teaching Moses with those words? He was telling Moses, “When the Israelites ask about my reputation, go ahead and tell them I am holy, but also tell them that what I did for sinners like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I will do for them. I will forgive them.” So, when the Lord appeared to Moses as a blazing fire, Moses learned about another side of the Lord’s reputation. God was revealing his reputation for free and faithful love.
That merciful side of the Lord’s reputation ignited a change in Moses’ attitude, in particular, his attitude about the Savior. You can almost see the smile on Moses’ face and the joy in the hearts of the Israelites when they heard the news. God is loving. He rescues and redeems. He pardons and preserves. He forgives and forgets. When the Lord revealed the loving side of his reputation, all Moses and the Israelites wanted do was stay firm in his love.
God sent his Son to rescue us from slavery under the worst taskmaster around, Satan. The Lord pardoned our sin through the payment Jesus made. He forgets about our errors. When he makes promises like that, we can’t help singing with the psalmist, “Oh, how I love your word! I meditate on it all day long” (Psalm 119:1). Every time we gather there for worship, every time we recall a comforting passage from Scripture, every time we tell someone else how good God is, we are staying firm in his love. Repentance involves a change in attitude and that means not only a change in attitude about our sin. It also means a change in attitude about our Savior. Do you see how the merciful side of the Lord’s reputation ignites our faith, trust, and confidence in him? Instead of seeing him as someone to hide from, we now see him as our dearest treasure, our dearest Friend, our great Rescuer! Oh, to stay firm in his love!
His Reputation Leads Us to Step Up for Service
God saw to it that Moses had received forty years of training in leadership and military tactics in the king’s house in Egypt. After Moses tried to take matters into his own hands, God saw to it that Moses received forty years of training in patience and obedience in the mountain regions of the Sinai Peninsula. But now God’s time had come. He said to Moses, “OK! You know who I am and how I operate. I have revealed my reputation to you. Now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Although we know that Moses made up excuses why he shouldn’t go, note his initial reaction to the Lord’s call. Moses simply said, “Here I am.” His words remind us of young Samuel when called by God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10), and of Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). Those men learned of God’s reputation. They knew who God was and how he operated. So, when the Lord called them to serve, they stepped up for service.
The Lord’s reputation still ignites repentance, which is first and foremost something that God does to our attitude. But when our attitude has changed, our actions change also. If God wanted, he could drop food and money out of heaven to take care of our needs. But he doesn’t. Instead he gives sinners like you and me the opportunity to show our love to him and to our families by supporting them with good honest labor. If God wanted, he could whisk a child out of a mother’s arms and immediately transform the baby into a mature adult. But he doesn’t. Instead he entrusts babies to parents so that they have the opportunity to lead their children to Christian maturity. If God wanted, he could use angels to tell people about his mercy to all through Christ. But he doesn’t. Instead he entrusts sinners like you and me with the good news of heaven’s open doors.
Think about the Lord’s reputation for holiness. It will ignite the burning sensation of guilt and bring to mind your unworthiness. Then think about the Lord’s reputation for faithful love and forgiveness. It will ignite excitement and joy and inspire your desire to serve. No matter what ideas you had about repentance before, listen to your God. Repentance is something he does to us with his holy power and his healing love. He changes our attitude and our actions. So pay attention to what God is all about. Then stand back in awe, stay firm in his love, and step up for service. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on March 11, 2007
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