Exodus 3:1–4:14
Based on a sermon delivered by Rev. Joyce Rodgers
February 8, 2026
Gordonsville UMC / Barboursville UMC (online)
If you’ve been around the church for a while, the story of Moses and the burning bush probably feels familiar. It’s one of those Bible stories many of us first encountered as children — dramatic, memorable, and easy to picture. But when we revisit it as adults, the story begins to speak in deeper ways. Beneath the miracle of the bush that burns but is not consumed is a profoundly personal truth about how God works in our lives.
Moses was not in worship. He was not praying. He was not looking for God. He was working — tending sheep in the wilderness — when God interrupted his ordinary day. That detail matters. Again and again in Scripture, God meets people in the middle of regular life. The burning bush reminds us that God’s call often begins in the everyday spaces we least expect.
God Gets Our Attention
The text tells us that Moses had to “turn aside” to see the bush. Only when he stopped and paid attention did God speak. That small movement — turning aside — is spiritually significant. God’s presence is not rare, but our attention often is. In a world full of noise, hurry, and distraction, sacred moments frequently depend on our willingness to pause.
John Wesley would later describe God’s initiating love as prevenient grace — grace that comes before we are even aware of it. The burning bush is prevenient grace in action. God moves first. God reaches out. God seeks our attention long before we think to seek God.
“Here I Am”
When God finally calls his name, Moses responds with simple readiness: “Here I am.” In Scripture, those words signal more than location. They express availability — a willingness to listen and respond.
In the life of faith, there comes a moment when prevenient grace becomes personal. Wesley described his own turning point at Aldersgate, when his “heart was strangely warmed.” This is what we call justifying grace — the moment we consciously trust the grace that has already been reaching toward us.
For some, that moment is dramatic. For others, it unfolds gradually over time. Either way, it is deeply personal — an encounter between the soul and the living God — even as the church later celebrates and nurtures that grace in community.
Holy Ground in Ordinary Places
When God speaks, the ground beneath Moses’ feet becomes holy. Nothing about the dirt itself changed — but everything changed because God was present.
We experience moments like that too. Sometimes it’s in worship. Sometimes it’s in music. Sometimes it’s in the quiet beauty of creation. And sometimes — as I often share in my own call story — it happens in the middle of an utterly ordinary moment. I was barefoot, vacuuming on a Sunday afternoon while my family slept, when I suddenly became aware of God’s presence in a way I could not ignore.
John Wesley helped us understand that God meets us through Means of Grace — practices like prayer, Scripture, worship, communion, and acts of mercy. Yet Wesley also recognized what we might call “extraordinary” moments of grace — the unexpected holy ground experiences that catch us by surprise.
Wherever God is present, the ground is holy.
When God’s Call Feels Too Big
After the holy moment comes the hard part. God tells Moses he is being sent to help lead the Israelites out of Egypt — and Moses immediately begins to resist.
- “Who am I?”
- “What if they ask your name?”
- “What if they don’t believe me?”
- “I’m not a good speaker.”
- “Please send someone else.”
If we’re honest, Moses’ objections sound very familiar.
The good news of this passage is that God never argues Moses into feeling adequate. Instead, God repeatedly redirects the focus: “I will be with you.” The call is grounded not in who Moses is, but in who God is.
That truth still holds. God’s call on our lives — whether to acts of mercy, justice, compassion, leadership, or quiet faithfulness — is never based on our perfection. It is based on God’s presence.
Growing Into the Call
Even after moments of clarity, discipleship is a lifelong journey. Wesley called this sanctifying grace — the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit shaping us over time. We grow. We stumble. We make excuses. We try again.
I know that pattern well. My own call to ministry began more than twenty years ago, and for a long time my response sounded a lot like Moses: Who am I? What if they don’t listen? Surely someone else would be better.
Yet God is patient. God continues to call. God continues to walk with us.
Called for the Sake of Others
One of the most important parts of the burning bush story is why God calls Moses in the first place. God says:
“I have observed the misery of my people… I have heard their cry… I know their sufferings.”
God’s call is always connected to human need. Moses is sent because people are hurting.
The same is true today. The Body of Christ continues to be called wherever there is loneliness, hunger, injustice, fear, or despair. We may not always hear a voice from a burning bush, but we can learn to see the world with God’s eyes.
If you are alive — if you are breathing — you are called.
Stepping Onto Holy Ground
The story of the burning bush is not just about Moses. It is about the God who still interrupts ordinary lives, still speaks in sacred moments, still equips reluctant people, and still sends the faithful to love a hurting world.
So pay attention.
Turn aside.
Listen for your name.
And when the moment comes, may we have the courage to say, “Here I am.”
