The largest volcanic canyon in the world is 24 miles long, 900 feet deep, and 1/3 of a mile wide at its widest point.

This volcanic canyon is in Iceland.

I know what you’re thinking...usually you don’t think about eruptions of hot flowing molten lava in a country named after a freezer.

But there it is. In fact it’s Icelandic name means “fire canyon.”

Turns out the “Fire Canyon” is a major tourist attraction ...for all those people who don’t regularly forget that Iceland exists.

So a couple of years ago, there was a lady on a tour bus ...and well...let me just read the news article to you.

“A woman who was reported missing from an Icelandic tour unwittingly joined a search for herself.

According to the Reykjavik Grapevine, a woman described as "Asian, about 5’3”, in dark clothing and speaks English well" was listed as missing Saturday near the Eldgjá volcanic canyon in southern Iceland.

A search continued through the weekend with reports saying she got off a tour bus and never returned.

It turns out the woman merely changed clothes during the bus stop, and after she returned, those on the bus didn't recognize her.

When the description of the "missing" woman was circulated, apparently the lady who changed her outfit didn't recognize the description of herself. So she joined the search party.

About 50 people searched the area in vehicles and on foot, and a helicopter was ready to assist.

Eventually it occurred to the "missing" woman that she could very well be the person everyone was looking for, and she promptly reported herself as safe and sound to police.

The search was called off early Sunday morning.”

Can you imagine realizing that you were in a search party looking for yourself?

I mean, were there lots of 5’3” Asian women who were wearing dark clothing and spoke good English on a tour bus in an Icelandic Fire Canyon that day?

Seems like somebody would have looked at her and figured this out in 5 minutes!

We’re dealing with Clark Kent/Superman kind of naïveté here. She just changed clothes people!

As baffling as it is to think that nobody figured this out immediately, what’s most troubling is that she didn’t even recognize herself.

If I’m on that bus and somebody says, “A strikingly handsome man that clearly is much younger than 38 years old and looks like he spends a lot of time in both the gym and the library has gone missing...” I’m gonna say “Hey, I’m right here!”

It took this woman an entire night of searching for herself...before she even realized that she was looking for herself.

...and tragically, all that time...she wasn’t looking at the Fire Canyon.

She is in the middle of the largest volcanic canyon in the world. On a trip to Iceland that is most likely once in a lifetime...and instead of seeing the Fire Canyon...she wastes here time looking for herself.

When I read this article I was immediately reminded me of one of U2’s hit songs from the late 80’s.

I just pictured this 5’3” Asian woman roaming around a giant Volcanic Canyon ....with Bono in the background singing ... “But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

As funny as that thought is...its also tragic.

Because that song...and that 5’3” Asian woman on a tour bus in Iceland’s Fire Canyon, ...is exactly where many of you are with God.

You think you are looking for God...but you actually are just looking for a version of yourself that doesn’t exist.

Lets’ Go.

Exodus 3:1-8a

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,

Exodus 3:10-15

Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Exodus 3:19-20

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.

Exodus 4:1-3

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.

Exodus 4:10-14a

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses ...

Exodus 4:30-31

Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Today, I want you to see that you don’t need to FIND yourself any more than that 5’3” lady in the Fire Canyon needed to Find herself. Instead, you need to look away from yourself... and see the God that’s like Fire. See...

1) God is more beautiful and more dangerous than you have ever believed.

We have, to our detriment, “tamed” God.
Just think about the way you walked in here this morning.
You probably came in with a right theological idea in your head.

You thought, “I’m going to church today to worship God.”
Indeed, that is why many of us are here. Not all of us. But many of us.

So we know that theological idea. I am here to worship the God of the universe...the God who created me...the God who is the giver and taker of life...”

Yet...at the very same time we have that right theological understanding... ...you came in late.

...and I’m not busting your chops for it. Don’t hear that. I’m just trying to show you how much what we say we believe differs from our actual practice.

Or you came in with the expectation that it's the “worship leader’s” job to play the right songs, to sing them the right way, in order to get you warmed up for worship.

...and if they don’t play your songs, your way...you are just gonna have a tough time really getting in the mood to “worship”.

Can I tell you something? If we need the right chords and lyrics played in the right way and sung in the right rhythm in order for us to be in awe of him...there is either something wrong with God...or something wrong with us.

I’ll give you a hint. We’re the problem.

Again, I’m not bustin’ your chops for that. It happens to me all the time. I’m just showing you how insane it is that we believe one thing about God...yet practice something entirely different in our worship.

Did you see Moses’ reaction when God speaks to him from the burning bush?

Exodus 3:6b

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Moses falls down and hides his face and is afraid to look at God. And this isn’t just a one time occurrence in the Bible.

When the prophet Isaiah has a vision of God sitting on a throne in the temple in Isaiah 6, smoke fills up the temple and there is a huge earthquake as angels chant HOLY HOLY HOLY!...

And Isaiah cries out “Woe is me! I am unclean!”

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John is given (Spoiler alert!!!) a Revelation...a vision of God with his face shining like the Sun and his eyes were like flames of fire... and John responds by falling on down as if were dead.

Its interesting, throughout the Bible most of time people have a vision of God, its somehow accompanied by fire.

That’s on purpose.

Exodus 3:5

Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

God tells Moses to take his shoes off because he is standing on HOLY ground. That is not...and should never be...a Christian Hamburger or Coffee House. You know what the word Holy means?

It means different. Set apart. It means “other”

Back in 2002 Keva and I went with our church to China.

And one day, about 20 of us took a bus trip out to this rural Chinese town. It was almost like going back in time.

I think I saw Bruce Wayne carrying a little blue flower to Raz Agul.

Anyway, we were 20 white people pouring off a bus in a town that may have never seen a bus, ....much less 20 white people.

There was this village guy riding a bicycle. And he was just staring, craning his neck to behold these people he had never seen before.

I mean...even remembering it now it all just seems like slow motion.

See, in order to ride a bicycle, one must always remember to steer AROUND obstacles. ...and in order to do that, one must keep one’s eyes looking forward.

But this young man’s gaze was on us...

So there is this little courtyard in front of him with about a 3’ wall surrounding it. And as he is craning his neck to stare at us, his front tire hits the wall, catapulting him off the bike and sending him flying over the wall.

Not done yet...folks.

The next thing I see is this guy’s head poke up from behind this wall like a groundhog on Feb 2nd. Blood streaming down his forehead and past his eyes.

Homey gets up off the ground, gets back on his bike, now with a bent up tire...blood covering half his face... ...and rides on...all the while STILL STARING AT US.

Look, THAT is a little picture of what HOLINESS does to you. It causes you to look, to want to gaze, its attractive...but its so different from you...its so OTHER...that its dangerous to look.

Like the guy on that bike ....you could end up dead.

But see, holiness is more than that.

Holiness is otherness...but its more than what us 20 white people had in rural China.

We were certainly different...we were definitely a spectacle, ...but holiness is more than being a spectacle...and we are more than spectators in the presence of a holy God.

See, God’s Holiness is perfection. Its everything that you and I wish we were....but aren’t. God is complete...we are broken.

God is morally upright and righteous...we are selfish and sinful.

God is always the truth...we are liars that both tell and believe lies

Here’s the thing about God’s holiness...it is simultaneously everything we aren’t (which means its dangerous) and its everything we want to be (which means its beautiful).

...and that’s why I love that God represents himself so often as fire. See, those are exactly the qualities of fire.

On one hand fire is incredibly beautiful. Human Beings for a as long as there have been human beings have been drawn to fire.

Its beautiful. Can’t you just stare into the mystery of a burning flame for hours?

On the other hand, that beauty comes at a price. Its incredibly dangerous. You can’t get to close to fire or you get burned.

God is so holy, he’s so other...he’s so much more beautiful than we are...that he’s dangerous.

And therein lies the cosmic problem for every human being. We want to be close to his otherness...his transcendence...his holiness...yet, he’s too dangerous to come near. When we strive to be close to him by trying to be like him....we end up falling off our bikes...we end up injured...broken...hurting...even dead.

We can’t be perfect. So we can’t come close without getting burned.

A lot of you know you not only WANT something more from God...but that you desperately need it.

But your frustration with God over the years...your frustration with the church over the years has you running.

You’ve fallen off the bike and gotten hurt...and even though you know you need him...you rode off on your bike with the broken wheel trying to convince yourself you aren’t hurting as badly as you are.

Listen to me. Did you see what God showed Moses? Did you see what he said?

He spoke to Moses out of bush that didn’t burn up. Exodus 3:2-3

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

...and when Moses sees it...the Scripture says he “turned aside” to see it. That word “turn aside” means to change direction...or to detour.

It means Moses THOUGHT this was another ordinary day of shepherding sheep...but he re- routed himself because he saw something that interested him.

He saw fire that had all of its attractive qualities...but seemingly...wasn’t dangerous anymore.

He saw a blazing inferno that didn’t consume what it burned.

In a very real sense, this is exactly what your soul longs for. The beauty of holiness...the otherness of God...that you don’t have to run away from anymore...but that invites you in. A fire that doesn’t burn you up.

Listen, we worship a God who is a consuming fire. He is dangerous. He is beautiful. He’s holy.

But he has made a way to be personal. To be close.

Exodus 3:7-8

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

See, he says to Moses, “I have heard MY PEOPLE...I KNOW THEIR SUFFERINGS....and I have come DOWN to deliver them.

You see this? He didn’t come close to consume them...He doesn’t say, I’m coming down to punish them, I have come down because I know their suffering...and I’m going to enter into it.

This is the burning bush. The holy fire of God is descending among his people to rescue them from their suffering.

This is the beauty of God coming close and not burning up his people.

And look what he says to Moses....

Exodus 3:10

Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

He invites Moses in.
This word “Come” is the Hebrew word for walk. Yalak.

It's the same word that is used in Genesis 3 when talking about the way God interacted with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

It's the same word that’s used in Genesis 5, when the Bible talks about Enoch “walking” with God.

It is an intimate word. It's a word that indicates relationship.
And look what’s next.

The very next word in Hebrew is Shalak. Its what you see there as “I will send” Listen to me...this is a profound truth about God.

Yalak. Shalak.

Come take a walk with Fire...and I’ll send you out on FIRE, but not consumed. You come to me...and Ill send you out ablaze.

You know what that is?

It's the way Jesus summarizes the entire Law of God.

Matthew 22:37-40

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Look he says “Love God with everything you are...that’s COME. Yalak” Come close and walk with God. Get up in this beauty.

Jump in the fire.

And look...Love your neighbor. That's Shalak. That’s go. That’s being sent. Go out on fire and carry this beauty of the way God has called you in to other people.

Listen. This is the good news. This is the gospel.

That God has made a way for you to come close. God has made a way for you to walk with him and not be burned up. He’s made a way that he can not only get you in him...but that he can get in you so that you carry this fire like a burning bush to your neighborhood.

That is gospel change. People who were once kept falling off their bicycles as they ran away from a God they knew they wanted to be close to are now being sent out like couriers with a message of Good News that will change other people.

That's why City Church exists to Multiply Gospel Change. For Broken People. On Purpose.

Because if we are people who are walking with this beautiful and dangerous God...we also are going to be people who take that love to our neighbors.

Yalak. Shalak.

To come to God is to be sent by God on a mission to bring this beautifully dangerous God the glory he deserves.

Unfortunately, instead of actually listening to what God is saying to us...we’re a lot like the 5’3” Asian lady in the Fire Canyon.

We’ve got this beautiful and dangerous Fire of a God who invites us to take a walk...and we’re stuck on the bus trying to find ourselves.

So...we end up making a bunch of excuses. But the truth is... 2) You can’t answer “Who am I?” until you know who “I AM” is.

U2’s song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is an anthem that not only summarizes the 5’3” Asian Woman’s frustration in looking for herself in Iceland...but also, many of our frustrations as well.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bono said this...

“The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or running away from God.”

“[‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’] is an anthem of doubt more than faith.”

Look at some of the lyrics to this song. I have climbed the highest mountains I have run through the fields
Only to be with you

I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls Only to be with you
But I still haven't found What I'm looking for

You know what that is? That is so many of our experiences of trying to find God.

You feel like you have climbed mountains of rules...you’ve searched fields...you’ve run, crawled, scaled walls...or gone tumbling over them on your bike...to try and figure out how to be with God...how to come close...

But you still haven’t found what you’re looking for. So you doubt you ever will. And you try and figure out some other solution.

You try to find some other fire to light you up and send you out...but they’re not working. Some of you have looked for that in a career.

You’ve thought that if you gave your life to moving up some corporate ladder...that you’d find what you’re looking for.

But you end up in some endless letdown...where the last promotion is never enough...so you start working for the next one.

Some of you have looked for fire in a marriage.

So you married this guy or girl and thought...NOW...Now I have what I need to be a complete person...

But now you’re talking about divorce...because that person didn’t have enough fuel to light you up.

...and the insanity is that you think you’ll find that fire in being single again...or finding another lover that’s “hotter”.

...but you still haven’t found what you’re looking for.

And you look behind you and all you see is a trail of carnage.

People that You’ve burned and consumed.

See, you are like that 5’3” Asian lady in the Fire Canyon. You are always gonna come up short.

Instead of looking to satisfy yourself...lift up your eyes and see that GOD IS THE FIRE you’re looking for.

Understand that you will never find what you’re looking for in a job or a spouse...and you will never get close to God by trying to obey the rules...Because that’s not the invitation we have from God.

We have an invitation by this God on Fire, to Come close only by one thing...believing him. Faith.

Here’s what I want to do with the rest of our time.

I want to show you the 3 other characters in our text today that aren’t God...and I want to show you how God changes them...and shows them who they really are...by showing them who he really is.

First, look what God says to Moses when he says, “When I go to Pharaoh, I need to be able to tell him who sent me. So, what’s your name?”

Exodus 3:14-15

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

And God says “I am who I am” Tell them I am has sent me to you.

Then he uses a derivative of that verb “I AM” that shows up right there in verse 15. It's the all capitals LORD in your Bible. It's the name YHWH.

So what does that mean?

Well, on a very basic level it means that God doesn’t depend on anyone or anything. He is. It means he has no beginning and no end. It means he is completely and totally self- sufficient.

It also means that every other thing and every other person in the universe has to depend on him. It means that we have to define ourselves in relationship to this God.

It means that you can’t know “Who am I?” until you know who I am is.

So look who he is to Moses.

Exodus 3:11

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

When God says to Moses, “Come to me and I will send you”

Moses can’t believe it.

Moses says “Who am I?”

Now...that sounds like humility doesn’t it?

It sounds like Moses is saying “Who...little old me?” But this is not humility...its self-centeredness.

This is the 5’3” person in the Fire Canyon looking at his 5’3”-ness instead of looking at the Volcano.

Here’s the thing.

At this point in Moses’ life, he has a string of failures.

He’s tried and failed to be the savior of Israel in the first 2 chapters and they rejected him.

And lets be honest...he’s gone from being a Prince of Egypt to being a nomadic sheep- herder.

Not exactly a lateral move.

...and because of that, Moses is fixated on who he’s not.

He’s consumed not by the fire of God who is showing his power, inviting him into his mission...

Instead, he’s looking at God and saying, “I’m just 5’3” and I haven’t yet find myself.”

Exodus 3:12

He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

God says, “I don’t think you understand, Moses. I’m going to be with you. Sure, you’re not much, but that’s not the point, Moses. I am the point. I am the God who’s like fire.

Exodus 4:1

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”

But Moses comes back to God with 0 fire and 100 on the 5’3” excuses. He says, “They won’t believe me...cuz I come up short!”

“Why would God appear to you?”

Exodus 4:2-3

The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.

And then God says, “Alright...you see that staff in your hand, throw it on the ground.”

Once again, God displays his power by turning this staff into a snake...but in one of the funniest scenes in the entire Old Testament, Moses shows us his true colors.

He runs. I even bet he let out a little shriek, too.

This is where Moses is. When he sees God calling him into his power he is so self-absorbed with the ways he has failed, that he is afraid of God’s power working through him.

Ultimately he is telling God, “My weakness is too big for your strength to overcome.”

Do you see how arrogant that is? To look back at the God of the universe and say, “I know you SAY you’ll be with me, but don’t you see how bad off I am?”

Exodus 4:10

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

So God promises more signs to show Moses his strength. Its like the volcano is erupting over and over and over...but the 5’3” Asian woman is still roaming around the canyon just looking for herself.

Moses brings back another excuse to all God’s promises to work in him. This time he says, “I don’t talk too good.”

Exodus 4:11

Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

And God comes back and says, “Have I not told you I AM. I AM ALL YOU NEED. I AM YOUR VOICE. I AM WITH YOU, MOSES!”

Will you please see the steadfast love and patience of our God?

Over and over a self- centered God-doubting Moses keeps making excuses...and God keeps saying, “LISTEN TO ME... I’m WITH YOU”

Exodus 4:13-14a

But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses...

And then he says it. Then he gets to the heart of all his excuses.

“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

And finally, the fire explodes in the canyon.

The Anger of the LORD burns against Moses.

Do you see the irony of Moses request of God? On one hand he calls him “Lord”...on the other hand, he says I have a better plan than you. Send somebody else.

Listen, you can’t call this God your Lord while you simultaneously tell him what to do! That’s not how this works.

He is either your LORD...and that means that everywhere you come up short, you know he is completely sufficient to bring you into his fire...and send you out on fire for his mission....

...or you believe you’re calling the shots.

You know, many of you have the are looking for yourselves.

And you keep finding how inadequate you are. And that’s become an excuse for why you’ll never be able to heal. Or why you’ll never be able to love. Or why maybe you can be “saved”, but you’ll never really be able to “succeed” in the mission of God.

You think you have to be some second class citizen in the Kingdom of heaven...

I’m looking at you today. And I’m telling you...God is Angry against your self-centered complex.

Today is the day you detour. Today is the day you turn aside to see this great God. Today is the day you move your eyes off of your 5’3”-ness onto the Fire Canyon...onto the God who is the flame that says Come in...and I’ll send you out on fire.

Yalak. Shalak.

You know one of the great ironies of this passage?

Exodus 3:19

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

Moses and Pharaoh had the same problem.

They both thought they were better than God.

Moses did it by saying “My weaknesses are too much for you God.”

Pharaoh did it by saying, “My strengths are too much for you God.”

They both thought their understanding of themselves was better than God’s understanding of them.

Listen, whether you are looking at yourself and telling God “I’m stronger than you”

Or you’re looking at yourself and telling God, “I’m too messed up and weak for you to use me. I’m afraid.”

...the point remains...you are looking at yourself in the middle of the Fire Canyon. ...and you still haven’t found what you’re looking for.

But don’t miss in all this mess, what God is doing to save, see....

3) Salvation comes down to the desperate.

Sometimes we can get really caught up in the details of this conversation with Moses and forget the bigger picture.

Remember, the whole reason God appears to Moses, the whole reason God invites Moses in and reveals his name...is because he’s coming to rescue his people.

Exodus 3:7-8

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. He heard his people calling out to him. And he said, “I know their suffering, and I am coming down to bring them up”

And at the end of chapter 4, God has finally moved Moses’ eyes off himself and onto his God...and the words of YAHWHEH, the Great I AM finally get to the ears of this desperate enslaved people.

Exodus 4:31

And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

And the response from Israel is exactly what God was looking for from Moses in the first place.

They believed Him. And when they knew that God had come down to them...and that he knew their suffering and affliction...and that meant that he would save them...they humbly bowed their heads and worshipped.

See, they didn’t bow their heads like Moses did. When Moses bowed his head he was looking at himself, but the people of Israel were bowing their heads because they had seen the steadfast love of God...and they were simultaneously humbled and made hopeful by it.

This story points forward to our ultimate salvation.

...and Moses & Israel’s ultimate salvation, too.

Jesus Christ is the way God comes down into our suffering.

See, even though we aren’t enslaved to another nation, we are enslaved to our own navel- gazing and excuse-making.

We are enslaved to our sin.

And the anger of God burns against our sin, just like it did against Moses’ sin.

But God, saw us in our slavery, he saw us lost and looking for ourselves, and he came down as a human in Jesus Christ.

He lived a life perfectly submitted to his Father’s will...and on the cross, he died a death that you and I should have died.

He took the fire of God’s wrath and was consumed by it, so we could enter into God’s fiery presence and not be burned up...but SENT OUT!

He suffered for us. He lost himself so we could find YAHWEH.

And when he resurrected...he told all those who believed and bowed their heads to worship him... “Now that you have COME IN. GO OUT and make disciples...Yalak. Shalak.

No excuses! And I’ll be with you all the way to the end.”

Christ has entered into the fire ...for you...and he is walking out of it with you...and because of his life and death and resurrection, you won’t burn up...instead...by God’s strength working through your weakness...you’ll be a burning bush...on fire, but not consumed...and many others will turn aside to see this great God because of the way he has saved you.

But here’s the question you have to ask. Are you too strong for God?

Are you willing to admit your sin...and your weakness...are you willing to come to him desperate and cry out for salvation?

Or...do you think you’re too weak for God to save? Are you minimizing God’s power?

Look at the resurrection...his power is limitless...bow your head and worship him. Stop looking at yourself...and start believing the Great I Am.

You know the way U2’s song ends?

You broke the bonds and you You loosened the chains. 

You carried the cross Of my shame

You know I believe it But I still haven't found What I'm looking for

I used to be really confused by those lyrics.

I thought “How can Bono on one hand believe that God freed him from the slavery and shame of his sin on the cross, yet still not have what he’s looking for.”

And then I read the Book of Hebrews...that says that we are still waiting for the promise of God to be completely fulfilled.

I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians, that says we are citizens of another Kingdom...we’re pilgrims still waiting for Christ to come and make all things new.

Philippians 3:20-21

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

In a very real sense, as a Christian, we still haven’t found what we’re looking for.

The earth, the way it is now, is still broken and riddled with sin and death. But in the middle of that darkness, God is still saving...and his promise still stands.

He will come back and make all things new.

In the meantime, just like the 5’3” woman in Iceland...The search for ourselves ended on Sunday morning.

Jesus got out of the grave and now we have his Spirit in us telling us, “Keep ya head up... looking to the author and finisher of your faith, Jesus Christ.”

And so, we eat this meal as pilgrims...waiting for the Kingdom to which we truly belong to be brought to us in full.

And we remind each other over and over of the miracle that God has made a way into his fire...and sent us out to proclaim that until he comes.

Come close and walk with God.