These exhortations were given by me between 1999 and 2005. That was a long time ago, and I have grown a lot since then. They may not reflect my current beliefs.

I want to base my thoughts this morning around two short passages we recently read in Romans, and to look at the lives of Moses and Paul as examples of the things discussed in these passages. I’m also going to consider how these passages from Romans might affect us in our daily lives, in the world and in the ecclesia.

The first passage is Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, and I’ll be reading from the New International Version:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The second passage is from today’s reading, Romans chapter 15, verse 13:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Moses’ public work for God began after his vision of the burning bush. Although he was to become a great leader he certainly didn’t start off that way! Turn to Exodus chapter 3 verses 7 to 12:

The LORD said [to Moses], “I have indeed 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–the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

“Who am I,” asked Moses, “that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” You can certainly understand his reluctance, can’t you? Moses had fled from Egypt because Pharaoh wanted to kill him and he had spent the intervening years working as a shepherd. Not only was he not welcome in the court of Pharaoh, but he was a leader of sheep, not of men. This second point seems to have been at the forefront of his mind. Exodus chapter 3, verses 15 to 17:

God also said to Moses, “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. “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, `The LORD, the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob– appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites–a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Moses replies in Exodus 4 verse 1:

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, `The LORD did not appear to you’?”

Moses, at this stage, lacked the self confidence to go marching on to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh and the Israelites. He didn’t know what to do if people didn’t believe him.

God is longsuffering and merciful. He didn’t say to Moses “I’m God: do as I say or else”. God gave Moses three ways of proving he was sent from God. Exodus 4, verses 2 to 10:

Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has appeared to you.” Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

Rather than criticising Moses for a lack of faith, God gave him a way to prove to the Israelites that he had been sent by God. This is an example of “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” God builds up a fragile faith so that someone may do his work.

Moses next problem was one that I can certainly identify with. He didn’t feel he was a confident public speaker. Exodus 4, verse 10:

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

I think some time passed between verses 9 and 10. Moses lost some of his fragile confidence. We can all understand that can’t we? We can know that we should behave in a particular way but when the time comes we lack the courage. God is longsuffering and merciful, to Moses and to us.

Exodus 4, verses 11 – 17:

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

God promised Moses that he would help him speak, and he gave him Aaron to speak for him. If Moses had been of perfect faith he would have left and gone to Pharaoh and the Israelites at the end of chapter three. Despite the fact he didn’t God still worked with him, and as a result Moses strength and confidence grew.

By the time of Chapter 10, today’s reading from Exodus, Moses is a transformed man. Exodus 10, verses 1 and 2:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Moses didn’t worry this time. He got up and went to Pharaoh. Exodus 10, verses 3 to 5:

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: `How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.

That is not a subtle message. To go to a powerful man, a man who has the power to have you executed, a man who has already defied God despite the miracles he had seen, and to tell him to humble himself before God takes great faith. Moses was able to do that.

Exodus chapter 10 ends in the following way. Verses 27 to 29:

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied, “I will never appear before you again.”

In Romans chapter 12 which we read earlier, Paul exhorts us to “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Moses was certainly transformed, from a shy shepherd to a bold confident messenger of God. He didn’t conform to the pattern of the world he lived in, but he stood up to Pharaoh.

We read Romans 15, verse 3 where Paul wrote:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All the miracles that Moses had seen, the evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit, transformed the humble shepherd into a man prepared to defy Pharaoh. Moses’ experiences led him to be filled with joy and peace and hope.

In this age we don’t have visions in burning bushes, or plagues upon Egypt. That doesn’t mean that we have no evidence of God working among us in the world today. We can still overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit by looking at the ways in which prophecy has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled. The restoration of Israel is easily the strongest and clearest example of prophecy being fulfilled today. By looking at the world around us we can be filled with joy and peace, not because we live in a wonderful world, but because God is unequivocally ruling over the kingdoms of men and setting up over them whomsoever he will.

The apostle Paul was also someone who was transformed by the renewing of his mind. The first time we encounter Paul is in Acts chapter 7 where he is overseeing the stoning of Stephen, and is still known as Saul. His transformation is faster than Moses’, and he doesn’t seem to display the same reluctance as Moses initially did. Turn to Acts chapter 9.

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. “The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Jumping to verse 20:

At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul’s transformation was total, and abrupt, and obvious to all those around him.

Romans Chapter 12 again:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It describes Moses, and it certainly describes Paul.

Romans chapter 15, verse 13:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It describes Moses and it certainly describes Paul, and it should describe us. We can trust in God because he is a longsuffering God. He is forgiving and merciful. He didn’t destroy Moses because his faith was initially imperfect. He strengthened Moses. He didn’t obliterate Saul for persecuting the early church. He transformed Saul into Paul, a faithful servant.

And he won’t destroy us because we aren’t perfect.

I’m going to finish today by reading all of Romans chapter 12.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.