Under Construction Part I: Is God with You?

Where is my world from yesteryear? I feel left behind. As much as we don't care to admit it, things are changing in our world ... and have been for a long time. And where is God in the midst of all this? This is not the time for fear or anxiety. Jesus still has plans for us. Now is the time to take heart, follow Jesus, and move our church ... "Under Construction."

We're beginning a new series ... or at least several Sundays ago we did ... entitled "Under Construction." This sermonette seeks to explore the idea of God being with us. We typically think of God being for us, but how often do we meditate on God's promise to be with us? Consider the following words of Jesus from John 14:12-18 ...

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you (ESV).

We typically think of God sending someone out on a mission to do work for him. We are scared to go out into that frightening place ... that godless place.

Question: What would happen to our sense of mission and purpose in life ... our church's sense of mission and purpose as well ... if we understood God's not so much as sending us out but calling us to his side ... out in the midst of the world ... where he is already at work?

Here are a couple of things I want us to capture from the above passage from John.

• The context of the passage is Jesus's promising them they would do "greater things" than he did as far as ministry in the world.


• Let us fully capture the last words of our passage. The Holy Spirit would not only be with us ... but also in us. The Holy Spirit would be so much with us ... that he would be in us. You can't get much more with us than being in us.

Let us now consider Moses's example from Exodus 3:1-12:

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 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."

The 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.

The the LORD said, "I have 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. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 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" (ESV).

Here are three observations.

1. Notice that God didn't simply show up and commission Moses for some mighty work on God's behalf. Rather God shows up and essentially asks Moses to join him in the work God is already doing.
2. Instead of Moses simply obeying. Moses offers the "but."
3. God's assurance to Moses was that God would be with him.

I wonder how our church would change is we changed our view of God's calling from simply "Hey, go gettem and make me proud." to "I'm already here ... why don't you come on and join me." From the John passage above we have seen that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the world and our commission from Jesus to go where the Spirit is and work the works of Jesus ... and even greater works that he did.

Moses offers the typical response we give back to God ... especially in our church. "But...."

• But, God, I'm too old.
• But, God, I' can't do such and such.
• But, God, that's what we pay the preacher to do.

Do you reckon that God is growing a bit tired of wiping our "buts?"

Lastly, we see God assuring Moses that he would be with Moses. As we've seen above that is essentially our assurance as well. By the way, what is the name promised to Joseph of Jesus? Is it not "Immanuel ... God with us?" Remember, we said that not only would the Holy Spirit be with us, but also in us. You cannot get much more "with us" than being "in us."

Remember God has not given us much choice in the matter of whether or not we should go out for ministry, working the works of Jesus, in the world. We have not been given an option ... rather we've been given a God who will be so much with us that he will be in us.